Friday, May 29, 2009

Luxe Lunching @ Sage, The Gardens Residence, Kuala Lumpur

flower power

I often get asked by strangers and even friends, where's the best place for fine dining or a special dinner for someone? My reply is always Sage - my all-time favourite dining spot in town. Reserved for special occasions, it's where I love to indulge in for some pampering of the soul.

the gorgeous foie gras

Lunch has been on the agenda for quite some time. I even plotted to have days off just to squeeze in some lunchtime here but inevitably something always cropped up on those days. Finally, I got to do a little lunch (more of a work lunch though but I wasn't complaining since I didn't have to pay) recently and was blown away as usual. It felt so different to dine during the day (of course the pixs of the food turned out gorgeous!) and it was relatively quieter than dinnertime.


kick the meal off with the addictive basil puree with Sage's bread. One dip and you never stop asking for more. Virgin mojitos cool you down and Sage's smoked salmon appetizer.


Priced at RM100 nett, the fixed prixe lunch is great value for the excellent food you get in return. You get two choices for the appetiser, main meal and dessert. What I had this time won't be what you will having this week, or next week since the food choices changes every week. We absolutely love the slightly warm bread and the basil puree served with it. They also served us a refreshing virgin mojito.

rich and satisfying wagyu beef cheek and chocolate tartlet to round off an excellent meal.


Since they had foie gras on the menu, that was a must as Sage does it so well (another place is Cuisine Studio). The trick of cooking foie gras, which I learned at a class with Chris Salans before - cut a thick slab about an inch, sprinkle flour, put in the fridge for a while and then remove to pan fry. This will yield a nice crust and tender soft middle. Most of the time, restaurants always make the mistake of cutting foie gras too thinly hence you lose the tender oozing middle part. The foie gras topped 3 pieces of chicken on a puff pastry with mushroom duxelles. Yummy and rich, this was my favourite. The other selection for an appetizer, was the much lighter smoked salmon with fennel and vegetables.

Portions were generous that I was so stuffed (loved my stewed wagyu beef cheek, so tender and rich). You have a choice of cheese and dessert at the end. Having had more than enough cheese in Italy, I choose the chocolate tartlet. It's not very chocolatey though and resembled more like a mocha tart with a coffee mixed within. Nevertheless it was still delicious especially with Sage's creamy smooth ice cream churned from their own kitchen.

Take my advice, give yourself a day off and do lunch here. You'll find that it will perk up your whole day! Lunch may lose a little of the night romance but the impeccable service (since it is less busy during the day) and the generous portions totally make up for this. For more on the dinner experience, see my previous blog post.

Sage Restaurant
The Gardens Residences
6th Floor, The Gardens
Mid Valley City
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur

Tel No: 03- 2268 1188

(Pork free. Open for lunch, Monday to Friday. Open for dinner for Monday to Saturday. Closed on Sundays. Reservations are recommended for dinnertime, as it can get packed. Remember, take the lift from Isetan side at the Gardens to the 6th floor.)

*Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here is entirely based on my personal tastebuds and may vary for others. This review is time sensitive; changes may occur to the place later on that can affect this opinion. The reviewer also declares that she has not received any monetary or non-monetary compensation from this place for writing the review.

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21 comments:

J2Kfm said...

pampering to no ends. :)
hahaha ... a little too steep, but a little bit of indulgence (ouch, bad memories) never fails.

boo_licious said...

aiyoh, Indulgence is nothing compared to this!

"Joe" who is constantly craving said...

aiyoh talking abt taking time off for this kinda lunches..i hav been telling myself since i got my shangs card to visit lafite for their lunch..and yet to do so!

Bangsar-bAbE said...

The fois gras looks amazing!! And it's time I took a half day off! =P

Joe, I told myself the same thing! Hahahaha...

Rebecca Saw said...

hhmm.. tis is pure indulgence; but definitely worth the price for the food. Mayb its time I meet a "client" for lunch too.. ;)

Lingzie said...

oh this definitely looks like a dream! have been wanting to try this place since i saw your last post on it... :)

Lyrical Lemongrass said...

So the lunch menu is entirely different from the dinner menu? (as in choices)

Your pictures are gorgeous la. Love the pic of the blue flower. Very cheerful.

thule a.k.a leo said...

can choose other stuff beside wagyu??
at RM100 nett, it's considered steep for some people... but then, it's the dining experience that counts

Sean said...

gosh, it's now 12.26pm and i'm wishing i could flee to office and head to sage too. i'd do only one thing differently from you though: have copious amounts of alcohol! yeah, i'm one of those people who start hitting the bottle long before the sun goes down. :D

UnkaLeong said...

TNG : The client be me? Lunch on you? :P

Looks like it's time for me to spoil myself or get spoilt very soon;)

KY said...

oOO the salmon got me drooling!

gen.u.ine.ness said...

Never dined at sage, but I did dine at Cilantro and thought that was one of the better meals I had in Malaysia.

dusting foie gras with flour?? Sacre bleu... that would get french chefs rolling around in their graves! For best effects, the trick is using a very hot smoking pan (I personally hv a copper based pan which heats up quite well) and to sear each side for only 1 minute.

You are right about the thickness though. Having cooked foie gras quite a bit, I do think that the ideal thickness is 1.5 inches, although this would present other problems for restaurants (ie cost v. profit).

Another thing that problably irks me is that chefs don't bother scoring the foie gras to allow the seasoning to penetrate it.

Ciki said...

excellent photography boo!

qwazymonkey said...

Wow, indulgence to the max! Lov the pics, can almost taste the food right off my screen.

p/s: is it true that they say the place is haunted?

worldwindows said...

Salmon smoked is the way to go. Not pan-fried or sashimied. Captured through the lens with tender loving care!

eiling lim said...

Ooh this sounds like comfort food! Foie gras, always one of my favourite food! I've yet to try Sage.

Sugar Bean said...

Didn't know there's such a nice place in The Gardens Residence. The presentation looks nice and I assume the ambience is good too. No wonder you recommended it to others. :)

boo_licious said...

Joe - yes, I've not tried the new chef at Lafite, only did Cherkas' lunch which didn't impress much though. Guess I was more intrigued with all the datins dining there.

bangsar-babe - perfect to kick off a weekend rite?

thenomadgourmand - good idea. The client can pay for the luxe lunch.

lingzie - slightly cheaper for lunch and just as good. Give it a try for a nice treat one day.

LL - yes, diff stuff that changes weekly. Seems to be the norm now for the flowers, my friend went a week back and it was bright pink flowers and tiny choc macaroons for desserts.

leo - the other choice was seafood hence that may be great for a lighter lunch.

Sean - LOL, sounds like a great idea. A nice sparkling or chilled white wine to cool us down.

unkaleong - oops, I thot you shld be the client and forking out the monies?

genuineness - Cilantro and Sage, same chef hence similarities here. I learnt that from a French chef (a pretty famous one in Asia too)! Guess that's the easier way out? Yes, a smaller and thicker piece should do the job for those watching the price. Some just think cut bigger slice is better value.

Thanks ciki.

qwazymonkey - haunted??? not that I know of, I'll ask them the next time I ever dine there. Don't tell me people died in construction here?

worldwindows - ah, one can get wax lyrical when it comes to food..esp good food.

eiling - quick get yr wine gang and go for a meal. Am sure you'll be drinking all the best wines there.

sugar bean - newish place in town. Next one to look out for is the refurbished cilantro set to open end of the year.

Chefspiration said...

Sage was my birthday treat and I adored it! Mmm...will have to get over there again!

boo_licious said...

Alex - yes, I love how we find so many ways to treat ourselves at Sage.

Unknown said...

After the disappointment at Vineria, i's have to say Sage was just heavenly!

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