Cilantro Restaurant & Wine Bar - a worthy win in the Miele Guide 2010/11

warm king salmon with poached oyster and avruga

Congratulations to the team behind Cilantro Restaurant & Wine Bar! For the first time, Malaysia has scored a place on the top 10 best restaurants in Asia as voted in the Miele Guide 2010/11. It's a worthy honour since Cilantro is placed at number 8 and among great restaurants such as Iggy's from Singapore, Mozaic from Bali and Caprice from Hong Kong. Even though the Miele Guide is not as widely recognised compared to the Michelin Guide (which has yet to arrive on our shores), it is still a big pat on the back for the fine dining scene in Kuala Lumpur.

the only reason to ditch that diet and consume all those carbs - Cilantro's divine truffle butter

To celebrate, we decided to dine at Cilantro this Friday for their infamous lunch for RM150 nett (only available on lazy winding down Fridays). It was perfect timing too since it was Diwali, the Festival of Lights and all the reason to enjoy our time off from work.

muscovy duck consomme with foie gras and chestnut mushrooms served in a Titanium Staub mini cocotte

Dining here is always a great pleasure - comforting food that soothes the soul weary from the daily drudge of life paired with impeccable service. Combine all this with great company and you have a formula for success. While Cilantro reopened end of last year (I remember my first visit for a special Xmas eve dinner), they only restarted their infamous Friday lunches around July this year.

char grilled master Kobe rump with baby cos and Parmigiano


For lunch, it is best that you take the day off to thoroughly enjoy it since the meal can usually induce you into a food coma. Unlike its sister restaurant Sage, lunches here tend to be a tad richer and more indulgent.



I'm feeling very festive with the Kir Royale


You start of with a flute of Kir Royale - the perfect drink to celebrate with a medley of tiny bubbles from the champagne and a touch of creme de cassis. Next you'll be slowly lulled into food heaven as you dine on the warm king salmon with poached oyster gently placed on a bed of finely sliced potatoes. There's a little cream on the side with a spoonful of avruga caviar to make it even more pleasurable.



panache of seafood with saffron risotto and jus served on a cast iron Staub


Next it is a lighter way to enjoy foie gras, sliced and poached in a duck consomme with chestnut mushrooms that gives it a silky texture. I love the tiny Titanium Staub cocotte that is used to serve this dish. Being the atypical kitchen geek, I was secretly coveting that for home but god knows when am I going to have an occasion to serve my food in mini cocottes. The only thing that slightly mars these gorgeous dish is the duck slice was on the chewier side.



feuillantine of apple with calvados ice cream


Mains is usually a choice of meat or seafood. This time round, it is melt-in-the-mouth Kobe beef served with crisp baby cos lettuce with Parmiagiano. Opting for the lighter meal, the seafood panache is perfect since it is an assortment of the ocean's bounty (scallops, clams, fish and prawns) all beautifully pan seared and served with small portion of saffron risotto that tasted more like the briny sea versus the precious red flower stamens.



the award - a picture taken by the photography maestro Paranoid Android


My only gripe is desserts since they're not too innovative with their sweet course. Nevertheless the combination of silky smooth vanilla ice cream served with crispy tuiles and the heady aroma of calvados apples is still quite pleasurable to end the meal. We wind down with coffee to pull us through the food coma - the perfect way to end an indulgent lunch.


Cilantro Restaurant & Wine Bar
MiCasa All Suite Hotel
368-B, Jalan Tun Razak
Kuala Lumpur


Tel: 03-2179 8082


(Pork free. Open for lunch on Fridays only from 12 noon to 2pm. Dinner is from 6-10.30pm. Closed on Sundays. More pictures of a previous lunch can also be obtained in the Flickr set.)

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.