Truffle Time @ Sage Restaurant & Bar, The Gardens Residences, Kuala Lumpur

One of the best things about January is the annual windfall of winter truffles that start to grace our tables in Kuala Lumpur.


This year, saw a bonus dinner hosted by my friend CS who gifted us with a truffle she had bought during her travels. The big time foodie does this yearly sojourns somewhere over the ocean that often see her coming back to our city bearing wickedly good food gifts like this prized truffle.


Babied with a little dampness to keep it from drying out (seems that keep it in the rice trick does not work), we enjoyed that black gold in the most unusual combination - Chinese food.





That hefty piece of black "diamond" was entrusted in CS' brother aka "The Chef and he ingeniously came up with a pairing of steamed kurau fish lightly tossed in an egg white sauce and an extremely generous sprinkling of black truffle shavings.


Honestly they looked like black butterflies flitting around the fish that it was a pity to even sink my teeth in it.


A whiff of the woody aromas waft up to my nose that I can't resist...


Indeed, this was a brilliant combination since the egg white sauce seemed to complement the truffle beautifully while the fish was silky smooth being steamed to perfection.





We also enjoyed the truffle on a classic combination, tossed in al dente pasta with crab meat.


I really loved how they served it in an old fashioned style to us...the wait staff all in unison opening the top of the lids to unveil the beautiful pasta... that reminds me of yesteryear Kuala Lumpur.


But, like the title says. I totally digress from its true intentions i.e. this year's truffle menu at the venerable dining place.


As usual, the same group of friends flock together to enjoy this special occasion. More people came along to enjoy the trip and with some persuasion, Sage kept us nice and cosy in their newly renovated private rooms for a lovely dinner.


Prized at RM260 nett per person, the menu offers an abundance of black truffles but bear in mind, these are not the Italian ones but their Tibetan cousins. While the far relatives are a little lacking in the aroma department (I noticed that the lighter ones seemed a bit aromatic but maybe it was just me), Sage made it up with the excellent preparation of their food.
































































Where is the best steak in Kuala Lumpur? I often get asked..occupational hazard I guess.


While the brain processes steak houses, I often forget that the best steak is from this place.


Only when I taste their aged Angus tenderloin perfectly cooked, it jogs that part of my brain to say, "this is THE place for steak".


I didn't really eat the whole steak since I ordered the pan roasted New Zealand Pink snapper (drats, double drats!) but I tasted Splashie Boy's plate and wished I could have eaten all of his.


My fish with its sweet sauce Perigueux and stuffed zucchini blossom paled in comparison to that awesome steak.





The awesomeness of that piece of meat was only slightly overshadowed by another favourite: the fedellini pasta tossed in the truffles and parmesan cheese.


We had kicked off with a lovely scallop carpaccio in a piquant dressing and dusted with truffle. To end, for that day, we had the dessert of the day - truffle dusted ice cream with mango feulleteine.





Ahh...there goes another season of truffles...till we meet again next year!


Sage Restaurant and Bar
6th Floor
The Gardens Residences
Mid Valley City
Kuala Lumpur


Tel: 03-2268 1328


(Pork Free. The truffle menu is available until end of February and for dinner unless special arrangements are made. More pictures in the Flickr set. For the full details, see their website.)


*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.