Despite all the glowing reviews, all this time I haven't had a chance to dine at Frangipani, but when I heard that Frangipani has now a new executive chef thus a brand new signature menu, I knew I had to check it out. Hails from Malaga, Spain, Chef Manuel Lopez Quinones has worked in many countries as well as his homeland, and most impressive accomplishments includes his stints at 2 Michelin Star "La Broche" in Madrid and 2 Michelin-star "Arola" in Barcelona, under the famed Sergio Arola. Previously a predominantly French menu, now Chef Manuel brings a bit of Spain to the table.

We were most impressed with the beautiful layout of the intimate dining area with a pond in the middle, and the lighting was sufficiently dim to create a romantic ambiance. Service staff was most attentive and polite, they definitely know the menu very well. Without further ado, we were given a menu to choose our dishes from the Signature menu. And I decided to stick to seafood and let the service staff do the wine pairing for me.

Of course, the amuse bouche was first given to us.Arugula, Smoked Salmon, a touch of cream cheese and alfalfa sprouts. Tasty combination. The arugula lends a peppery and bitter note this which I enjoyed.

My first course was Sauteed Baby Squid and I love the simple and elegant plating. Adorned with super finely chopped parsley and chives (impressive knife skill), garlic, extra virgin olive oil with a quenelle of mash on the side and dots of aioli surrounding the baby squid, this was almost too pretty to eat. The herbs and EVOO definitely enhance the flavours of lightly sauteed squids. They were cooked to perfect, tender with a touch of bite. The mash is on the light side as we were told Chef Manuel doesn't like to use a lot of cream and butter, which is refreshing actually. Very good start to the meal.

My second course was grilled Hokkaido Scallops presently daintily on 2 rings of Mango salad. Once again a very elegant way of presenting the dish. Look at the giant sized scallops with beautiful char marks, what a sight to behold. I love the meaty scallops, the texture was dense yet delicate and soft, pairs well with the mango salad which had some coriander, mint and a touch of chili. Perfection.

My main course was confit black cod with corn puree, baby corns and some caramelised bits of corn.I love the simplicity of this dish. Black cod is my favourite fish and it was amazingly soft. Heavenly! Pairing with corn gives it very clean flavours. Sweet and savoury well balanced. The assorted sprouts on top lend a contrast to the the texture. Delicious! This foie gras dish is not included in the signature menu but we ordered it anyway because I heard Frangipani does it well. And people have spoken, as this was hands down the best foie gras dish I have tasted so far. The liver was perfectly charred outside and buttery soft inside, great mouth feel. Pairing it with apple is quite surprising, but it works.

I thought the foie gras was going to be the highlight of the dish as I'm usually not crazy about dessert. Boy did I get it wrong! The desserts are not specified on the menu so when this banana and toffee "fritter" (I'm sure Chef has another name for it but I think I had too much wine at that point to remember it), with Creme brulee icecream was presented to me, my eyes lit up instantly. I love everything about it. The icecream was the first one I went for and it tasted exactly like creme brulee. The "fritter", crispy with well caramelised banana inside. It was like Chef read my mind and knew exactly how I want my dessert. Needless to say, this tops the list for dessert in Klang Valley at the moment.

Good food, great service, what more can I ask for? More wine, perhaps, though I think I sure had quite a few last night. Hopefully we will get another chance to visit soon.

Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF) is back with an interesting theme “Cool Chefs – Cooking with attitude”. Having missed out on the Taste MIGF due to work commitment, naturally I was excited to receive an invitation to try the MIGF menu at Nook, joining the festival for the very first time. This menu is extra special to me because Chef Steven Seow, though not actually from Sarawak, has taken the effort to feature the treasures from Sabah and Sarawak. You’ll see when we talk about the dishes.

It wasn’t our first time dining at Nook as I have tried out the buffet spead as well as ala carte dishes numerous times when I was performing at W XYZ bar back in June. I also went for an invited review earlier in the year when it was still brand new. I know that they have taken a special interest in improving their dishes because each time I visited, the dishes just kept getting better. FYI, 2 out of 4 dishes on this MIGF menu I have already tried as ala carte, albeit a little less luxurious. I shall stop rambling and let’s get started on the food. Starter first.Smoked Scallop Umai Sushi, Duck Confit with Pomegranate and Yoghurt Sphere

Ooh! Here’s a little bit of molecular gastronomy to please my inner food geek. I loved the presentation and this looks like a well-thought-out dish with different components. The glass contained the smoke (for the wow factor, I guess), I was told it was lemongrass flavour but it dissipated too fast for me to catch a whiff. The scallop umai is basically a Sarawakian citrus cured seafood, very much like ceviche but with local flavours.I enjoyed the sweet, sour, savoury, herbaceous combination of the Scallop umai sushi. Moving on to the duck confit with a tiny piece of skin, well that was seasoned perfectly with good umami flavour and you can give me more of that crispy skin. Yum! I tried that with the sweet fruity coulis, pomegranate seeds and raisin separately and all worked very well together. You simply can't do wrong with sweet and savoury pairings in my book. Oh and the Yoghurt sphere actually popped in my mouth. How cool! What a great introduction to the night. This course is paired with Villa Maria Chardonnay, NZ. Lovely crisp and easy to drink.

Interesting, Chef Steven Seow has chosen to pair the next course with a beer (Leffe Blonde), and I can understand why.Sarawak Laksa with Organic Soba Noodle, Lobster & Abalone

I like to refer this to Sarawak Laksa on steroids. Haha. You see, the robust flavour of prawn and chicken stock in the broth with all that laksa spices would be too strong for a white wine, but pairing it with a red will totally overwhelmed the delicate lobster and abalone. So it totally makes sense. Compared to our first visit, this Laksa has totally exceeded my expectation. The broth is perfect (perhaps a little spicier than usual) with the right ratio of coconut milk: spices. Paired with grilled lobster that was juicy and sweet, it was rather divine. I am not normally a fan of abalone, but here the abalone was cooked with some butter and herbs, giving it a lighter flavour than usual, so this fussy eater approves.While the usage of soba will probably induce a pang of panic for the purists, I don't think it's a huge problem because I love soba noodles anyway. Chicken was poached just right and I like how delicate the omelette strips were.

The next course is the heaviest of all and it features Sabah style cooking.Wagyu Beef Rendang, Farm Vegetables Achar Jelatah , Turmeric Coconut Rice
Some might think using Wagyu beef in rendang is simply sacrilegious. But since Wagyu beef cheeks are used commonly in braised dishes (especially by the French), why not give it a local twist? Here the beef was incredibly tender and the rendang flavours worked pretty well with this cut, although slightly on the rich side for me, probably because of the lighter dishes beforehand. The achar jelatah is Sabahan and it was just sour enough to help balance the dish.Do not underestimate the portion of this: the rice was compacted hence we were mostly fooled. I am a small eater so I could only manage half of the Turmeric Coconut Rice (Sabahan) before waving my white flag. It was suitably aromatic and not overly rich though. I would have happily gobbled the whole thing up if this was the only course (which I had done previously, yum). This course is paired with Madfish, Shiraz, Australia.

Time for dessert and this was super fun!Eight Treasures Ais Kacang

Call me nerdy but any food item presented in lab or medical appliances gets me pretty excited. Before getting the injection on, let's see what we have here in the bowl: jackfruit, sweet potato, sago, cendol, black jelly, blackberries, strawberries and blue berries and of course a scoop of ice cream as cherry on the cake. As for the syringes: they are filled with colorful syrup including yellow – orange + lemongrass, red – rose + strawberry, green – pandan + apple, brown – salted palm sugar, white – cornflakes creamer.In order to not confuse our taste buds, it is recommended we try individual syringe first to see what we liked best. My favourite is the salted palm sugar, followed very closely by the orange/lemongrass concoction. I thought the corn flakes flavoured milk was pretty interesting too.

There are 2 options for this MIGF menu: The light menu priced at RM160+ per person which comes without the Sarawak Laksa from set listed above. The Go Strong menu (full menu) is priced at RM180+ per person (RM280+ with wine and beer pairing). This set menu is available through lunch and dinner and in both September and October.

A while ago we had a Nando's party just for a fun afternoon get together. Now I don't generally go to Fast Food chain but Nando's is definitely ok in my books for their peri peri sauce and grilled chicken. During the party the food came out platter style with mixed level of spiciness to suit everyone's taste. Grilled Chicken Wings
For starters we had some grilled chicken wings to share. As Nando's standards goes, this was the perfect start. Wings are my weakness so needless to say, I enjoyed this very much.Grilled Chicken Kebabs
For something a little different, the kebabs come with colourful vegetables and had complementing flavours. Loved it. The best thing about Nando's is their wide range of good sidelines. My favourite is this spinach dish. It was cooked just right, soft but not mushy, simple flavours. Very good to pair with the spicy chickenOf course, who can resist these peri peri chips? I know I couldn't. Crispy and spicy, very well received. Here comes more chicken! As spiciness goes, I always go for the extra hot with extra hot sauce. Competitive nature? Maybe, but I just love chili! Go hard or go home right? The chicken was tender, juicy, full of flavours. Both Thumbs up!

Enter Aloft, the latest hotel in Kuala Lumpur under the Starwood group (another place for your points). This rather funky looking hotel is situated right next to KL Sentral (read: convenient) and has recently opened its door to the public. We got a little tour of the hotel when it was still brand new, trying out their F&B outlet: Nook.

Nook offers both buffer course as well as ala carte dishes. We managed to sample a few things as our tummies allowed. The buffet spread might not be massive, but it offers enough varieties to the diners, starting with some lovely cold starters. Well, give me Salmon anytime and I'll be happy.Some seafood for you perhaps? Abundance of smoked salmon, huge king prawns and mussels for you to choose.These tangy, refreshing salads compliment the cold seafood. And if you want more greens, there’s a salad bar right next to this.All manners of colourful salads to fulfill your vege intake of the day. Tailor your own dressing too if you wish.All the curries were pretty good, especially that Lamb Masala. Bit on the salty side so be sure to wash down with plenty of those fragrant biryani rice.Interesting, the buffet spread features Sarawak Laksa (also available as Ala Carte option) where you pick and choose your own toppings and types of noodles (authentic Sarawak Laksa has rice vermicelli only though) then leave it to the chef to cook. A tip: forget about these tiny shrimps and add the big prawns from the cold seafood section instead. The first time we've had it, the chef hasn't got the flavours quite right yet. But we have since returned a few times and I can definitely say that it has improved. And right now, there's also a special MIGF menu which I will post soon. Nook’s Signature Beef Burger

Nook also offers Ala Carte items and the beef burger was sent to us in all its meaty glory. The brioche bun was buttery and fluffy, however the patty was too tough for our liking, even though a nice smoky char-grilled flavour was achieved.Nasi Lemak

Their rendition of Nasi Lemak might be on the dry side but I love the aromatic rice, adding lemongrass was a nice touch. The chicken might have been in the deep fryer for longer than it should but the flesh remained juicy and tender. I would prefer a bit more sambal, and less of the rubbery squid.Of course, there has to be some space for desserts and I’d say we made full use of the gorgeous spread. I tasted a few things and liked the strawberry tarts the best.

I think Nook has a great potential and with their participating in MIGF this year, things are only going to get better. I will tell you about that special menu in my next post.

I mentioned that I will bring the other half to Nosh after my last visit and few days ago we finally had the chance to do our little date night. I called beforehand to enquire about vegetarian options and it seemed promising. As I browsed the menu, I knew this meal was going to be good and it surely didn't disappoint! We started with some truffle cheese bread. The bread was toasted with thick layer of gorgonzola and cheddar. The gorgonzola was pretty strong (well it is a blue cheese after all) so I felt that the addition of truffle wasn't necessary. In fact I think the flavours kind clashed a little and it was bordering on stinky. But no matter, the bread was nice and fluffy, definitely comforting. Frank wanted the 'Smashing Cucumber'. It looked like nothing much but tasted pretty good with hint of sesame and soy, a Japanese twist I suppose. The crunchy and slightly sweet cucumber was very refreshing. Our last starter was these garlicky, peppery sauteed mushrooms, which came with toasted bread. Frank wasn't a huge fan but I loved the peppery note. Very moreish. The token vegetarian got the Pumpkin Ravioli which induced a case of food envy in me. Look at those gigantic handmade ravioli! Each of them filled with fresh, soft pumpkin that is seasoned just right. The butter, cheesy sauce was eye-openingly rich and full of flavours, with hint of deep fried sage to add that herbaceous note. This was so good I wanted to have more. But I was getting quite full at this point and needed the stomach space for my main course. And luckily I practised some restraint because my braised beef cheeks dish is huge! I wasn't supposed to be eating red meat but the menu description won me over. The gravy has coffee in it! I've always wonder how that would taste like, and turns out coffee complemented beef in a very strange way. I guess the slight bitter burnt taste works. The beef cheeks were melt-in-the-mouth tender, amazing. I liked the mash because it wasn't overly creamy, which was quite necessary as this is a very rich dish. Loved the beautiful presentation of the dish especially the carved vegetables. So beautiful. I had to admit I couldn't finish the mash because I was stuffed!

But we can't not try their desserts, especially after I saw pictures from my friends who have visited recently for their new desserts. Unfortunately the Goma Macha dessert I was eyeing wasn't available so I settled for the Pumpkin Panna Cotta, while Frank ordered an Apple Cheese Tart. Apple Cheese Tart in a deconstructed matter

Decent dessert, but didn't have the wow factor. I did like the spiced apple and the cream cheese 'balls' though. Pumpkin Panna Cotta
Frank described this as over-the-top presentation but I felt that was the attraction of the dessert: wow factor. Not only visually pleasing, it was so delicious. The soft pudding has the perfect texture with ever so slight hint of pumpkin. The best thing is that it wasn't sweet and cloying. So, so good!

I love the attention to details not only in their food, but also their service. Very attentive, quick to refill our glasses without being too disruptive. Love to come back again to try more dishes. Might just make this a monthly thing since they do rotate their desserts. The bill came up to RM322 but that was because we also had a few glasses of wine. But for food this quality, it's worth it.