This year’s Midsummer Nights Feast at Starhill Gallery combines good food with jazz and fashion, writes Tan Bee Hong
FRESH home from a trip to Frankfurt, chef Wai Look Chow is practically oozing with creative ideas. No wonder it took him but only an hour to come up with his menu for the Midsummer Nights Feast at Shook! in Starhill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur.
His five-course menu starts with parmigiano chips and includes a delicate barramundi with sea urchin roe sauce and lamb rack topped with wholegrain mustard and spinach puree.
“At this time of the year, the best barramundi comes from Australia and the young lamb from New Zealand is deliciously tender,” he says, his eyes lighting up at the thought.
Wai’s dream is to cook fish from all over the world, a decision he made when at 18, after he went to a restaurant and ate a fish he hadn’t seen before. It was a chat sing pan or seven-star grouper. And after having handled many species, his dream is now to work on a 200kg tuna and to earn a licence to prepare the extremely toxic fugu (puffer fish).
This year’s event, themed Cuisine & Couture, is from July 12-18. And except for July 17, the restaurant is fully booked already.
Apart from Wai, diners at the gourmet festival can smack their lips in anticipation of cuisine by master chefs from around the world. There’s Florent Passard from France,Manabu Ogawa from Japan, Kevin Cape from China and Ken
Hom, the celebrity master chef from Europe.
BE ENTERTAINED
It’s not just food. In line with its theme, there will be fashion shows by international brands such as Kenzo, M. Missoni, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Shiatzy Chen and Valentino.
If fashion’s not your thing, wait for jazz songbird Atilia to make her appearance. Her contemplative, soulful vocals are a perfect companion for the evening’s dinner.
WAI NOT?
Don’t fret if you fail to book a table for chef Wai’s offerings. You can still get a taste of what he has to offer at Fisherman’s Cove in Feast Village.
The menu is nothing to sneeze at. Start with lightly seared Hokkaido Bay scallops mornay (RM48) with creamed spinach and wild mushrooms. Or go for soup. The chestnut mushroom and porcini soup (RM32) is creamy but light, with the earthy aroma of truffles. I prefer the clear blue mussel and clam broth (RM32), scented with basil and spiced with chilli oil. The clams are sweet and tender to the bite.
For the main course, go for fish. Fillet of wart perch, Tasmanian king salmon, grey spotted grouper and whole baby turbot are guaranteed to titillate the senses. Taste the delicate, almost translucent flesh of Atlantic cod bonne femme (RM86), topped with spinach and served with a crayfish sauce with button mushrooms.
Of course there are other seafood, such as lobsters, clams and crabs and wagyu medallions, if fish is not your fancy.
The Canadian lobster spaghettini (RM148) is tossed with roasted smoked plum tomato and fine herbs as well as shaved parmigiano. It comes in a deep dish, with half a grilled lobster on the side.
Fisherman’s Cove /Shook!
WHERE
Feast Village, Starhill Gallery
Jalan Bukit Bintang, KL
Tel: 03-2782 3848/03-2719 8330 respectively
Email: diningconcierge@ytland.com
OPENING HOURS
Midsummer Nights Feast for dinner only. Fisherman’s Cove opens for lunch and dinner.
WHAT’S COOKING
Seafood.
MUST TRY
Hokkaido Bay scallops mornay.
YOU’LL PAY
Midsummer Nights Feast is RM450 nett per person and RM700 nett per couple for CIMB card holders and YTL Platinum Plus members.
ATMOSPHERE
Village ambience.
THE LOO
Arty
SERVICE
Attentive
OVERALL VERDICT
Go give it a try.
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