French Feast @ Bukit Bintang , Tengkat Tong Shin

Taste Intangible in French Feast, KL

Disclaimer : Photos don’t do the dishes justice. All photos shot on mobile with Google Pixel.

With an incredibly diverse restaurant scene and that rapidly growing list of openings, it is fair to refer Kuala Lumpur as one of the dynamic food capitals. Local cuisine reigns supreme category for sure but French dining sure has its way to steal the heart and stomach.

Appetizer is always a favourite when it comes to French meals. I love how each dish usually prep conscientiously with plenty of efforts. On the entre list in French Feast, expect a galore of offal. Be prepared for liver and pate, and foie grass and I must be really honest it is at this point that I am realizing that I have zero knowledge of French vegan dishes.

French do have a large spectrum of what constitute to foods, I am guessing it has a lot to do with the history of the country and the number of wars involving France. Almost all French people reckon they’re basically still peasants and peasants don’t do squeamish. Having to eat everything, France’s continuum of cuisine is the one of the most interesting in the world. In such history, there probably is very little rooms for vegans. Mainstream French cooking remains rooted when it comes to the use of ingredients. Expect chicken liver mousse, foie gras terrine, or pig’s trotter. If there were bigger dinning crowd, I would order everything on the entre list. Since there were only two of us, the choice of entree for the night was Baked Escargot and Pig’s Trotter (RM 35) and Pan-Fried Foie Gras (RM 70). Both has got the interesting ingredients that I have been studying – aged champagne vinegar for the first, and 15 years aged balsamic for the later.

Main course was full of excitement and high anticipation. I actually was looking at the menu on my way to the restaurant and dinner partner being KYspeaks means he probably wouldn’t be able to decide as well. Like a sly, I convinced him the House Made Smoked Pork Offal Sausage (RM 65). Of course, he was eye-ing on this obviously when description of the dish spells pork intestines, liver kidney, red wine and mustard sauce, served with truffle mashed potatoes and ratatouille. I on the other hand was thinking as I looked at the ingredients, if this could bring back memories of andouillette from France. Turns out, texture when cut open the sausage was less coarse than I expected, not quite alike what I had in France but cooking remains rooted French, and that by all means flavor pack and delish.

The other main being the Dragon Tiger Grouper (RM 95), because why not? Tiger Gouper has amazing sweetness and large flakes for that firm texture, and putting that with Bouillabaisse Sauce, I decided right away at without a second thought. You cannot go wrong with Bouillabaisse sauce (fish stew) and French Feast did a fantastic job with the sauce. An overall rich umami sweetness with potatoes, saffron aioli, and cherry tomato to pair with white flakes of fish is yet another good representation of mainstream French cooking.

Lastly, choosing a dessert to complete the night be like the most exhausting task ever. After a long debate of deliberation inside me, I went with cheese. It would be foolish to suggest we know cheese better than the French (they wouldn’t take it too well), and I was confident that it would be delightful and unusual. Turns out I may be the only one with that thought. Otherwise, it would be a quick turnover and my palate would then not be ruined. Even the nuts were a little stale and slightly overdue.

I am not a big eater, so is Ky. We went with a 3 types cheese platter (RM 33) instead of the 5 types cheese plater (RM 53), which I regretted- should have gone for the Lemon Tart instead.

Cheese Platter would have the cheeses subjected to availability. It is a great deal of study when it comes to cheese flavor- the catabolism of free amino acids, the lactic and free fatty acids, or the metabolism of citrate produce when producing the volatile aroma compounds; and while I may be scientifically orientated when it comes to flavor profile, there is so much more to learn in cheese and I could be wrong to leave a negative comment. Yet I must admit that it wasn’t too great when I had it.

Above all, I must bring attention to the bread basket and olives at the beginning of the meal. I love it! Don’t be surprise if I revisit solely for this one.