Chef Clift took over the St Regis' Brasserrie from the 26th to the 29th Oct for a 4 course lunch (RM338 or RM438 with Hennessy Cognac pairing), 6 course dinner (RM438 or RM538 with Hennessy Cognac pairing) and Sunday brunch (price starts at RM298 or RM468 with Hennessy Cognac).
We were invited to sample a 5-course permutation of the menu thanks to Hennessy Malaysia.
After an assortment of breads, the first course was a bowl of condensed tomyam mousse, served with a pair of char-grilled capsicums. Honestly, it's not a great looker but the capsicums tasted so damn good! This was paired with a refreshing Hennessy Highball (lime, lemon, passionfruit, syrup, soda and VSOP).
The smell of vinegar permeated the air from the Petuna ocean trout with beetroot, smoked ox tongue and horseradish cream. The brilliant red "coral" from the beetroot was quite a sight and the dish was a taste explosion of contrasting sweet and sour flavours. This was paired with easy-going and sweet The Radicle cocktail made with muddled raspberries, syrup, lemon a bit of absinthe and the VSOP Hennessy.
The Roasted Leek & Potato Consommé, with Parsley Root, Parsley Chlorophyll, and Wild Herbs was quite vegetal and looked too cute to be eaten, like it was a tiny little terrarium. It was surrounded by a creamy soup which was Clift's mother's recipe. A little taste of home and heartiness made wholly from white wine. The Wild Turbot followed after, with faux squid risotto, lobster and turnip on watercress emulsion. Having them all with the Hennessy XO was swell.
The A4 Toriyama wagyu (with horseradish burrata, Japanese fruit tomato and artichoke) was easily the highlight of the night. Served wrapped with wafer thin slices of home-cured wagyu beef, the umami-ness of the combination made my mouth water. Washed it all down with the XO, it was perfect.
We had a taste and even the scent of outer space as a bonus. We had some cool-looking condensed cheesecake pills (delicious), mandarin and Madras curry sorbet space rock, and the smell of space on that comic card. Clift said that he was given the permission by NASA to access to an astronaut's used space suit to figure out the scent - which he had emulated on this card. This prelude to dessert was truly out of this world.
The actual dessert was Texture of Coconut - which was a coconut dish presented in different textures, accompanied by the Coco Loco cocktail which was a twist of a Brandy Alexander with the addition of yuzu sake.
Much of what we’ve been fortunate to sample was nothing short creative. Thank you for this wonderful opportunity, Hennessy.
- Jon
