Review: A Signature Malaysian Festival Menu at Makan Kitchen

Venue: Makan Kitchen, DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur
Occasion: Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF)
Overall comment: Good variety of tasty food, lovely ambiance, friendly staff. Before the last dish was served, I was already full. It really felt as if we "makan" the whole kitchen!
Halal: Yes

All through the month of October from 1st to 31st , the MIGF will showcase a variety of Malaysian cuisines & Makan Kitchen is proud to be the only restaurant to feature a full Malaysian festival menu this year! Located in DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur on Jalan Tun Razak, Makan Kitchen is well-known for its extensive variety of dishes in its buffet line. This time around, it will be the only restaurant serving a family-style Malaysian festival menu priced at RM95.00++ per person. You'll get to enjoy around 15 different types of food & drinks, specially prepared by their Chef Azri Abd Manaf.

PerutBesi with Chef Azri :D

Busy yet cosy hotel in the heart of town

Private rooms at Makan Kitchen

Display set of the family-style Malaysian festival menu @ RM95.00++ per person

International buffet spread

This will be another package, which I'm not too sure how much you'll have to pay per person, but the variety sure looks yummilicious!

  

Deco at Makan Kitchen - interesting!

Our table's layout

p/s: Photos below shows serving for 4-5 persons

Sauces & dips

L->R: Thai chilli sauce, coriander sauce, Chinese barbecue sauce

Appetizer: Chicken Kulca

Mini naan bread filled with spicy chicken masala, served with coriander dip

Little bits of chicken masala in a pretty filling naan! I personally felt that the coriander dip doesn't go well with the naan. It needs mint chutney!

Appetizer: Otak-Otak Nyonya

Oven-baked marinated spicy seafood paste with local herbs & spices

I can taste the ginger, chilli, lemon grass & bits of fish in the otak-otak. The texture is slightly more chewy since it's oven-baked compared to the steamed otak-otak Muar :)

Appetizer: Chinese "BBQ" Roasted Beef Cheek

Slow braised beef cheek & roasted with Chinese barbecue sauce

I've gotta say that THIS WAS THE BOMB! The beef cheek slices melts in the mouth! Awesome-ness...it's tender, sweet, fragrant & slightly gelatin-like too :D SO good! I feel that I could eat this with the buttered/oily rice that goes with the usual "char siew"! *drools*

Soup: Seafood & Winter Melon Broth

Double-boiled winter melon broth with sea cucumber, crab meat, & dried scallops

This was my 2nd favourite dish of the night! The soup was packed/intense with the sweetness of the seafood! This soup is what the Chinese call as a "luxurious" soup that's good for skin/complexion.

Abalone "mushrooms" a.k.a. "Bao Yu Ku" in Cantonese!

Loads of scallops, abalone mushrooms, black mushrooms, sea cucumbers & herbs!

More sauces & dips

L->R: Mint chutney, tamarind sauce, & soya sauce with chilli

Lamb Briyani

Basmati rice cooked with lamb & Indian spices

I LOVED this rice! As I love lamb, the rice that's infused with the aromatic goodness of lamb (with small chunks of lamb "treasures") & Indian spices was just pleasing to my appetite :)

  Okra Masala

Lady's fingers cooked with onion masala & spices

Fragrant & delicious lady's fingers. As it's nicely stir-fried with herbs & spices, I enjoyed this humble Malaysian dish very much as well.

 

Salted Egg Yolk Prawn

Wok-fried prawns with salted egg yolk crust, served with stir-fried lotus root & macadamia nuts in crispy yam ring

This would come in as 2nd runner up in my list. The salted egg yolk crust is really delectable. The lotus root was quite spicy, but gives the prawn dish an added "kick" as it's stir-fried with the fragrant dried-shrimp. The yam ring was also lovely since the yam was of good quality i.e. powdery. Overall, this dish is good, but it feels slightly overwhelming since it's actually 3 different Chinese-style dishes in one!

Beef Rib Rendang

Braised beef rib in spicy creamy turmeric, lemongrass & coconut gravy

The coconut gravy was rich & very fragrant, but the beef ribs were kinda tough. We informed the chef, who served us another round of beef ribs, which were more tender than the 1st serving.

Malay-Style Grilled Sea Bass

Grilled marinated sea bass served with tamarind sauce & chilli soy dip

Somehow I don't have any recollection of this dish! I think there's just too many dishes that I might have missed out tasting this dish! :(

Marinated Stuffed Baby Quail Tandoori

Tandoor roasted quail with paneer & pomegranate stuffing, accompanied with mint chutney

Becky commented that the quail has a "gamey" smell (Cantonese = "sou"), but I thought it was okay. I didn't find this dish very appealing though. Perhaps I'm not a great fan of quail as there's not much meat compared to chicken/duck :P

My plate of food...

Looks like I didn't eat much, eh? But I ate more than half the plate of beef cheeks, & nibbled here there. I was stuffed wei! Thanks to the load of drinks that accompanied the dishes!

Three drinks that represented the 3 major races in Malaysia

L anti-clockwise: Chenda (means a type of Indian drums) -yoghurt + orange + papaya. It reminded me of Sugus!

Gu Zheng (a type of Chinese string instrument) - soya bean + lychee + nata de coco. I didn't really fancy this one as it's too sweet & milky for my liking.

Dondang Sayang (traditional Malay love ballad) - milk tea + full cream milk + rose syrup. This was like teh bandung! Haha...interesting presentation :P

My intake of liquids for the night *burp*

L->R, top->bottom: Orange juice, Air Batu Campur (part of the menu - dessert), teh tarik (also part of the menu as the last item served. You can opt for kopi tarik too.), all the drinks that I tasted/drank for that night - no wonder I was FULL!

Complimentary from DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur

Their famous & really delicious chocolate chip cookie! Noms!

All for the photo!

Head Chef Azri Abd Manaf + Sharifah (Asst. Marcom Mgr) with writer from New Straits Times & bloggers, Rebecca Saw & PerutBesi + both bloggers' photographers.

Map to DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur

View PerutBesi in a larger map

Additional information:
1. The restaurant will also be conducting 2 cooking classes by Makan Kitchen speciality chefs for those who want to learn how to cook the dishes from the festival menu on 13th & 20th October, priced at RM80.00++ per person, minimum of 5 persons & maximum of 15 persons per class.

2. There will also be some special offers during the festival period exclusively for festival diners. Be among the top 3 spenders & stand a chance to win a 2 days/1 night stay at the hotel's Deluxe Suite for 2 persons.

3. Diners will also receive a 15% discount for Full Makan Kitchen Experience Buffet Dinner or 15% discount off total food bill at Tosca for up to a maximum of 10 persons upon presentation of a MIGF receipt during their future visits at both restaurants.

4. For those who celebrate their birthdays during the festival period & diners who book more than 10 seats, they will get to enjoy a 10% discount off total bill.


Makan Kitchen
DoubleTree by Hilton Kuala Lumpur
The Intermark
34B, Jalan Tun Razak
50400 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: (+603) 2172 7272/ 7680
Online reservation: Click Makan Kitchen
URL: KL.DoubleTreebyHilton.com
Facebook: DoubleTree by Hilton KL



Ratings:
Presentation: * * * *
Price: * * 1/2
Environment: * * *
Taste: * * *
Service: * * * 1/2


Overall:






Literally makan-ed the whole kitchen!