Review: Blu Med Ristorante e Bar @ The Gardens, Mid Valley

Overall comment: Enjoy an interesting array of fusion Mediterranean-inspired food in a cozy ambiance. Their cocktails are pretty good too!
Halal: Pork-free (alcohol is served)

It's been a LONG while since I attended a food review session. The past month has been a rush to complete my work project & have the system go-live. I'm relieved that I now have some time to breathe & write again! Oh, how I miss blogging!

I started this week on a "food-adventure-friendship" a.k.a. "The Ruthless Eater" tone, clearing my Monday blues with a good meal & fellowship at Blu Med, The Gardens, Mid Valley. The restaurant actually looks pretty "posh" that from a glance, I wouldn't have thought of going in for a meal, thinking that it'll be too expensive. I'm glad to be proven wrong this time around!

The restaurant officially opened last Feb 2013 & it is a perfect destination for both casual & formal dining, considering that it has 2 separate levels to accommodate small groups of family & friends (lower ground) & also large corporate-like functions (upper level). The restaurant offers facilities like an LCD projector, speakers & microphones for events in addition to buffet spreads as well. Blu Med's seating capacity is about 160 diners on the lower ground (inside & outside the restaurant), while the upper level could seat 60 diners comfortably. They also have 2 private dining rooms for groups who would prefer their own space. (sounds like a good option for my project teams' next get-together session!)

For this "new menu" review session, my table was served a medley of 2 cocktails + 6 dishes + 1 dessert. Time to see for yourself what are some of the dishes available at Blu Med ;)

Strawberry Caipriroska (RM26.00/glass)

Absolute Kurant, lime chunks, golden brown sugar, soda water, strawberry puree & lime juice

I'm not an expert in cocktails, but I actually enjoyed this. The strawberry puree turned out pretty delightful & the cocktail was a nice balance of the Absolute Kurant & the non-alcoholic portions. Although I'm not a fan of strawberry drinks (solely because it usually tastes artificial/ like cough syrup), I found myself wanting more of this :D

Caipiranha (RM26.00/glass)

Cachaca Rum, lime chunks, golden brown sugar, ginger ale & lime juice

After drinking the Strawberry Caipriroska, I found this "woah!" The name itself tickled me. The first thing that came to my mind was a school of 'piranhas'! Kekekeke...This felt much stronger, but I can't resist the taste of rum! Loved this as well although I personally prefer the Strawberry Caipriroska to this Caipiranha. I know AP would love both of these!! I actually am looking forward to bringing him here for the drinks & food :D

Sample format of their new menu

Their new menu would be very simple, straight-forward & easy on the eyes. I can't wait to see the final menu next week! No more flipping pages, no more thick menu! *woots*

Appetizer: Chef’s Salad (RM24.90/serving)
Garden greens, hard-boiled egg, slow-cooked chicken breast meat, crispy yam chips, Parmesan cheese, curry-spiced mayonnaise (homemade mayonnaise, curry powder, garlic)

This is a simple & light salad, but I found it really delicious. What's most unique about this salad is the curry-spiced dressing. It's not over-powering, but the curry flavor is evident enough that it makes this simple dish very aromatic. The other ingredient that I really enjoyed was the slow-cooked chicken breast meat. It's so tender, juicy & flavorful that I thought it was thick-cut ham! *yums* This could be a main meal for those who prefer something light yet filling :)

Watermelon with Feta Cheese (RM5.00/serving)
6 cubes of watermelon, black olives, feta cheese
Who would have thought of putting these 3 ingredients together? I wouldn't, for sure! Very, very fascinating. Sweet, savory & juicy in a single bite...haha.

Eggplant Gratin (RM10.00/serving)
Eggplant, homemade tomato “sauce” (peeled tomatoes, anchovies, capers, salt, olive oil), mozzarella cheese
I'm a great fan of eggplants & I have to say that this dish was a success! It's probably my favorite of the night :) The hearty-sized pieces of eggplants were crispy yet light on the outside & "juicy"/moist on the inside. The tomato sauce mixture was really tasty & the portion of cheese was generous as well. Thumbs up! I know my AP would LOVE this!

Not overly oily, not over-cooked, not under-cooked. Perfect!

Teriyaki Chicken & Salad Pizza (RM36.90/serving)
Such thin-crust pizza topped with teriyaki chicken slices, fresh lettuce, & homemade mayonnaise is best shared with family/friends. The combination of ingredients strikes the memory-chord of eating a chicken burger! It felt slightly strange to be eating a "pizza-burger"...hahaha...but it's still quite tasty nonetheless.

I love this shot: Grab your piece! :D

Linguine Tomato Cream “Bisque” Sauce (RM34.90/serving)
This was my sister's favorite. Twirl your fork into the plate of linguine al dante, tossed in tomato-prawn cream (prawn heads + shells: sautéed for 1 hour & stewed for 2 hours to get the stock) & served with crispy soft-shell crabs! Fuh. The prawn flavor was so rich & evident that it felt like eating a western-style "prawn mee" (Penang hokkien mee). Nice!

Executive Combo Set (RM59.90/serving) 

Deep-fried fish pieces, deep-fried chicken breast slices, & BluMed’s chicken satay on a bed of Japanese-inspired mash potatoes

As the mash potatoes are Japanese-inspired, it consisted of potatoes, pickles, beef bacon & homemade mayo. I quite liked the mash, but I felt that it was a tad too "mashed" for a mash potatoes that has mayonnaise. Kinda "jelak"/cloying. Unless the mayo is reduced, then I think the potatoes is best mashed 'til it's creamy. Well, this is my personal opinion :P 

The platter comes with 3 types of sauces as well i.e. tartar sauce, homemade BBQ sauce (beef stock, orange juice, chili sauce) & homemade peanut sauce for the satay. I guess my favorite in this platter is the deep-fried chicken breast slices as the batter for the fish felt like it had a tad too much baking powder (different batter from the eggplants & soft-shell crabs). The satay was slightly over-cooked as well, so it was dry & tough. Perhaps adding more "chicken fats/skin" would help? :P

Dessert: Chocolate Banana Honey Toast with Ice-Cream (RM18.90/serving)

This dish is best eaten as quickly as possible since the warm toast could become tough/hard & the cold ice-cream would melt (with our country's present heat-wave...even air-conditioned room also can't fight the crazy heat)! I'm not a fan of such toasts, but this wasn't too bad. I would prefer to have more toasted almond flakes on the dish for the extra crunch though :D

 

Upper Level of the Restaurant - very spacious

The "chandelier"...SO unique!

They used bottles & wine glasses - brilliant idea!

View of the restaurant from top down

With the chefs!

Tatsuya Ikeuchi - Executive Chef  & Kazutoshi Nakasone - Chef de Cuisine

The open-concept kitchen

The exterior of the restaurant

Drooling already? Blu Med & PerutBesi would like to treat all readers of "The Ruthless Eater" to the special Squid Ink Spaghetti at half the price for a whole 1 1/2 months! Just print out this "photo"/voucher & present it before ordering.

Click on photo to enlarge before printing

Special thanks to Blue Med, Ivy from FOOD Malaysia, Angeline & Suefin from Sushi Kin Sdn Bhd for the invitation :)

Bon apetit!


Blu Med Ristorante e Bar
27-G Ground Floor
The Boulevard, Mid Valley City
Lingkaran Syed Putra
59200 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: (+603) 2201 5081
Fax: (+603) 2282 0360
Business hours: 7:30a.m. - 12:00a.m. 
(yes, they're opened for breakfast through supper/late night drinks!)
URL: Blu Med


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


Overall:





Will be visiting Blu Med again!