This month marks a special month for fine dining in Malaysia, with the Malaysian International Gourmet Festival, held from 1st to 30th November 2008.

The event, which is now into its 8th successive year (originally started as the KL International Gourmet Festival) brings together some of Malaysia’s best culinary arts talents and tries to make fine dining accessible to as many people as possible.

This is done through special promotional menus, which although are still more expensive than a regular meal, it is still at a discount compared to usual fine dining prices. An example of the cost of a meal in one of the 28 participating restaurants is as follows:

RM108++ without wine
RM188++ with wine

It’s pretty expensive for a meal per person. But when you see the ingredients, it’s probably a lot cheaper than if you were to order the same meal normally:

Marinated Baby Lobster with Zucchini Salad, Oven-Roasted Tomato,
Spring Lettuce, Cream of Scallop & Lemon-Basil Oil
Founders’ Estate Sauvignon Blanc 2004
~•~
Butternut Squash Risotto with
Oyster Tempura
Cesari Pinot Grigio Chardonnay 2006
~•~
Pear & Cinnamon Sherbet
~•~
Grilled Black Angus Tenderloin with Roasted Sweet Potato,
Portobello Mushroom & Aragula Pesto
Leconfield Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon
OR
Pan-Fried Dover Sole Roulade with U.S. Asparagus,
Vanilla Bean-Mashed Potato & Balsamic Reduction
Gianni Gagliardo Dolcetta d’ Alba
~•~
Bitter-Sweet Chocolate Mousse Cake with Praline Ice Cream
Limoncello

But there are some other menus that cost upwards of RM200++ per person, which we can’t afford. Unfortunately, Feedmelah.com still has no budget, so maybe if one of the event organisers reads this post, you could send us a voucher for 3 people? That would be great… haha.

All the participating restaurants in the festival can be found below. The pictures will take you to their respective pages on the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF) official website. If you by chance go eat there, tell them you found out about their restaurant through Feedmelah.com!

Participating Restaurants

Avanti – Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa Tel: 03 7492 8000

Chalet – Hotel Equatorial Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2161 7777

Chynna – Hilton Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2264 2596

Dynasty – Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel Tel: 03 2162 2233

Enak – Starhill Gallery Tel: 03 2141 8973

Iketeru – Hilton Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2264 2596

Il Tempio – Taman Tun Abdul Razak, Ampang Tel: 03 4256 8200

Imperial Rama – Highlands Hotel, Resort World Tel:03 6101 1118

Ishq – Crowne Plaza Mutiara Tel: 03 2144 3440

Kabab and Qaurma – Jalan Yap Kwan Seng, Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2163 7644

Kim Ma – Palace of the Golden Horses Tel: 03 8944 3784

Lai Po Heen – Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2179 8885

Med.@Marche – Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel Tel: 03 2162 2233

Nerovivo – Jalan Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2070 3120

Pacifica Grill and Bar – Mandarin Oriental, Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2380 8888

Red -  Hilton Petaling Jaya Tel: 03 7955 9122

Senses – Hilton Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2264 2596

Si Chuan Dou Hua – Parkroyal Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2782 8303

Summer Palace – Putrajaya Marriott Hotel Tel: 03 8949 8888

Tamaring Springs – Taman Tun Abdul Razak, Ampang Tel: 03 4256 9300

The 39 Restaurant – PNB Darby Park, Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 7490 3333

The Emperor – Sheraton Subang Hotel & Towers Tel: 03 5031 6060

The Olive – Maxims Genting Hotel, Resorts World Tel: 03 6105 9688

Tuscany – Putrajaya Marriott Hotel Tel: 03 8949 8888

Villa Danieli – Hotel Imperial Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2717 9922

West Lake Garden – Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa Tel: 03 7492 8000

Zing! – Grand Millennium Kuala Lumpur Tel: 03 2117 4180

Zuan Yuan – One World Hotel Tel: 03 7681 1159

[Malaysia International Gourmet Festival]

Ok , we now know why there was no reply to our discussion thread on feedmelah facebook regarding a good place to eat on the way up to genting, reason being there were NONE! its just a plain old highway heading up the hills. So in the end, we decided to write this post to tell you guys about the selection of food high up in the highlands of genting.

First up , after checking in at Awana Genting , we decided to take the cable car up to the highlands. Upon reaching we were surprised to find many food outlets awaiting us ranging from high end restaurants, international buffets to fast food restaurants, food courts and various cafes. The prices are a bit on the high side, but hey, they did bring up the food 1500m above sea level, so I guess it is only fair they charge a teeny weeny bit extra (though some did go quite overboard).

Below are a few snapshots on what is readily available at the top so for those who want to visit Genting in the future, you need not worry on starving.

Restaurants on the high end side (price wise)

These restaurants are all located near the Genting hotel, which is the main hotel on the peak of Genting. They are all situated on the same wing of the hotel.

Buffet in the sky (literally since Genting is shrouded in clouds most of the time) is served at the Coffee Terrace. Reasonably priced of RM55++ for adults and RM27.50++ for children. Available only for dinner.

Cheap Eats, First World Hotel (Pavillion)

Located in the same area as parts of the indoor amusement park as well as the theatre where the shows are performed (Dreamz, Hacken Lee etc.) is a very large food court with a large variety of cheap(er) eats. Have a look at what they have:

So next time when you are up, don’t gamble off all your money , remember to save some for the good food available up there. Not forgetting enjoying the wonderful cold weather…brrrrrrrrrr!!!

Our friends Shene and Jason have been telling us about this place forever, and so finally we decided to go on a double date with them and check the place out.

The restaurant is actually an old bungalow, converted into a restaurant. It has a bamboo forest theme going with bamboo lining the cobbled pathway and also around the restaurant. On a scale of 1-10 for ambience, this is definitely a 10. We were ushered into our private room (reserved) with our own private view of the bamboo forest outside.

We gave the chef a budget of RM100 per person (it was a special occasion ok?), and see what he could cook up for us, which gave it that little element of surprise.
Our dinner menu for the night consisted of:

1. Grilled baby scallop with Mayonnaise Sauce, Oil Steamed Shishamo Fish, Grilled baby Yam with Miso Paste, Smoked Salmon

2. Double boiled Salmon Barry Soup served with Mushroom and Leek

3. Assorted Sashimi (Tuna , Salmon, White Tuna and Yellow Tail served with Garnish

4. Grilled Japanese Sea Bass Jaw with Salt Seasoning

5. Grilled Eel Hot Pot with Burdock and Egg

6. Assorted Prawn Tempura

7 Grilled Eel Roll Sushi

8 Green tea, Citrus and Sesame Ice Cream.

9. Recommended Sake

From the top, we were first served a tapas platter which allowed us to sample a little bit of everything. The grilled baby scallops were grilled to perfection and the grilled baby yam with miso paste is not something you can get off a typical Japanese menu. The double boiled Salmon Barry Soup was an east meet west concoction, sweet and light, with the mushroom and leek giving it its own individual flavour.

The assorted sashimi came in a gigantic bowl which was beautifully decorated. The artistic presentation of the food showed off the generous slices of sashimi, not to mention the freshness. It felt as if it came straight from the ocean. Eaten dipped in soy sauce with freshly grated wasabi will give any sashimi fanatic a run for their money.

The Japanese Sea bass jaw with Salt Seasoning was initially eaten with some apprehension since we did not know what we were eating. After a few nibbles, we realised what it was. The salt seasoning went all the way through the meat even to the bone, making it very tasty and left us wanting more.

The Grilled Eel hot pot with burdock (some kind of vegetable root) and egg was deliciously tasty with the eel melting in our mouths. It came in little clay pots, bringing back memories of my younger days playing masak-masak in my own little world. The prawn tempura served after this was too tempting to resist, even though we were stuffed by then. The batter used was light and the prawns, succulent. Perfecto!

Last came the grilled eel sushi roll. Now this is something quite unique because the chef incorporated a bit of Malaysian-ism into the sushi by adding chili padi, giving it that extra kick. Lightly fried in tempura batter gave it that extra crunch, making it a good end to our long meal. All this food went down really well with the recommended ice cold sake that we ordered.

Citrus flavoured ice cream

Despite feeling as if we could explode anytime soon, we could not say no to dessert (You never say no to dessert). We were served nice cold ice cream to cool our tummies down. There were 3 flavours to choose from – the traditional green tea (macha) ice cream, sesame ice cream, or citrus ice cream (refreshing). Shene actually recommended lavender ice cream which is personally made by the chef and is said to be ‘the best’, but unfortunately, there wasn’t any available that night.

All in all, our total bill came up to approx RM125 per person which is not bad since we had a wide range of dishes (scallops, tuna, salmon, eel, prawns) and it would probably have cost us more if we had ordered the dishes separately. I think this was a great and well worth it dinner. Cheers to great food, great environment and also great company.

I highly recommend this place for birthdays, anniversaries, family dinners or even if you are looking for a nice quiet place to eat. Fukuya, we will definitely be back for more.

Fukuya

No. 9, Jalan Delima 55100 ,

Kuala Lumpur

(Behind Indonesian Embassy)

Mondays – Saturdays 12:00pm – 2:30pm (lunch)

6:30pm – 10:30pm (Dinner)

Sundays : closed

Cuisine: Japanese

Halal, Private parking

Tel: +60(3) 2144 1022/2144 1077

www.fukuya.com.my