Affordable French Dining – Nathalie Gourmet Studio, Solaris Dutamas, KL

One might balk at the prices, after all, I did name my post “affordable” but try going to some notable French restuarants; namely Le Bouchon in Changkat Bukit Bintang, Lafite in Shangri-la Hotel or Cafe Cafe at Jalan Maharajalela & this is as Frenchly-affordable as it can get for middle class fellas like us.

Chef Nathalie Arbefeuille helms the kitchen here with her capable team & the open kitchen allows you to witness the chefs at work. All of them worked quietly, with concentrated focus & precise movements. Each dish that came out from the kitchen bears testimony of meticulous preparation from the raw ingredients to the final presentation.

Nathalie Gourmet Studio1

Nathalie’s Gourmet Studio is an original concept by Chef Nathalie Arbefeuille. The outlet is divided into a professional kitchen (complete with long tables & chairs, ovens, etc for cooking classes every morning), air-conditioned dining area inside & an outdoor terrace for breakfast, lunch & tea, another main kitchen where the team prepares the meals for their customers & restrooms complete with towels & candles at a corner.

Even the table setting insinuate of class with napkins neatly tied with a pretty ribbon & quality tableware.

Nathalie Gourmet Studio

nathalie Gourmet Studio

Nathalie’s menu offers a choice of 5 starters, 5 main courses and 5 desserts, with the menu being refreshed every two weeks. When it first opened in June, I was there for the duck confit; since there weren’t many restaurants that does it well & I have been craving for a good one for ages. Here at Nathalie Gourmet Studio, the duck confit was how a duck confit should be, well-browned and crisp prior to serving; meat that shreds easily; not too salty, fatty & succulent.

Nathalie Gourmet Studio’s June menu.

Nathalie Gourmet Studio menu june

Duck Confit with warm orange, celery & lettuce salad, porcini dressing, RM35.

duck confit-1

I love everything on this dish. The duck (obviously), the sweet slightly acidic oranges, the crisp bitter arugula, the savoury dressing & the sweet onions relish.

duck confit

Unfortunately, the Nathalie Gourmet Studio’s July/current menu does not feature this excellent dish any longer.

Nathalie Gourmet Studio menu july

But it has it’s winning dishes as well. Jenn, Leo’s wife who ordered this Ricotta and Herbs Raviolis,Carrot & Ginger Broth, RM30 said it was good. Apparently the ginger & carrot was paired well. I personally thought RM30 was ok for this dish as I spied about 6-7 raviolis in the bowl. Furthermore, the pasta are made fresh in-house.

ravioli Nathalie Gourmet Studio4

Joaquim enjoyed her Beef Cheek Bourguignon, with Fresh Pasta, RM47.

beef cheek Nathalie Gourmet Studio3

Leo & Jerine both ordered Chicken & King Prawns with Fennel Ragout, and Bisque Sauce, RM37. Jerine is a very fussy eater & she gave it thumbs up. I loved how the bisque sauce smelled wonderfully strong of seafood. Yup, it’s all prepared from scratch in Nathalie’s kitchen.

chic n prawn Nathalie Gourmet Studio

JoaQuim had a starter as well, the sweet juicy Revised Momotaro Tomato with buffalo Mozzarella RM23. The bottom pic of my collage here shows the tomato jelly, made with tomato juice. The dollop of cream on top is basil cream, which tasted unmistakeably & so strongly of basil leaves that you can be assured that it is the real deal.

Momotaro Nathalie Gourmet Studio1

I wasn’t feeling very well so I started with the Vegetable Quiche, Mixed Lettuce with Asian Dressing, RM18. It was nice, but it is not something I would recommend for that price.

vege quiche Nathalie Gourmet Studio

Then I ordered a Nathalie’s Revised Chicken Nuggets, with emmental cheese dip & ratatouile RM15, from the kid’s menu. It was seriously a wasted opportunity for me that day, for I could normally eat a cow for lunch. Furthermore, we had a big group together for lunch & I was not being able to taste & share the dishes they ordered. Heck, I couldn’t even eat my nuggets. Well, UnkaLeong said they were delicious. 😥

nuggets ratatouile Nathalie Gourmet Studio

Complimentary bread & butter as starters. The bread is warm & fresh with the signatory crusty outer crust of french breads. Nothing beats Favola’s at Le Meridien breads so far though.

comp bread starters

JoaQuim then ordered their All Chocolate Dessert, RM20. She said it was nice, while I thought it was rather ordinary.

All choc dessert

Nathalie is famed for her perfect macarons. Perfect in taste & looks & she even had a reputation going around that her macarons are the best in KL so far. For RM4.20 (as per my receipt) per tiny macaron, they better be good.

Macarons Nathalie Gourmet Studio

Flavours are aplenty so you will not run out of choices. I managed a small nip from this one as I was really curious as to how good it is.

sesame macaron Nathalie Gourmet Studio2

Verdict? Ermm..I don’t think I’m ready to enjoy macarons. Yet.

Overall, Nathalie’s cuisine is French with a delicate Asian flavour. The short & frequently changing menus keeps options fresh & diners guessing on what new exquisite dishes the talented Chef Nathalie has up her sleeve/chef’s hat next. Her clientèle of French expats certainly add credibility to her food.

Note: Solaris Dutamas is NOT Solaris, where the Cold Storage is.
To get here, go PASS Solaris on your left, head on straight till you are at a T-junction. Turn RIGHT. Drive along the road which will eventually curve left.
After about a minute, you will see a block of commercial building on your left. There are a lot of F&B outlets, etc here. You can’t miss it.
The Pink Sage is here too.

My reviews of The Pink Sage.
Dinner at The Pink Sage
Breakfast at The Pink Sage

GPS:  N03 10.25′    E101 39.91′

Nathalie’s Gourmet Studio
A-4-1-5 Dutamas Solaris,
Jalan Dutamas, 50490 Kuala Lumpur.
T:
6 03 62079572
W: www.nathaliegourmetstudio.com


This Post Has 42 Comments

  1. Sean

    yikes, hope u’re feeling better now. u caught a flu bug?
    the july menu looks good! especially the tomato starter & beef main course! wish one of you had tried the norwegian poached egg though … am wondering what it would look like, since that sounds interesting (but expensive for rm27!!!)
    it’s also nice that her cooking is somewhat healthier than usual french cooking, which tends to go heavy on the butter and cream sauces…

    1. Rebecca

      Yes! Its French yet somewhat different??
      Hard to put into words, considerin that my vocab is limited! LOL.
      But i “felt” the difference more than I can describe it.
      I did enjoy the food here & PA + ciki was there on the same day. They ordered the Norwegian poached egg & it was heavenly i was told!
      Ok, tis is lunch again! Nx Sat! Hehe..

  2. minchow

    Nooo! Duck confit, come backkk! I’ve heard from good authority that no joint in KL has truly mastered the duck confit – closest was Il Lido – and it isn’t even French! I’m going to call Nathalie’s up to see if they’re planning to reinstate it in the menu!! I’m also with you on the macarons – they sure are pretty to look at, but I just don’t GET it, y’know?

    1. Rebecca

      I’m with one on the macarons!
      Though I’m a dessert freak! Yes yes, duck confit pls come back! Il Lido?
      Oh my, now i must try theirs too for comparison! :yes:

  3. unkaleong

    *burps* Indeed they were 😉 Drink more fluids before you leave for work this morning.

    1. Rebecca

      I’m back in action! Whew!
      So ncie to be able to keep food down! Glad u enjoyed the nuggets dear :rose:

  4. J the chocoholic

    LOL.
    Well, it was a chocolate dessert called All Chocolate. How can I not like it? 🙂

    1. Rebecca

      A tad too simple for fussy me but hey, we got to hit The Haute Food soon or bon bon Atria for desserts soon! :yes:

  5. stephenie

    i luv macaron, rm4.20 per peice is rather cheap! i bought it in sg for Rm10 per piece.

    1. Rebecca

      Eiks! RM10!
      Then you must try this ASAP! Let me knw if the Sg one is worth the prize ;p

  6. Woo SW

    Your weblog is extremely fascinating,I wish to communicate with u,could i sent email to you?

  7. lotsofcravings

    yeah im wondering how many hundreds i have left, with so many restaurants to try b4 i leave in 3 wks!

    1. Rebecca

      Go in a big group Joe. Then can taste more! So Cilantro for Fri for sure? B-)

  8. Leo

    wah lao eh… you banyak cepat huh?? I haven’t even took the pictures out from my camera yet 😛
    by the way, hope you feel better now!
    Nice meeting up again becky!

    1. Rebecca

      Alws nice to see you Leo, & Jenn too. You guys are so positive that it rubs off on me too 😉

      It’s good to hang around ppl who looks at life so rosily, for one as cynical & jaded as I am.

      Wish we can hang out more! Unka missed u guys too. When yr in town again?

      1. Leo

        most probably next weekend 🙂 keep in touch

  9. vialentino

    wah…studio…my dream kitchen ler…if they wanna open a branch in klang…let me know…can rent my shop to them…hehehe

    1. Rebecca

      ROFL!
      Err..I can’t imagine Nathalie in Klang! :unsure:

      1. vialentino

        hahaha….new market @ there … i mean at bukit tinggi klang area there.

  10. Michelle Chin

    I will definitely try this place, considering that it is reasonable. The macrons seem perfect! I love the skirting! I want to get macarons right now! AHHHHH

    1. Rebecca

      Skirting? wow u sure know yr macarons!
      Yup, do visit ASAP. Take note of the hours and directions ya!

  11. paranoidandroix

    He he he… Nice to know you are ok. And nice seeing you too! Our food was great there too.

    1. Rebecca

      Haha..So more visits to Nathalies fron now? But too bad the menu is limited. But good that it changes often enough 😉

  12. augustdiners

    p.s. i cant bring myself to like macaroons taste too! but i’d buy them since they look so pretty!

  13. foodbin

    very affordable for such great food.

    1. Rebecca

      I thought so too! But portions are small, just like how the French eats! Small portions, slow dining, over many courses.

  14. kampungboycitygal

    the only time i can drop is only sat, seeing that they are closed on sunday n after 6pm everyday.

    what’s wrong with macarons? too sweet? :p

    1. Rebecca

      Oh I know what you mean!
      It’s difficult for me too! cos I go gym on Sat, sometimes got events on Sat..tht’s why it took me sometime to organise a group here. Then also, I fall sick pulak!

  15. J2Kfm

    Oh, closed on Sundays. Maybe Saturday afternoon should be a good time to go.
    Pity they’re not opened at night though.

    Good selection, and I can foresee this place going far, from the words of mouth and ever-changing menu.

    Hope to see the duck confit comes back soon.

    1. Rebecca

      I know right? The opening hours are ridiculous!

      Beware though, lunch is only from 12pm!
      Dont go anytime earlier! (unless u wan brekkie, but not worth it laa)

  16. ai wei

    i wan a bite on the macaroon and also indulge with this french courses so muchie. *wait til neck long d* ><

  17. worldwindows

    Good recommendation! I am not adventourous with western food. But this deserve a try.

  18. baDboyzs

    Looks classy and so fine a place. Wish we can be invited here soon ~slurp~ :heart:

  19. sophia

    You crazy gal!! How can you NOT like macarons! They’re AWESOME! Maybe you just don’t like chewy crunchy, delicious things. lol.

    The meal seems perfect, though!

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