MIGF 2010 – Lafite, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur – REVIEW

Note:
What you see is what you get. Dinner is incognito. We paid for our meal.

I have not expected anything less than stellar food here at Lafite. Else I won’t be so readily forking out that amount of cash for their MIGF menu. At the end of dinner, strutting out of the posh restaurant, I’m delighted to report that it was moolah well spent. Kudos to the Chef for the gorgeous presentation that matches the excellent food.

Lafite cuisine is mainly European and their extensive range of international wines are carefully chosen to match with the menu.

Cold Starter

Tart of Hokkaido Scallops
Scallops Tartare, Lime Squid Ink Polenta, Yuzu Shallot Cream, Caviar
Pinot Grigio, San Angelo,Castello Banfi, 2008

Warm Starter
Delicious Of The Land And Sea From Brittany
Butter Poached Lobster, Seared Foie Gras,
Cherry Tomato Confit, White Truffle Foam
Woodcutter’s Semillon, Tobreck, Barossa Valley, 2004
Middle Course
Confit Of Line Catch Iran Sturgeon
Sautéed Yabbies, Pea Mousse, Chanterelles Mushrooms,
Marinated Baby Fennel, Sturgeon Roe
Chablis, Domain De Vaudon, 2006
Sherbet
Indian Red Blood Orange Sherbet
Whipped Crème Fraiche and Crispy Rosemary
Main Course
Sous Vide Cooked Milk-Fed
Baby Limousine Lamb
Parsley Mousse, Fine Ratatouille,
Black Olive Gnocchi, Capers, Thyme Sauce
Château La Couronne, Saint Emilion, 2004
Dessert
Warm Valrhona Chocolate Soufflé
Avocado Purée, Pineapple Ragout, Verbena Ice-Cream,
Cocoa Nips Crisp, Tahiti Vanilla Cappuccino
Hugo’s Delight Late Harvest Riesling, Gravitas 2005

Full Festival Menu
RM580++ per person with wine
RM380++ per person without wine

Lafite
Cuisine: European
Capacity: 90 pax
Address:
Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur
11, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur
Phone: +603-2074 3900
Website: Visit Restaurant Website
Introducing the new chef at helm:
Georg Schröppel, a new talent in town,with 12 years of experience working in the most competitive markets in terms of culinary excellence such as Europe, America and China, brings to the sophisticated diners of Lafite an international expertise along with a fresh approach to European cuisine.
Two years prior to moving to Restaurant Lafite, Chef Georg Schröppel was the Chef de Cuisine at the Ritz Carlton, Guangzhou.
In 2007, he earned the Chef’s Master Craftsmen’s degree in Rothenburg, Germany, prior to which he spent time polishing his fine dining cooking skills in two- and three-star Michelin establishments such as the Residenz Heinz Winkler, Restaurant Waldhotel Sonnora in Germany and the French Laundry in the United States.

MIGF 2010 Lafite Menu:

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (2)
Delicious warm fresh carbs with the most wicked aioli started off our meal that night..

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (3)

The Amuse Bouche came next: A dainty cornette of egg crepe filled with salmon tartar. Very posh.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (4)

Our 1st course was the sublime steamed duck egg custard that reminisces of chawanmushi. Richer & more decadent, it was undoubtedly a win over the customary versions that uses chicken eggs.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (5)

The maple cream was a surprise! Because it was really sweet, it was weird on its own but in a mouthful with the rich egg custard coupled with the bursts of briny goodness from the roes, it became an ingenious sweet + savoury pairing .

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (6)

Next was our cold starter; the scallop tartar with lime squid ink polenta. Raw scallops, tangy dressing & grainy polenta. Yes, interesting textures indeed.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (7)

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (8)

I was actually looking forward to the warm starter simply cos it’s got luscious foie gras! Sorry duckies, I like my foie gras & I won’t be abstaining from it anytime soon.
Especially when it’s cooked right, like this one where it was wonderfully caramelized to crisp on the outer layer, with a smooth velvety centre.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (9)

As expected, everything on the plate paired in harmony. One can still taste the luxuriant truffles though it was in foam, and the fresh lobster was succulent. Ingredients here certainly gave us no reasons to complain.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (10)

This was a course that lured us here out of the 30 odd restaurants in the MIGF list. Sturgeon isn’t quite something you spy on the menu every day. Sturgeon roes are even rarer no?

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (11)

Chanterelles mushrooms (whatever they are) boast of clean earthy flavours and a meaty bite. The yabbies were faultless and the sturgeon…aahhh..

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (12)

…sweet, flaky and slightly briny from the roes that was served on top of it, I just wish there was more of it. Like maybe another whole slice! Hehe..

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (13)

Next was a face muscles contracting sorbet to cleanse off the fishiness from the palate.. I’m no fan of sorbet, but I was told this is a pretty good one.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (14)

Sous vide lamb..this was another deciding factor for our choice of MIGF restaurants- to- visit this year.
I just couldn’t wait to cut this into half to reveal the lamb inside…

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (15)

..and was happily rewarded with the glorious sight of pink juicy meat. The lamb was perfectly medium, absolutely tender & gamey. It’s green casing may be strange but thankfully it tasted way better than it’s appearance.
Parsley aren’t my favourite herb but here the taste wasn’t overpowering, demonstrating again the Chef’s skills in balancing the flavours and senses in one plate. The pillowy soft gnocchi was expected by now, just as my faith in Chef Georg Schröppel is now affirmed.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (16)

This is quail egg brioche, on top of a slice of soft cheese. Silky yolk over buttery brioche and creamy cheese. I’ll leave it to you to imagine it’s taste on your tongue.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (17)

Finally I got my dessert. At this point my palate was almost reeling with the medley of different textures, flavours and ingredients I have consumed over the last 7 courses. Dessert should be more straightforward, I had thought…

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (18)

But no, it’s not. Each of the components on the cold dessert slab imparts a different flavour. “No, only sweets will not do”, Chef Georg Schröppel seems to be saying…

And so here goes…

I dipped my fork into the Tahiti Vanilla Cappuccino 1st simply cos this whole foam business intrigues me…

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (20)

..and was rewarded with fragrant vanilla aroma with rich chocolate cream. This cube of jelly below turned out to be a spicy & tangy concoction of chilli & pineapples..

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (19)

A small scoop of Verbena ice cream was interestingly very ginger-ish in aftertaste…

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (21)

…while this avocado puree was simply too funky for me..

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (22)

The best was this light, cottony soufflé, simply cos it was familiar! LOL.
Though it was Valrhona, it wasn’t as rich as I would have preferred but it is certainly a soufflé rightfully done.

MIGF 2010 - LAFITE Shangri-la (1)

I’m duly impressed, and would be counting down the days to my half day leave, specially applied for Georg Schröppel’s weekday set lunch.

Anyone care to join me? RM82++ for 2 courses and a dessert buffet spread. 😉

This Post Has 27 Comments

  1. Sean

    Seems really worthwhile! Being a fan of eggs, I’d definitely look forward to the duck egg and quail egg courses! The lamb is also quite a sight! 😀

    1. rebeccasaw

      Haha! I won’t say it’s worthwhile, but it’s good enough in terms of taste.
      Still expensive at RM380++

  2. Simon Seow

    I like the way the salmon roe are placed on the scallop tartar. But I can’t afford to put out RM 580++ or even RM 380++ for a course like this T_T

    1. rebeccasaw

      Haha.. I understand. Price is a big factor here

  3. J the chocoholic

    Oh man…. looks good! *drool*
    (Hmmmm. Some of the stuff on that dessert platter looks way too funky for my tastebuds too! lol)

    1. Rebecca

      Hehe.. But it’s good that the chef attempts something different!

  4. foodbin

    so much to savor-quite a bit of foamy stuff.

    1. rebeccasaw

      Yup, all this high class dining and foams! :wacko:

  5. mimid3vils

    I’ve sampled the steamed duck egg @ MIGF launching, very interesting taste I would say!

  6. Leo

    you didn’t take the meal with wine right???

  7. cant afford to pay 380 but rm 82 for lunch is definitely ok. so call me if u wana try d lunch! i work nearby!

    1. rebeccasaw

      Oh yes!
      That’s a good idea! Let me try get my friend Kevin to join us! 🙂

  8. Fui

    Tried the Chef Georg’s Luncheon Menu before, the main course is really unbeatable great. So I think this courses meal surely like heavenly.

    1. rebeccasaw

      I read your post!
      Nice, but yea, all expensive.
      Myself also limiting to 2 only this year. Atr reason is tht the MIGF menu doesnt look too exciting.

      1. Fui

        thanks for reading my post.

        Yea, compare to last year, this year the MIGF menus are not attractive as last year. But thanks to that, I can easily make my choice.

        Waiting for your next MIGF’s visit 😀

      2. rebeccasaw

        Oh, jz went to L’Heritage at Royale Chulan yesterdy.
        btw, I tried leaving a comment on yr post yestrdy but I can’t. Is something wrong?

      3. Fui

        ops, I’m also planned for the light festival menu at there. Can’t wait for ur review now before make final decision.

        I think I had some problem with the html code there but due to busy of non-stop working, I don’t have time to fix it now 🙁

        anyway, any comment can write here?thanks

      4. Fui

        I had fixed the comment’s part.

  9. junsern

    damn… looks really really really good!

Leave a Reply to rebeccasaw Cancel reply

Related Posts

hotels near klcc

Top 13 Hotels Near KLCC

The sights and sounds of Kuala Lumpur is an experience you would never forget. There are certain cities you should definitely visit and Kuala Lumpur

Worldchefs Congress & Expo 2018

To commemorate 90 years of gastronomy excellence–the World Association of Chefs Societies is returning this July, stronger than ever! If you’re looking for a place to