Nathalie’s Gourmet Studio – Oct (2010) Menu !

For previous posting and an idea of Nathalie’s specialties:

June & July’s menu is HERE..
** August Menu HERE..plus..
** September Menu: HERE.

And surprise surprise… I’m back for my Oct month fix of French fusion cuisine here at Nathalie’s.
Hehe, that’s expected isn’t it, since I’ve been back every month once or twice at least. ;-)

The routine is now familiar; the crusty bread with the lovely creamy butter starts off the meal.

By now, each visit to Nathalie’s has become an anticipated culinary lesson for my partner and I. We started off with numerous photo shots to immortalize the visual feast, then moving on to dissect the dish as we start our private little quiz figuring out the ingredients. This is followed by a test of the tastebuds as we savour each bite and each component on the dish, appreciating the play of flavours & textures working in harmony in each one.

Now, who says eating can’t be educationally fun? ;-)

Roasted Pineapple Tart, Exotic Fruit Sorbet RM19 was the last dish but it is so pretty that I just had to begin my post today with it.

This has got to be the best version of a pineapple dessert ever. The “flower ” crowning the sorbet is a thinly sliced pineapple roasted til crispy. The black specks on the pineapples is actually vanilla & thank god there wasn’t any hint of cinnamon (I detest cinnamon, I just do) anywhere on this superb dessert. A wonderful ending to our lunch yesterday.

My lunch accomplice had this Morel and Chicken Timbale, Morel Emulsion – RM30 as his starter. A quick google educated me that morels are actually a sort of mushroom. Well, no wonder, for the sauce was certainly buttery & wafted of earthy fungi scent.

We demolish the walls of perfectly al dente penne to reveal the Chicken timbale inside, which turned out to be almost of chicken- meatball- texture but in a good way of course.

And yea, google tells me that “timbale” is “individual serving of minced e.g. meat or fish in a rich creamy sauce baked in a small pastry mold or timbale shell“.

Always in need for fibres, my order of Citrus Scallops in Carpaccio, Mesclun & Citrus Dressing RM29 did it’s job. I love that Nathalie used grapefruit for the citrus dressing rather than boring lemons. It made the salad very fruity-zesty (though it was a bit too sour for me) & refreshing. The slivers of crispy ginger on top was unexpectable but actually went well with the whole salad.

Generous slices of scallops, avocadoes, and loads of leafy greens.

On the mains. He opted for the Revised bouillabaisse (fish and saffron soup, fish fillet, potatoes and toasted bread with rouille sauce) – RM57 probably from the moment he saw it on the menu. A gourmet diner, I’m not surprised if he had the “original” before.

Well, he loved it. And that says a lot. In laymen terms, I would describe the soup as “watered” version of lobster bisque. Hearty seafood + prawny flavour.

Again, in my quest for a fibre rich diet, I opted for this dish mainly cos it has the word “cabbage” in it’s name.

Stuffed cabbage with Beef, chicken & Parmesan, Fresh herbs & Chicken Broth- RM37.

At 1st sight, it reminded me of a similar looking Chinese dish. But the stock was certainly French. Rich, rich rich. I couldn’t finish it! The minced meat was perfectly seasoned & I was quite regretful to have wasted a portion of it.

Starters - Oct Menu:

Mains - Oct Menu:

Desserts - Oct Menu:

A wonderful lunch. Thank you, my shy lunch accomplice for the quiet time & company.

And yes,  the rest of the Oct menu does holds promises of further exciting dishes. A 2nd round is certainly in the works. ;-)

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

cafe, french, fusion, solaris dutamas