Happy Birthday JS!!!!!

Today marks another mileage of a great man :))) of all his major accomplishments in life. So Monkey threw him a lil party at his favourite restaurant with all his lovely friends. The name has it....since they were so lovely...they took the trouble to get into KL. Be it through air, land or rail. Thank you peeps!!!! u guys are the best.

Weeks following the dinner, I am sure Chef Takashi was sweating over the menu. Hahahaha. It has to be a special composition with no chicken no duck no pigeon no partridge. You think that's easy without being vegetarian coz most of the guests were carnivores.

Next it was JS himself stressing over the wine list for his birthday....he didn't know which bottle to be popped. -_- so JS and Dr. Epicurean were in serious discussion about the wines. For the wine freaks, everything revolves around the wines....food is just an accompaniment. Soon after much editing, the final wine list was sent to Chef Takashi for his part of the chain - to create the menu accordingly to the wine. So u think that's easy? I am so thankful that I'm not a chef hahahhahaha. Allow me to rephrase....their chef!!! wuahahahha

JS drafted the wine list and got Monkey to pack them in the wine cellar...
I stared at it O.O
can't read a thing.....errrrr babble babble babble babble
I am surprised that you are not a doctor but an engineer -_-
thought diagrams and plans had to be precise and clear?


Earlier in the afternoon, Si Fu Lawrence just touched down and we were relaxing over another bottle of champagne :P *we are confirmed alcoholics*

spot JS's Goyard bags -_- It even has got a special chair for them to sit in the living hall. Not any chair but a limited edition Emeco for Coca-cola chair....
so who's more vain??? me or him?? u may start voting now.



So dinner commenced at 8pm once the last guest sat down, in this case it was Munchy
why are we not surprised? but he protested that he was framed and given the wrong timing of the party.


Happy Happy eppy eppy People :))))))))))))


Dinner started with an amuse bouche
Cilantro alwiz alwiz put efforts in their amuse bouche...
I think that's the way to go because it alwiz puts an impression. a first impression especially and tantalize your tastebuds. It has to be small too....I have seen huge amuse bouche at other establishments....almost like a course on its own. Well u don't want your dinners to fill their stomach before the actual meal right?


first course was composition of spring products
from the not-charred-but taste-charred yummy octopus, to the baby squid laden with eggs and roes inside...to the crispy japanese bamboo piths, crunchy spring asparagus and beautiful leaves which I forgotten its name.

So simple and yet so complicated huh?
the taste profile was amazing....my favourite dish and I would say it did blew everyone off their seats.


Capellini with hotate and ooni
this dish caused a war on the table....not enuff to eat >.<

the pairing of the rich scallop and sea urchin is just perfect. Chef toyed with the idea of crispy fried seaweed. This is in fact very similar to Putian cuisine, or u call them Heng Hua. The famous heng hua fried noodle has got this deep fried crispy chinese seaweed on top. Yums!!! Boasted the texture of this dish.


Si Fu Lawrence looked so impressed here....or more like stoned..
errr think he's busy analyzing notes in his head
well Si Fu too much of analysis leads to brain paralysis....is that what causes ur insomnia?


see I told ya....he's analyzing everything!!!!!!
I'll give u a binocular/magnifier next time to view your food in details.
or perhaps, his specs has got this built in magnifier??? wuahahhahaha

King Crab Ravioli
u may call it chinese dumpling but it's stilla  ravioli to us
the skin was so perfect, silky smooth and thin....definitely better than any wan tans u had before.

Italians don't make their ravioli skin this fine....think they don't know how. The shellfish broth served on a japanese teapot was the bomb!!!! so so so awesome. I wished I could ta-pau some of the broth home. Very clear and intense, almost like a consomme. Perhaps it was a consomme.

the fillings inside the ravioli was really delicate and fine, with an egg white and crab roe mousse? It was like toufu but with really intense ooommppphhhh and of coz the king crab meat. I wondered how many crabs were used for this delicate dish.

Akagarei with champagne sauce, served with caviar and baby herbs
the delicate fish is known as flathead flounder and it's in season now.

Really soft, fine and delicate meat which can take any flavours. It's quite rich and fat so the baby herbs did the job to balance it up - think it was baby coriander bcoz the flavour was really super intense but those leaves were so tiny!!!!

Scratch Golfer Mr. T and Ms. W
Thank you for coming all the way :))))
those who doesn't know wat's scratch golder is......it's like having handicap zero!!!
ZERO!!!!!!
0
I've never ever known an amateur golfer with handicap zero
Oh well, Mr. T is at a different level of game when it comes to golf. Notice all golfers have got the same pantone color on their skin????
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA


Monkey & Mean Xer
she's also a golfer but I dunno why is she so fair??
I'm not but I'm pretty tanned......guess I can cheat ppl that I golfed based on my skin color. Wuahahahaha.


Foie Gras with egg pane and truffles
Cilantro still serves the best foie gras in town...the egg pane was something new that we had. It's a fried quail egg but when u cut it, its yolks is still runny~~~~ oomppphhhhh

How do u attain something like this? the eggs had been fried to golden brown golf balls but its yolk is still runny? According to Heston Blumenthal u soft boil the egg at xx minutes, remove its shell immediately and ice bath them...Finally wrapped with XXXX then double dip them in flour, eggs and crumbs before frying them at XXX degree for XXX minutes.


By now, we had moved on from the champagnes and white wines to REDS!!!!
u know your guests are having a great time when the pic shows....


Mean Xer and Munchy luffing their asses off!!!!
What's so funny???
oh must be another Hamburger story.....
according to Mean Xer, that has got to be the word of the year...

oh well, I listened to it all the time....prollie the novelty will soon wear off for you and u will need another word of the year. HAHAHAHA

Dr. Epicurean, Prince C and I Ching luffed at a different "magnitude"
hahahahahahah

Granite with kaffir lime zest
THIS IS WAT I CALLED A REAL GRANITE!!!!
it's supposed to clean ur palate before ur next course and most of all it must be refreshing and cream-less. I dunno why certain establishments don't understand this. Perhaps they needed me to go to their kitchen to show them how.......but I dunno how coz I'm not a cook. HAHAHHAHA


excellent and perfectly executed Saga Beef sirloin and karubi
there's 2 different cuts...I somehow prefer the fattier ones hehehehehe
*stared down at my flabby stomach now*

by this 6th course which was our main course....most of the beef were donated to the One Kilo man. Dr. Epicurean can consume a kilo of beef on his own. Never underestimate the CC of his stomach. It's like a thirsty jaguar!!!!

Prince C and I Ching
she was so tipsy by then, it has been a long day for her with Kids Sports Day in school. Thank you for coming :))))))))))

a very well composed pic by JS, I didn't know u can use HAIR as foreground and bokeh it. Bokeh is a common word in photography where it's define as aesthetic quality of blurness....
thanks to Munchy for loaning his hair for this piece of "artwork" ahem.....


Roquefort cheese with toasted walnut and honey served on warm crispy brioche bread. This one was a stunner!!!! lurve it!!!


U like wat u saw???
Krug Rose, Bollinger VVF and Krug Mesnil...
definitely not your everyday champagnes. Strictly to be popped open on special occasions.

a cake and candle is a must for the Birthday Boy, no matter how much he insisted. It's like a tradition. So by this time, he's kinda used to having cakes for birthday.

Friends said I'm such a drama Queen but I think he took the title of all.....pretended that it takes such an effort to blow the candles....hahahahaha.


Happy Birthday my love :))))
12th March is such an important day in my calendar....
seen here he was using the Bottega Veneta bag I got him last year, and the watch I gave him a few years ago. So give face hor??? :D

Sorry your birthday pressie failed to arrive early this year. But it's on your way and u should receive it today :))) I don't know wat to give to a man who has got everything in life - think I've already given myself to you years ago so that doesn't count. Hope you'll enjoy it when you receive your pressie today :)))) hehehehehe



JS, Mr. T, Dr. Epicurean, Prince C
thank you friends!!!!! for you friendship, generosity and happiness you have given to us :))))


and thank you Chef Takashi Kimura
u are the BEST!!!
:)))))))))))


Since u are the best, please pen your signatures for all my friends here :)))))
I know I'm such a demanding client....hahahahaha
these days the Chef had to create menu, source for ingredients, be creative, Cook and command the kitchen, QC every single dish before it's being served, entertain clients, Photography, more smiles, and autographs.
WUAHAHAHAHAHA

Mean Xer u think u can do this? especially the later part? HAHAHAHAHHA
Prollie u won't accept me as your customer....I foresee that my face would be plastered at the entrance of your future restaurant with the word - Banned!!!!


Declinaison du Chocolat

of vanille, caramel and dark chocolat....
awesome!!! I licked everything off my plate.

When we thought dinner was about to over....the last bottle was opened
1974 Gaja Sori San Lorenzo
I am lucky to have visited Gaja in Barbaresco, Italy :)))) don't mind doing it again but they definitely will not accept me anymore.


deliberation of wine notes and the food we had....
stressful right to cook for this bunch of ppl?

it's a novelty to have a bottle of d'Yquem for dessert :))))
thank you Dr. Epicurean

the stunning wines line-up.
this was a scaled down series...and the kiasu ppl actually brought a few more bottles spare...They are now sitting in the restaurant.

U know it's time to go home when ur guests are slouching like a Hamburger

or starts smiling for no apparent reason
HAHAHHAHAHAHA

Thank you dearie friends for coming
Happy Birthday JS....so tonite I won't be serving foie gras and saga beef to you but a simple home cooked soup :))))

Cilantro Restaurant & Wine Bar

Micasa All Suite Hotel,
368-B, Jalan Tun Razak,
50400 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 603 2179 8082 www.cilantrokl.com.my