Catch-up session with the gang

These days, the world just got smaller without borders anymore. You could be at one place in the morning and another by noon and fly over to another destination for the evening. In fact the saying goes of having breakfast at A then late lunch at B before proceeding to C for dinner could actually happen all thanks to the convenience of air travels and globalisation. So the world is really small.

A few weeks ago, we had a gathering of different people from different part of the globe. Malaysians who have been residing in Hong Kong for years, or Shanghainese who calls Singapore her home or a Japanese couple whom traveled endlessly I don't really know where their homes are.

Ellen who enjoys her wines as much as her travels :))))

Madame herself who's half Korean half Japanese but really a globe trotter. I can't recall how many languages she speaks. MW Maho plays golf from beautiful Provence to Nordic Sweden and then back to hot humid Malaysia before flying off to Tokyo to check on her houses. But she doesn't reside there.



Again, Chef Takashi was in his top form again - creating NEW dishes and some of his iconic signature dishes too. I really don't know how he does it, by keeping tab of a database of recipes vs his clients....wat the clients had and their comments + tasting notes. So 80% of the time we'll have new dishes. It's not helping that we are there at least 4 times a month, he must be scratching his head.


This one was special....MW Maho alwiz managed to surprise us with her "Surprises" it's always not what it seems....I know she's wicked. Being a MW - Master of Wines, she has all the access and knowledges to procure stunning wines and basically all the good stuffs which were unheard of. Let's keep it that way to keep the prices down.


A guest brought this beautiful 1982 bordeaux. Considered to be a young label though the history dated from 1725. It was once split into 2 families through generations of inheritance before being re-united again. Again due to globalisation and commercialisation, it is no longer own by the same family. These days, it's hard to find companies being own by the same family after so many generations of savoir faire.


Cote Rotie from the beautiful Rhone Valley :)))
brought back memories of our trip there 6 months ago.

I know, we are really blessed with all these experiences.
of amazing friends, good health, beautiful journeys that we brushed through everyday :)))) Whichever way it is, you yourself gotta make it happen. Agree?

Fat plump japanese rice, served with lobster and a special secret sauce. Being Asian, I need my carbs. hehehehehe.

None of us are really sweets person, so dessert is usually simple and refreshing.

Look at all the contended and happy faces :))) Hahahaha But most of all, everyone was still feasting on the wines at the end of the meal. I look forward to our next catch-up, which is errr...tonite? hehehehehe.

Kung Jung, PNB Darby Park

 

Burn baby burn....
the amber fr the charcoal fire was extremely hot, the sliced garlic were bubbling in the hot oil. For those who doesn't fancy fresh garlic for its spicy pungent nose and taste, this is definitely for you. After the bubbling process of coz. It has a very sweet nutty taste.

Last Friday we congregated for an early birthday celebration for Wenda. It was an informal celebration minus the cake!! where's the cake??? I guess she'll be blowing many many candles in the next 2 weeks and have as much cake as the Queen herself, hence we spare her calories with more meat for this gal.

Marbling of the beef was so beautiful that I had to snap as many shots as possible...despite the heat!!! it was really hot but thankfully at Kung Jung, the waiter will cook every morsels of food for you to your liking. 

MW Maho has got her favourite head waiter, and he knows exactly how we like our meat. Problem was we were eating too slowly, he had to remove everything off the griller once it's done, even took effort to place the individual pieces into our platter...almost had to feed us...hahahaha.

the peeps were too busy discussing bout the blind tasting we were having that evening. Again I did not snap pic of the beautiful rare bottles that we had.

MW Maho, Monkey and Wenda
As usual, the Master of Wines brought all her wine gadgets and peripherals for every dinner. Same goes to JS, his favourite wine opener is a beautiful handmade Laguiole wine opener. This group of ppl alwiz have their wine openers in their pockets.

MW Maho also bought a beautiful Swarovski white wine opener as a congratulatory pressie for Monkey on her new career. It's so pretty with a white leather box I didn't wanna use it!!! Too pretty to be used. But things are meant to be used right? So very soon I m gonna have Ms. White with me inside my handbag at every dinners.

What's that? it looked like kim chi!!! Seriously I am a terrible at documenting pics bcoz I left so many other pics behind, from all the yummy sides and different types of kim chi served here. The above pic was definitely not kim chi *though it may be marinated with one*
 

 It's lovely squid!!! yumsss, spicy sweet and tender.....
Head waiter had to remove the entire griller off the heat to stop further cooking, and we were again bz yakking away bout the wine regions that we were not familiar with - Languedoc. Okie into our next travel list. Gosh so many places in France that we've never been!!!!

Beef Ribs...we have so much of these, from original without marination to different types of marination. There's nothing in the menu that we ordered. So the next time if I am here on my own, I won't know wat to have, prollie this blog serves as a good documentation, I'll just pin-point the pics to them then....hehehehe

MW Maho is half Japanese half korean. For someone to say this place is good, it has to be really good!!! Kung Jung even received international Korean diners like the hensem good looking Rain. :)))

Wenda the meat eater was so eppy to be treated with different cuts of beef. I am sure this was better than birthday cakes huh? :))))

Finally some soup and beef and greens.

and bcoz we were perpetually hungry, we also ordered some ginseng chicken soup which was extremely yummy :))) There were oso omelette and other side dishes such as toufu with fermented kim chi.

 Monkey and Wenda

Happy Birthday Babe!!! enjoy your trip and till our next makan adventure :))) and yes I am scheduling a slot to go to ur roof top garden to harvest watever that u have planted for the last few months!!! Safe trip there.

Thank you to Papa Bear and MW Maho for dinner :))) *hic* and the outstanding wines of coz :)))

Kung Jung
Lot 3.1, Level 3,
PNB Darby Park,
Jalan Binjai,
Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +603. 2166.7181

The Red Herring

You thought it's somewhere in Europe don't ya? It sure looks like one with its modern European design. The signage and its font looked New York-ish with a red herring fish plastered on it. Love how quirky it is and seriously there's no such thing as a Red Herring Fish u know? It's just an idiom, to mislead you. It's like a fallacy so could it be that the Chef is playing something up her sleeves?


Post-summer shower and the sky opened up a bit. Hey u Monkey there's no such thing as summer in Malaysia. We are still in Malaysia aren't we? Somehow the settings around this building gave me a different feelings with all of our European Cars lining up here. One hour later after this pic was taken, trust me the number of European cars on this street *thanks to the guests* were enuff to open up a showroom.

Hello!!!!! Welcome!!!!!

Ooooo wow as usual, Dr. Epicurean was busy preparing his "beverages" hehehehehe. His mommy was already bz sipping away while MW Maho was also busy managing the flow for the evening.

The Red Herring isn't open yet.... but soon to be. We were honored to be invited.... to be the very first group of clientele. :)))))) or...guinea pigs.....kekekeke Mean Xer gonna strangle me I know.

Mean Xer is an amazing chef, very meticulous and passionate. Trained and graduated as a professional sports person in United States, yeah I didn't type that wrong.....sports person. Somehow her ship changed course and brought her to San Sebastian, Spain where she worked as a chef for a few years. I am so happy she's back in Malaysia....then she can cooked for us!!! hahahahaha


The early birds alwiz get the goodies. John C flew in from Hong Kong and believe me, Dr. Epicurean's mommy only looked serious in pics. Normally she's all smiley with a very genial expression on her face.

Papa Bear can't decide the wines line-up. It takes a lot of planning I know...


The Red Herring offers comfy bistro dining concept but with amazing food. Didn't I say The Red Herring? It's a diversion tactic!! When there's so much simplicity around, you would expect the same from the menu. Trust me, it's gonna knock u off ur seats.

I lurve the wall paper at the end of the dining hall, with a highlighted red herring fish. By the way, on Planet Earth there's no such fish as the Red Herring. I can't confirm that in another planet or universe or in another parallel world.


Hello Helloooo Globe Trotter Wei~~~ and he thought he was late

Early Birds enjoying some champagnes, then whites and followed by red wines. See there's alwiz something nice in store if u are early...no matter where and what.

While I was getting a bit impatience and been snooping at the kitchen, trying to get access, Mean Xer just pointed her knife at me and threw me that slitted eyes look. It spells - get out of my kitchen. Okie lor, anyway I'm notorious for disturbing her rhythm all the time. Guess kitchen isn't a place for Monkey. I totally understand bcoz monkey alwiz got shoooo-ed out by JS at home. Yeah can u imagine I can't even enter my own kitchen at home!!!!

Rouxin I missed ya!!!!!
so lovely to meet all the lovely people from the Sapporo Gourmet Club again :)))

Captain Chris was here too!!!


Globe Trotter Wei and Sexay Peach Lissa :))))))))) lurve her necklace...the first thing that I noticed the moment she walked in.

Monkey, Sharon, MW Maho and Rouxin.

The ladies were all so excited to meet Papa Bear's bubbly wife.
"We heard so much about you in Hokkaido."

MW Maho then threw me "that" look.
Monkey cleared the air: "Nooooo it did not come from my mouth ok?"

At this juncture it was Papa Bear that threw that look....yeah it's all him!!!!
*fingers all pointed over that direction*

Dr. Epicurean: "Calm down people, now let's settle down...."
Oh yea did I mention that it's a month long birthday celebration for him hence this partay?


Homemade chicken liver pate and lovely Pork terrine....all made by Mean Xer herself. Yummmzzzzz. She's really an expert in terrine, my fav was her beautiful vegetable terrine she made sometime ago.


and bcoz everyone is Mean Xer's friend....she got extra helpers/waiters...Here we have Globe Trotter Wei offering fresh baguette to everyone. He makes a very smart looking garcon but an expensive one too.


From everyone's expressions, u know the appetizer was blarddy awesome. The chicken pate was creamie and full of flavours while the pork terrine was so so so good lar with that extra crunch.


Mark, Rouxin, Captain Chris and Lily

they almost finished up everything!!! and very clever of them to resist bread coz u dun want it to fill u up too soon.


Mark and Papa Bear
from this pic you could see the Chef aka Mean Xer peeking from her kitchen to make sure everyone is well fed.


Monkey, John C, Ai Leen and Dr. Epicurean

Somehow we were behind the bar counter taking over from the bar boys. We treated this place like our home. Hey this is how it should be, a comfortable restaurant where you felt welcomed and at home. Not like some stiff-neck snobbish place with too many etiquettes and don'ts. Like you are not allowed to bring your own wines. Even if u are paying corkage charges. 


"You did not???"

yea Monkey was interrogated by 2 sifus. One PR Queen and another Wine Expert.

Did I look guilty as charged? ohhh it was something to do with Dr. Epicurean and his lady friendssssss kekekekeke. I was given this impossible task by his mommy to find him a soulmate. Sorry this was impossible so the baton has been passed on to someone else. Good luck to that someone.


This was my favourite dish for the evening. Looked so simple. Nope it ain't tomato...see I told you The Red Herring will just throw u off. It's not what it seems.

It's yummy al-dente pasta with homemade sweet bell pepper sauce. So simple and yet so so so so awesome. I went back to the kitchen asking for more.

Soon everyone mingled from table to table and we no longer were seated at our original seats nor tables. What a fun partay with great food and wines.

Sharon said she makes a good prop for this dish hahahahaha and she sure did with her sparkly colgate smiles. 

Homemade smoked sausages!!! everything was homemade here, showed a lot of efforts and passion. And a piece of beautiful pork chop done spanish style...some beautiful greens and perfectly sauteed haricot verde.

sometime ago, someone asked me if haricot was a fish....and haricot verts a green fish.
-_-"
no silly...haricot is french beans, the long thinner version.

The smoked homemade sausages were amazing. Extremely flavourful but what blew my mind was the simple slightly charred Chuletas pork chop. Beware of the word SIMPLE. After all this is The Red Herring. Things may looked simple but it isn't....same goes to the chef...she looked MEAN hence her nick Mean Xer since the first day that I knew her but she's such a sweet angel :)))))

so back to the pork chop, it was extremely juicy and moist minus the porkie smell. JS please go and learn from Mean Xer how to prepare this pork chop. Me want for dinner at home :D but I guess the brining and timing and amount of work would mean it's easier if we just come here to dine in the future. 

Chef's famous Beef Bourguignon with a twist, there were some beef tendons thrown in there. If you are a seeker of traditional french bourguignon you'll be surprised that this quite different. The french version is extremely rich and thick and beefy. This one is more to our palate. Mean Xer maintained the traditional ingredients of pearl onions, carrots, bacon bits and mushrooms. The crunchy croutons thrown in added some texture to this dish. Such a hearty dish. My kinda comfort food :)))

When we had this dish in Burgundy France, it was so "powerful" and rich I didn't quite like it. Same goes to coq au vin. And now my recipe books for these traditional french cuisine sit neatly in my book racks, perhaps it's time to pass them on....but the only problem is all my recipe books are in french. Perfect!!! I was too ambitious about my capacity and capability of mastering this language.

The Red Herring can accommodate about 30 pax at once. So it makes a perfect place for a private event like this :))))

a few days earlier:
Monkey: "Dude are u gonna bake a cake? I wanna try your awesome butter cream."
Mean Xer: "Dr. Epicurean doesn't like cake and DON'T want cake."

Monkey: "I know...that day I got Cilantro to bake a cake for him and he refused to blow the candle!!!!! Horror!!! How can a birthday boy not do that?"
Mean Xer: "We will have cheese for dessert instead."

perfect!! Cheeses are his favourite. So thoughtful of chef to prepare every single course to the liking of birthday boy :)))


and our cheese came with grapes, and nuts and dried apricots


Dr. Epicurean: "More wines for you??"
he kept on opening so many bottles and from the pic u could see JS couldn't be any happier.


These were what we had but a few bottles were "denied" access. Monkey promised Globe Trotter Wei some beautiful champagnes but that special bottle was not allowed to be pop open by birthday boy.

-_-"
"Pourquoi?"
Birthday Boy said another day another time bcoz special bottles are meant for special occasion. But THIS IS a SPECIAL occasion isn't it?


my favourite final two :))))


Finally a glimpse of our dearie Mean Xer the chef and owner of The Red Herring


and finally all of us crashed into her spanking new kitchen with Mark trying to do a cha-cha here *I think?*

Mean Xer, Monkey and Mark
All the Ms
and she doesn't like to be photographed.....

John C is more of a hongkie than a Msian now. He speaks like one and we look forward to visiting you soon with more makans and minums at your territory. 

Doctor and Doctor discussion.
looked so stressful, like diagnosing some rather challenging cases. I don't know how they could just work round the clock performing surgeries after surgeries every single day. It's madness. 

Dr. JS charming the ladies. They looked so swooned right? hahahahaa

MW Maho sure looked cute in this pic...the co-owner of the place :)))
enjoy your trip my dear, have fun golfing in Europe and all the winery visits. Looking forward to your wonderful experiences when you are back. 

Monkey, John C, Dr. JS, Ai Leen, Wenda

Lord Ganesh are u ok???
zzzzZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz
well he should be OK coz he's still holding his wine glass.

All of us were so tipsy, Wenda and Ai Leen were already almost there and I have no idea who fetched Lord Ganesh home. 

Mean Xer and JS

Thank you Chef!!! Hats off to you. Awesome food and congratulations on your maiden restaurant in Malaysia. Looking forward to more exciting dishes from you soon. Yes we still have wines in your wine chiller and we are definitely coming back for it and for you :)))

The Red Herring 
M-1-16 Plaza Damas,
Jalan Sri Hartamas,
50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: *officially opening on 3rd Sept 2014*