Starhill's Feast Gallery saw a rare change to its long-stagnant scene this month, welcoming a new Vietnamese restaurant that replaces MyThai.
Too cute to consume? "Chirping Baby Birds" _ fried seafood paste stuffed with quail eggs, featuring pepper seeds for "eyes" and chilies for "beaks." A deliciously well-prepared introduction to Royale Vietnam's sweeping showcase of both classic & contemporary recipes.
Fried yam & squid with crunchy crackers. The food here is pork-free, but chefs from Vietnam ensure there's no lack of complex flavors & fragrances to keep customers contented.
Steamed fish with winter melon. We're so terrible at identifying different types of fish, we can't tell what this is (ermm, tilapia?). Acceptable for RM55++, but not exceptional. Similar to Chinese ginger-laced versions.
Prawns steamed with beer. Two fried dishes & two steamed ones for this late supper (last orders at 12.30 a.m. here), to balance the unhealthy-healthy ratio (OK, not really, but never mind). Fresh, plump prawns, with pleasantly bitter hints of beer.
Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc Rapel Chile 2009. Beer is the only booze that Royale Vietnam offers, but customers can order wine & cocktails from Village Bar next door.
Terrazas Cabernet Sauvignon Reserva Mendoza Argentina 2006.
Service is superlative; should a diner clumsily drop his chopsticks on the floor after drinking too much wine (ahem), a watchful waitress will glide over to replace them with no fuss.
Royale Vietnam,
Starhill Feast Gallery, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2143-9778
I like the 'Chirping Baby Birds'. It's so creative! Win my heart even before I eat them. What are the desserts you having? Just curious, do you think your set dinner will goes well a hot Chinese tea?
ReplyDeleteHaha who dropped the chopsticks ;p
ReplyDeleteAnd not bad, beer w prawns. I'm lookin forward to my lunch here!
River/huck: heheh, ya, I like how they even put the "birds" in a pastry "nest" ... very fun presentation! :D we didn't try any desserts here, but they have a durian with coconut cream dessert that sounded interesting on the menu. And some other desserts that I didn't recognize (I don't know much about Vietnamese desserts) =) ya, I think Chinese tea would be perfect, since these dishes that we tried were actually quite similar to Chinese cuisine in some ways :D
ReplyDeleteTng: hahah, I won't confirm who accidentally dropped the chopsticks, but yes, maaaaaaybe it could have been me :D the menu was actually a lot wider and more interesting than I had expected. Quite a few dishes that have yam in them (and I love yam) :D
ReplyDeleteAt least the food is decent even though service is sloppy. :)
ReplyDeleteMichelle: actually, service was excellent! The team anticipated quite a few of our needs without us having to ask. And they still managed to keep smiling even though it was past midnight :D
ReplyDeleteVietnamese food's clean flavours excites me...besides Jap of cos :D
ReplyDeleteNoted tat d menu is extensive but r d prices La Lot-like?...hmmm...
the deco looks classy and nice but I must say that chirping birds dish is really too cute to be eaten! It's better to eat the egg that resembles a bird than a balut! haha
ReplyDeletezomg! Chirping Baby Birds too cute to consume laaaa :P
ReplyDeleteUlric: oh yeah, there's something special about Vietnamese food, isn't there? I like it better than Thai food, which can be mercilessly spicy or guilt-inducingly heavy :D Prices here are OK for starhill though. Definitely not more expensive than La Lot. Stay away from the seafood and the cost per person shouldn't exceed rm50...
ReplyDeleteEiling: heheh, the quail eggs in these "baby birds" were a nice touch. But ya, very different from balut... These ones will make many customers go 'awwwww,' while balut might make them go 'eeeeeee' :D
Ciki: be sure to remove the chili from the 'birds' before eating them, cos they're really fiery! =)
Are you sure those are "chirping baby birds" and not "Deep Fried Angry Birds"??? I think that the chef was so frustrated for not getting all the Golden Eggs that he fried all the birds!!
ReplyDeleteLeo: hahah, very funny! Sounds like you're are fan of the game :D too bad there are no evil pigs at this restaurant to destroy, huh. =)
ReplyDeleteEeeek the chirping baby birds are really cuteeee.... I think I would have spent more time admiring it than eating it. Lol.
ReplyDeletebaby sumo: yaaa, we were hoping that the fish was going to be equally cute, since it was listed as "steamed fish stuffed in winter melon" on the menu :D
ReplyDeletehaha that indeed looks freaking cute, next up angry bird version? lol
ReplyDeleteLoved d grilled meats with fresh salad noodles at Ben Thanh Market when I visited Ho Chi Minh City a couple years back...
ReplyDeleteThe fish dish shud have read as 'Steamed Winter melon on top of fish'...hahaha...
With that melon sitting on its head, I also can't identify that fish, haha! And I think I'll order those cute birds for photography la - they are too cute to eat!
ReplyDeleteky: heh, these were just the yellow birds though. too bad there weren't any black, blue and white birds :D
ReplyDeleteulric: i've only been to HCMC once, but didn't manage to eat at the markets. wonder if i'll ever return; it was an OK city, but not my favorite :D and ya lor, deceptive description on the menu :P
pureglutton: i'm hopeless, i can't even differentiate garoupa from tilapia :D heh, but be sure to eat the 'birds' before they turn cold and not crispy anymore! =)
I must be blind. I was in Starhill Jakes last week, and didn't even notice this place! ~_~
ReplyDeleteBangsar-babe: heheh, well, in your defense, this is on a different side of the feast gallery, not really visible from jake's :D
ReplyDelete