Organic food seems to be increasingly in vogue, but few places serve it as subversively as Opika, which coaxes fine flavors out of richly realized recipes.
Can something be both healthy & addictive? This quinoa salad floored us from the first bite _ slow-cooked red grains served with shrimp, tempeh crisps & kaduk leaf tempura & soaked in a fragrantly tangy Malaysian dressing of kasturi lime & nipah syrup.
IKEA-inspired? Swedish-style meatballs _ made of beef & lamb & tinged with dill _ accompanied by brown sauce, sour cream & lingonberry jelly. Pricier than what a furniture store cafe charges, but these offer a substantially more satisfying chew.
Nasi ulam & ayam percik, a carb-&-protein combo made memorable with the arresting aroma of wild herbs ricocheting through the rice.
Smoked chicken carbonara pasta. Pleasingly creamy, but at a time when top-notch Italian food isn't hard to find in KL, Opika's version won't leave a lasting impression.
Braised beef & mushroom ragout in a walnut pastry shell. Meaty, earthy & nutty _ a triumphant triumvirate of tastes & textures. And all this is simply from Opika's soft launch menu; who knows what greater gustatory genius might greet us in the months ahead?
Blends of fruits & veggies _ everything from carrots, spinach & beetroots to apples & oranges.
For takeaway, Opika also sells organic beverages, cereals & more. Mangosteen & seaweed juice? We gotta get ourselves a bottle sometime.
Opika Organic Market & Restaurant,
LG 105-106, 1 Utama (Old Wing _ well, kinda).
Tel: 03-7732-2581
The ayam percik with nasi ulam looks good. The best u had tasted is... :)
ReplyDeleteUlric: i think the most satisfying nasi ulam i've ever had might have been in kota bahru. everything in it tasted so fresh =)
DeleteHaha...tats too far for me...how abt in good old KL? =)
DeleteUlric: hmmm, for convenience, i think ben's at klcc & pavilion serves very respectable versions =)
DeleteDin expect Ben's to be ur choice...I'll try it and give my own 2 cents later...danke :)
DeleteActually organic food doesn't mean it would be less tasty right.. just made using organic ingredients hence more expensive LOL
ReplyDeleteBaby Sumo: true! though maybe for meat, some folks might feel that organic chicken & beef have a different flavor compared to the meat that they're used to. hmmmm...
DeleteI've eaten organic siew yoke before and it's really YUCKS. Not sure if it's bcos the shop doesn't know how to cook it properly or what.
DeleteBaby Sumo: yikes! i've heard some people say that organic beef tastes too "metallic" for them. maybe organic pork suffers from something too, flavor-wise =)
Deletethe food here does look promising and even if you tell me it's organic, it doesn't look boring. Maybe the old wing is now should be called the new wing!
ReplyDeleteEiling: oh yeah, i think they also try to use less salt, oil & other unhealthy stuff in their recipes. so we can feel a little less guilty indulging in pasta carbonara here :D
DeleteLove the idea of good carbs done tasty... but yeah, am wary about what it means to the pocket. How health-inducing was the bill? :-P
ReplyDeleteMin: oh, definitely significantly pricier! the cheapest dish was the quinoa salad at RM20. the fettuccine carbonara & the nasi ulam with ayam percik were both RM30 each...
DeleteI've never had quinoa before - what does it taste like? Not just healthy, my gluten-intolerant pals tell me it's gluten-free too! :)
ReplyDeleteKenny: oooh, i'm not sure how to describe quinoa. it's a bit like couscous, but with a firmer, almost seed-like texture & maybe a nuttier taste! but it's nice! even if it weren't healthy, i'd wanna eat it :D
DeleteWow, that's some recommendation then. Okay mesti cuba quinoa! :D
Deleteit's mainly protein kenny mah. you will be able to tolerate it;)
DeleteCiki: and it's rich in fiber too, i think! :D
DeleteOld Wing _ well, kinda - hahahah!
ReplyDeleteWell, as u know I'm here all the time..but wasn't gonna step in til I got some moolah!
Hw much per dish on average?
Rebecca: ooh, to be safe, better budget about RM50 per person for dinner. the meatballs were RM28, the beef ragout was also RM28, and the juices were about RM18 each (though there are other cheaper drinks available too)...
DeleteThe food looks nice! Look forward to see their actual menu!
ReplyDeleteCK: i bet there will be more rice dishes, more pasta dishes and more salads! and probably some healthy cakes & pastries! :D
DeleteThe Nasi Ulam looks delicious!
ReplyDeleteUnkaLeong: it was! we didn't manage to finish the fettuccine carbonara, but we ate every grain of the nasi ulam! :D
DeleteI suppose if we ate organic food everyday we would see improvement in our health..just not on our poor wallets..lol. I think it's time to call this place the New Old Wing! =D
ReplyDeleteDrops of Contentment: heh, but i guess we'd still need to eat it in moderation! too much ayam percik might still be hazardous, even if it's organic :D and ya, 1 utama just confuses me nowadays =)
DeleteOrganic food is indeed huge at the moment. For instance, my mom decided that she should buy organic pork instead, after much convincing and this absolutely cute video i sent her.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMfSGt6rHos
Michelle: heheh, i guess organic pork is one of the things we should all look for more, since pork seems to be one of those meats that are more prone to be laced with too much antibiotics & what-not, ya...
Deleteorganic can be good for our health and yummeh too. and am glad that these days, organic isn't plain old vegetarian stuff as it used to be.
ReplyDeleteMissyblurkit: true! i guess five or six years ago, most of the organic restaurants in KL would also have been purely vegetarian restaurants! :D
DeleteOrganic food? Certainly looks good! Especially those meatballs.. hehehe
ReplyDeleteIamthewitch: organic meatballs! that's something that we definitely don't see everyday, heheh :D
DeleteI wouldn't mind eating organic all the time if the food looks this good! :)
ReplyDeleteBangsar-babe: exactly! and i think that's what the new generation of organic restaurants realize! :D
DeleteThe food looks good. Do they sell organic water as well? hhehhe..
ReplyDeleteSmitten by food: heheh, just organic juices! :D
DeleteOpika... Another option...
ReplyDeleteI always go to 1 u
Simple person: oh yeah, so many options at 1U nowadays, it's so difficult to choose :D
DeleteQuinoa!!! :)
ReplyDeleteCiki: quinoa! nicer than rice! :D
DeleteI adore quinoa! :D But it's pretty hard to find a decent dish in Malaysia!! hmph. I think that Malaysian should start eating other grains besides rice!
ReplyDeleteVien: true! i love quinoa too, though i guess it'll never achieve the popularity of rice, since rice will always be the more economical & more versatile option, heh =)
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