Beef seizes the spotlight for this protein-powered entry; we kick off with The Austin, a new Texan-inspired restaurant spearheaded by the Austin Chase coffee chain in Bangsar.
The Austin's wide-ranging menu sounds promising - coffee-rubbed rib-eye with truffle sauce or Roquefort cream (RM36.90), spiced beef burgers with avocado & BBQ sauce (RM27), slow-cooked beef chili (RM15.90), plus a bevy of non-bovine recipes - spinach salads, devilled eggs, phyllo-wrapped salmon, tiger prawns with mango salsa & penne arrabbiata with lamb meatballs. Everything a respectable steakhouse might require.
Alas, much of the menu remained unavailable when we visited, so we settled for this pan-seared tenderloin with mushroom ragout. All things considered, it hit all the minimal marks - tender, juicy & flavoursome, prepared perfectly rare as requested.
Wine is available by both glass & bottle (Chilean Cab Sav starts at RM24); the service team is obliging & tries to please.
Bonus stop for beef: San Telmo, a Latin American eatery in Melbourne, influenced by Buenos Aires' 'asado' barbecue venues.
The restaurant, dressed in a cow-hide decor, is all about cooking on a bespoke, hand-made 'parilla' charcoal grill, resulting in smoky-succulent triumphs like these O’Connor pasture-fed beef short ribs (AUD30) ...
... & side dishes like veal sweetbread (AUD15), something we're constantly craving back here in KL ...
... plus porky pleasures like the braised Berkshire jowl ‘cheek’ with crackling (AUD19).
Everything from the condiments to the beverages is meant to evoke the spirit of Argentina too, with a wine list reputedly sourced from that country's bodegas.
Pinot Noir 2011 (The Kid; Patagonia, Argentina), alongside the El Pato cocktail (Beefeater gin, Noilly Prat dry vermouth, Rossoi Antico, Campari & Cointreau served on the rocks).
The Austin
Jalan Telawi 5, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur
San Telmo
14, Meyers Place, Melbourne
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