Eat Drink KL: Bo All Day Dining: Wagyu Tomahawk

Friday, December 13, 2019

Bo All Day Dining: Wagyu Tomahawk

Bovine bliss at Bo: If bigger and beefier is how you savour your steaks, with sultry succulence sealed within a smoky char, Bo All Day Dining's Wagyu Tomahawk is the full-fleshed feast for you, showcasing Australian beef grilled in a British-built oven by an American chef for the best of the carnivorous world.

Chicago-born Executive Chef T. Jay knows his way around a medium-rare cut, having helmed professional kitchens across five countries, from his native U.S. to the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Thailand, and now, Malaysia. Harnessing three decades of experience, T. Jay has long harboured a passion and prowess for cooking - his German father and Sicilian-Syrian mother opened up his horizons to food from different cultures, while meals with his boyhood friends from other ethnic communities showed him how various ingredients can convey unique flavours and fragrances. 

It's that border-smashing sense of adventure that T. Jay brings to Bo, making it one of the city centre's most distinctive dining destinations, with a repertoire that spans Wagyu Fat Char Kuey Teow to Jamaican Jerk Chicken Pizza.

Now available for a limited time, perfect for a year-end - or decade-end - celebration, the Wagyu Tomahawk is a primal, caveman-worthy slab that weighs in at about 1.5 kilograms bone-in, showcasing 300-day grain-fed Australian wagyu (marbling score 4-5), from a farm that hand-trims its beef to ensure each tomahawk meets the mark for quality and desirability.

This is no slapdash steak - the tomahawk (RM699++, for four persons to share) takes time, love and tenderness, requiring advance orders by at least three hours, so it's best had during dinner. The Bertha oven, fired by wood or charcoal, takes about 90 minutes to be ready for cooking, for the wood to produce embers and smouldering heat.

The result is worth the effort - Bo's monster-sized rib steak, rich in inter-muscular fat, is a testament to the buttery silkiness of top-flight beef that's prepared right, its caramelised crust yielding to buttery moistness, with each juicy bite conveying a subtle sweetness and sensuous sizzle.

We'd enthusiastically enjoy the tomahawk on its own, but Bo elevates the experience with a series of eight infused salts and peppers, plus two premium sauces, illustrating how seasonings and condiments can brighten or bring even more depth to the beef.

A pinch of Himalayan pink salt could lend an enhancing spark to the steak, placating even purists, while French sea salt and Sarawak white pepper take diners on an instantly gratifying journey through the produce of European waters and Asian highlands. The Chipotle Chile Salt pays homage to T. Jay's American origins, while the Garlic Chips are a tribute to teppanyaki and the Szechuan Pepper furnishes more fire to the meat. Other peppers include coarse ground and pink varietals.

The two sauces comprise Marchand de Vin sauce (a classic red wine reduction laced with shallots and veal stock, accentuating the robustness of the beef) and the Mushroom Cream (a more neutral sauce with a dash of Dijon mustard for punch).

The tomahawk additionally comes with two sides of carbs and fibre for complete nourishment - truffle mashed potatoes, densely creamy, and roasted asparagus with other vegetables of the day - beautifully balancing out the protein.

Bo is one of most ravishing settings for a meal in the heart of KL, a casual but sleekly stylish space that's also ideal for events, accommodating up to 300 guests (about 160 seated) for product launches, engagement dinners, wedding receptions, birthdays, baby showers, and more. Contact Bo All Day Dining for its range of event buffet menus and beverages.

Bo All Day Dining is barely a year old, but its sibling venue - a sister bar named Banker - is set to be birthed in the first quarter of 2020. Located beside Bo, Banker will be a lounge with a sweeping selection of boutique spirits, with cocktails inspired by the Banker's global travels.

Many thanks to Bo All Day Dining for having us here.

Bo All Day Dining
Lot 1-10/1-11, The LINC KL, Jalan Tun Razak, Ampang, Kuala Lumpur.
Open Mon-Fri, 11am-1030pm; Sat-Sun, 10am-1030pm. 
Tel: 012-678-0983 (pre-orders by at least three hours are necessary for the Wagyu Tomahawk)

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com