Named for the classic Chinese puzzle of geometric pieces with infinite configurations, Bangsar’s new Tangram treats recombination as method and metaphor, reflecting a Taiwanese culinary culture coalesced through centuries of East Asian migration and colonisation, refracted through the French-codified clarity of nouvelle-vague chefs.
Tangram frames Taiwan’s gastronomy as endlessly adaptable, aligned to the boundary-testing sensibilities of its Taiwanese executive chef Johnny Tsai, now travelling to and from Tangram and his Taipei restaurants, T+T and Circum.
Dish by dish, Tangram distils the depth and diversity of Taiwan’s foundational fare, from pineapples that fuel its food economy to stewing-hens that form its flavour memory, from groupers that thrive on the island’s coast to medicinal herbs trusted through generations.
Dinner is masterfully moulded by a mainly Malaysian kitchen: Penang-nurtured mussels punctuated with plump bursts of tomato;, free-range chicken, its flesh, skin and bones served in separate styles with fermented pineapple and soy in Taiwan’s enzymatic sweet-savoury register; grouper with baby cabbage sauerkraut, harnessing Sichuan pepper for balance instead of burn; dried scallops with ikura, mushrooms and Mu soy sauce on egg custard, inheriting influences from five decades of Japanese rule in Taiwan; restorative old hen soup with abalone-coated Koshihikari rice; lusciously rendered lamb saddle with sesame oil and black garlic; A5 wagyu with beef guotie and chilli-centred century egg; texture-rich eight treasures, tinged with Malaccan palm sugar, and salted egg pineapple tart, buttery-hot from the oven.
Credit to Tangram and its young team for an excellent experience at a relatively reasonable price (from RM298++), a strong start for a restaurant constructed in less than two months.