Mimoza, Croatia

Grilled fish fillets, with the meat of sharks caught off Dubrovnik's Dalmatian coastline and served with a shockingly blue 'seaweed sauce,' are an acquired taste at Mimoza restaurant, with a muddy flavour and sandy texture. The entire fish is commonly utilised for various shark recipes in Croatia, ranging from shark steaks to shark liver pate, coming from sustainable populations of shark species.

MY Popelini: Premium Patisserie

Charming, colourful puffs, with crackly, crunchy crusts and creamy, cheerful centres: MY Popelini promises French-inspired choux au craquelin that'll brighten up any day, baked to order and delivered to your doorstep.

These tempting treats take pastry pleasure to lovely new levels, layered on top with craquelin (a crisp cookie-like overlay made with brown sugar, butter and flour), concealing a lightly luscious core of flavoured creme chantilly in choux pastry.

We sampled six unmistakably distinct flavours: If you're nuts about nuts, you'll likely love the earthy-sweet peanut butter or chocolate hazelnut praline; if Earl Grey is your cup of tea, the fresh Earl Grey or Earl Grey chocolate are both  airily aromatic; if you're mad for matcha, you have a choice of green tea or green tea with red bean for elegant Japanese nuances.

We like how these puffs taste fabulously fresh and fluffy (best consumed within an hour or two if you're not chilling them), rich and punchy without being cloying, hitting the mark for a confidently executed cream puff.

We received these designer delicacies at home for a teatime treat (many thanks to MY Popelini), gorgeously garnished with mini pretzels and meringue cookies, some crowned with macaron shells. These can all also be enjoyed at Headspace, a co-working venue in Subang, or picked up from Headspace if you're in the neighbourhood.

The cream puffs cost RM6.20 per piece, RM72 for 12 pieces and RM108 for 20 pieces.

Find out more about MY Popelini: facebook.com/mypopelini

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Element Fresh, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

One of Pavilion's most interesting new restaurants this year, this is the first Malaysian offshoot of the Element Fresh brand that first started as a Shanghai gym-based cafe in 2002 and has since multiplied in Beijing, Guangzhou and other cities with over 40 restaurants. True to its name, Element Fresh tackles wholesome, reviving nourishment, with border-leaping inspirations that span Morocco to Mexico, Rome to Ho Chi Minh City.

Fruits play a pivotal role in many of Element Fresh's most distinctive recipes. 

You'll sense a subtle tropical tinge of coconut in the batter for the oysters, juicy and punchy, not as greasy-tasting as many deep-fried dishes, drizzled with a sweet-and-soothing mango sauce and dished out with a thick-and-tangy caper tartar sauce (RM32, a fair price for a substantial serving of fresh oysters).

The tang of oranges is more pronounced in the Cointreau liquor-laced fish broth for the sauteed black mussels - this could be an acquired taste, since mussels with oranges might not be the most conventional preparation, but the fleshy mussels remain entirely enjoyable in their own right, their gentle brininess contrasting clearly with the broth's sweet citrus dynamics (RM30).

Naturally, salads are a solid choice here. Grilled apples lay the foundation for marinated chicken that channels the flavours of Marrakesh with a warmingly earthy ras el hanout spice blend, rounded out with bulgur wheat, plus plenty of red peppers, turmeric carrot, mint, almond and various veggies in yogurt dressing (RM36; a hearty meal on its own, no side salad for sure).

Lots of other temptations to try on the menu, from quesadillas made with whole-wheat tortillas to Vietnamese steamed shrimp spring rolls with papaya sauce to penne with yellow squash and zucchini.

Can cocktails be a guilt-free indulgence? Beefeater is the base for two beverages here that taste as uplifting as the food, the Amaroni (RM42; with Benedictine herbal liqueur, Jagermeister digestif and orange peel) and Garden Gin and Tonic (RM36; with pink grapefruit, rose liqueurs, tonic, strawberry and rosemary).

Both the setting and service at Element Fresh KL sparkle, with several very cheerfully enthusiastic members of the crew.

Element Fresh Malaysia

Lot C3.03, Level 3, Pavilion KL, 55100 Kuala Lumpur. 
Tel: 03-2110-5661

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Yu Tao Xuan, Damansara Uptown

Siham alert: Our cockle-craving, CKT-crazed fantasies are coming true at Damansara Uptown's new Yu Tao Xuan, where Penang-inspired char kway teow is flooded with freshly shelled cockles that practically spill out of the plate.

Many thanks to Phong Hong Bakes for the tip-off on this irresistible temptation - the cockles are the shining star, juicy-smooth and fair-sized, not overcooked, robust in the penetratingly deep, darkly briny taste that's unmistakably kerang.

The rest of the CKT is reasonable - sufficiently smoky for most wok hei chasers, permeated with bits of pork lard for extra decadence, with two large prawns that are sweetly fleshy and tender. This is almost our ideal CKT; thankfully for us, it shuns lap cheong (which we loathe in CKT), but two things hold it back from pure perfection: the flat noodles are a bit too wet for our liking, bordering on soggy in parts, and it would be nice to have a duck-egg option for a creamier, richer CKT.

The CKT is offered in two serving portions on the menu: Luxurious is RM18 (pictured in the three first photos above), while Premium is RM12 (in the three following photos below this text). Both portions are identical except for the cockles - Luxurious has double the cockles of Premium, so kerang hunters should certainly choose Luxurious.

Yu Tao Xuan takes over the ground floor of Damansara Uptown's Yok Tho Hing Restaurant (a few doors up from Village Park); note that the signboard outside still reads Yok Tho Hing. The brand is rapidly expanding - it began serving CKT in Damansara Uptown in May, opened a stall this month in Taman Berkeley, Klang, and is set to launch another stall soon on Old Klang Road. Yu Tao Xuan offers its own delivery in the Klang Valley (WhatsApp 017-7296250 for delivery orders).

This CKT is a balm after months of trying versions with cockles that were too shrivelled up, stale to the point of rottenness, or completely missing even though the menu promised their presence (Champs Bistro BSC, the RM31 Penang Fried Kuey Teow with See-Hamm that you delivered on May 15th had no cockles at all).

Yu Tao Xuan

13, Jalan SS 21/37, Damansara Utama, Petaling Jaya, Selangor. Daily, 10am-8pm.

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com