Round Two at KL's inventive new South American tapas bar with a view. Earlier entry on Fuego at Troika Sky Dining: June 12.
Watermelon comes grilled & garnished with a photogenic flair at Fuego, crowned with pickled tomatoes, fried halloumi cheese & raspberry vinegar glaze (RM30++). The kitchen performs a bravura juggling act with many of its dishes, hoping to keep a slew of tastes & textures as well-balanced as possible on each plate.
Foie gras is served in voluptuous fashion, with salt-baked potato, sage-tinged hollandaise sauce & balsamic reduction. RM65++.
Soft-shell crab, transformed into Fuego's version of nachos? Partnered with avocado mayo, sour cream & tomato dice, it's crisply addictive enough to make us wish the serving had been 10 times larger. RM35++.
We're not typically fans of mushrooms, but these 'matsutake' pine ones are as luscious as fungi can get, grilled for maximum smoky-earthiness, topped with eye-catching seaweed foam, deep-fried parsley & dissolve-in-the-mouth salt crackers. RM25++.
Salt cod croquettes, evocative of bacalao, a savoury treat with seaweed crust, shiso leaf gremolata & salmon roe mayo.
Fuego is equally proud of its big plates & small ones. Try the rare French beef flank with peaty whiskey salt rub, yuzu & black pepper sauce; it's the most convenient compromise here between quantity & quality, price & portion, clocking in at RM125++ for 500 grams that two can share.
Side dishes are also far from run-of-the-mill, ranging from spaetzle prepared with lemon, ricotto & thyme (RM20++) to hand-pressed baked Desiree potatoes topped with black olive tapenade (RM20++) ...
... to a shredded potato hash brown mixed with baby spinach & sour cream (RM25++).
Dessert? Definitely. What's labelled on the menu simply as 'Cookies Marshmallow 'n Chocolate (Oreo white chocolate cream, mint marshmallow, rocky road)' emerges as elaborately as anything else here, with a pinch of DIY assembly required. RM30++.
Other outlets are perfectly content to serve pavlova as it is; Fuego, of course, has to throw flambe brandy into the mix ...
... for a macerated berry-stuffed creation with shades of Bombe Alaska. RM35++.
One of the most fun aspects of Fuego is ordering cocktails, since they often surface in surprising presentations. Examples include this Port (sic) Flip, with brandy, ruby port & egg yolk. RM38++.
Rum infused with butter & popcorn (!) & the smokiest Margarita ever (Tequila Reposado, Cointreau, charcoal-grilled lemon).
Dry martini, made with gin & seaweed-infused dry vermouth for a panache & a price that's punchier than most. RM40++.
Fuego's menu says 'the cocktails listed below are the ones which name (sic) you might know, yet they differ to what you have drunk before.' That's certainly true of the whiskey sour (RM36++), with smoked bourbon, lemon, corn syrup & cayenne pepper.
Negroni, Daiquiri, Long Island Iced Tea, & good ol' red wine feature in the mix too, ensuring that sobriety is unnecessary.
Fuego Grill & Bar
Troika Sky Dining, Level 23A, The Troika, Jalan Binjai, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2162-0886
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