From patties to pancakes: The team behind Bangsar's beloved KGB burger outlet this week launched an ambitious initiative - a dessert parlour that specialises in a carefully curated selection of plated treats.
Thanks to KGB founders Steven & Jo for this invitation to visit Eat Me, another outlet with a catchy name (no relation to the Bangkok restaurant, of course), situated beside Killer Gourmet Burgers; customers can easily hop into Eat Me - pretty in pastel colours, with soft, soothing shades - for something sweet after their savoury burgers.
Eat Me opens up to a world of thoughtfully constructed desserts, with inspirations & ingredients from East & West. Informed enthusiasts would realise that this Sydney Star (RM16.90) is influenced by the illustrious strawberry melon cake at Sydney's Black Star Pastry patisserie. Eat Me's rendition is reinterpreted, with cookies & cream crowned with strawberries alongside watermelon sorbet. Jo, who puts her training in baking to full use here, is still fine-tuning these recipes, so expect to see them evolve - for this one, the components might not necessarily complement each other in their current form.
The ice cheese tarts might remind some of Singapore's Japanese-helmed Flor Patisserie; available in variants of passion fruit, strawberry & cempedak. Eat Me is all about pushing the boundaries for KL's desserts, taking note of trends across our borders & reshaping them into imaginative new creations. These tarts cost RM8.90 each & can be shared by two.
Our current Eat Me favourite: The Belgian Musang (RM18.90), which features a fresh-tasting, moist & pulpy durian cake, its flavours nicely balanced with dark chocolate fudge, topped in eye-catching fashion with Eat Me's own-made durian ice cream.
Also well worth trying: Thin waffles tinged with cempedak, absolutely aromatic (RM16.90). If you're into sweet & salty flavours, Eat Me is also expected to serve maple waffles with sage-fried chicken & passion fruit cream (RM20.90) at some point; its current soft-launch menu comprises 15 items, but three fascinating-sounding ones - including a Momofuku-motivated banana-hazelnut bar & Hong Kong-spurred ice cream sandwiches - remained unavailable for our visit.
There's a playful twist to nearly everything here - the creme brulee (RM13.90) comes crowned with pop rock crumbles for some carbonated fun. Jo credits Adelaide's Eggless Dessert Cafe as a template for her vision with Eat Me; this is meant to be a dessert lover's version of a supper club - a wonderland where fresh discoveries can regularly be made.
Many dessert addicts are nevertheless among the pickiest people to please, stubborn in their belief that they know best what's right or wrong (someday, they'll know better). Opinions will clash on whether Eat Me's churros (RM13.90) meet the mark; we like them - they're fresh, firm & crisp, with a clean taste.
Also made from scratch in Eat Me's kitchen: Ricotta milk batter pancakes, light & fairly fluffy, with honeycomb butter, maple syrup & bananas (RM17.90). We hope this will be available at Steven & Jo's next opening - KGB Plus, a burger & tapas joint tentatively slated to unfurl next year in Taman Tun Dr Ismail.
Drink Me: Beverages bring on an inventive spark too. Don't miss the Nutella Chill Pill (RM12.90); its pill-shaped coffee cubes, paired with warm milk & Nutella, could become one of Eat Me's most-photographed pleasures.
Iced lavender tea, salted caramel praline milkshakes (first introduced at KGB) & season-suitable gingerbread hot chocolate round out the single-page selection at a cafe that'll spread plenty of cheer this Christmas & beyond.
It'd be ridiculous to not note that - in a striking coincidence - two dessert specialists have opened on the same Telawi street this past month. Eat Me makes for a nice pairing with Jaslyn Cakes farther up the road, since it opens in the evening, while Jaslyn is typically closed at night. Also, Eat Me focuses on an entirely different spectrum of elaborate dine-in desserts, while Jaslyn does terrific takeaways.
23 Jalan Telawi 2, Bangsar Baru, Kuala Lumpur.
Open 4pm-11pm, Monday-Thursday; 2pm-12am, Friday-Sunday
Open 4pm-11pm, Monday-Thursday; 2pm-12am, Friday-Sunday
Check out the latest edition of Eat Drink KL: 100 Favourites, featuring 100 recommended restaurants for October-December 2014, including more than 30 new entries for this quarter.
This eBook is available to read or download at this link: http://eatdrinkkl.cld.bz/2014D
This link expires Dec. 31, 2014. Please check the newest blog entries after that for fresh links.
Stay up to date: The Eat Drink KL newsletter is sent by email to subscribers every Monday; it's the Klang Valley's foremost weekly round-up of new restaurant openings (even before they're featured on this blog), F&B promotions & other tasty tidbits.
Subscribe to Eat Drink KL Weekly for free via this following link:
Note to subscribers on Gmail: The newsletter will be in the Promotions folder of your inbox.
Sausages to sambal. Muffins to marshmallows. Peanut butter to mango chutney. Cornflake ice cream to honey aloe yogurt. Lavender-laced lemonades to lychee-&-guava juices.
Eat Drink KL: Small Businesses, Huge Flavours is the first eBook to help customers navigate the diversity of independent F&B entrepreneurs who bake & boil in their own kitchens, offering some of Malaysia's finest, most fascinating food products.
This resource will be continuously updated with new listings: www.eatdrinkkl.publ.com/businesses