Duck burgers, tomahawk pork chops, and other charismatic concoctions for carnivores: Now celebrating its fifth anniversary, Naughty Babe Dirty Duck has become one of our favourite gastropubs in KL, promising fun fare that's filled with flair. We recently returned to sample the restaurant's latest takes on poultry and pork - playful pleasures for serious diners, conceived and crafted with creativity and care.
Tempting tapas make for the ideal introduction to NBDD's fully-loaded menu: The Tiger Prawns & Serrano Ham bring together sea and land in a vibrantly savoury snack that a Catalan bar could take pride in (RM33), while the Stuffed Button Mushrooms come chock-full of a creamy potato hash laced lightly with smoked duck, carrots, and celery (RM26). The Garlic Chilli Pork Belly combines Western and Eastern dynamics of flavour in one comfortingly aromatic dish (RM25), complementing a multitude of other starter choices that span Spanish cold cuts, iberico pork collar on toast, smoky octopus tentacles, cheeses and more.
Headlining the current menu is the Duckie Burger (RM36), which underscores how the kitchen pours endless effort into its offerings. The patty, topped with blueberry mayo, bacon and cheese, is house-made with genuine duck meat, offering burger enthusiasts a noteworthy change from beef and chicken patties; the bun is beer bread that's tinged with Tiger, yielding a mellow malty flavour, with a delicious denseness in texture. Even the carb accompaniment is absolutely worthwhile - double-fried confit potato wedges, cracklingly crisp to the bite, flavourfully tender to the chew.
For duck devotees, there's plenty more to dig into here, from the Smoked Duck Breast with a lovely skin-on natural fleshiness, buoyed by an uplifting orange puree sauce (RM42) ...
... to the flagship Dirty Duck that's commandingly executed, doubling up on the duck, comprising duck leg confit with a breaded four-minute duck egg that oozes richness, intensified by bacon jam, prunes and yam puree (RM40). Dishes like these make Naughty Babe Dirty Duck the closest thing we have to a contemporary duck-specialist restaurant in KL.
Hogging the limelight next is pure porcine perfection, showcasing premium Sakura pork. The Pork Tomahawk is 300 grams of sous vide satisfaction, the clear choice for customers who want to sink their teeth into a solidly thick slab of meat. Gorgeously grilled with NBDD's own blend of herbs, it's balanced further by a cranberry red wine sauce, completed with roasted corn and bacon hash for a fulfilling meal (RM45).
Two other pork recipes are made memorable with the meaningful use of beer in their preparation: The Cider Belly is slow-cooked with Apple Fox cider for a crisp sweetness to cut through the hefty chunk of meat, layered with a caramelised apple, then poured over with apple sauce for a triple-whammy of an-apple-a-day goodness (RM40), while the Pork Shoulder is enhanced on the side with a reduction of Guinness Stout and chocolate that displays delicious depth, rounded out with barley, carrot, air-dried shiitake mushrooms, walnuts and almonds for an elegantly persuasive ensemble (RM39).
Beyond duck and pork, there are other triumphs of a meaty magnitude to relish as well - the Tamarind Glazed Chicken (RM38) is an impressive example, lusciously juicy to its core, enhanced with orange puree sauce and a surprising peanut-and-sesame brittle that echoes Chinese fah sung thong (!!!).
The 5 Awesome Years Crazy Ribs Promotion is also running separately through the end of January - customers can enjoy half a slab of ribs for only RM15 (normal price RM42) with a minimum spend of RM50 per table, per bill.
Many thanks to Naughty Babe Dirty Duck for having us back.
Naughty Babe Dirty Duck
42, Jalan 25/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur.
Daily, 12pm-12am. Tel: 03-6211-9966
This feature first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com
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