Burnin' Pit, Desa Sri Hartamas: 2019 / 2020 Menu

BBQ that puts fire in our belly and smoulders in our memory: Twenty months after our first visit to Burnin' Pit, the recurring call of the briskets and ribs proved wildly impossible to resist much longer. This time, we skipped breakfast and sought to feast on a week's worth of beef for lunch - though we still scarcely scratched the surface of Burnin' Pit's belt-busting menu, we left with our cravings smoked and satiated.

Take a table by the stacks of wood from local fruit trees, including durian, jackfruit, mango and rambutan, that fuel the custom-built smoker outside, where Southern American-influenced low-and-slow barbecuing brings out the succulent best in fleshy, fatty cuts of beef, lamb and chicken. Pitmaster Kok Fung and his team have buttressed their efforts through-and-through with thoughtful choices - the varieties of wood are meant to infuse a sultry sweetness into the meat, while everything else from timings to temperatures, marinades and rubs to basting sauces, has also been painstakingly fine-tuned.

The result, after more than 12 hours of heat, is BBQ that thrives for both taste and texture: To feel the burn in full force, we sampled a smorgasbord of beef brisket (RM22 for 100g, minimum order 200g - the ideal introduction to sink the teeth into, for a tender bite and savoury chew) and premium wagyu beef brisket (RM80 for 100g; discernibly, more lusciously full-bodied, with extra depth and punch), plus non-bovine temptations of pulled lamb (RM22 for 100g; rich and robust but not overbearingly gamy) and Jamaican-inspired jerk chicken (RM28 for an allspice-seasoned dark-meat quarter; poultry at its sumptuous prime). 

Burnin' Pit offers sides and salads galore to balance out the meat - we carb-loaded with nicely charred corn grilled with coconut milk and mashed potatoes with beef bacon bits, but other options include mac-and-cheese, slaw, grilled vegetables with balsamic reduction, house-cooked beans, and even a Malaysian-inflected salad with ulam raja and fresh mango.

While Burnin' Pit is best for sharing, it's possible for one person with a mammoth appetite to order the beef rib (RM35 for 100g, minimum 500g) for a Paleolithic-worthy slab of carnivorous mightiness, perfectly illustrating what makes the meat here notable, with an opulent caramelisation, brawny juiciness and heady potency of beefy flavour, enhanced only with kosher salt and black pepper (though a gula Melaka sauce laced with bone marrow broth and a mild peach sauce are also available on each table).

Mercifully, Burnin' Pit isn't lacking in wine, so a suitable, silky South African Pinotage (RM130) can be paired with the meal.

While protein alone can power the Burnin' Pit experience, there's much more to explore.

Sandwiches and wraps showcase some playful wit; we kept the cow-crazed streak alive by ordering the NYC Sandwich, brioche layered with thick cuts of beef brisket, made tangy with sauerkraut (RM19), but other possibilities abound - Philly cheesesteaks, Mexican tortilla wraps, and even Asian-tinged po boys stuffed with salted egg squid, cili padi and curry leaves.

Speaking of Asian flourishes, customers who want rice instead of bread aren't left out - the brisket fried rice with sambal belacan brings together Texas and Taiping, an East-meets-West nasi goreng that'll probably please both worlds (RM26).

Not a beef-eater? You can still make a full meal out of other intriguing offerings like the deep-fried plantain chips heaped with shredded chicken (RM30), as well as Malaysian-spiked nachos with chicken percik sauce, Southern-fried chicken, breaded jalapeno peppers, and even vegetarian aglio olio pasta for the herbivorous.

Many thanks to Burnin' Pit for meeting our meat expectations.

Burnin' Pit

24, Jalan 24/70a, Desa Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur. 

Open Sun-Thurs, 12pm-1am; Fri-Sat, 12pm-2am. Tel: 013-399-3920

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Rice Noodles & Qing Bu Liang, Hainan

The perfect lunch in Hainan might be a mix of hot and cold - soulful rice noodles, assembled to order with roasted peanuts, fresh coriander, pork strips and pickled vegetables in savoury broth, followed by qing bu liang, sweetly brimming with fruits, seeds and beans.

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Uncle Lee Cafe, Damansara Kim

Classic comfort fare, steamy and soulful: Uncle Lee's curry wild boar, served in an old-school bread bowl, comes with plenty of meat and potatoes (RM13.90), while its Eight Treasures porridge enjoyably brings Teochew traditions to a modern cafe (RM12.90).

Uncle Lee Cafe
29, Jalan SS20/11, Damansara Kim, Petaling Jaya, 47400 Selangor. Open Mon-Sun, 8am-930pm. Tel: 03-7733-8615

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Vinoble, Petaling Jaya

Vinoble makes a valiant effort to offer a personal touch to the wine bar exploration - this is an intimate space where co-founder and certified wine specialist Danny Tai harnesses nearly a decade of experience to ensure that enjoyment and education go hand-in-hand, especially for those of us who still have much, much more to discover about wine. The mood is relaxed and the bottles flow effortlessly; we spent five hours here on a recent evening, sipping and swirling from sunset through near midnight. 

When you visit Vinoble, Danny or his right-hand sommelier Ken will be on hand to take you through the evening with warmth and hospitality. Danny has tasted and chosen some 200 labels for Vinoble, focusing on his favourite producer, France, for the depth and diversity of the country's vintages. 

There's a choice for everyone. If you're popping in for a soothing drink after work, pick a Bordeaux by the glass for RM20-RM40, with two to five choices available at any time. If you plan to linger, Vinoble's half-bottles start from RM75, while a bottle eases in from RM160, with varietals galore between RM200 to RM300, scaling up to premium possibilities north of RM3,000.

Take a seat at the face-to-face bar setting and rely on Danny and Ken's recommendations for best effect: For those of us who shun white wines at most other outlets, Joseph Drouhin's 2016 Chassagne-Montrachet is a Burgundy-born revelation, a Chardonnay that charms and captivates, bearing the bright roundness of stone fruits balanced by by a buoyant minerality.

Vinoble describes itself as a tasting bar, underscored by its red or white wine flights - ever-evolving selections of three glasses of different wines for around RM100. These flights offer excellent introductory value for sampling and comparing various regions, the wine bar equivalent of a Japanese omakase meal.

Our flight of reds took off once more from Burgundy, courtesy again of Maison Joseph Drouhin, a 140-year-old estate whose grapes have been certified organic for the past decade. The Coteaux Bourguignons is another beautifully satisfying curation by Danny, a soft-tannin blend of Pinot Noir and Gamay with supple suggestions of chocolate and oak among others, woven into a gentle, gracefully genial wine.

Vinoble also offers cold cuts, cheeses and bar bites for potential food pairings. The Spanish charcuterie includes cecina air-dried marinated beef and the pork enthusiast's smorgasbord of sweet-savoury-spicy iberico chorizo, delicately aromatic 15-month-aged jamon serrano dry-cured ham, and the more powerfully gamy 30-month iberico paleta, lightly torched by Ken. Each can be ordered on its own or on a 200-gram platter of four combinations for RM99.

Cheeses span the soft to the semi-hard, from truffled brie and Roquefort to Comte and Grana Padano (also RM99 for a board of four cheeses), so it's easy to imagine having a tapas-style night at Vinoble.

Our flight transited next in Bordeaux for Cap Royal's 2014 Bordeaux Supérieur, silky and succulent, a lush layering of Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon that might prove the favourite for many, making for the perfect partnership with fleshy, robust meat. 

If it's available, order the off-menu special of Cinco Jotas' coveted acorn-fed Iberian ham, sublimely marbled, straight from the free-range meadows of southwestern Spain, its top-drawer tenderness coupled with vibrantly full-bodied nuances of flavour, at least two or three notches above regular jamon iberico.

Alternatively, call a few hours in advance to book a portion of iberico char siu, served fresh and warm, its caramelised bite yielding to the most luscious chew, bolstered by the nectarous richness of maple syrup. For a taste of pork at its finest, the Cinco Jotas 5J ham and the iberico char siu on their own would merit bookmarking Vinoble.

Domaine Combier's 2017 Crozes-Hermitage offers a safe landing in Rhone for our flight, an agreeably intense Syrah that represents another vineyard that's been organic for nearly half a century, from a terroir of chalky-clay, pebbly soil, a potently pleasurable end to our evening here.

All in all, Vinoble has poured plenty of care into its efforts, thoughtfully diving into details like its choice of Riedel Austrian-crafted wine glasses. While its kitchen isn't an enormous enterprise, its food selection equals its wine for quality; for a heavier dinner, customers can also order from the Tavern 13 restaurant downstairs, perhaps to feast on in one of three private rooms.

Many thanks to the Vinoble team for having us.

Vinoble

Lot E, Annex to Wisma South Engineers, Jalan 13/2, Section 13, 46200 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.  Open Mon-Sat, 3pm-12am (or later). Tel: 012-389-9728

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Cerise Alpha, Taman Tun Dr Ismail

Cerise Alpha turns Belgian chocolate into beautifully handcrafted confectioneries (four for RM22, laced with possibilities like peanut butter, Manuka honey, saffron honey, ginger lemon, rosemary, or Brazil nuts, unmistakably clear in their flavours), creamy chocolate cakes and rich hot chocolate.




Cerise Alpha
A-1-6, TTDI Plaza, Jalan Wan Kadir 3, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur. Open Mon-Sat, 10am-7pm. Tel: 03-7732-3318

This post first appeared on eatdrinkkl.com

Yi Bua & Zongzi, Hainan

Glutinous gluttony, sweet and savory, in Hainan: Snack on yi bua, rice cakes stuffed with coconut and brown sugar, then feast on bak chang, filled with pork belly and salted duck egg.