BreadFruits Cafe @ Desa Sri Hartamas

A labor of love, BreadFruits is one of our best bets for brunch in Hartamas.

Cafe owner Kah Kwan strives to serve satisfying favorites with healthy twists that range from Bukit Tinggi free-range eggs to steamed cannellini beans that replace canned baked beans.

Fried egg & pork bacon sound like components of a sinful plate, but combined on ciabatta with arugula on top & guacamole at the bottom (RM16.80+), this tastes like well-balanced nutrition.

Brunch is served 9am-5pm daily; the cafe continues to offer beverages through 9pm, with a dinner menu expected to be available eventually.

Even the 'brunch pasta' (RM16.80+) defies expectations, whipped up in a light but luscious carbonara sauce with pork bacon, sauteed mushrooms, rocket leaves ...

... & a creamy seven-minute-cooked egg that all turn this into a slick, slurp-worthy affair.

BreadFruits indeed: French Toast (RM18+) gets a twist too, with ripe roasted bananas, bacon ...

... & the cafe's one-of-a-kind wild honey spread mixed thickly with passion fruit.

Malaysian wild honey is sold here, featuring pure, unprocessed nectar extracted from jungle hives. One or two bottles, not for sale, are being aged for several years, resulting in a potent intensity of flavor nearly comparable to wine.

Try the wild honey blended with Indian pomegranate & passion fruit (RM15) for fine refreshment.

Or have the honey mixed with coffee & steamed milk for a unique latte (RM6.80+).

The fruits section of BreadFruits is worth inspecting too, comprising the likes of Argentinean tangerines & South African apples.

Numerous juices are available for energizing & detoxification, with ingredients that range from beetroot to bananas, strawberries to celery.

Heaps of natural sunlight, plenty of positive vibes; a most welcome entry to this neighborhood.

BreadFruits,

17, Jalan 26/70A, Desa Sri Hartamas, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-6201-0090

Chambers Grill @ Hilton Kuala Lumpur

Hilton KL's sweeping F&B revamp brings us another new restaurant this month: Chambers Grill, a lobby-level outlet that taps into the thrill of broiled meat & seafood.

A robatayaki-style counter is this establishment's centerpiece, with a gleaming backdrop of Himalayan salt chambers where prime cuts of beef are dry-aged for weeks before being cooked.

Commence with complimentary charcoal-black bread rolls, completely befitting of Chambers' burn-baby-burn theme, served with unsalted butter.

Dry-aged steaks are the highlight here: The least extravagant protein-powerhouse possibility is this 250-gram, 28-day-aged Black Angus rib-eye (RM188++), prepared fully rare & partnered with mushroom sauce that's laced with Hennessy X.O.

For tighter budgets, try a skewer of dry-aged, barbecue-rubbed Argentinean sirloin (RM38++).

Or opt for Wagyu (the menu says it's Marble Score 8) with yuzukosho paste (RM88++).

Wagyu intercostal muscle 'char siu,' basically beef marinated with honey, five-spice powder & hoisin sauce, complemented by a Chinese chili dip (RM68++).

Red-meat lovers can also have lamb rump with Mexican rub & guacamole (RM38++).

Chambers' side dishes are unusual: Smoked rice with hand-churned salted butter (RM18++) ...

... & sand-baked King Edward potato, densely smooth, with spiced sour cream (RM18++).

The restaurant supplies a trio of signature salts to pair with the food: Red wine salt goes with meat, smoked salt with chicken & veggies, while lemon salt's for seafood. Where's the remainder of that menu? A tale for another time.

Unfortunately, wine's also exorbitant here; this New Zealand Sileni Cellar Pinot Noir's only the second-cheapest bottle on the main menu, clocking in at RM210++.

Cocktails are OK: Pimm's Royal Cup (RM35++; Pimm's No. 1 topped up with Bollinger champagne, with apples, cucumbers, oranges, lemons & strawberries).

Strawberry Margarita (RM32++; Olmeca Tequila, triple sec, strawberry syrup & ice cream).

Chambers Bar & Grill,
Hilton Kuala Lumpur.
Open daily for lunch & dinner.
Tel: 03-2264-2592

Click here for online reservations.

This restaurant is available for bookings under TABLEAPP, which enables customers to make instant reservations at Malaysia's top restaurants, while saving time and money in the process. Reserve your table at this restaurant by clicking here.

Journeys Through Wine by Wine Daddy

It's the journey, not the destination: And what a journey it is at these wine appreciation gatherings, hosted at least one Sunday each month by Prakash Ragavan in his own home.

Step inside Prakash's Bukit Damansara sanctuary for a three-hour session that'll fly by effortlessly, tailored for anyone with a healthy curiosity about wine & a desire to better understand how to derive maximum satisfaction from imbibing. It's not a conclave of wine snobs but a community of wine lovers that's being nurtured here.

Our spelunking starts underground: Prakash has constructed his own cellar beneath this house & built an enviably bedazzling collection of wines from across the globe.

All this from a man whose torrid affair with wine only blossomed in his late 20s, after he developed an allergy to beer & was struck by an epiphany fueled by a fortuitous Margaret River meal that deliciously partnered rabbit stew with some Merlot.

Prakash holds a diploma in wine from South Africa's Cape Wine Academy; that should serve as encouragement, not deterrence, for folks who might feel intimidated about heading here. He's the perfect man to guide those of us who have little idea what the difference between Shiraz & Syrah could be (is there even a difference? hmmmmm).

And even for wine enthusiasts who already know a lot, there's still plenty of knowledge to absorb & share in the first half of these sessions, when we sit & talk about everything from the history of wine to the various types of wine to the etiquette of consuming wine. Not as somber as it seems; the teacher's gentle & good-humored, generous with smiles & eager to laugh.

The hall's chilly; in a testament to his passion, Prakash keeps the thermostat at 22 degrees Celsius, a suitable room temperature for savoring an open glass of wine.

The fun escalates when participants (typically kept to a maximum of 12 people) begin a blind tasting of wines that transforms into a spirited guessing game about what we're sipping & what characteristics these eight-or-so bottles might feature.

The time spent here is intoxicating in every sense of the word. But the hope is that by the end, everyone leaves with a clearer sense of which kinds of wine they like best & how to enjoy them.

These "i-1-wine" classes cost RM150 per person, with the next session slated for Sept. 15. Prakash also sometimes stages dinners that pair, say, Spanish wine with Spanish cuisine for "tutored tastings." Follow him on https://www.facebook.com/WineDaddy for updates.

Many thanks to Yeenli, Prakash's associate in the Wine Daddy enterprise, for the invitation to this session of an endeavor that harbors the tantalizing promise of genuine delight & discovery.

Wine Daddy's Journeys Through Wine

https://www.facebook.com/WineDaddy

Orang Belanda Cafe @ Heeren Street, Malacca

Thank heaven for tourists; that's how eateries like Malacca's Orang Belanda Cafe thrive.

Orang Belanda's name & facade strive to capitalize on Malacca's Dutch-colonial background, but the cafe's interior features a markedly more contemporary edginess.

The menu evokes memories of Amsterdam; this pork bacon pannekoek (RM16 before taxes) is topped with savory-juicy strips of near-perfect smoked meat, but the pancake itself is somewhat spongy-starchy.

Crepe with Nutella & whipped cream (RM12), perhaps a bit too bland. Could probably use a thicker slathering of the hazelnut-chocolate spread.

Cinnamon-laced coffee. Nice enough, though maybe a cold version of this should also be offered to refresh customers on sweltering afternoons.

Hot chocolate (RM6.50), made with full cream & Van Houten Dutch cocoa.

Orang Belanda Art Cafe,
32, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Melaka.