Svago @ KLCC

Thanks to a first-floor view & a first-rate Italian menu that both seem built to impress, Svago has the potential to become Suria KLCC's premier fine-dining venue.

Svago is spacious but still intimate, with a romantic elegance that stands in stark contrast to its more casual, street-level sister outlet Limoncello below.

Beside the restaurant, there's a bar where live music can be enjoyed on some nights.

Embarking on a seafood dinner, lifted from Svago's festive set menu: Lobster carpaccio, delicately prepared with julienne of marinated zucchini, carrots & lemon zest, showered with sweet citrus dressing.

Aussie yabbies & scallop, fresh & fleshy, complemented by broccoli cream sauce.

Black cod "mugnala," lightly & impeccably pan-seared with lemon, capers & parsley. We look forward to what Svago's a la carte selection will eventually showcase, but we hope prices prove less scary; these three dishes on the celebratory set breached the RM260 mark.

Well-executed cocktails; prices span RM22 for Whiskey Sours to RM28 for White Russians.

Brandy Eggnog, a nice way to cap the celebrations that have marked these recent weeks.

Grappa Di Brunello & Limoncello, to sip on the alfresco balcony overlooking KLCC's park.

Latte & affogato, not the best in town, but they'll do to keep us caffeinated.

As with Limoncello, Svago is run by the group behind Pavilion's Weissbrau & Spasso Milano.

Bar snacks are available too, from 'panzerotto' mini folded pizzas to 'polpette' meatballs.

Svago Cucina e Musica @ Suria KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: 03-2163-0188

Cantaloupe @ Troika Sky Dining

It's taken more than a year for Troika Sky Dining to clamber from conception to consummation, but this shimmering 24th-floor venue warranted the wait, kicking off 2013 with a resounding bang that connoisseurs citywide will surely hear & cheer.

Spearheaded by Chris Bauer & Eddie Chew, the erstwhile guiding lights for Changkat's Frangipani, Troika Sky Dining scored with a splashy housewarming soiree on New Year's Eve, a prelude to its official opening expected by week's end.

For now, the linchpin of this level is Cantaloupe, Troika Sky Dining's main hall for dining & wining. Two more under-speculation sections _ Italian supper spot Strato & watering hole Claret _ might be unleashed before January takes its leave.

Cantaloupe's menu remains under wraps, but its Dec. 31 dinner provided a peek at the kitchen's potential sensibilities: Fine de Claire oysters with Japanese cucumber jelly & anchovy cream; chorizo-dusted scallops with parsley foam & ancho chili oil ...

... flash-grilled red wine poached filet mignon with parsley noodles; 24-hour-cooked pigeon, chicken & foie gras terrine with pigeon jus ganache & chestnuts ...

... pan-roasted gurnard with bouillabaise croquette, marinated olives & ratatouille, as well as cantaloupe sorbet & Thai basil ice cream.

Classic cocktails: Clover Club, Negroni & Vesper Martini, RM30++ each.

Troika's triumvirate triumphant? In 2012, Acme Bar & Coffee captured Time Out KL's Best New Restaurant laurels, while last month, Kampachi launched here to unanimous acclaim; it might be culinary conjecture so far, but Troika Sky Dining could prove this building's crown jewel.

Too early to plan where to usher in 2014? Probably, but here's what might be in store.

Troika Sky Dining,
Level 23A, Tower B, The Troika, Persiaran KLCC, Kuala Lumpur.

BKT Klang Yip Weng @ Puchong, Teow Chew Meng @ Subang & Heun Kee @ Pudu

Food-hunting in Puchong, Subang & Pudu: time to binge on bak kut teh at BKT Klang Yip Weng, soupy noodles at Teow Chew Meng & claypot rice at Heun Kee.

Yip Weng serves both the dry variety of this porky pleasure ...

... as well as the broth-laden one to which we're much more accustomed.

Both enjoyable enough, though the former is heavy on salt, while the latter needs more herbs.

Chicken's present too; this claypot contains mainly stringy meat. Not entirely recommended.

Feet of fowl, fleshy but not for the faint-hearted. We'll pass next time.

Muar otak-otak, high on the fiery-spice thermometer.

Veggies, unmemorable in every way, but we need our fiber at any rate.

Yip Weng's oily rice isn't oily enough; its crullers are OK.

Next up, Teow Chew Meng, which has branches in both Subang & SS2.

The signature recipe here: "mee sua tow," a steaming hot pot of vermicelli with artificial fins.

Plump oysters form the highlight of this one, a little more flavorsome than the first.

Seafood porridge, a bit more watery than expected, though some like it this way.

Steamed fish, something impossible to fault here.

Teochew steamed taro & ginkgo nut dessert, to send us out to our next stop.

Final destination: Heun Kee, where the claypot chicken rice has garnered accolades far & wide (it even launched a branch this year at Singapore's Resort World Sentosa).

Chicken & rice both moist & flavorsome; what's not to like, right?

Seasonal specialty: Rice with imported waxed duck & sausages.

Love the 'lap mei,' though there's not that much of it to go around, really.

Heun Kee's fish head curry is chili-loaded enough to cause tummy turmoil.

Seafood-stuffed tofu, crisp & juicy, without excessive greasiness.

Yau mak & siew pak choy: vegetables treated with respect turn out deliciously.

Tea to wrap up a hunt that had both hits & misses. But every hour spent was worthwhile.

Bak Kut Teh Klang Yip Weng, 37, Jalan Puteri 2/3, Bandar Puteri, Puchong. 

Teow Chew Meng, 9, Jalan SS14/1, Subang Jaya, Selangor. 

Heun Kee, 59, Jalan Yew, Pudu, Kuala Lumpur.