D’Empire @ Pavlion Kuala Lumpur

Fine European Cuisine

D’Empire may sound familiar to some and that’s because it was previously located in Solaris Mont Kiara. The fine dining European restaurant is now located in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur on Level 6 amidst all the other fine eateries.

At a glance, one may be intimidated to dine at D’Empire as the restaurant is gorgeously decorated elegantly. Flanked by high ceiling, the restaurant is spacious and set with plush royal blue banquette, dark wood furniture with soft golden lights. Even the restaurant name and logo symbolizes grandeur.

The interior is indeed elegant and beautiful. Besides the main dining area, there is also a classy private dining room which seats 10 pax comfortably.

D’Empire serves modern fine European cuisine. Helmed by Chef Dallan Tan, the menu is filled with an assortment of dishes from starters, salad, soup to main course, pizza, pasta and more. With more than a decade of experience in the industry, Chef Dallan specializes in French and Italian cuisine. For an establishment that is so regal looking, the prices on the menu seemed very fair and affordable.

D’Empire serves a nice list of mocktails and since we had to work the next day, we decided to go for these instead of our usual giggle juice. We had Fruit Punch, Mussolini, Tropical Breeze and Virgin Colada (RM13.90). Pretty much decent mocktails and pretty at sight too…

First dish was a starter of Stuff Escargots Bourguignon (RM26.90 – ½ dozen). Whenever I savor this dish, I always can’t help but to reminisce of the Julia Robert scene where she swings her escargot over to the next table. Back to the dish, the escargots are divine. Cooked till tender and well stuffed with garlicky herb butter, the escargot was delicious in every bite. That garlicky butter sauce was superb, so much so we wished for more bread to soak that up.

Even the dish of Smoked Salmon Salad (RM29.90) looked so enticing. Luscious slices of smoked salmon draped over a pile of crisp hydroponic greens with beetroot, apple, walnut and served with balsamic vinaigrette makes a generous portion on its own.

A dish that seemed so simple and yet is one of the hardest dish to perfect it is risotto. Since I enjoy risotto a lot, I really wanted to try the version here. We opted for the Mushroom Risotto (RM32.90) and was presented with a plate of aromatic and creamy risotto. The robust and earthy flavors of assorted mushrooms are well infused into the al-dente risotto. Love the toothsome bite of the rice and the generous shavings of parmesan cheese over the dish.

The Olio-Bacon (RM26.90) also deserves a raving. The pasta cooked to al dente, was well seasoned with lots of garlicky and spiciness from bird eye chilies and a generous helpings of beef bacon. Expect lots of flavors and aroma from this dish. It’s a simple dish executed with finesse.

I kid you not, the Pizza Bandiera (RM28.90) is superb. New on the list, one may need to ask the wait staff for this because it is still not in the current menu yet. Taking the freshest and finest ingredients of roma tomatoes, parmesan cheese and arugula on a crispy toasty thin pizza base, the Pizza Bandiera had everyone at the table praising how delicious the pizza was. The roma tomates were so sweet, juicy and bursting with fruity tomato notes that worked so well with the salty sharp cheese and bitterness of the arugula.

Mains arrive and our first was the premium Australian Black Angus Ribeye (RM128.90). At sight, we like what we saw on the presentation. However, I prefer my steaks to be a thicker cut rather than a larger piece. Minimal comment as the flavor of the ribeye was tasty but it was not to medium doneness to what I usually like in my steak. Nevertheless, the steak was still decent and flavorful.

The next dish of Norwegian Salmon Trout (RM46.90) more than made up my gripe on the earlier dish. The Salmon Trout was sublime. Cooked to perfection, the trout literally melt-in-the-mouth. Creamy, soft and sweet, the trout was served with two sauces of a spicy coulis sauce and a creamy caper sauce with a side of greens and potatoes. A definite Must-Order at D’Empire…

We didn’t think that chicken would impress us so much but it did in the Chicken Whole Leg (RM29.90). The chicken was marinated, grilled and finished with a slow bake to produce this crispy skin chicken with a juicy and tender meat. Also served with two sauces of caper cream and demi glazed brown sauce with potatoes, we really enjoyed this dish so much. Chef Dallan concurred that this is one of their bestseller on the menu.

Our meal ended with a sharing of their dessert of Passion Fruit Cheese (RM17.90). A passion fruit cheese slice served with generous helpings of two large scoops of vanilla and strawberry ice creams with a fruity coulis was a lovely sweet and tangy dessert to end the experience at D’Empire.

D’EMPIRE ART OF CUISINE

Pavilion Shopping Mall

Lot 6.33 & 6.34 Level 6 Floor,

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2110 6196

Facebook: www.facebook.com/dempirepavilion/