Marco Creative Cuisine @ One Utama

The Journey of Flavours

Malaysia’s culinary scene has been a hype of deliciousness. Latest kid on the Petaling Jaya block is Marco Creative Cuisine. It’s certainly been a while since our culinary scene has be graced by fine food at affordable value.

Having made his mark from Miam Miam and Franco as well as other F&B scenes in Singapore, Chef Daren Leong is set to jazz up our very own Malaysian shore with his latest restaurant, Marco Creative Cuisine. Named after his son, Marco is all about serving affordable fine food. Located in One Utama Shopping Mall, Marco serves modern cuisine set in an elegant and beautiful ambiance.

One would definitely not miss Marco while you’re at the mall because you would certainly gravitate towards the magical illuminous display of jellyfish tank at the front of the restaurant. The enchanting jelly fish had almost everyone catch a few glances with its mystical like shape floating under the illuminous lights.

As soon as one steps into Marco, diners will be greet by the pastel serenity of the theme of whites, copper gold and Tiffany blues flanked by soft glow of the lights throughout the restaurant. The space is cleverly sectioned into various space to offer more privacy. There is a glimpse of the kitchen through the small long window at one side of the restaurant should one wish to catch some kitchen action.

Marco Creative Cuisine aims to take diners on The Journey of Flavour with their 7-Course meal, showcasing the very best of Malaysia’s own local produce as possible. The best part of this is the affordability of the 7-course, priced only at RM78 (GST inclusive but not service charge) per person. Never had fine food been so affordable to everyone in our culinary scene.

No prior reservation needed for the 7-course, one can simply walk-in for the journey of flavour or order from their a la carte menu if 7-course is too much for your liking. Of course to secure your dining experience, you should make a reservation. Marco’s menu is set to change every 6 months and is pork free.

The 7-course menu starts off with an unsual Velvety Matcha-Lime Shooter. Served cappuccino style, the frothy green speck shooter has zesty and tart citrusy note with hints of green tea. It’s a vibrant flavour to awaken the palate for the next few courses to come.

Second course revolves around a pretty Savory Éclair. Instead of bread and butter, Chef Daren tries to offer diners a Gruyere flavoured pâte à choux served with aubergine caviar, green chili pesto and tomato confit. Crusty with buttery notes, the choux pastry makes a tasty option with the creamy and delicious caviar.

For the third course, there are three options for diners to choose from in this soup course.

Chef Daren recommends the pretty Strawberry Gazpacho. Malaysians are not custom to cold soups but diners should at least try this because the gazpacho is refreshing and utterly delicious. Pretty in pink, the cold soup has such wonderful freshness of strawberries among other vegetables like capsicum, cucumber, onion and more. The slight savory, sweet and tangy notes blend really well and tasted beautifully refreshing on the palate, which is so great for our hot weather.

The French Onion Soup offer diners rich and robust chicken broth with deep earthy notes of caramelized sweet onions. Served with French toast, the soup is also topped with gratinated cheese, added more depth of flavors and richness as well.

The third option was a classic Truffled Mushroom Soup. Though I didn’t try this but I was told by my friend who had this that it was superb. Velvety smooth with beautiful truffle and mushroom notes, the soup was one of the best mushroom soups he has had for a while.

For the salad cum appetizer course, there are two salad options as well as an appetizer to choose from.

I opted for the Chicken Liver Parfait. It’s luscious, nutty, creamy with a sweet note of the brulee top. Served with toasted bread and hydrated crisp apple chip, the chicken liver parfait is yummy and velvety smooth.

Chef Daren played his creative twist again on a salad and served his with a savory ice cream. The Savory Ice Cream Salad had assorted baby greens, heirloom tomatoes, and seasonal microgreens with violet flowers for a touch of prettiness. The lightly savory ice cream was invitingly cold and lovely when savored with the salad.

The Garden Platter had fresh mixed greens, heirloom tomatoes as wel las edible flowers on edible soil and Gribiche sauce. The Gribiche sauce is actually a French tartar sauce. It’s tasty and light, a simple course in anticipation of the main courses to come.

There are six main course to choose from and choosing is definitely a difficult choice because they all sounds so wonderful in the menu.

The Squid Ink Japonica Rice was my chosen dish and I was pretty satisfied with the dish. Japanese short grain rice cooked with squid ink with prawns, baby squid and omelette served with garlic mayo summarized the dish. Cooked al dente, the rice is moreish and moist. The seafood is cooked just right, beautifully succulent, tender and sweet while the fluffy and creamy egg omelette made the dish even better.

I also tried the Salmon with Jet Black Hollandaise. Gorgeous looking crispy skin salmon with tender flesh, the fish is     excellent with the unctuous black hollandaise sauce tainted with squid ink. The pickled beetroot added a nice tang and texture to the dish together with the green chili pesto. A must if you are a fish lover…

The Duck Breast with Orange Puree and Roasted Beetroot looked gorgeous at sight! It was like a piece of modern art and a delicious one indeed. Using local Pekin duck breast, Chef Daren sous vide it first before finishing it on a pan to achieve that crispy duck skin. The duck was cooked beautifully and remained succulent and tender. Served with smooth orange puree and roasted beetroot, the duck was further elevated with a masterful swirl of valrhona dark chocolate sauce. One word sums this dish… Divine!

The next best dish on the list has to be the Chicken Roulade with Brussels Sprout. The dish took us by surprise and we loved it so much that the few of us vowed to return to Marco for this dish. Chef Daren was inspired by his grandfather’s Hainanese Chicken when created this dish. Roulade of chicken made so perfect with hours of sous vide and finished in the oven. The chook was tender and goes so yummy with the chicken jus. Even the brussels sprouts was well-chargrilled with a wonderful smokey and buttery note with sweet corn kernel.

There were two other main dishes of pasta for those who enjoy heavier mains. The Pomodoro Cream Seafood Pasta is served with baby squid, clam and mussel while the Vegetarian Arrabbiata is penne in pomodoro sauce with aubergine, zucchini, shimeji and hot sauce with parmesan cheese.

Dessert time and there are also three choices to choose from. The Deconstructed Lemon Meringue Pie won raved reviews from my friend who really enjoyed this dessert a lot. It has elements of lemon curd, passion fruit gel, italian meringue and white chocolate sherbet.

My Raspberry Decadence was a luscious raspberry cheese cake with raspberry gel, passion fruit gel, white chocolate sherbet and finished with lemon meringue shards. The raspberry cheese cake is tangy and creamy. The white chocolate sherbet is refreshing and creamy too, pairing well with the cheese cake and all the other components.

The third choice of dessert is the Crème Brulee with White Chocolate Sherbet. The baked egg custard finished with a crunchy brulee top is served with white chocolate sherbet and meringue kisses.

The 7-course menu finished with French Press Coffee or Tea or Sparkling Iced Berry.

Truly an unforgettable journey of flavours, Marco Creative Cuisine has really brought dining on to a whole new level. Never has finely presented modern cuisine been so reasonably priced and every course keeps getting better. If you’re a small eater, a la carte menu of all the dishes are also available. It’s one of those dining experience that you just can’t wait to go back to try again!

7-Course Menu

RM78 nett per person

Ala Carte order

Soup, Entrée – RM18 per serving

Main – RM35 per serving (+RM10 for Duck Breast)

Dessert – RM20 per serving

MARCO CREATIVE CUISINE

Lot G146, Ground Floor (Old Wing),

1 Utama Shopping Centre

1, Lebuh Bandar Utama,

Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

Tel: +603-7731 8293

Website: www.marcocreativecuisine.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/marcocreativecuisine/

Business Hours:

Lunch: 12pm to 3pm

Afternoon Tea: 3pm to 6pm

Dinner: 6pm to 10pm