Meat the Porkers @ Solaris Dutamas

Hogging the Limelight in Indian Cuisine

Talk to me about swine and I will swoon. Shamelessly biased about my love for the hog, I get excited when I hear about dishes made with it. So when Meat the Porkers came on board the culinary scene in November last year, it was big news.

Well truth be told, of course it would be big news. Never in our Indian culinary scene have we had a porky Indian restaurant or even porky Indian dishes. In fact, I would daresay it’s probably a first in Asia! Owner Herukh Jethwani, you would know him from Fierce Curry House, has been tossing his idea of taking Indian cuisine to new heights for years. Despite the unknown, he and his missus was ready to introduce porky Indian delights to our culinary scene, taking the swine into limelight in his heritage cuisine.

After toying the idea for a while, it turned out harder than he thought. Not having the knowledge in the other white meat, he had to really go through a lot but he finally made it. Even then, Herukh tested his porky creations from takeaway orders from his home too. Meat the Porkers finally opened and the rest they say is history.

Located in Publika area, the restaurant has a minimalist industrial vibe that exudes much casualness. Colorful boxy shelves with cute hogs reminded us again what we were here for. Opt for dining in the main dining area or simply al fresco.

It’s quite the thrill to see a menu that reads Siew Yoke Biryani, Tandoori Pork Ribs, Butter Pork and Bacon Cheese Naan. I just couldn’t wait to savor the dishes…

For starters, there’s Pork Pakora (RM20). Yep, you heard me… not onion pakora, not vegetable pakora but Pork Pakora served with mint chutney. These crispy nuggets of porky bits with spices and aromatics tasted so moreish, you’ll want a bucket of these. Oh wait, that’s me that wants the bucket… it’s that good!

Then there’s Pork Seekh Kebab (RM28). Moist and tender, these kebab pieces are very tasty with all the spices and herbs. Served with mint chutney too, I personally didn’t think it needed it as it was already so tasty.

When the Tandoori Pork Ribs (RM48) landed on our table, there was certainly a lot of oohs and aahs in amazement. The sight of glorious meaty pork ribs basted in the classic reddish tandoori marinade and chargrilled in a tandoor oven had everyone at the table salivating.

Don’t know how we managed to resist not attacking the ribs but rather let our camera and phone eat first was a definitely a mystery to us. The ribs is picture perfect with all its colors.

A quick cut up, the ribs looked juicy and very meaty. Expect lovely well-balance tandoori flavours with a slight tang and a good dose of smoky notes. Although it’s tender, I like how it still has a good bite. The Tandoori Pork Ribs come with lemon, mint chutney, pol sambal and tamarind BBQ sauce. Squeeze the lemon over the pork and then sprinkle the pol sambal all over the ribs as advised by Herukh. Then enjoy these with both sauces for different flavours. Lip smacking good…

Then the star of the menu showed up. Siew Yoke Biryani (RM28), hidden in the usual biryani bowl and seal with dough to keep in the aroma and flavours. The roasted pork biryani comes with sides of curry sauce, yoghurt sauce, pol sambal and pork cracklings. I am super glad the pork crackling is served on the side because this means that it will be crispy.

When the lid came off, we were hit with a wonderful aroma of spices. The biryani long grain rice was fluffy with beautiful yellow hue providing the base for fried shallots and coriander. We dug in and low behold, generous chunks of roasted pork were unveiled.

I can’t believe no one has ever thought to come up with this sooner. What a treat! The flavours of the biryani and the roasted pork with cracklings are superb. The rice was beautifully fluffy, aromatic and well flavoured with spices. The roasted pork was tender and tasty too. The combination of both was lethally yummy. As I look around, every table had at least an order of this dish. Damn shiok!

Although the Siew Yoke Biryani hog the limelight, the hogging didn’t stop there. Butter Pork (RM28), a piggy take on the much beloved butter chicken was sublime. His other restaurant already perfected the butter chicken and now it’s made with tenderloin pork fillet. Thick, lusciously rich and creamy with a nice tang of tomato flavours, the Butter Pork goes so well with rice or bread.

There’s also a porky rendition of another classic in Pork 65 Masala (RM28). Bold spice flavours with punchy heat from tenderloin pieces of pork are guaranteed to go well with rice or bread for that matter. The tiny mustard seeds added touches of popping flavours and texture to the dish.

After all that meat, we consoled our health conscience with an order of Eggplant Masala (RM17). Eggplant cooked till soft and creamy with lots of aromatics and spices, the dish was a big hit on the table.

Then, there’s also Tadka Dal (RM17), a must-order when dining on the cuisine. The version here is damn delicious. Thick, creamy, nutty and well infused with spices, dried chilies and fresh herbs, I kept piling this on my rice.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Herukh presented his pride and joy, the Bacon Cheese Naan (RM15). Bacon chips sautéed with garlic and butter, then folded into his naan with cheese and baked in tandoor oven, smelled heavenly. Definitely decadent than the usual naan. This one is a testament that bacon makes everything taste better…

We enjoyed how Meat the Porkers aim to please us swine fans. It took a huge gamble and has gone where no man has been and the gamble certainly paid off. Meat the Porkers may be the first porky Indian restaurant to hit our shores but I am sure it won’t be for long before many will follow pursuit. Herukh plans to introduce other new dishes every 6 months so expect more porky delights like Pork Rib Biryani to come. When food is this good and made even better with swine, Meat the Porkers is a must-visit!!

MEAT THE PORKERS

D1-G3-5, Publika Dutamas,

1 Jalan Dutamas 1,

Solaris Dutamas,

50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 019-987 1945

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pg/MeatThePorkers

Business hours:

Wed to Mon 12noon - 3.30pm | 6.30pm-10pm (last order 9.45pm).

Closed on Tues

Meatology Restaurant & Bar @ TTDI

Meat-ing Expectations

You know you can always count on certain restaurants for a great dining experience. Meatology is one of them. Revamp from the previous Boathouse, Chef Yenni Law never fails to deliver a delightful menu filled with great Asian and Western cuisines.

We have dined a few times at Boathouse and have always enjoyed the affordable and scrumptious menu Chef Yenni offers. After her successful launch of her cookbook Meatology, a compilation of her signature dishes collected from her years of culinary passage from helping her mom in the kitchen to her travels and culinary stints in Europe, Chef Yenni has renamed her restaurant to Meatology in conjunction with her book.

The restaurant has always exuded a warm and comfy atmosphere. When we walked in again recently a few weeks ago, we were greeted by the familiar settings, now jazzed up with some new enhancement, like the handmade bottle lightings made by the chef herself.

The bar remains at its usual spot while a long panel of mirrors are added to create more space and comfort for the dining area parallel to the bar. Meatology is a great place to hang on after a day’s work for drinks, food and to catch some sport actions as well on the tv available by the bar.

For a quieter dining, head on back to the main dining area where a large chalkboard displays specials of the day. We have always love the charm this restaurant radiates and the menu it has.

A large wine display features the lovely list of wines available at Meatology.

If you’re looking more just to hang out casually, head on up to Myth, just above the restaurant. The lounge is pretty cool with a glowy dim lite area for drinks and maybe some games.

We are here as Chef Yenni has revamp her menu and added new dishes to the list of her previous favorites. Kicking off the evening, we lock in our usual giggle juices, opting to try out Meatology’s latest cocktails. Whether you’re sipping White Lady (RM26) or Slippery Martini (RM26), both are delicious giggle juices to pave the evening for more yumminess to come. Order three of their special cocktails for RM68.

For wine lovers, there is a promotion on Wine Flight of four glasses of wines (white, rose, red and ice wine) for RM119.

Left to right: Château de Cathalogne Bordeaux, Château de Fesles Anjou Rosé (Loire Valley), La Closerie des Lys Rouge (Languedoc Rousillon) and Pilliteri Vidal Ice Wine (Niagara-on-the-Lake).

Chef Yenni’s repertoire is vast and versatile and her menu consists of classic fine dining dishes to her own creations of comfort food. Rest assured, there’s also plenty of swine for more shiokness to swine fans like me.

Leading the list is French Escargot (RM13), succulent morsels of escargot cooked with cream and spinach served in its own shells. A different sauce than the usual garlic butter and beautifully luscious on the palate.

Another premium ingredient on the list that one may not expect from Meatology is Foie Gras (RM49). Chef Yenni’s skill is really shown here as her foie gras, gorgeously and perfectly seared, is served with spiked peach wedges and a sticky balsamic sauce. The sweetness of the fruity peach goes so well with the sinful and creamy goose liver and brandy laced balsamic sauce.

After that two fine dishes, we get thrown back down to earth with a rustic bar snack of Gizzard Frito (RM13). Not that I enjoy chicken gizzard but once I tasted these crispy little nuggets of crunchy battered gizzard, I surprisingly went back for another two bits. Hand me a beer please…

Mains arrive and the first one had our palate all fired up! Fiery Ribs (RM45), listed on the menu with secret spicy sauce looked damn good at sight. The three giant pork ribs are literally smothered in a thick and lightly chunky fiery looking sauce, served on mashed and veggies.

The ribs are tender and yet offers a good firm bite on the meat. The sauce is not for the faint hearted and packed enough heat to titillate the taste bud to savor more. It is also robust enough with savory and sweet flavors, making this dish a bit hit on our table that evening, especially with me.

We went ducky over the hunky slab of sliced Duck Breast Confit (RM43). Smoked in-house, the plump duck breast is tender and moist with a smoky aroma. Served with a citrus trinity sauce made from orange, passionfruit and berries, the savory duck breast flavors are balanced with the tangy and fruity sweet sauce.

Most restaurants don’t choose to serve tableside finished dishes anymore but we are glad that Meatology still offers some flambé actions. Nothing like a kitchen action to enhance the dining experience right?

Our Swine Neck Steak Flambé (RM59) certainly went up in flames!

A generous piece of pork neck is beautifully seasoned and finished in brandy and served with a peppery brown sauce. Pork neck is well-known for tenderness and flavors and so the dish is often a favorite these days with many. Albeit a little dry but this is easily remedied with that delicious rich and peppery sauce that comes with the dish.

Meatology Ribs (RM45) won many hearts or should I say stomachs that night? Haha…

Another generous hunk of pork ribs basted in Chef Yenni’s hush hush secret BBQ sauce is also set aflame at our tableside with brandy. The ribs are superb in texture and flavors. Tender and yet firm, it’s the marinade and sauce that took the ribs to sensational heights of flavors.

Simply a must-order for rib-loving fans, the sublime hush hush BBQ sauce has such a harmonious balance of sweet, savory, smoky and umami note. Damn awesome if you ask me….

And just when we thought the flaming actions were over, we got another flaming action with our Steak On Fire (RM50). 200gm of Australian tenderloin, cooked to medium rare and flamed up with VSOP brandy is served with a creamy and pepper sauce with mashed and veggies.

The tenderloin is so gorgeous on bite and I enjoyed that luscious peppery mustard sauce very much. For foie gras lovers, you can even add a slice of foie gras to this dish for an additional RM30.

Chef Yenni has certainly got a way with meat. Cleverly taking a tougher cut of meat and turning it to a tasty one is showed in her Smoked Lamb Muscle 3 Sauces (RM43). The leg of lamb muscle is deboned, tied up and smoked for flavor and aroma. Cooked slowly till tender, the lamb is served with three sauces of mint sauce, fiery spicy sauce and horseradish with mustard sauce. Love the sauces as it gives the lamb different levels of flavors…

Besides meat, Chef Yenni also does a beautiful Blue Fin Tuna (RM69) for seafood fans. Sashimi grade tuna is just nicely seared and left raw in the middle. Thickly sliced and fan out like pretty petals of pinkness, the tuna goes well with the sweet and sticky citrus ponzu sauce. Delightful and not overly heavy, the tuna makes a lovely meal if you are not into meat.

Now who would have thought that one can do wonders with marmite besides slapping it on bread? Spaghetti Marvelous Mite (RM29), a creative concoction of pasta with a marmite based sauce is crowned with salty and luscious slices of Parma ham and rocket leaves. Its umami and savory marmite flavors are quite prevalent so if you enjoy marmite, you’ll certainly enjoy this pasta.

We never fail to leave room for desserts and this round, we had four creative desserts. Sinful Soufflé (RM22), a dark and bittersweet chocolatey sensation, had my palate floating on cloud nine. The freshly baked soufflé is worth every minute of waiting with its fluffiest cloud of cake set with a dark runny chocolate center filled with dark cherries cooked in booze. What more can a girl ask for…

I don’t care for dates but I do enjoy date puddings. Meatology’s Date Pudding (RM18) is another dessert worth every calories it has. It looked pretty light and plain but once you tasted the moist and dense date pudding with boozed up brandy butterscotch sauce and vanilla ice cream, you be awarded with a caramelized and sinful, sweet and sticky goodness. Super rich and super yum!

Cutely coined as Reggae Pudding (RM17), dig into freshly baked custardy bread pudding studded with bananas and raisins and crumbly sweet sugar crust. Sweet, creamy, eggy and heavily laced with rum, the pudding even comes with vanilla ice cream for a hot and cold sensation.

Though stuffed to max by now, after a look at the flaming Nasty Alaska (RM23), I even tried this small bite of the classic angelic dessert made naughty with peanut butter and lots of alcohol. The light fluffy meringue is just nice without being overly sweet and the combination of ice creams, peanut butter, cake, plump boozed soaked dried fruit and crumbly crust is naughty and nice for this coming festive season.

There’s so much more at Meatology’s menu that warrants a visit with more people so one can share all the delicious dishes. I would go back for other dishes such as Jack & Chic, Pork & Roll, Pig’s Balls, Poison Pork, Claypot Wild Boar Curry with Corn Chips, Wagyu Skirt Steak, Beer Breast, Meatology Smoked Belly, Octopussy Risotto and more.

MEATOLOGY RESTAURANT & BAR

16, Lorong Rahim Kajai 14,

Taman Tun Dr Ismail,

6000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-7727 4426

Facebook: www.facebook.com/pg/MeatologyKL

Business Hours:

Mon to Sat   4pm to 2am

Closed on Sunday