Spasso Restaurant & Bar @ MyTown Shopping Centre, Cheras

Modern Italian and Spanish Delicacies

For authentic Italian and Spanish cuisine with a modern touch, look no further than our very own shore at MyTown Shopping Centre at Cheras. Spasso Restaurant and Bar opened in April this year at the new shopping mall located next to the new Ikea Cheras.

No stranger to the dining scene, Spasso is under the umbrella of Outto Dine group who also manages other popular eateries such as Limoncello, Svago, Weissbrau, Aka Chochin and Pascucci. Spasso offers modern European cuisine set in a casual ambiance.

 

At sight, Spasso has a smart casual ambiance set in lots of dark colours mixed with shades of wood. The restaurant is spacious and offers a nice bar as well as glimpse of the open kitchen. One can also see their wood oven in the kitchen, another plus point for pizza lovers.

Spasso is helmed by Spanish Sous Chef Iker Fernández Caballero who hails from San Sebastian. With over 20 years of culinary experience in Michelin-starred restaurants and luxury hotels globally, Chef Iker is aiming to garner swine lovers’ palate by putting together a sumptuous menu filled with porky delights as well as classic Spanish tapas to go with the wine list it Spasso has.

The menu is pretty solid with a good list of All-Day Breakfast, Salad or Soup, Tapas, Pizza, Pasta or Rice, Sandwich or Burger and Dessert. Since Outto Dine carries Pascucci coffee in their group, Spasso also serves Pascucci coffee and tea as well as a list of wines, champagnes, liqueurs as well as non-alcoholic beverages.

We started our lunch with coffee. Both of our Latte (RM13) and Iced Caffe Latte (RM15) was decent with quite perfect for our palates in terms of coffee aroma and flavours.

From the All-Day Breakfast list, we tried the Spanish Omelette (RM10), a potato and onion frittata that is popular in Spain. Light, fluffy and easy to enjoy, the omelette is packed with creamy soft potatoes and sweet onions. Served with side salad and toast, this dish even comes with free coffee or tea if you order this before 12noon.

We opted for Spanish Salad (RM15), simply because we saw it listed with poached egg. Crisp greens paired with ratatouille, olives and tomatoes in light tangy dressing, the salad was definitely made better with that beautifully poached egg with a flowy egg yolk center and crispy potato straws.

Moving on to the Tapas menu, we literally wanted to order almost everything because the list looked very enticing. Settling for Iberico Ham (RM23), it was certainly a great sharing platter when the dish was placed on our table.

Gorgeous cuts of Spanish Iberico ham is served with toasted sourdough bread and a light tangy tomato sauce. The ham literally melts-in-the-mouth with a luscious salty finish. Its quality cured meat at its best!

The next tapas of Garlic Prawns (RM38) already won brownie points when placed in front of us. Served in a hot stone bowl, the aroma of the sizzling prawns is tantalizing. The dish is one of our top favorites that day and is literally bursting with fireworks flavours of garlic, chili and herbs. Damn shiok, we were wishing for more toasted bread as well as another order of this succulent garlic prawns. A Must-order!

The Mussel Marinara (RM16) fair decent in my book. Nothing to fault but it didn’t leave us that firework of flavours like the Garlic Prawns. It is still cooked well with each tender mussel nicely smothered with lots of tomatoey goodness and served with toasted bread.

If there is one pizza to order, the Iberico Pizza (RM39) is your best bet. Beautiful thin crunchy crust smothered with deliciously flavourful tomato sauce and crowned with Iberico ham, fresh rocket leaves and generous sprinkling of parmesan cheese, it’s a pizza with classy flavours.

Another dish drool-worthy is the Seafood Paella (RM56). Best for sharing, the paella is served traditionally in the paella pan and comes with generous helpings of large prawns, mussels and clams with rice cooked in saffron laced seafood broth. Rice cooked al dente and beautifully moreish in flavours, we just couldn’t resist polishing this off happily. The seafood was fresh, succulent and cooked just right, elevating the dish to much satiation.

For lunch option, the Pork Secreto Sandwich (RM28) is a hearty and bulky sandwich for big eaters. Focaccia bread sandwiched with slow roasted pork loin, smoky and sweet grilled peppers, onions, tomato, lettuce and blue cheese is bound to make any foodie swoon. Comes with a side of crinkle cut fries, this is one sandwich to be taken seriously!

For vegetarian option, one can opt for the Vegetable Pesto Risotto (RM28). Risotto rice cooked al dente and well flavoured with cheesy and nutty pesto sauce, there’s plenty of vegetables such as broccoli, zucchini, bell peppers, tomatoes and more to give the dish a healthy dose of greens.

Spain is famous for their dessert of Crema Catalana (RM8). The version here is sublime. Utterly luscious and creamy baked custard with a thin layer of caramelized top, the Crema Catalana is the perfect sweet ending to a meal at Spasso.

SPASSO RESTAURANT & BAR

MyTOWN Shopping Centre,

G-038, Ground Floor,

No.6 Jalan Cochrane,

Seksyen 90, Cheras,

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Website: www.out2dine.com.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/spasso.mytown

Business Hours:

Daily 10am to 10pm

Coquo Restaurant & Wine Bar @ Solaris Dutamas (Publika)

Mother’s Day Menu

Open in April 2016, Coquo Restaurant and Wine Bar is an elegant speakeasy restaurant and wine bar yet to be fully discovered by many. For gourmands who makes extra effort in seeking out Coquo, they certainly know how to return for an unforgettable culinary journey of modern cuisine.

Located in Solaris Dutamas, just right above a popular hangout bar named Barfly, Coquo is helmed by Spanish chef extraordinaire, Chef Toni Valero together with partner Tricia Kandiah. Tricia first met Toni when she dined at Ohla Tapas & Cocktails, where Toni was working previously. Through mutual passion for the love of food, they ventured on their first restaurant together with Coquo.

Coupled with Valero’s impressive resume which boasts of Michelin star establishments in Spain like El Cellar de Cane Roca (El Cellar) and Mugaritz, diners are in for a gastronomical journey of flavours like no other on our Malaysian shore. Having successful stints in London, Barcelona and was even responsible for the popular Ohla Tapas, Valero hopes to embark on a new culinary journey of modern cuisine at Coquo.

At first sight, Valero remains reserve and direct but as we progressed through the dining experience, Valero speaks passionately about the culinary world with much pride on where his vision for the modern cuisine is heading towards. The very talented and meticulous chef show exceptional culinary foresight through the use of Malaysia’s local produce combine with modern culinary skills and techniques. Foraying into the world of molecular gastronomy, Valero uses various modern culinary techniques to showcase the best of our local produce to its best potential. It is only when the local ingredient is not available, the chef will then outsource it from elsewhere in the world.

Coquo, which translate to I cook in Latin, is designed with elegance and easement in mind of diners enjoying great food and wine set in smart casual ambiance. Pure wood and leather takes precedence in the theme of the décor as well as artist Thomas Powell’s Banksy style art reflects the speakeasy’s concept of food and wine. Elegant, mysterious as well as exquisite modern flavours brought together by the skill of Valero and his team sums up Coquo.

The restaurant and wine bar currently carries over 80 labels of wine with a small and tight menu that changes every four months.

Through the eyes of the famous personalities of the Banksy art mural who has created history in the culinary world such as Audrey Hepburn, Ferran Adria, Louis Pasteur, Joan Roca, Andoni Luis Aduriz, Aretha Franklin, Bob Marley and Salvador Dali, Valero hopes to create his own gastronomic history in the culinary scene in the city.

This Mother’s Day month, Valero takes his inspiration from non-other than his beloved mother’s recipes to bring diners a taste of Spanish dishes prepared the Valero way. Though Coquo menu doesn’t focus solely on Spanish cuisine, Valero speaks fondly of his yesteryears of growing up and enjoying his mother’s cooking, saying that the memories of that flavours are priceless. In tribute of his heritage and his mother, Valero brings forth two special dishes available only for a limited time during this Mother’s day in Coquo.

Gazpacho is said to originate from the southern Spanish region of Andalusia but today, it’s widely savored all over Spain and Portugal, especially during summertime when the hot weather is cooled down with this chilled soup. Valero whips up his gazpacho from his childhood flavours in his mother’s kitchen and elevates the chilled soup with slipper lobsters from Johor in Gazpacho with Grilled Lobster and Cured Egg Yolk (RM 48++).

Succulent lobster tails poached to perfection is paired with brunoise of bell peppers while the gazpacho is poured at table side on to the crustacean. The gazpacho has vibrant freshness of sweet tomatoes along with peppers, garlic and herbs. Velvety smooth and fairly thick, each spoonful of gazpacho was fresh and heavenly on the palate, leaving me satiated for more to come.

Through tedious efforts and days in the kitchen, Valero creates an intense and smoky caramelized sofrito for his base of Spanish Bomba rice cooked paella style. Tomatoes slow cooked over 8 hours in Jasper oven, a seafood stock that screams crustacean essence, Iberico pork ribs sous vide over 14 hours and more is meticulously prepared in honor of his interpretation of his mother’s dish of Pork Rib & Crab Rice (RM 58 ++).

The result is perfection of a cast iron pan of smoky and unctuously creamy al dente rice with crusty bits, served with delectable and fabulous Iberico pork ribs and sweet chunks of crab meat from our very own Pulau Ketam shore. Talk about flavours, this plate is jam-packed with rich and luscious flavours that is heighten with porky ribs and crab. The dish is divine… so much so that you may not want to share this with anyone else.

Apart from the special Mother’s Day menu, one should not miss the Prawn Carpaccio (RM38 ++) from the regular menu. Locally sourced prawns, artfully bundled and sliced carpaccio style is served with Laksa caviar, prawn cracker and spicy Laksa oil.

When asked what inspired the dish, Valero immediately says that one of his favorite local dish is Sarawak Laksa. Inspired by the rich flavours of the laksa, he uses molecular technique to create laksa caviar pearls to be paired with the prawn carpaccio on crackers. Everything is literally made from scratch, including the laksa paste he uses to create the laksa caviar downright to the crackers.

When savored together, this dish is truly memorable on the palate. Lush flavours of popping caviar of creamy and spicy laksa, sweet prawns, crispy prawn rice crackers and hints of spicy oil is a clever compilation unlike any other dish that I have ever tasted. Addictive as well as moreish, we kept going back for more of this delectable dish.

Just when we thought that nothing could outdo that excellent Prawn Carpaccio, Valero brought out his Curry Leaf Ice Cream (RM22 ++) served with strawberry Szechuan pepper and jasmine green tea gelatin.

Wait a minute, I had to ask Valero again to reaffirm what I heard, strawberries with Szechuan pepper and curry leaf ice cream? Try it first, he says.

Upon savoring the curry leaf ice cream on its own, it was an instant hit of cold and smooth sensation of cream and aromatic curry leaves. There is no sweetness at all in the ice cream but rather just notes of rich cream and curry leaves.

And then we savored the ice cream with the strawberries set in light floral jasmine green tea and what a turnaround. The strawberries were sweet and fruity with a lovely tang, smoothen out by the aromatic ice cream. Then you get an after subtle hit of heat from the peppers creeping slowly up which really gave the dessert an element of surprise. The duo of cold and heat really works wondrous on the palate. Kudos to Valero for his brilliance on combining unusual ingredients together and this extraordinary dessert!

If you’re looking for a culinary journey like no other, Coquo is the place to be. Intimate, excellent modern cuisine, impeccable service and a menu that truly epitomize gastronomic sensations, Coquo is a haven for those seeking adventurous culinary journey as well as a place to unwind with good wines and company. Reservations recommended.

Coquo Restaurant and Wine Bar’s special Mother’s Day menu is available from 12 to 14 May, 2017.

For reservations call 03-6211 2822 or email reservations@coquokl.com.

COQUO RESTAURANT & BAR (located above BarFly)

D1-G4-6, Jalan Dutamas 1,

Solaris Dutamas,

50480 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: + 60 3-6211 2822

Website: www.coquokl.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/CoquoKL/

Business Hours: 6pm to 12 midnight (kitchen menu ends at 10.30pm)

Tiki Taka @ Medan Damansara

Modern Asian Inspired Pintxos & Tapas!

Inspired by travels to Barcelona, founder Hans Gill and Chef Carrie Scully is taking pintxos and tapas to new heights in our city. Tiki Taka, a playful rendition of the owner and chef’s playground in taking small Spanish bites and elevating it with an Asian twist. It’s about time too as the concept works wonders when it comes to an evening of fun filled giggle juices, sharing plates and rambunctious company.

Tiki Taka may not be the first tapas restaurant but it had certainly made its own mark when we walked in on a Tuesday night. Barely opened for two months, words has already gotten out that this watering hole is filled with lots of sumptuous pintxos and tapas.

Located in Medan Damansara among some solid restaurants, Tiki Taka is set on an end lot and comes with its own free valet parking. Choose your seats in the cool dining area or be like most who opted for the al fresco area set with high tables and chairs for casualness. The décor is relatively simple and sufficient, evoking a calm and easy vibe for much R&R after a long day at work.

While Tiki Taka is open in the evening for dinner on weekdays, the weekends filled with servings of breakfast to dinner. The menu offers a large selection of pintxos and tapas as well as a selection of bigger bites (just in case…). Breakfast menu is only served on weekends.

While waiting for others to arrive, we went easy and enjoy a Virgin Mojito (RM12) & Chamomile Tea (RM9).

And then it was on to the giggle juice of Apple Mojito (RM25), a refreshing concoction of rum, apple, mint, lime and all the other goodies.

Latte (RM9) for our after dinner treat.

The evening kicked off with a classic Tomato & Serrano (RM6 per piece). A sweet and tangy tomato bruschetta topped with beautiful slices of salty serrano ham and completed with a drizzle of balsamic glaze, basil and edible flowers. It was a bite of savory, sweet and tangy yumminess.

Taking on the spiced route, the Dabeli Tart (RM6) is a pretty hodgepodge of spicy masala potatoes nestled in a buttery sweet tart. The mini tart has flavours of spices and creamy potatoes with crunchy touches from pomegranate, tomatoes and celery.

OK so this one is take on the famous fast food burger but certainly jazzed up to a premium level. The McFillet (RM8 per piece) is beautifully enticing with its brioche bun sandwiching golden panko crusted fish fillet and topped with Chef Scully’s concoction of passion fruit sauce, ranch, cucumber, pickled shallot and more. I adored how thick, fresh and juicy the fish fillet was. Its heaven on a bun if you asked me!

You’re either going to love it or not when it come to the Nutella & Bacon (RM6 per piece). Reading off the list, this indulgence has Nutella, caramelized banana, grilled bacon, walnut, truffle honey and blueberries. There is a lot of ingredients on this bite. I do enjoy this a fair but except I didn’t think it needed the blueberries since there is already the dark rich bananas. The bacon works for me with the Nutella and banana because it added a salty element to this dish, reminding us that it is a savory canape and not a sweet one.

Sriracha Gambas Al Ajillo (RM24) is a popular tapas and the version here is scrumptious. Sweet and firm prawns cooked in piquant and spicy Sriracha and garlicky sauce is great with baguette. I like the big kick of heat in the sauce and couldn’t resist mopping it up with the bread.

The Saffron & Squid Ink Pasta (RM22) looked almost too pretty to be eaten. What a color palette on the eye! Squid ink spaghetti is paired with creamy saffron sauce, prawns, mandarin sacs and finished with Szechuan Chili Oil. There is something unctuously yummy about this dish. Creamy and punchy, it’s the sauce that really made the dish so unique. The addition of chili oil is quite unexpected but definitely a brilliant addition to jazz up this pasta.

For a heavier bite, the Strawberry Chicken Pizza (RM20) will surprise you. Who would have thought that strawberries would go with BBQ chicken, caramelized onions, cheese, coriander and a luscious balsamic glaze. Personally, I think the balsamic glaze is the magic binder in this pizza. The tangy syrupy sweetness really works well with the chicken and strawberry. The savory and sweet notes is just right for me on the medium thin pizza.

Dinner ended with a popular Spanish dessert of Churros (RM12). Long pipes of crispy dough with a light chewy center is just made for dipping into a pot of creamy chocolate sauce. Sweet, chocolatey, crunchy and full of cinnamon aroma, it’s definitely a dessert to order here at Tiki Taka.

We like what Tiki Taka brings to our gastro world. Food is funky, eclectic, fusion and takes you on a new roller coaster of flavours. There’s nothing too serious here and yet there are some classics if you want to safe. Great place to hang out and the free valet is definitely a big perk here too!

TIKI TAKA

138, Jalan Kasah,

Medan Damansara

50490 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 016-328 7438

Facebook: www.facebook.com/tikitakamy

Business Hours:

Mon-Fri     4pm-1am

Sat-Sun    9am-1am