Saturday Night Vibes @ Shook, Starhill Gallery

KL’s Most Happening Place is Where Saturday Nights Begin!

Something is happening every Saturday night in town and it’s a delicious one… if food and music are your loves, then head over to Shook! at Feast Village, Starhill Gallery. There’s nothing better on a Saturday night than to spend it over an unforgettable feast with lots cocktails and wine plus a live band performance to jazz up the evening!

Every Saturday night, diners will be seeing a different performer of note taking the stage with original music and mesmerising renditions of well-loved tunes. The first to join the hand-picked Saturday Night Vibes line-up early this month was FAZZ, a Malaysian band known for its soulful jazz vibes. In the weeks to come, Shook!’s guests can expect to be serenaded by the likes of Evelyn Feroza (August 26), Nadir (September 9), Reza Salleh (September 16), Jumero (September 23), Bihzhu (October 14), and Ryot Jones (October 21) to name a few.

We had the honors of smooth jazz and lively tunes from Q Sound, a world renowned trombonists. A graduate of The Juilliard School in New York, Q Sound

Shook!’s new dining concept, Saturday Night Vibes, is certainly making waves in town. It’s a multi-sensory celebration of music, magic, a splendor of flavours and a little romance thrown in for good measure.

“Shook! is more than just about the amazing food. It is about the holistic experience where our guests excite all of their senses through a medley of curated expressions of self that include food, music and magic. A Cirque du Culinaire, this unique dining concept offers only the freshest ingredients from our various show kitchens; serves handcrafted desserts as you are being entertained by our very own magician, entertainers, and even clowns; and lets you begin your evening with good company. Saturday nights will be like never before as Saturday Night Vibes gets your weekend started on the right note,” said Joerg Hontheim, General Manager of Feast Village.

Be enticed with a splendor of seafood on ice! From gorgeous Lobsters, Prawns, Crabs, and Scallops, there is also an endless load of fresh shucked Pacific Oysters, all ready to be savored with plenty of lemons and sauces.

Grilled Pacific Oysters for those who prefer these aphrodisiac cooked…

Watch out for the moving Roast station to enjoy glorious thick cuts of Rack of Lamb with Roast Vegetables, Mashed Potato, Miint Sauce and Gravy. The lamb is gorgeously pink with juiciness and tender.

Fret not if you miss the Rack of Lamb, there is also a BBQ station when one can select your own meat and seafood to be grilled and served with various sauces.

Hit the Chinese buffet for another load of seafood cooked in Chinese sauces. From Spicy Mussels to Stir Fried Clams, Slipper Lobster and Kam Heong Bamboo Clams to Roasted Duck, Hot & Sour Soup and more.

There’s also little bites of dim sum from Yam Puff, Fried Dumpling, Crispy Squid and Sesame Ball.

The Japanese bar will always be a favorite spot for some fresh Sashimi, Sushi, Tempura and Teppanyaki. There’s also some small bites of Japanese treat like Soba, Tataki and more for varieties.

From East, we head West for a Mediterranean feast. Antipasti of Marinated Olives and Vegetables, Italian Seafood Salad, Baby Octopus Salad, Eggplant & Ricotta Salad Pepperonata Salad and more. Savor thinly shaved slices of Air Dried Beef, Smoked Duck Breast and other cured meats along with breadsticks.

The Seafood Risotto is simply a must-try! Each spoonful is absolutely divine and oozing with cheesy richness of bits of al dente rice coated in lusciousness.

Besides the buffet bars, Shook! goes all out and serves more dishes, freshly cooked and served at tableside upon your order. Xiao Long Bao, Bruschetta, Braised Beef Cheeks, Freshwater Prawn Sang Mee and Grilled Seafood are some of the dishes highlighted during our visit.

Cheese lovers are in for a treat! From a solid list of hard cheeses like Manchego, Provolone, Pecorino Romano to soft ones like Brie, Roquefort, Goat Cheese and more, it’s a cheese galore.

Despite all the tempting list of dishes to be savored, one simply must save some tummy space for desserts. Pretty French Macarons, Petit Cakes, Miniature Tarts, Mango Pudding, shots of Chocolate Mousse, Panna Cotta, Financiers, Cup Cakes, Chocolate Pops, Chocolates and the mandatory Chocolate Fountain are drool-worthy sweets to end the evening of gastronomical delight.

Experience this remarkable dining concept every Saturday night from 6pm to 10pm at RM 168 nett. A beverage package is also available at RM 88 nett which comes with selected cocktails including the Signature Cocktail, Aperol Spritz, as well as other beers, wines and shooters (applies to diners of Saturday Night Vibes only) while the 1-for-1 Happy Hour is available from 9pm to 11pm - selected draft beers, house wines and cocktails are served.

Contact Shook! Kuala Lumpur for reservations at +60 3 2782 3875 or shook@ytlhotels.com.my. To make things even simpler when planning the weekend, guests can make reservations online on the website as well.

SHOOK!

Feast Village at Starhill Gallery

181 Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Contact: +603 2782 3875

Website: www.feastvillage.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/feastvillage

Business Hours:

Open Daily 6.00am - 11.00pm

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