A MasterChef dinner? I was puzzled when my dear gave me this as a very special and memorable Christmas present. I was curious about how you can have a MasterChef dinner in Malaysia and we arrived at the apartment @ the Curve after making reservations.
It turns out that there is a special, limited edition degustation menu from the judges and contestants of MasterChef Australia Season 5. This is totally legit, the recipes were licensed to the apartment and my better half had won RM 200 worth of vouchers so she treated me to this delicious dinner.
There are three (3) main courses to choose from – Stuffed Turkey with Pumpkin Puree (RM 128++) based on Samira El Khaffir’s Stuffed Chicken with Pumpkin Puree recipe, Seared Steak with Hollandaise Sauce, Roasted Pumpkin, Cauliflower & Pine Nut (RM 148++) by Michael Todd and Confit Salmon (RM 98++) by Samira – the contestant we both dislike immensely. Haha!
Amuse-bouche
This was a duo of grilled cherry tomatoes with herbs on nachos. There’s only two on the plate (which is the standard plate the apartment uses for appetizers and thus a bit worn looking) which was a little bit weird, plating wise, coz you always put three (3) servings or another odd number. I only realized this when my better half told me about it. It’s a wonderful start though – this is a delicious complimentary starter from the chef.
Appetizer
Braised Lamb Shoulder Tostada (Andy Allen)
We both loved this as well. My dear said the lamb didn’t have too much of a gamey taste so it suits her. I thought it was executed well and the lamb shoulder gave a nice texture to put on the tostada. It’s just a little too similar, texture-wise, to the amuse-bouche. I loved the juicy pomegranate seeds strewn throughout though – it was nice!
Soup
Carrot Liquid with a Hint of Blood Orange
The plating is well thought out – the blood orange comes in a shot glass so you can pour as much (or as little) as you want into the carrot soup. The soup has a very spicy end note though so my dear didn’t manage to finish hers. I loved mine though, I thought the acidity of the blood orange balances out the creaminess of the carrot soup.
Sorbet
Summer Peach Granita
A wonderful interlude before the main course! The sorbet is in nicely large granulated form so it’s great as a palate cleanser before our mains arrived. There’s no attribution to this and the soup but I think I saw it in one of the MasterClass episodes from one of the judges – think it was Gary.
Main Course
Confit Salmon (Samira El Khaffir)
This is what my better half ordered. It’s the only one that she could have gone for considering she doesn’t like beef. I don’t like cooked salmon in general coz restaurants tend to overcook it but this one was done very nicely. It was cooked to perfection!
The entire salmon was nicely seasoned and pink and there’s none of the dryness that comes from overcooking this piece. I tend to prefer raw salmon sashimi but this changed my mind – it was juicy and tender, with all the natural taste of the salmon brought out.
Main Course
Stuffed Turkey with Pumpkin Puree (Samira El Khaffir)
I was torn between Michael Todd’s Seared Steak with Hollandaise Sauce, Roasted Pumpkin, Cauliflower & Pine Nut and this one and decided to go for the turkey since it’s Christmas. This recipe is based off of Samira’s Stuffed Chicken with Pumpkin Puree. It was quite an interesting dish as the Middle Eastern influence was *really* apparent in the dish.
The turkey is stuffed with a basmati rice and spice mix! That’s the most fusion stuffing I’ve ever come across and it kinda, sorta works. I can’t say I’ll give this 10/10, more like 7/10 – I enjoyed it but it wasn’t mind-blowing. There’s something to be said about eating a Middle Eastern inspired turkey and not all of it is good.
Notes on service: The waiter took away her plate while I was still eating. She had finished her confit salmon but I was still halfway through my turkey. I thought that was quite rude – you never start clearing plates until everyone is done in the service industry. It’s a major service no-no.
Also, he didn’t always serve the woman first, which is another service faux pas. However, the waiter was always polite and kept refilling our cold water so I mentioned this to the supervisor, Julito, who apologized profusely and gave me a feedback form to file my grievances.
It seemed that they didn’t know this basic rule of etiquette about clearing dishes but the supervisor was professional throughout and the waiter was just plain ignorant so no harm done. The bill came up to RM 280++ so it was about RM 90 after the RM 200 vouchers was used.
Dessert
Modern Baklava (Samira El Khaffir)
This is an absolutely wonderful end to the dinner! The baklava was *cloyingly sweet* but I mean that in the most complimentary way. There’s two sauces that comes with the dish – one is sweetened condensed milk based and the other something akin to caramelized sugar. It was decadent and delicious! We both polished our plates! Haha!
Thanks for the thoughtful gift dear! We both enjoyed our MasterChef Australia Season 5 dinner with recipes from the judges and contestants and would go again, except that was the last week of the promotion. It’s a wonderful Christmas present coz we both went to Australia at the beginning of the year as our first trip overseas and we both watched MasterChef Australia Season 5 together. <3
Good grief!!! ONE cherry tomato halved…and served on TWO pieces of nachos??? Duhhh!!!! I’ve a bush of ’em growing wild in my garden – you can help yourself…but bring your own nachos. Muahahahahaha!!!!! Not a fan of baklava either… Wouldn’t mind the stuffed turkey – that looks pretty good.
I knew this fella would crack me up as usual. Bwahahaha….
Haha! Yeah, it is a small portion even for us, but then again, it’s just the amuse-bouche. 🙂
Haha! It’s just the amuse-bouche, a complimentary dish of whatever the chef feels like cooking! 🙂
Can’t complain when it’s free.
The stuffed turkey is alright, although the Middle Eastern influence is very strong. I wonder what the steak would taste like.
What a fabulous dinner for 2! So romantic and mouth watering dishes. Every plate looked like a beautiful contemporary Art to me! Reminds me of Salvador Dali. The bill is what it’s worth lah.
Yeah, it’s nice, and even better, it’s MasterChef Australia Season 5! 🙂
It’s something we watched together so we know the judges and contestants.
I would have to agree with Arthur, the amuse-bouche looks miserably small in portion. Other than that, those dishes look awesome, glad that you two enjoyed the evening 🙂
Yeah, the amuse-bouche is a complimentary dish that the chef just serves while you’re waiting! 🙂
I’ve seen good ones, average ones and more commonly NONE! Haha!
It’s not something restaurants here do, I’m glad the apartment does it.
it’s so strange how i never even caught wind of this promotion until now. when it is obviously too late. lol. can’t believe they had something like this though. kudos, The Apartment i guess. (:
i am not a fan of masterchef australia at all. lol!! but i am hardcore with the us masterchef. i happen to respect all three judges very much maybe because i actually know who they are. lol!
you’re right though. it’s a very lovely, well thought out gift (: something that speaks to you both! those are the best kinds of gifts, no doubt.
I didn’t know about the MasterChef promotion either! 🙂
My better half joined a contest and got the vouchers, that’s how we know about the MasterChef Australia promotion. I think it’s a great idea to showcase the recipes from the show, it gets fans of the show to come and eat.
I like MasterChef Australia for it’s sheer educational value – the judges treat the contestants relatively well and with respect and there’s a lot of cooking techniques to be learned from the show. It’s the complete opposite of MasterChef US which is all about the judges instead of about the contestants!
That said, we love MasterChef US too – for the drama, it’s just a guilty pleasure, it’s so fun and addictive to watch! Haha!
I watched all four seasons, we’re currently watching MasterChef UK The Professionals and Celebrity MasterChef UK from 2012.
Thanks! It is indeed a well thought out gift, due to our common interest in the show and cooking!
ya i have to say Amuse-bouche serving is rather pathetic luckily it’s complimentary 😛
other than that, the dishes look great! as well as plating, do up to master chef’s par!
Yup, the dishes as a whole is rather good! 🙂
The menu is well thought out and executed well. I like the promotional tie-in to MasterChef too, wish they would do that more often, we’ll go again for sure if the menu changes!
Did the chefs stress it out in the kitchen ?
Nope, the MasterChef contestants and judges didn’t come over! 🙂
It’ll be much more expensive and exclusive if that were the case. It’s just recipes from the MasterChef Australia people and it’s licensed so it’s all the more alluring.
I thought it was a well thought out promotional tie-in.
What a wonderful dinner .
Yeah..maybe they should train their staffs more . Hope they will highlight those point during their training
Yeah, it would be nice to get consistently good service! 🙂
It is a wonderful dinner, it was great of my dear to think of this. She thinks of the best gifts ever!
yeah waiters and restaurant staff in malaysia should be trained properly. In belgium, at any places I went they always ask me for my order first and they always serve the ladies first. that should be the way.
Yeah, and also coz you always go to Michelin starred restaurants! 🙂
Haha! I’m glad you’re enjoying your life in Belgium though – we’ll visit you someday during our Europe trip!