For just one week – actually, until this Friday 7 July 2017 only, Chef de Cuisine of Nobu Dubai, Chef Hervé Courtot is delighting diners with his signature dishes at Nobu Kuala Lumpur. During this short period, Chef Courtot will be curating a customised menu featuring the popular items from Nobu Dubai.
Together with Chef Philip Leong, Chef Hervé will be holding a Chef’s Table dining experience – a first at Nobu Kuala Lumpur. Guests get to meet both the chefs before the meal to discuss preferences and then curate their own 8-course dinner with the chefs. This is truly customisation at a very personal level, paving the way for an amazing culinary experience as your meal is prepared just for you by the talented chefs (subject to ingredients availability, of course).
Chef Hervé Courtot and Chef Philip Leong
Well, we actually made it very easy for the Chef Hervé and Chef Philip because we told them “we eat just about everything, we don’t have any food allergy and we absolutely adore Japanese food!” See, that just spells “endless possibilities” for them!
We nibbled on some insanely delicious Truffled Edamame while waiting for the dishes to be served. First to arrive: scallops covered with “yuba” (local beancurd topskin) and deep-fried. The yuba has puffed up obediently rendering a coating of crispy “skin” encasing the sweet succulent scallops.
Scallops with Yuba
Then we had some tacos made from konbu holding up chopped beef seasoned with dry miso and studded with ikura. The beef was a tad salty though, for me.
Konbu Tacos with Beef Dry Miso & Ikura
Chef Hérve’s lightly seared foie gras – slices that practically melted in the mouth and when eaten with some crispy pumpkin chips drizzled with mustard miso, the whole experience was really close-to-orgasmic. Eyes closed, we tried to outlast each other to savour these amazing bites.
Foie Gras Pumpkin Chips with Mustard Miso
Glistening slices of the freshest air-flown salmon in bright orange hues sitting on a pool of black sesame dressing – the contrasting colours were a stunning feast in itself. Topped with jalapeno jelly and caviar, each slice of salmon popped into the mouth was nothing short of superb. I particularly loved the distinct aroma of jalapeno in the clear jelly which enhanced the fresh salmon flavours.
Salmon Tataki with Black Sesame Dressing & Jalapeno Jelly
To slow the pace a bit, we had a bowl of fresh spinach , sprinkled generously with dry miso and yuba croutons.
Spinach Salad with Dry Miso & Yuba Croutons
We had to try some sushi – the Salmon Nu-Style and the Yellowtail Jalapeno. Both were faultless and so darn good.
Salmon Nu-Style Sushi
Yellowtail Jalapeno Sushi
The Chilean Seabass with Yuzu & White Chocolate Sauce didn’t quite hit it with me though. The creamy white chocolate sauce was a bit too rich for me and I didn’t really fancy that with fish or seafood.
Chilean Seabass with Yuzu & White Chocolate Sauce
Next came the popular Wagyu Hobayaki with Anticucho den Miso served on a beautiful smoky magnolia leaf. The luscious wagyu slices, served with pumpkin puree by the side, were bursting with sweet juices – easily our favourite dish of the meal!
Wagyu Hobayaki with Anticucho den Miso
If you are in the mood for some indulgence, have some caviar with potato wasabi, encased in a very pretty Swarovski-studded case!
Nobu’s Caviar with Potato Wasabi (the wasabi potato mash is beneath that mass of caviar!)
Chef Hervé has a good repertoire of desserts, most of which are delightful concoctions of fusionistic sweets with subtle Japanese nuances. For example, the Yuzu Lemon Tart is a playful rendition of the regular lemon tart. Presented in a unique form, pieces of crunchy buttery cookies sandwich some tangy yuzu custard in the centre and decorated with pieces of meringue crisps. To give it that special Japanese tweak, Chef Hervé added globules of shiso jelly all around, giving it a refreshing twist.
Yuzu Lemon Tart with Shiso Jelly
Using premium Peruvian chocolate, the velvety mousse-like Gunaja with Pineapple Tartar was sublime.
Gunaja Pineapple Tartar with Coconut Lime Szechuan
Zinzli Banana Passion – Chef Hervé’s playful rendition of various techniques using mouth-watering ingredients like dwarf bananas, passionfruit and buttery almond crumble.
Chef Hervé’s experience in various Nobu franchises in Riyadh, Monte Carlo, Moscow, Cape Town, Doha, Marbella and Ibiza has stood him in good stead. There are many more delicious tricks up his sleeve and if you’d like to check out some of those, you have to make a beeline to Nobu Kuala Lumpur by this Friday, 7 July 2017!
The Chef’s Table is priced at RM695++ per person from 2-7 July 2017 and comes in 8 courses, completely customized for each table. For inquiries or to make reservations, please call 03-2164-5084 or Whatsapp 019-389-5085.
NOBU Kuala Lumpur
Level 56, Menara 3 Petronas
Persiaran KLCC
Kuala Lumpur City Centre
50088 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2164-5084
Open: 12.00noon-2.00pm; 6.00pm-10.30pm