DC Restaurant CMCO Seasonal Vegetarian Menu

DC Restaurant CMCO

Monica Tindall

Chef Darren Chin, sous chef Tran TT and the DC Restaurant team present a seasonal vegetarian menu as one of the choices in their reopening during the CMCO.

Chef Chin says he’s had time to reflect and collate his thoughts over the MCO. To survive these unusual times, his team are returning to the basics while remaining practical. At the same time, they are mindful of price points and listening to the community they serve. Understanding that the needs and wants of their customers continue to change and adapting to those is vital. “The market is domestic, so you must build relationships with that market,” he affirms.

One of the positive changes brought about by the pandemic is the shift in focus on local produce. With international imports unreliable and often expensive, ingredients found in Malaysia are of greater importance. This is particularly reflected in DC Restaurant’s CMCO seasonal vegetarian menu.

Seasonal Vegetarian CMCO Menu at DC Restaurant

An increasing percentage of the population have been considering the impact of what they eat on the environment and community. Due to the origins of the coronavirus, there is further awareness of factory farming, the effects of loss of natural habitat, and augmented interest in eating local and meat-free. Customers with evolving ideologies should appreciate DC Restaurant’s CMCO six-course seasonal vegetarian menu (RM318++ per person). Rather than just taking meat out of dishes on the standard menu, Chef Darren and his team have curated a degustation using fresh seasonal produce showcasing the diversity of the plant world.

Aperitif

We begin the journey on the ground floor with a glass of Champagne Delamotte Brut. This ensemble of chardonnay, pinot noir and pinot Meunier is a well-balanced arrangement. Chardonnay provides structure. Pinot noir contributes depth and fruit, and the aromas are tied together in a vibrant bouquet thanks to the Pinot Meunier. Fresh, bold, clean and elegant, this bubbly is so likeable we carry over with another glass for the first course in DC Restaurant’s CMCO seasonal vegetarian menu.

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Champagne Delamotte

Bread

The bread is a basket of a classic croissant, butter roll, special sourdough, and thin flaky layers of pastry hugging onion and Emmenthal cheese. It introduces a menu that cares about the details, is made with superb ingredients and one that is curated with intention. French butter – salted and pasteurized – along with truffle pate, complement the baked goods.

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Bread – DC Restaurant CMCO Menu

Snacks

A trio of snacks – sweet corn velouté, purple sweet potato crisp and arancini – provide vibrancy and more-ishness to the lead. They’re lined up in front of us in the order of eating.

Firstly, the maize velouté substitutes the usual meat stock with vegetable to create a subtle trimming to a zucchini salad with red quinoa and edible flowers. The flavours provide the comfort of familiarity; for me, sweet corn soup eaten as a child. Yet, the complexities are of adult sophistication. Quinoa has the most wonderful texture, especially when submerged in the sweet moisture of the velouté.

A subtle thread of coffee laces elegance, and again, familiarity in the second snack. The root vegetable has an enticing twist with sweet potato-coffee cream complementing the roasted sweet potato and cracker. There’s a surprising burst of fruitiness, a cylinder of baked apple perhaps?

Again, comfort is found in the third snack with the warmth of arancini. A crisp exterior breaks open to a moist mushroom-onion middle. A top of watercress puree breaks the brown with green and adds freshness.

DC Restaurant CMCO Seasonal Vegetarian Menu
Snacks and Champagne Delamotte

Pasta

Unexpectedly, the next “pasta” dish holds no grain at all. Instead, ravioli is made with tomato water gelee. It is not only a brilliant invention because the case is full of flavour but also as it provides a transparent shell. I wish I had thought to get a better shot of this; it could be the next Insta trend. Stuffed with yoghurt and partnered by romesco sauce and grilled asparagus, the concentrated Piennolo cherry tomato wrapping contributes equal relish to the profile.

DC Restaurant CMCO Seasonal Vegetarian Menu
Pasta

Paired with Bramito, Della Sala Chardonnay Antinori, 2017, we find mirroring and balance. The wine has benefited from being part fermented in stainless steel and part in oak barrels. It’s the perfect harmony of freshness and butteriness, and with its elegant bouquet of citrus and tropical fruit is a wine I will definitely be ordering again.

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Bramito, Della Sala Chardonnay Antinori, 2017

Entrée

Edible art on a plate is presented in the roasted whole leek and cured aubergine. Two brush strokes of cream, celeriac and roasted eggplant, bed a long stem of soft, savoury leek, and layers of preserved aubergine slices. Even though the menu says, “cured,” the sharpness is a welcome surprise.

DC Restaurant CMCO Seasonal Vegetarian Menu
Roasted Whole Leek and Cured Aubergine

Potato

Arranged as carefully as one might layer decoupage, the russet potato cake is partnered with shiitake and black trumpet mushrooms. A stripe of mushroom cream, carrot ginger foam and micro chervil greens act as both garnish and reciprocal flavour.

DC Restaurant CMCO Seasonal Vegetarian Menu
Russet Potato Cake – DC Restaurant CMCO Menu

Linking this course and the next is a luscious glass of 2012 Domaine Cyrot-Buthiau, Pommard – pinot noir, an excellent partner for mushroom. Layering levels of robustness, the fungi ascend in richness from the fresh flavours in the potato dish to the more intense truffle in the pasta. The wine is deep ruby-purple in the glass with generous aromatics. Berries, spice and leather greet the nose while the palate is met with plenty of structure coupled with elegance.

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2012 Domaine Cyrot-Buthiau, Pommard

Main

Layering the main course, pici pasta cacio e pépé, with savoury and earthy notes are salted kombu and black truffle. A liberal lashing of Parmesan does its part too. Thick strings of pasta are well-coated in the sauce, and if you’d like to give this recipe a go yourself, Chef Darren has kindly shared an adapted version for home prep here. As the wine opens with more air, we see its full potential rising to the challenge of the truffle.

DC Restaurant CMCO Seasonal Vegetarian Menu
Pici Pasta Cacio e Pépé

Dessert or Cheese

Approaching dessert, guests have a choice from two sweets and cheese. Trying to break old habits (we LOVE the cheese trolley here), we order both the desserts instead.

Mirroring a Napoli-style pizza with its chewy meringue crust, the “Za’aba pizza” is a must for pavlova lovers. The egg white and sugar base is topped with strawberries done three ways – semi-dried, fresh and as a coulis. Yoghurt-vanilla cream sauces the top and a sweet basil sorbet adds a bite of savoury on the side. Dow’s Fine White Port is the recommended mate. It’s only gently sweet, fresh and sports plenty of acidity, ensuring the palate does not experience saccharine overload.

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“Za’aba Pizza”
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Dow’s Fine White Port

“Piquillos” (Spanish pepper) is an excellent counterpart to local dark chocolate crémeux. Raspberry sorbet and soft caramel are hidden under sweet crisps. This alternative is the more intense of the two desserts and justified with a Dow’s Tawny 10-Year-Old Port. The aromas reach the nose quickly and the liquid coats the mouth with ripe fruit and whispers of almond.

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Piquillos
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Dow’s Tawny 10-Year-Old Port

Coffee or Tea

The seasonal vegetarian menu at DC Restaurant during the CMCO concludes with Illy coffee or Jing tea. We opt for a caffeine-free peppermint for a sound night’s sleep. And, just as the menu begun, it concludes with attention to detail in both the quality of ingredients and their presentation.

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Jing Tea

Coming Soon!

Before we head out, we take a sneak peek at DC 2.O! Taking over the adjoining lot on the first floor, DC Restaurant is soon to offer private rooms and a dedicated cocktail bar. Stay tuned, as we can’t wait to return!

Reasons to try DC Restaurant’s CMCO seasonal vegetarian menu: exquisite experience from start to finish; this team pays attention to detail – setting, service, wine and food – all are superb; it’s one of the few places I’ve been to that exceeds my expectations in terms of increased safety measures such as the fact that every staff member correctly wore their face mask 100% of the time. Those things are uncomfortable, I appreciate the effort.

DC Restaurant CMCO Menu
33 Persiaran Zaaba
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
Malaysia
www.facebook.com/DarrenChinRestaurant
+6 03 7731 0502
+6 012 223 2991
[email protected]

DC Restaurant CMCO Opening Hours
Tuesday to Sunday from 6 pm

Find more restaurants open during the CMCO here, check out our favourite meals delivered to your door here, read more about food safety and the coronavirus here, and lastly stay up-to-date on KL’s vibrant food and beverage scene here.

5 Comments

  1. Yummy, I don’t mind being vegetarian for one day.

  2. Vegetarian for a change. Classy vegetarian spread.

  3. Beautiful food presentation. Yes, I too won’t mind being a vegetarian for a day for a change.

  4. I would insist on a vegetable dish at every meal and eat fruits (usually bananas) after that but I don’t think I’d go completely vegan.

  5. A vegetarian menu that is so appetizing even for those, like me, who may not be solely vegetarian.

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