Dodoo Kitchen – Chinatown KL
Words: Matt Brown
Photos: Han Sen Hau
Dodoo Kitchen is an exciting new addition to the dynamic food and beverage scene of Chinatown KL, a destination in this very well-fed city that continues to amaze with the choice and continued growth of its diverse outlets. Opened a short three months ago by the team behind the popular Belly and the Chef cafe (who also run a collab with VCR Bakehouse upstairs), Dodoo has already found a following among diners who want a slightly more elegant and refined night out amongst all the nighttime action.
Dodoo Kitchen – Chinatown KL
Chef Richard Lau is the kitchen maestro, serving beautiful fresh produce dishes with a local flair. He previously worked in some highly respected KL restaurants, and the commitment to detail and excellence is found across the menu he designed. The setting is a wonderful blend of cosy, refined and thoughtful, with a limited palette of colours and some excellent lighting, ensuring that every table can enjoy the surroundings and also focus on the eye-catching dishes as they are served.
The enthusiastic staff are happy to offer suggestions and guide you on a journey through a world of culinary delights. Making the most out of their newly opened restaurant, there is still plenty of experimentation with crafting the perfect night out, and we were lucky to experience not only some of the stars of the menu but also have them served with a series of wines as the team at Dodoo Kitchen prepare to offer a wine-paired menu very soon.
Starters
Our first dish of the night is a Pie Tee Oyster Rasam (RM48), which is a seasonally harvested oyster served fresh with a rasam-inspired sauce alongside a pie tee cup filled with mud crab and a type of Vietnamese coriander called kesum. Both of these are light and excellent starters for the evening and match well with the first glass of wine served – the Cielo Bianco from Italy, an organic white wine that is carbonated right before being served so that it more closely resembles a sparkling aperitif. Mon’s not convinced of the choice of serving it at room temperature but enjoys the experimentation and desire to push the boundaries of the standard.
The South East Asian Spiced Sea Scallops (RM55) are gorgeously tender and lightly torched, served in a beautiful lemongrass, ginger and coconut cream with fennel pollen and kaffir lime. The fennel pollen enhances the sweetness of the scallops, and there are hints of spiciness from their house-made dried chilli oil. All of these glorious ingredients create the first of quite a few awesome sauces for the evening’s culinary adventure.
My recent Yum List assignments across KL seem to be developing a theme of showing me just how incredible corn can be, and the Sweet White Corn (RM26) is at the top of the list. Cameron Highlands white corn just cannot be beaten, with its natural sweetness and juiciness enhanced with some chargrilling and then presented in the husk, with some popcorn and mini herbs on the top. Simple and excellent.
The next wine to be poured is an organic South African Chenin Blanc called Testalonga Baby Bandito Stay Brave, which pairs very nicely with the Cold Capellini (RM55), a whole mud crab hollowed out and then filled with chilled pasta, crab meat, umibudo seaweed, kombo shio and fermented rice wine (Hua Diao Jiu) egg custard. This is a delicious dish made to be served for two people – unless you go with me, in which case sharing will be out of the question.
Our final dish from this section of the menu is the Asam Pedas Risotto (RM45), which was one of my favourites for the night. The brine-cured saba (mackerel) pieces are served with with kesum-infused oil and some very tender baby octopus in a dish that is delightfully tangy and complex and wonderfully matched with a glass of French Domaine de Majas Cortado, which is like a dark rosé with a very light and bright flavour.
Main Dishes
We sample two dishes from this part of the menu: the 14 Days Dry Aged Duck (RM70) and the Chargrilled Beef (RM180). Those of you seeking more pure forms of protein will be very happy with either of these choices. Duck can often be quite a gamey and powerful flavour in a dish, but here, the ageing of the meat and combination with pickled plum and Chinese pitted olives, served with duck jus, is memorably delicious.
Our second dish is 200-230 grams of juicy, tender and chargrilled beef served with a Pommes Anna – layered slices of potato cooked in beef fat, while the beef jus is infused with rosemary and shiitake. Both red meat dishes are enhanced with a glass of Kindeli Tinto from New Zealand, an organic red blend ideal for the flavours in these mains.
Dodoo Kitchen: Dessert
We end our wonderful evening sampling two of the desserts on offer from Dodoo Kitchen. The first is Kombucha Baba (RM30), which is pear sorbet, pineapple compote and lemongrass ginger, all in a combination as fresh tasting as that sounds. The pineapple is aged in a vanilla pod for six months before use, and the subtle changes in its flavours are a unique way to end your evening.
The Rojak Ice Cream (RM28) is a clever and sweet twist on the traditional mix of vegetables and fruits combined with prawn paste and sugar. This innovation still uses a mix of fruit, but the caramel shrimp paste, along with the scoop of ice cream, is an elevation to next-level dessert status from Chef Lau’s kitchen.
Reasons to visit Dodoo Kitchen: a chance to experience a different night out in the heart of KL’s food and drink scene. Step off the bustling Jalan Tun H.S. Lee and into a world of casual fine dining done right. The kitchen cares about offering the best in every dish, and this is impressively achieved – try the corn, risotto and dry-aged duck if you don’t believe me. The wine pairings are a great innovation at a great price. Find someone special, and have a lovely night out.
Dodoo Kitchen
192, Jalan Tun H.S. Lee, Chinatown KL
City Centre 50000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
+60 12 984 5966
@dodoo_kl
Dodoo Kitchen Opening Hours
Tuesday to Sunday: 12 pm-3 pm & 6 pm- 10 pm
Closed Monday
Find more Chinatown KL recommendations here, and stay up-to-date on the latest gourmet and travel happenings around Malaysia here and here.
Love the old colonial building!