Where east meets west

From salmon asam pedas salmon to New Zealand lamb shoulder, the east-meets-west menu at LeQue has Putri Zanina drooling for more

Chef Ibrahim reveals that he named his restaurant after Hang Lekiu, one of the warrior friends of the legendary Hang Tuah of Malacca. LeQue is the stylised spelling for the old name. The chef, who hails from Gombak in Kuala Lumpur, chose it because others seldom use or mention this name. Many prefer to highlight Hang Tuan or Hang Jebat instead.

His restaurant is housed at a corner shop in the commercial area of Taman 1, Lagenda, with a casual outdoorsy feel. Fiery red cushions lend a contrasting splash to the predominantly white, black and grey of the overall deco. Your eyes will also be drawn to framed pictures of old Melaka and various collectibles, including the traditional wooden lourve window panels hung on the wall.

WIDE CHOICES

Other than whipping up Malay and Nyonya food, LeQue also offers a good selection of east-meets-west and Western fare. One of the bestsellers is chicken teriyaki pasta. The sticky salty-sweet teriyaki enhances the taste of the chicken meat and pasta. Another winner is the New Zealand lamb shoulder with mashed potato and salad, and drizzled with black pepper sauce. You can also choose to have the lamb with mushroom sauce. Try also the boneless chicken with garlic cream sauce, mashed potato, salad with vinaigrette and vege, which is Chef Ibrahim’s signature dish. The garlic flavour is mellow and the sauce is deliciously creamy. It gets a thumbs-up from me.

For dessert, go for the pisang bakar gula Melaka (palm sugar) with sago and vanilla ice-cream. The grilled banana with its smoky flavour blends beautifully with the melted palm sugar. Every mouthful is heavenly. End with a strong local coffee, Muar 434, and you’ll have a complete satisfying meal.

Chef Ibrahim’s signature dish — boneless chicken

with garlic cream sauce, mashed potato and salad with

vinaigrette.