The best of Southeast Asian cuisine
LOCATED at the Arcoris Mont Kiara, The Majapahit Restaurant & Bar, is an airy spacious place with a high ceiling and lots of glass windows, its rattan furniture adding an old world charm to the rather modernist design.
The restaurant opened in February, and is fast becoming favourite of local foodie. The food is prepared by Indonesian Chef Pak Isab Santibi, 43, who has 25 years of experience working in hotels, catering services and restaurant chains.
The food is a celebration of the flavours of Southeast Asia, but in particular, there is a strong Indonesian and Thai presence.
Platters are the best sellers here, and you can opt for the curry, satay, fried rice or chicken wing platter. Essentially there are tapas-style servings of these dishes, offering a variety of food.
For starters, we had sea bass fish fillet in Thai sauce, and sweet corn fritters made from fresh corn.
The fish is crispy outside and tender inside, and the sauce really whets your palate. The corn fritters were superb, with the bits of corn and crispy batter making them irresistible.
Isab also served us his curry platter and chicken wings platter. The curry platter comes with Thai green curry (chicken), thai red curry (beef), Malaysian style prawn curry, and Indonesian style stuffed squid curry.
They are served with tiny flatbreads and crisps, but you can order some rice if you prefer.
The curries are really outstanding, with the green curry being among the best I ever had, and the Indonesian-style tender squid stuffed with bean curd curry being simply sumptuous.
The Indonesia-styled kecap manis wings were crispy and succulent with that strong umami flavour, while the Malaysian sambal wings had a nice heat to it.
The seafood tom yum, which is prepared in the red southern style, was spicy and sour, and also good.
One dish you must try here is the coconut butter chicken, which is cooked in a rich creamy coconut and butter-based sauce along with capsicum. Made to order, this dish is best eaten piping hot as the chicken goes tough when it is cold.
The silky creamy sauce is not spicy but it has this special flavour that comes from spices and aromatics.
The stir-fried kailan topped with prawns is a great dish. I also enjoyed the Sundanesestyle deep fried crispy flying fish that comes with a soy and chili sauce.
The fish was so crispy you can eat up the fine bones, and the sauce only enhances the delicate flavour of the fish.
The Majapahit is the kind of place you bring your friends, family or even office mates to, as the chilled out atmosphere lets you enjoy the good food and company in the best way possible.
Do try the Vietnamese drip coffee, as its distinctive taste is something any coffee lover with appreciate. – S. Indra Sathiabalan