Categories
| Assam Garam: Culinary republic |
| Written by IQBALAR | |||
| Monday, 11 May 2009 00:00 | |||
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Menara Hap Seng’s latest eatery delivers maximum impact in style and flavour Portions of the public areas have been renovated: the car park is much improved, the entrances are more welcoming and the addition of a courtyard is a welcome relief in the middle of all the high-rise concrete. The courtyard garden glows in the last rays of the setting sun. It’s a great place for early pre-dinner drinks or just a casual meet-up. When you enter Hakka Republic, you are immediately drawn to the giant bar lined with bottles of every drink imaginable. The front part of the restaurant is dedicated to drinks. High tables and chairs line the glass wall overlooking Jalan P Ramlee. Each section is curtained off by sheer fabrics that give you a glimpse of your neighbour. The interiors are beautiful. The ceilings are aglow with dim lights. Silk lamp shades from Vietnam dot the dining area and its approach. Calligraphic tablets tile the ceiling and contemporary Chinese art lines the walls. The dining area looks out onto a courtyard: a delightful setting with the green and grey of KL within touching distance from the cool of one’s seat. The menu at Hakka Republic is a foodie’s dream. There’s a minimum of four flavours per dish. All of them are artfully combined. SS, SK and I took a while to decide what to have and when we did, we ordered the Spinach Salad with Sashimi Sea Bass with Yuzu dressing; Beef Carpaccio with Goat’s Cheese, Rocket leaves and Lemon Mustard dressing and the Terrine of Foie Gras with Onion Jam and Melba Toast. That was for starters. There is an extensive wine list and each dish is paired with a suggested wine. The food took a little longer than expected to arrive, but we managed to while away the time looking out the window or at the décor. When the food did arrive, it all looked very smart. My spinach salad was not the normal local or English spinach but rather what the chef calls Japanese spinach. The leaves are tougher and crisper, with an earthy flavour. The yuzu dressing was not tart enough for a contrast: the soya sauce was too smoky, eclipsing the tang of the citrus. SS’s foie gras was a dream in two thick slices. The onion jam added texture and contrast to the smooth liver paste. The best starter was SK’s carpaccio. The beef was a stunning red hiding under a pile of emerald rocket and laced with a delightful lemon dressing. The goat’s cheese, hidden under the salad in thin slices, was a very strong cheese that complemented the peppery bitterness of the rocket. In all, a delight on the palate.
SK’s lamb was perfectly cooked but a tad too fatty for it to be thoroughly enjoyable. The rack was a good size and was a lovely pink. In fact, the lamb was so generous that it completely hid all the vegetables that came with it. My burger was a blessing: it was pure beef with virtually no additions. It was good to be able to taste the beef. Black Angus is a remarkable beef. In fact, I find it preferable to Wagyu and Kobe. Good old Angus is all about the meat and even ground to a burger, it is unmistakably a superior animal. The chips that came with the burger are also worthy of mention: these were home-made and cut thick, just like English-style chips. Not those anaemic French phonies that try to pass themselves off as chips. These chips had bite and most importantly, they had flavour.
If I had to sum up dinner at Hakka Republic, I would say that the ideas for the food and the juxtaposing of flavours and textures are well planned. But the results are a little rough around the edges. The kitchen needs to finesse the final product just a bit more. I would definitely go back in a few months. It really is that good. Hakka Republic makes a great party venue with the Round Room, a Private Dining Room and a Cellar Room. You can use them all together or separately, or any combination. And like the Hakkas themselves, this little culinary republic is all eclecticism.
This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 754, May 11 - 17, 2009.
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If you’re a fan of the China Club in Hong Kong, take a peep at the interiors of the Hakka Republic in Menara Hap Seng. It’s an early 21st century look at chinoiserie through Asian eyes. Hakka Republic is a beautifully designed restaurant and a deserving addition to the new-look Menara Hap Seng, which used to be the dull and uninspiring MUI Plaza. 
The mains arrived with a flourish: SS had ordered the Grilled Garlic Mustard herb-crusted Black Angus Tenderloin with Chilli-roasted Baby Potato and Portobello Marsala Reduction; SK had herb-crusted Rack of Lamb with panfried Zucchini, Broccoli and Tomato and Mint sauce; and I had asked for the Black Angus Burger with Swiss Cheese, Grilled Onions, Pickles and Asian Tomato Salsa. I have to say that every dish looked exceedingly good. They were well thought out and arranged for maximum visual impact. SS’s steak looked so good, sitting on top of the vegetables. It was well scotched and meltingly tender to boot. The vegetables, though, looked as if they had sat too long in the pan. The pile of baby potatoes had a wonderful heat, thanks to the chilli — this was a stroke of genius.
When it came time to order desserts, we took the easy route and ordered the top three: the Special Rich Fruit Cake with Brandy sauce, Sticky Date Pudding and the Bailey’s infused Croissant and Butter Pudding. As we were sharing our desserts, they were served on a big plate. They all looked tempting, as desserts are meant to. The fruit cake was tasty, reminding me of Christmas. The sticky date was delicious, full of date and gooey. But the croissant and butter pudding were a disappointment — they were a little too much like uncooked dough.