restaurants underrated: Chef's Table.

hello you,

I'm finally baaaaaack to talk about food oh glorious food! This is super extremely backlogged, but forgive me because I've been really busy. It's not easy being a lifestyle blogger, because there are just so many things that I want to write about! I'm someone who is full of ideas, mostly nonsensical but nonetheless, I have so many things that I want to write and share with you guys about! I want to write a post that talks about music (what I like to hear and the singers that I particular like etc), then I want to write about books (that I've read and highly recommend), I also want to write about beauty (beauty regime or what's inside my makeup box). If any of the above interest you, do let me know so I will buck up and try to write more frequently. Even if you guys lack interest, I'm still going to write them, because 姐就是任性!

I am always digressing, come let's go back to today's topic. I have actually been to Chef's Table twice. The first time that I was there, it was during Christmas, and they had set course meals, which is not to my liking. I mean, for sure I know that during peak seasons, it's best for restaurants to offer set course meal because it will help save a lot of time and the chef can then manage better because the crowds are mostly going to come at more or less the same time. But it's really a personal preference I guess. Most set course meals have "meat" as their mains, and I'm kind of not into meat so that kinda puts me off a little bit. But nonetheless, I was pretty impressed with their appetizer, so I was back again with my favourite girlfriend! 

The first time I was there, I was given a pretty small table and the lighting was pretty bad so I didn't manage to take photos so I made sure that I requested for their cozy sofa seats this time round so I can take pictures! The staff at Chef's Table is very kind and accommodating to my request. So here I am, on the very cozy sofa taking picture of what greeted me on the table. 

The black menu on the left is their main ala carte menu, while the white one is the Chef's Specials menu. Very thoughtful gesture because most restaurants opted for whiteboards and it's very easy to miss out. 

The interior and mostly kitchen area. It's an open kitchen concept. And let me tell you how hard it is to actually maintain an open kitchen, it is very extremely hard. And kudos to Chef's Table for having such clean and tidy kitchen! You can see all the actions going on right there, it was almost like you're in an episode of Hell's Kitchen, but there wasn't any Gordon Ramsay-ish chef la. Everyone inside seemed extremely calm and composed. See the little chef figurines on the table? Literally chef's table! HEHEHE.

For starters, we were given two tiny cups of soups! We didn't order soup this time but I have tried their 

Cappucino of Roasted Mushroom (the right cup) during Christmas, and it was pretty good! What's most interesting is they were actually served in cups, but I won't be surprised because it was smooooooth! The left side was the Ocean Bisque with Cognac Cream, I'm a fan of bisque and I love it! Very rich and seafoody! I saw on their FB that they are serving chowder, and I really want to give it a try because I have yet to taste a good chowder here in JB.  

Ah, here comes my favourite dish! Oatmeal crusted oyster with sweet chilli air, you know how all the tze char outside serve oatmeal prawns, but because I'm allergic to prawn I can't take them. But they look so good! It was torture to me. And when I saw that Chef's Table actually had oatmeal oyster, I knew I had to order that. And trust me, it didn't disappoint. It was so refreshing, I don't always eat cooked oysters because it kind of loses its freshness (I like my oysters big and fresh) but it actually taste pretty good being deep fried! The oatmeal coating made it less greasy and the "bubbles" tasted of sweet chilli and lemongrass so it's really flavourful altogether. Must try. 

This is another of my favourite, Seared Goose Liver and Miso Egg. I wasn't always a fan of foie gras, because most restaurants in JB don't do them very well, they usually came out too "nua" for my liking. But Chef's Table did a pretty good job searing and it was just the way I like it. Though the only downside is that the portion is a little too small to actually pair with the brioche? Haha, perhaps I'm too greedy la. The miso egg is perfect! This is then the so-called egg sous vide! Done to perfection, so another must try.

Thin Crust Al Fungi and Tomatoes Pizza, well if you were to compare this with it's mind blowing appetisers then it wouldn't be fair la. But the pizza is pretty good, the crust is thin so it's very crispy and it's not so big so it's perfect for sharing! I would like to try their seafood curry pizza the next time though! 

Ok, there was only the two of us but we were pretty hungry so we ordered another soup! We ordered soup of the day, which is Potato and Bacon soup and it was good! Who knew soup of the day actually tasted better than the soups on the menu! It was very creamy but not to the extent of "gelak" and the bacon crisps blends in perfectly with the thick soup. Now, I can imagine how their chowder will taste like. Anyone tried their chowder before? My favourite chowder will still be the ones in San Francisco, but I can't really afford to go back to SF just to have chowder, so I'm hunting down the best chowder in JB to satisfy my cravings! 

I ordered Spicy Mushroom Pesto Penne, I don't usually order pesto because I'm not quite a greens person. But somehow I always skew towards spicy pasta, because I like my pasta hot and my bass down low. Wtf I'm getting seriously lame by the day. Not exactly raving about this dish, perhaps pesto is really not my cup of tea. 

W had Aglio Olio Linguine instead. We both opted for pasta instead of meat because we wanted a lighter meal (been having meat for days) but judging at what we ordered in total, not exactly light la hor. The aglio olio is quite ok, although if it had scallop or prawn on the side it would be more pleasing on the palate. Just my two cents. 

Dessert time! Ok I really have to apologise because I forgot the name of these two dessert! I had the above crepe with bananas and ice cream (my memory is horrigible) and I enjoyed it! The crepes are done thin and well and it exudes a wee bit of sweetness on its own. If only I can buy their batter home so I can make my own crepes! A very light dessert, so no matter how full you get, you will still finish it. Because I did. 

We also ordered the chocolate pie, this dish was what I used to tempt W to go Chef's Table because this girl likes her dessert pretty, just like her! This was more like a whoopie pie to me, but the filling is very interesting cos not only it has the "cream" but also fruit! So it's chocolatey and zesty in every bite, although the pie is slightly to the hard side, it's overall pretty good! 

That's all that we had (like it wasn't enough), and I would definitely recommend Chef's Table's appetisers because they are way too creative. Although a bit of improvements could be made to their pastas. Oh, they serve quesadilla too! I haven't tried it, but I'm hoping to! So go try Chef's Table if you still haven't and let me know what you like most from them, and what you think I should most definitely try!

Till the next pig out! 

xox,

june.