Update: This restaurant has since closed. The proprietors have opened a new restaurant in Bangsar, called Skive.
Dedication, passion
and talent aren’t ingredients easily encountered in a restaurant
It was the rather compelling story of
surgeon-turned-restaurateur Wen Huey Lau and her partner Jonathan Han Chet Ng,
which drew me to Porcupine Place.
Curtailing a medical profession for a culinary one surely merits a gastronomic
investigation.
Unremarkable in setup, Porcupine Place is a cosy, modern restaurant,
one of many which have sprung up in the Klang Valley. Unfinished wooden tabletops, unfussy black
chairs, brick wall facings, posters on walls and easy music make for a homely,
cluttered feel. However, not many restaurants bake their own bread, pastries
and cakes, make their own pasta, ice-cream and turn out curd daily.
The menu is eclectic, Western-based, with original
interpretations, everything from All Day Breakfasts to Set Lunches to the usual
parade of pastas, meats, starters, and a small selection of wines and
beverages.
Starting from the Small Bites, the Walnut Prawn Mania (Rm19)
established a common theme of fresh, light tastes, often original, often
contrasting. Warm, marinated prawns coated in a house mayonnaise, paired with
nutty walnuts and raw green apple slices made for an interplay of contrasts in
textures and tastes.
Similarly, Creamy mushroom samosas (Rm13), offered
vegetarian, mushroom-nutty fillings enveloped in light, crispy shells accompanied
by a creamy Parmesan mix, a mish-mash of Western and Eastern traditions.
Onto the Soups and Salads, the Scottish Lobster Bisque
(Rm28) was a diversion of deep, lobster flavour in a fresh, thin, orange bisque
that would bring joy to any seafood lover.
The Spicy Thai Crab Salad (Rm24) and the Green Oink salad (Rm22) both reinforced
the theme, the former pairing bitter, minty greens with deep-fried crab patty
in a light Thai dressing, while the latter offered fresh greens to offset small
pieces of grilled pork belly lightened with caramelized red onions, and
finished with crispy bacon grains. Both
were coy flirtations between Oriental and Occidental, hard and soft, creamy and
tangy, and were intriguing combinations.
Marching onto the Mains, the Pork Overload Burger (Rm25) had
two halves of a burger bun valiantly trying to contain pork bacon on an
egg-topped pork patty smothered in pork Bolognese, with a token piece of
lettuce, and a generous helping of fresh, crunchy potato fries. It says
something that the Burger, replete with porky variety and goodness, came across
as the least ambitious offering we tried.
Although a mean meal by itself, it didn’t ignite the “aha” spark we
encountered in every other item.
200g of Signature Thai Marinated Beef Tenderloin was a
thick, smouldering piece of dark meat on a bed of fluffy potato mash and a mix
of fresh and grilled vegetables. Red and fresh within, lightly grilled outside,
the meat was beefy and succulent, imbued with an enticing, light Thai flavour, a
seductive playfulness often encountered in the restaurant’s food.
The last of the Mains we tried, the Sticky Cider Pork Ribs
(Rm45) should have been a greasy plate of sinful porkiness. Instead, it was pretty, a glistening slab
topped with crusty bits, on purple coleslaw, with mashed potato balls. Marinated and slow-braised in wine, cider and
apples, the meat, curled around bits of soft bone, was replete with the heady
goodness of the marinade, with each mouthful being saliva-inducingly
savoury.
To finish, we ordered the Royal Mango Parfait (Rm18) and the
Classic Apple Crumble (Rm18). Made with
fresh mango, the former was a yellow tower covered in crumbled pistachio nuts,
not as richly creamy as a kulfi, but a smooth, sweet delight with fresh whipped
cream and chocolate sauce. The Apple Crumble comprised a whole stewed apple
with Bentong ginger, accompanied by sweet, home-made vanilla ice cream on a bed
of nuts – yet another contrasting combination, often so subtle as to pass
muster but for the depth of flavour.
Porcupine Place stands out from the crowd of trendy
restaurants where ambition is bigger than the capabilities of the kitchen. The
ethos of home-made, freshly-made, artisanal pursuit and the joy of cooking
shine in its dishes. Setiawalk Mall is a
large, sprawling place and the restaurant is not easy to find, but when one
does find it, it really is quite a find.
Porcupine
Place,
B-3A-G,
Setia Walk, Persiaran Wawasan,
Pusat Bandar
Puchong,
47100,
Puchong, Selangor
Tel:
03-58889929
Email: porcupineplace@gmail.com
Business
Hours: 9.30am – 10pm, Tuesday to Thursday,
9.30am – 11pm,
Friday to Sunday.
Such an inspiration for my gal, Lynn whom will be doing her art in culinary after finishing her Form 5 :)
ReplyDeleteTake her to try out the place!
ReplyDelete