[Food Review]

 

My partner in crime and I headed over to Rendez-Vous French Restaurant which is located in Bangsar but not in the packed Bangsar Baru (Telawi) area rather in Bangsar Park (opposite McDonald’s) which is quieter and has ample parking. Rendez-Vous French Restaurant is not your fine dining, formal type of restaurant but is more like a French bistro/ cafe where the atmosphere is relaxed and you can meet up with your friends for a couple of drinks and some affordably priced traditional French food.

The restaurant is helmed by the young and dynamic duo of Florian Nigen and Arnaud Chappert who have many years of experience in Kuala Lumpur having worked in notable establishments before venturing out to start this restaurant. Their objective is to provide the residents of Kuala Lumpur and beyond a chance to eat rustic French fare without breaking the bank. Florian comes from a family which has a well-known restaurant in Bretagne or Brittany in France for 30 years.

 

 

The restaurant has only been open for slightly over a year but has garnered a good response from expatriates and locals alike therefore recently they have reinforced their kitchen team, bringing in multi MIGF award wining Chef Bernard Ripamonti to helm the kitchen. This allows Florian who was previously leading the kitchen, to concentrate more on management. In fact, on most evenings you will find Florian and Arnaud on the floor, ensuring that the diners are taken care off and getting to know their customers. It is this type of personalised and warm service coupled with good food and drinks that has many patrons coming back.

Anyway on to the food.

 

 

This changes daily of course and is what the chef uses to showcase his skills. Loved this one and wished there was more of it.

 

Rouille is a sauce that consists of olive oil with breadcrumbs, garlic, saffron and chili peppers and is most often used in the cuisine of Provence in France. It is served as a garnish with fish, bouillabaisse, and in this instance – fish soup! We mixed up the rouille sauce and cheese into the soup then topped it with the crispy garlic croutons!

This fish soup was very hearty and tremendously addictive! In fact, I couldn’t put my spoon down until the bowl was empty! It was flavourful and had a nice consistency and if you don’t want it to be so creamy you can cut back on adding the cheese. The rouille was an interesting addition – fragrant and rich, adding depth to the soup. Really great especially for a rainy evening like it was during our visit.

 

Not everyone knows how to partake of pork terrine and fortunately I’m not one of those people. The terrine went wonderfully with the caramelized onions which imparted lots of sweetness but I preferred it to go with the awesomely piquant pickles! We also sprinkled a little imported sea salt on top of the terrine to bring out some of it’s flavours.

 

Oh how I loved this and even my partner in crime who usually doesn’t really like foie gras as it’s too rich was acceptable to this. We spread it over the toast and added the fig compote and just a tiniest bit of the imported sea salt (the pink and white bits at the bottom of the plate) on top to balance it up. The result? A mind blowing little party in your mouth (assuming you like foie gras of course)!

 

This was a lovely dish, probably not one for those watching their diet because of the creamy sauce but for someone like me, this was a very heartwarming dish indeed and I even dipped the bread (which is free flow at this restaurant!) into the leftover sauce. The mussels were fresh while the french fries went well well with beer. Of course I couldn’t help but to dip the french fries into the sauce as well. Now if only they would bottle and sell the sauce, I would definitely buy some to bring home.

 

Beef Bourguignon is a beef stew that originates from Burgundy, France. Lovely tender chunks of beef served with a red wine reduction. Like the potato gratin that accompanied the beef. This is a dish after my own heart!

 

Oh my! Tender pork tenderloin smothered in a rich French cepes aka porcini mushroom sauce! The baked potato was pretty good too but the star of this dish was undoubtedly the delicious pork tenderloin. The sweet pork flavours combined with the earthy mushroom sauce was simply perfect for pork lovers like me! If you’re not such a pork lover you might want to consider sharing this dish as it can get rather rich towards the end.

 

Ahhh yes cheese! I happen to love cheese and this selection wasn’t your usual common cheddar, gouda, etc. etc. but rather a nice selection of French cheeses! Went nicely with the jam that was served with it as well as the wine. In fact, I think this would be a great dish to have with a nice bottle of wine and good company.

 

This dinner was around the same time as my birthday so we kinda took the occasion to celebrate it with a nice flambe-ed Crepe Suzette. Loved the generous amount of alcohol used as well as the vanilla ice cream.

 

The ultimate decadence but oh so delicious! The mint ice cream kept things from getting too rich while the crispy wafer added some variance in texture. Order this if you love chocolate!

 

As so happened we visited during the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration which is a traditional French festival somewhat like our local harvest festival. The Beaujolais Nouveau is a red wine made from Gamay grapes produced in the Beaujolais region of France, fermented for just a few weeks before being released for sale on the third Thursday of November. It is not easy to get the Beaujolais Nouveau wine outside France so we were quite lucky! We also got to try this dish made specially for the celebration (and is NOT available on the regular menu).

So so good! Totally unlike our local cheap fish cakes. You could actually feel the texture of the fish flakes in this dish and the sauce oh the sauce – I wished it was served as a soup as it was so flavourful.

 

 

Rendez-Vous is a nice, warm, unpretentious French bistro located in the upmarket Bangsar yet serving good food at reasonable prices. Service is good too even for a weekend night with attentive floor staff. Will definitely visit this restaurant again soon!

 

Rendez-Vous French Restaurant is located at:

100, Lorong Maarof,

Bangsar Park,

59000 Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia.

 

Phone:+60 3-2202 0206

Website: http://rendez-vous.com.my/

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/rendezvousbangsar/

Opening hours: Daily from 12:00pm to 3:00pm, 6:00pm – 1:00am

 

Look out for these upcoming special Christmas/ NYE promotions happening at Rendez-Vous.

 

And you can also take away their food to enjoy at home with your family.

 

Photos captured using the Leica C. More info on the camera at http://www.leicastore.com.my/