Beats and Brunch at Lafite, Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur Hotel

[Luxury Dining]

Kathy and I headed over to Lafite, Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur on 5 November for “Beats and Brunch” which is an all-you-can-eat French cuisine consisting of appetisers, mains and desserts by Executive Chef Olivier Pistre, free flow of Veuve Clicquot champagne, wines and cocktails, paired with live DJ music.

This very special and lux brunch only happens every first Sunday of the month from 12.00 noon to 3.00pm and is priced at RM 499nett per person. While I’ve done quite a number of high-end and very premium wine/ whisky/ sake pairing dinners throughout my years in the media, this was my very first time having a champagne brunch so I was super stoked about it!

The real kicker is that you get to enjoy FREE FLOW of Veuve Clicquot champagne, Terrazas Reserva Chardonnay, Terrazas Reserva Malbec and a variety of cocktails (as well as fresh juices) are served throughout the brunch session!

The gorgeous dining room of Lafite was FULL of patrons so do ensure that you make a booking way in advance if you’d like to join the next Brunch and Beats

Kathy with Chef Olivier Pistre who was appointed as Executive Chef of Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur back in February 2017

Pastry Chef Paul Gardin (left) with Executive Chef Olivier Pistre (right)

Chef Olivier has over 22 years of culinary experience in the food and beverage industry. He started pursuing his culinary passion in his hometown in 1995. Upon graduating from the patisserie division in Mazamet, France, Chef Olivier started his professional culinary journey. His passion for food has inspired him to add his own creative and personal touches into French gastronomy and world cuisines.

Chef Olivier has won a number of prestigious industry awards. He and his team won the Golden Trophy and title of Meilleur Traiteur de L’International Catering Cup, the Best Caterer of the International Catering Cup at the prestigious International Catering Cup competition held in Lyon, France in 2015. Hotel Shangri-La Istanbul was awarded the Best Chinese Restaurant of 2016 in Turkey by Time Out Magazine, during his tenure as Executive Chef.

Additionally, he has years of experience at Michelin-starred restaurants and has worked hand in hand with Michelin-starred chefs such as Christian Willer, Gerard Garrigues and Philippe Labbé.

As Executive Chef of the Shangri-La Hotel, Kuala Lumpur, Chef Olivier used his extensive knowledge and experience to elevate the hotel’s food and beverage facilities to greater heights.

Starting off the meal with some bubbly of course!

Appetisers

Oysters and champagne are a wonderful pairing!

The brunch starts off with delicious appetisers consisting of freshly shucked Cadoret oysters, eggs with smoked salmon and the chef’s signature appetisers such as cold cherry tomato shooters, gratinated lobster thermidor and more.

Now along with the oysters is a whole buffet line of appetisers which includes the cheese board

I love cheese and I was delighted to find authentic French cheeses!

There’s a selection of breads and condiments too however I do recommend that you don’t fill yourself up on these as there are six (6) wonderful mains to try!

Oatmeal and champagne? No this was certainly not oatmeal ha ha!

Scrambled Eggs and Smoked Salmon. A very hearty “breakfassy” dish. Yes I know it looks like oatmeal however it was nothing like that at all! I must say that the dishes during the brunch are more than meets the eye!

Every diner gets half a gratinated lobster thermidor with accompanying sides!

Honestly, this by itself can be a meal! Half a gratinated lobster with sweet succulent flesh, a toasted brioche with REAL French butter (not the cheap crap you get in local hypermarkets), a tomato and bell pepper gazpacho, a heartwarming soup, and caviar served on a wooden spoon (caviar is not served on metal spoons as the metal might react and impart undesirable flavours to it).

Mains

SMOKED COHIBA GRILLED WAGYU BEEF

Cauliflower Puree / Lemon Gel / Oyster & Seaweed Emulsion

Oyster and seaweed emulsion with beef? Well somehow it complemented the meat (much to my amazement) and full credit to Chef Olivier for coming up with such unorthodox pairings! Order a glass of red wine to accompany this main dish!

SLOW COOKED LAMB SHOULDER

Pomegranate Gel / Basil Sable / Smoked EGGPLANT “Baba Ganoush” / Parmesan Gnocchi / Lamb Jus

Now I thought that no other red meat dish could possibly outdo the wagyu but I was wrong because the lamb was even better! Super tender and full of flavour from the slow cooking process, this was really wonderful and we enjoyed this dish with the Malbec.

SEARED HOKKAIDO SCALLOPS

Sunchoke Veloute & Cooked “A La Barigoule” / Black Ink Cracker

A plump and juicy scallop served with a delicate sunchoke sauce and a black ink cracker providing loads of umami goodness! What a dish! So amazing that we order another round of this!

PAN SEARED ATLANTIC CABILLAUD

White Beans “Mijotes” (aka simmered) with Tomatoes / Baby Squid / Crispy Black Rice with Curry / Shellfish Jus

A delicate little fish dish with a delightful contrast of textures!

EGGS PARFAIT 63ºC

Sorrel Cream / Wild Mushroom / Walnut / Pecorino Romano / Grappes / Crispy Tuile “Brioche”

Now this was another more “breakfast” element of the brunch, however make no mistake – this was no ordinary eggs benedict that you find at those breakfast cafes! This was a beautifully assembled dish that I seriously couldn’t stop eating and I was so incredibly tempted to order another round of it! Sadly, I reminded myself that there were other mains to try, and I also had to leave some space for the desserts.

GRILLED OCTOPUS

Slow Cooked / Japanese Black Garlic / Panais (parsnip) Puree / Conference Pear / Parsley & Garlic Coulis

This was a joy to eat with the combination of flavours from all the different elements of the dish. Not only was this a real party on the palate however it was also very pleasing to the eye and was my pick for Instagrammable dish of the meal!

Deserts

Pastry Chef Paul Gardin was in charge of the desserts and later came tableside to prepare one for us!

For dessert, there’s the French Mellefeuille Edition 2017 made out of caramelised crispy puff pastry, blanc-manger & vanilla ice cream and Chocolate Liegeois Revised which features sable Breton crumble, hot chocolate sauce and vanilla ice cream are served.

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FRENCH MILLEFEUILLE EDITION 2017

Caramelised Crispy Puff Pastry / Blanc Manger / Vanilla Ice Cream / Vanilla Crème Anglaise / Vanilla Reduction

This one had a very impressive presentation which was conducted by Pastry Chef Paul Gardin tableside (at every table too!). Kathy really enjoyed this one.

CHOCOLATE LIEGEOIS REVISED

Vanilla Ice Cream / Hot Chocolate Sauce / Chocolate Syphon / Sable Breton Crumble

Now this was my favourite dessert as it had two (2) of my favourite ingredients namely ice cream and chocolate! Hot and cold with a variance of texture coming from the sable, this was a very lovely end to a very decadent meal!

For sweet tooths out there, if you’re not satisfied with the two (2) desserts above, you can also help yourself to the selection of dainty desserts at the buffet line!