Taste Malaysia International Gastronomy Festival (MIGF) 2018 Gala Night

[Food & Beverage]

We recently attended the gala night of Taste MIGF on 31 August 2018 which kicked off the Malaysia International Gastronomy Festival (MIGF) 2018. MIGF is an opportunity for (ordinary/ non-wealthy) Malaysian foodies to try some gourmet and gastronomical journeys at some of the top restaurants in town, at special festival prices which makes it more affordable, yet showcases the best of what the chef has to offer. The festival which runs from 1 to 30 September 2018, will see some of Malaysia’s notable dining venues will serve special Festival Menus at special Festival prices as well as a host of Festival Offers that elevate each dining experience.

MIGF is really something that I look forward to as a foodie, and I’ve had the honour of being hosted by some of the top restaurants in Kuala Lumpur in the past like Maison Francaise, Savini Ristorante Italiano, Senja at The Club Saujana, Soleil, and many more which you can read here – https://timchew.net/?s=migf

Taste MIGF – the event which kicks off the month-long MIGF, was a great opportunity to sample the various offerings by all the festival restaurants at one place. It’s like a posh and premium food fair, which gives you an idea of the menus at the participating festival restaurants which you can then visit at a later date.

The theme for this year’s festival is ‘Muhibah Chefs – Good Food Brings Us Together’ and features cuisines from around the world including Malaysian, French, Sri Lankan, Korean, Cantonese, Italian, South Asian, Western, Asian Fusion and many more.

We bumped into many friends there (after our judging and after the doors were opened to the guests) and even made new ones! (Photo by Andy Kho.)

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Arriving early, we entered the Theatre of Cuisines (where bite sized portions of food are on offer from the specially created Festival Menus) to do a round of judging before the event opened to the guests. As usual, the taste portions were designed to be big enough to satisfy but small enough to allow space for as many dishes as possible.

Here are some of the highlights:

First up was a visit to DC Restaurant’s booth and the Le Fromage display was very eye-catching especially to a cheese lover like myself! DC Restaurant actually won the restaurant of the year award (called the Golden Cauldron Award) at MIGF 2016.

Next to DC was Champignons and this was their Light Poached Oyster with seaweed and seawater foam! Absolutely delicious and full of umami goodness!

Also at the Champignons booth was the Seared Duck Breast with roasted carrot with coriander, rosti potato and orange sauce.

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Chef Giuseppe Lioce of Nero Nero (DC Mall) making the Cavatelli (mini shell pasta) according to his grandmother’s recipe.

Cavatelli Della Nona – Cavatelli cooked in fish stock, with calamari, prawns, clams, cherry tomatoes, and grated zucchini

Marini’s on 57, Marble8, and M Marini Grand Caffe & Terrazza

Delicious assortment of chocolate truffles!

Uovo Ripieno – Spinach, shaved truffles and parmesan cheese served in egg shell

The chefs from Gen in Penang in action! They showcased their style of progressive Malaysian cuisine which elevated tradisional dishes!

The chef from Tangerine at The Face Suites (MHB visited this restaurant before and you can read about it on my site) cooking up a fresh batch of Hokkaido scallops with mushroom souffle and crusty kale for us!

Wagyu Beef Tenderloin at the Pampas Steakhouse, Old Malaya booth – sooooooo incredibly good!

Over at the Nadodi booth, not only was I very impressed by their food but also with the fact that they used biodegradable bowls and forks instead of plastic ones!

Another delicious morsel by Nadodi. They have really proven to be very innovative and creative, elevating the fine dining scene in Kuala Lumpur with their creations!

Out of the Shell – Hokkaido scallop, gooseberries

Dato’ Fazley Yaakob of Mamanda and SukaSucre Bistro with his modern and rather fusion interpretation of Malaysian favourites

The main at Mamanda – Laksmana Lobster Dua Samudera, Nasi Ambang Mamanda

Dessert at Summer Palace, Putrajaya Marriot Hotel – Black Swan Croquette stuffed with Durian Puree

Nasi Lemak Lobster by Highline at Sky Avenue, Genting Highlands. Interestingly enough, Highline isn’t open yet therefore their participation in MIGF this year was more of a preview of what’s to come!

Smoked Duck, rainbow lotus root, tomato jam and peas froth at the Samplings on the Fourteenth booth

Another dish by Highline. This was shot with my Huawei Mate 10 Pro (with absolutely no editing) in the dark Theatre of Cuisines which had rather patchy lighting using only the available incandescent lighting from Highline’s booth!

Grilled Octopus with Tomato and Hazelnut Oil Chilled Soup, Sea Salt and Porcini Froth from 2OX

Below are more of the dishes in the Theatre of Cuisines and by this time I was rushing like crazy hence the drop in quality.

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Apart from the Theatre of Cuisines, there were also other exhibits and booths to visit.

Tried out some new Sunquik flavours. Haven’t had this drink since I was a kid!

Epicure International Gourmet Village

The Epicure International Gourmet Village had various booths where gourmet food and beverage vendors were selling various food products – from fine wines to exquisite cheeses, as well as delicacies from around the world.

LuxuryPlus Showcase

The LuxuryPlus Showcase featured exhibits by the Macao Government Tourism Office, Nulnu Lifestyle and Sunsuria Berhad.

Taste Of Malaysia

Making its debut at Taste MIGF 2018, Taste of Malaysia featured food from around the nation, and we got to taste Malaysian delicacies from each state, including indigenous creations from tribal communities.

Kronenbourg 1664 had a booth there too serving their Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc

For more info, head over to www.migf.com or www.tastemigf.com

All the photos above with the Huawei Mate 10 Pro watermark were shot with my Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

The rear cameras are a 20 MP Monochrome + 12 MP RGB, with f/1.6 aperture, OIS (Optical image stablization), BSI CMOS. Dual-LED flash. PDAF + CAF + Laser + Depth auto focus, 2x Hybrid Zoom.

I did make minor edits to the photos using the stock apps (that came with the phone) to adjust the lighting, white balance, and to crop the photos. It was quite a challenge taking so many photos of the sampling portions at so many booths (there were 27 restaurants this year!), especially when there were other judges also sampling the food, and later when the guests joined us judges in the hall. Hence as you might have noticed, some of the photos were rather rushed and thus weren’t quite as good as those where I took my time.

For more info, head over to https://consumer.huawei.com/my/phones/mate10-pro/