Time really waits for no man. I remember saying to myself following my first visit to Topshelf that we definitely want to come back again. Who would have thought that one year could pass by so quickly? Chef Christopher Yee has kindly extended an invitation for us to sample the new menu, and I was not about to say no to good French food! Although it did take me almost 2 months to schedule this in due to frequent sickness (I really need to buck up and get healthy, have recently just recovered from Dengue fever…. more on that later perhaps).

Topshelf is blessed with a proximity to many well-known pubs/bars in Taman Tun Dr Ismail, though it’s situated at the quieter side of the shophouses. The ambiance can be quite romantic at night though remains casual enough for all kinds of customers. The menu here is kept tight for better quality control, offering mostly French favourites along with some Italian influences. The new menu now includes Pork, which is good news for the Porcine lovers.

On the night we visited, Truffles happen to be in season so we were lucky enough to be treated to this beauty:

Truffles, Poached Eggs on Red Wine Braised Puy Lentils.

Look at the generous shavings of Truffles! The alluring aroma tickled our noses as this dish hit the table and of course I couldn’t wait to poke at the egg.

#YolkPorn!

What a sight to behold! And this tasted as good as it looks, of course. The lentils fully soaked up the full bodied red wine sauce and the overflowing egg yolk adds to the richness, while the truffles just complete the whole gastronomic experience. I loved the simplicity of it too, as nothing is overwhelming in flavour profile.

I love the presentation of this dish. A single scallop sitting atop an Eggplant round, a bed of braised leek, complete with white wine jus. The scallop has a beautiful sear on it while remaining lovely and soft in the middle, just the way it should be. The sweetness goes well with the umaminess of miso on the eggplant, while the braised leeks have been cooked enough for its natural sweetness to be released too. While the Truffle dish was the bf’s favourite, this was my highlight of the night.

Orange Quail (RM27), Bacon Hash, Poached Egg.

I don’t often order poultry at restaurants though this was a great choice by Chef Chris. The dainty quail is roasted to a perfect golden brown, nesting on a bed of fried leeks. On the side is a bacon potato hash and a poached egg. It’s obvious that the dish has been given a lot of thoughts. Before digging in, another YolkPorn is warranted. The bf obviously saw this dish in a different light and took a rather obscene photo which is inappropriate for this blog (let me just tell you a ‘kangkang’ quail can be a little porn-ish)…. so I’ll spare you the pain…

The marinade for the quail is subtle but complementing. I highly recommend putting bits of everything together and savour at once. The juicy quail flesh, slight crispy bacon and potato, crunchy fried leeks, and luscious egg… just an explosion of flavours and texture.

It’s rare to see whole fish presented in an non-Asian restaurant, but of course we live in Malaysia, which allows us to experiment with different presentations. For me, I always feel that serving a whole fish is pretty impressive, not to mention celebratory. Here we have a whole red snapper (locally sourced), baked with Provencal vegetables in a white wine bouillon. Once again it’s a simple dish with super clean flavours, and you’ll need the fish to be super fresh for it to be good. Did it pass our test? Flying colours. I love the light broth with a hint of wine.

The Iberico Loin features a thick piece of pork loin cooked to just right (a hint of pink in the middle), served with mash and sauteed vegetables. It was decent at best, the loin has a nice bite to it while the vegetables remains sweet and crunchy, though not as impressive as the previous dishes.

I forgot to inform Chef I don’t eat chocolate (not that I don’t love it, but it’s to protect my voice) so this amazing looking Chocolate & Coffee Cremeux came to our table, not that we would complain. Made with 70% noir dark chocolate,the dark bittersweet chocolate and coffee cream had a sprinkle of Maldon sea salt (because salt and chocolate is a match made in food heaven), complete with berries and a touch of olive oil. I love the sweet and savoury combo, and despite my ban on chocolate I finished a good portion of this (coughing afterwards, but worth it).

Thank you Chef Christopher Yee for you fabulous food! And hopefully we’ll return sooner this time.
TOPSHELF
61, Lorong Rahim Kajai 13,
Taman Tun Dr. Ismail,
60000, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-7727 7277
Website: www.topshelf.com.my
Facebook: www.facebook.com/topshelf.kl