If there’s a reason for you to visit The Press Room at Pavilion KL this festive season, let it be Chef Kelly Delaney. Hails from Australia, she used to run the now defunct Madison’s, a Modern Oz restaurant which used to be one of my favourites. So you can imagine how excited I was to find out she’s now working for The Press Room Bistro.

The Press Room Bistro is located at the alfresco dining area of Pavilion, and it’s usually fairly busy with tourists and shoppers alike. Of all the times I visited Pavilion I’ve never actually dined in it, and my first time experience was pretty satisfying. Needless to say, I’ll be checking out their regular menu too. Soon enough.

Chef Kelly Delaney has put together 2 special menus for the festive season and you can definitely see her personal style in all the dishes. First, let’s start with the Christmas specials, which runs from 24th to 27th December. It’s a 3 course meal, although we did only sample 2 out of 3 (the turkey wasn’t available yet during time of review).

Start with a decadent course of Foie Gras, served with compressed apples, panna grattato and house chutney. Let’s take a moment to admire this dish first.

A gorgeous piece of perfectly seared liver, with textbook execution of nice char on the outside and buttery soft interior. Nothing like a piece of offal to tantalise my taste bud. The compressed apples provided a little bit of acidity to pair with the richness, and I love the herby bread crumbs too. It’s always nice to have foie gras with sweet fruits and the chutney did just that.

The main course for the Christmas menu is Rolled Turkey Breast with Pistachio, Cranberries and Vegetables Confit. The combination sounds lovely, too bad we didn’t get to taste it.

But the dessert is really to die for. I don’t remember being so impressed by a dish for a long time. For something that’s seemingly simple, this definitely surprised me.

This is no regular Semi freddo, my friends. It’s inspired by Christmas Pudding, which means you get all that lovely rum soaked dried fruits running through it as well as bits of spicy Christmas Pudding, top with that caramel, it’s just perfection and you literally taste Christmas in every bite. I might have hogged the whole dish that day, and I want to order a whole tub from Chef. Kelly you hear that?

Now we move on to the New Year menu (available from 31st Dec to 2nd Jan). The starter is a Deboned Quail, Sage Smoked Duck Breast, Radicchio, Petit Pear Tarte Tatin with Vincotto.

Each component of this dish requires a little bit of skills, and it was fun tasting all of them. Deboning the quail is a nice touch for fuss free eating, while the duck breast is lovely smokey with just a touch of bite. And I have to say the pear tarte tatin was my favourite bit, although it could benefit with a little more heat (alas, we might have taken a little long to snap photos).

The main for the NY menu is Rump of Lamb, Roasted Beets and Charred Artichokes with Fennel Purée. The lamb rump is cooked sous vide style, and then quickly seared to get a nice char. I love how the meat is still perfectly pink, retaining the tender texture, and it’s not overly gamey. Adding beetroot to the mix is probably very typical Australian, but the earthiness complements the meat well. Interesting to taste the aniseed flavour of fennel too in the puree. For someone who’s not a fan of lamb, I’d still happily devour this dish.

I think I have a weakness with cannoli. This particular one is made with Brandy Snap, and is filled with Lemon Pastry Cream and Candied Berries. Absolutely nothing to fault.

Both these menus are priced at RM160++ per person, inclusive of Coffee or Tea, available all day. You can also choose to add a bubbly to your yuletide cheer with their choice of pairings;

• Bollinger, Special Cuvee, Brut, Champagne, France, NV
• La Chablisienne, Sauvignon Blanc, Saint Bris, France, 2013
• Gerard, Bertrande Reserve Speciale Chardonay, Languedoc, France, 2012/2013
• Circus, Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina, 2014
• Monte de Fra, Valpolicella Classico, Veneto, Italy 2013
• Mitolo G.A.M. Shiraz, McLaren Vale, Australia 2010
• Jules Cotes De Provence, France 2014

Of course, my personal choice would be the Gerard Bertrande Reserve Speciale Chardonnay, which offers fresh citrus note and is also quite floral.

For reservation call 03-21483889 or visit their Facebook page www.facebook.com/prbistro for more information.

The Press Room Bistro
Level 3 Pavilion KL
Jalan Bukit Bintang