November 11, 2014

Fisherman’s Cove, Feast Village at Starhill Gallery: Seafood Dining on Fridays, Night Market Style


Let’s Wok with Fisherman’s Cove Night Market Talking Menu!






Ever since my first dining experience at Fisherman’s Cove at Feast Village in Starhill Gallery, I have nothing but raved review on the food at this fabulous seafood restaurant. The memorable dish was Pan Fried Fillet of Coral Grouper with Pipi Clams and Blue Mussel in Citrus Butter Sauce. A dish executed to perfection by Executive Chef Wai who heads YTL restaurants at Starhill, the splendid sensory dining experience and taste has left me craving for more at Fisherman’s Cove.


Fisherman’s Cove, an intimate fine dining seafood restaurant takes on an East meets West ambience and menu. The seafood restaurant takes pride in serving up sumptuous seafood dishes to impress gourmands. At Fisherman’s Cove, there is a nostalgic appeal in its ambience. The whole restaurant is modeled after traditional fishing villages in olden times. Lots of woodwork and bamboo finishes run everywhere from the walls to the furniture. The restaurant also has an open kitchen concept with lots of live tanks of seafood. Seating is available in two levels so head up to the level above for private dining or simply take the seating downstairs and enjoy some kitchen actions.







We were here for Fisherman’s Cove Night Market Style Seafood promotion available every Friday from 6pm onwards that just started this November. Boasting a talking menu with the freshest Poseidon’s catch of the day, the promotion is certainly an exquisite gastronomical experience for seafood lovers. Going all out, Fisherman’s Cove brings in an abundance of varieties of seafood showcased on ice and in live tanks.


That evening, the array of seafood was certainly a showstopper. Glorious Coral Grouper, Oil Grouper, Red Snapper, Golden Snapper, Rainbow Trout, Giant Clam and Venus Clam, Blue Mussels, Squid, Jumbo Tiger Prawns, Pacific Fresh Oyster and other live seafood like Canadian Lobster, Sri Lankan Mud Crab and Freshwater Prawn is certainly a kaleidoscope of colors and choices.


Unlike other dining experiences, guests can establish the quantity of seafood they would like to consume for the night. Pricing for each dish will be based on the quantity of food selected. A staff will be on hand to weigh the seafood immediately, allowing the guests to make quantity adjustments as seen necessary.

Once you have selected your seafood, the host of the restaurant will be at your service to make recommendations on the best way to cook your seafood. Executive Chef Wai has prepared countless ways from international to local cooking method and flavours to cater to everyone. That evening, we took on almost all the ways of preparing these luscious seafood from the standard grill, steamed, oven baked to pan fried. Traditional method like ikan bakar with banana leaves is also available upon request.






As soon as we had entered Fisherman’s Cove that evening, we were greeted with a beach-inspired welcome drink created especially by the beverage manager at Feast Village. The welcome drink is totally fruity and refreshing. From its minty flavours to perky tang together with slivers of coconut meat, it’s a great way to put a smile on anyone’s face!


Fresh baked Focaccia was served with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Fluffy with a lovely herb note, these were gone in a jiffy.






Besides seafood, salads are also available with meat or seafood. Our Organic Romaine Lettuce ‘Caesar Style’ with Smoked Duck Breast is made even better with a molten centered egg yolk. Slices of rich smoky duck paired well with crisp lettuce dressing in a nutty and creamy Caesar dressing together with croutons, anchovies and shavings of Parmesan. This is almost a main dish on its own and perfect for those who loves a good salad.


First seafood dish up was Deep Fried Calamari with Sweet Turnip and Mint. It’s back to basic for this squid but beautifully executed with precision. The golden crispy squid rings are light, tender and wonderfully seasoned. A side of cubed sweet and crunchy turnip in a creamy and mint dressing makes a great sidekick for the squid.







Sometimes when the seafood is so fresh, one should never do anything with it except served it on ice like the Pacific Rock Oysters with lemon wedges. These aphrodisiacs are gorgeously briny with salty notes. The squeeze of citrus brought an oceanic sweetness as well.


When we ordered the Venus clams, we were recommended the Clams in Fresh Momotaro Sauce. Steamed cooked, the clams were lovely and went well with the sweet tomato broth. The broth is not overpowering but lightly flavoured to compliment the clams. One can also have other seafood prepared with this broth as well.

There is also the Classic Moule Mariniere Normandy where blue mussels are lightly cooked in broth and completed with a light flavouring of chives. This has always been a French classic that many enjoy as the sweetness of the mussels really stands out well. I was wishing for some crispy baguette to go with this dish…







The dish that I had raved earlier in my first visit showed up with a different fish that evening. We had Red Snapper with Pipi Clams in Lemon Butter Sauce. Two big fillets of the whole red snapper are seared with a crispy skin and moist flesh. The fillets are then smothered in a sour and buttery sauce cooked with clams before being finished with minced chives. Citrus based sauce goes superbly well with seafood. Utterly beautiful again…

Since there were so many choices of fish, we also ordered the Threadfin, Silver Pomfret and Sea Garoupa.


Our Threadfin was Crispy Threadfin with Coriander Chili Lime Sauce. Two firm flesh Threadfin fillets pan seared and sat on a pool of robust coriander chili lime sauce. The sauce has complex flavours of sour and savory with a bold hint of spice. Fresh cherry tomatoes are added to balance out the richness. I enjoyed the pairing of the firm flesh fish with the bold sauce.


For the Silver Pomfret, we took the traditional classic method of Steamed Silver Pomfret with Superior Sauce. It’s a dish that shouts comfort food. The fish is steamed till just right in a superior soy sauce and dressed with some mushrooms and broccoli. The classic way allowed us to savor the fresh sweetness of the pomfret with a light savory boost from the sauce. I almost wanted to order some rice to go with this dish.


The kitchen team at Fisherman’s Cove obviously mastered the art of preparing fish well. Every fish we ordered has been cooked just right. Even our Spicy Nyonya Steamed Fillet of Sea Garoupa is steamed to perfection. The thick moist fillets of sea garoupa is dressed in a spicy piquant Nyonya sauce which tasted of lemongrass, chili, garlic and many more herbs and spices. The delicate fish is partnered with sautéed assorted vegetables for a lighter touch.






We ordered a large mud crab and our host recommended the Singapore Chili Crab. We loved it. The large and meaty crab is still surprisingly sweet in the pungent garlic and chili sauce. The balance of sweet, savory and spicy was lovely in the sauce and we almost wished that the restaurant would serve toast bread to mop up all that deliciousness. We spied another table having a steamed version which seemed to be equally good since the crab is so sweet.


Crustaceans are up next and a list of Jumbo Tiger Prawns, Tiger Prawns, Freshwater Prawns and the king of Canadian Lobster sets the list of the evening. There are endless ways to prepare these crustaceans but we settled for the host recommendation of mixing some classics with some modern preparation.


Sizzling Salt Water Jumbo Tiger Prawns with Garlic Butter had us all lusting after it as soon as it was placed in front of us. These large crustaceans are simply grilled with garlic butter and kept warm on the hotplate. The hotplate also managed to amp up the aroma of the heavenly garlic butter with great effects. The jumbo prawns are super sweet and thoroughly addictive with a juicy bouncy texture. Simply a Must-order!


Indulgence comes to mind when I saw the Canadian Lobster prepared two styles – classic Lobster Thermidor and Lobster Mornay


Lobster Thermidor oozed with a rich béchamel cream sauce studded with plump mushrooms and comes with a gratinated crust. Lobster Mornay also has a cream base sauce but has loads of cheese in the sauce. It was a hard decision to choose which one I like because both has its own deliciousness. The lobster meat is beautifully sweet and tender too. Freshness is obviously a key point because I can really taste the sweet succulent lobster despite all the heavy cream sauces. One really can’t go wrong with either sauce.


We also savored Grilled Tiger Prawns and Kam Heong Tiger Prawns.


Grilled Tiger Prawns proved that when the ingredient is fresh, one only needs to go basic in cooking the ingredient with minimal seasoning. Halved and cooked in shells, the prawn flavours and texture reign supreme here. The more robust flavours of the Kam Heong Tiger Prawns did mask the sweet prawns but I didn’t mind because the aromatic and moreish Kam Heong sauce is lovely and very good.







Fancy some pasta? Fisherman’s Cove does a Seafood Pasta that is also worthy of your order. It has all the essential markings of a great pasta dish with al dente texture pasta, well-seasoned and succulent seafood. Another classic pasta dish cooked well to show off the fresh seafood!






Though it may be a seafood restaurant, there are meat and poultry dishes available too. Our Five Spice Rack of Lamb and Wagyu Beef Cheeks have proven that they do whip up meat and poultry dishes as good as their seafood dishes. The Five Spice Rack of Lamb is nicely grilled till medium pink and comes with a black pepper sauce. Tender, moist and flavourful, the quality of the lamb is marvelous.


The Wagyu Beef Cheeks are braised for long and slow hours till fork-tender. It has a rich wine sauce with lots of great depths of flavours and a subtle smoky note. Gelatinous bits run through the beef cheeks and these provided the signature gelatinous texture blending well with the meat.






What a feast! The evening ended with five scrumptious desserts of Crème Brulee, Tiramisu, Banana Split, Chocolate Lava and Chocolate Mousse.


Classic Crème Brulee and Tiramisu proved its mark that classics rule! Luscious cooked cream with caramelized sugar top is made better with French macaron while Tiramisu in a glass has soft silky mascarpone cream with coffee soaked sponge, chocolate soil and topped with a French macaron too.


Banana Split makes a play for the old school dessert featuring three scoops of Chocolate, Vanilla and Strawberry Ice Creams with Caramelized Banana with wafer rolls and chocolate balls. We love the caramelized banana touch in this one.


Chocolate Lava has a nice crusty cake outside and oozy chocolate lava center served with ice cream and chocolate soil while Chocolate Mousse takes on white and dark chocolate mousse served with brownie squares, chocolate soil, chocolate balls and French macaron. Both are equally sinful and sexy desserts!







This is a promotion not to be missed! The Seafood Night Market menu allows lots of options and variations for gourmands to try and the best pairing possible by the chefs at Fisherman’s Cove. I even heard that there is Japanese style hot pot syabu-syabu with three different choices of soup - spicy tomyum, herbal and Japanese miso to go with all the fresh seafood available. Whether you are dining for two or dining or in a big party, the Seafood Night Market promotion is a sure winner with its composition of the freshest catch of the day made better with their talking menu concept!



FISHERMAN’S COVE
Feast Village, Starhill Gallery
181 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +60 3-2782 384


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