CHASING FOOD DREAMS: Wagyu Promotion @ Babe Japas Fun Dining

Jeff Ramsey Beefs it Up!

We are luckier than we know it. For gastronomical experience like no other, we don’t really need to look very far. For gourmands seeking an extraordinary culinary feasting, look no further than in the heart of the PJ business area where Babe Japas Fun Dining resides at Work @ Clearwater.

‘Japas’, coined by culinary maestro Jeff Ramsey on his amalgamation of Japanese cuisine cum Spanish tapas, heralds a new cuisine on our culinary shores. In fact, the Michelin-starred chef makes his Japas a unique ‘fun dining’ one where nothing is as it seems. Babe started in 2015 and continue to be a culinary playground for Ramsey as well as a sumptuous dining space for adventurous foodies.

The American-Japanese chef may have started out in Tako Grill in Maryland, USA but has decided to make our nation his home currently. Having worked for many acclaimed chefs, Ramsey even goes to the extent of growing his own herbs on the rooftop of the restaurant building. His thoughtful efforts not only extends to diners but to his employees as well where he makes sure that his culinary team is able to cope with all the meticulous preparation his menu requires. He changes his menu every few months and keeps his menu deliciously updated with new creations as well as monthly promotions.

Babe is gorgeous at sight. To dine at Babe, one needs to be guide to the elevator to ride all the way up to the restaurant. Reservation is also required and one can do this online at their website with a deposit. Upon arrival, one will be greeted by a luminous backdrop bar as well as a ceiling filled with glass bubbles.

The ambiance is stunning with a clean and contemporary sleek design. The long main dining area is flanked with glass and mirror walls with a beautiful modern light chandelier. The play of browns and blue has a calming and soothing effect too. Sparkling cushions jazzed up the ambiance, reminding us what Babe is all about. Since we were there early, the natural lights from the glass walls fill the room with much sophistication.

Even the cutlery is contemporary and glam in gold!

One can also opt to dine alfresco and catch a view of the cityscape with KL Tower and Twin Tower in sight. If you’re up for it, you can even try to relax on the lounge chairs on the water to wait for the evening’s sunset.

We were here for Ramsey’s Wagyu promotion for July. According to Ramsey, there’s beef and then there’s wagyu. They don’t call wagyu the Rolls Royce of beef for no reason. Ramsey wanted diners to try the variants of wagyu so that they can compare the nuanced tastes side by side. While many have heard of this, most restaurants do not carry the different types of wagyu all together since it is a very premium ingredient.

The avant-garde chef made extra effort to source out the most exquisite cuts of the highest grading of wagyu and prepared it with restraint to let the flavours and textures of the wagyu be the limelight of the palate. For the whole month of July, diners can indulge on Japanese Kobe, Kagoshima and Matsusaka as well as Australian Wagyu prepared raw or a delicate cooking treatment to be accompanied by minimal ingredients and complimented by sauces.

For the full wagyu indulgence, go for the 4-course or 6-course Wagyu that comes with 3 beefy snacks. There’s also an ala carte Wagyu menu too for those who wish to mix it up with other of Ramsey’s japas.

Snacks up and the first was a mouthful of moreish of Chicken Skin Crisp with Wagyu Liver Parfait, Red Wine Caramelized Onions and Pickled Mustard Seed. Now if only every snack looked and tasted this good. There were three pieces of this but that’s because there were three of us.

Chicken skin, utterly golden and crispy, provides a moreish platform for velvety smooth wagyu liver parfait. The salty and rich note is balanced further by smoky and sweet caramelized onions and the tang of the mustard seeds. A true revelation of textures and flavours with this single snack.

The second snack we had was the Wagyu Beef Tendon in Ponzu with Chili Radish and Spring Onion. Taking the toughest part of the wagyu and turning it into bouncy and tender bites of small pieces of simmered wagyu beef tendon echoed Ramsey’s focus on nose to tail eating. These were flanked by chili radish and spring onions and rounded up with citrusy ponzu sauce to whet our appetite for mains to come.

There is a third snack which we didn’t try which was an interesting one of Bulgogi Cotton Candy. Now that really had me wondering how this one would actually taste like…

When the Raw Matsuzaka A5 Strip with Caviar, Uni, Fresh Grated Wasabi, Soy Gel, Gold Leaf was placed in front of me, there was never a doubt that I would not enjoy this gorgeous looking creation. The Matsuzaka A5 was gloriously marbled and crowned with such lux jewels of caviar, sea urchin and edible gold leaf. Assured that this premium wagyu is safe to be consumed raw, we were told to roll up the wagyu together with all the accompaniments and shiso leaf.

Encourage to enjoy this roll whole to experience the full flavours of everything with the wagyu, it was indeed a sinful bite of unctuous and creamy beefy goodness. The caviar added popping briny notes, the subtle rich uni, the delicate hint of fresh wasabi and light soy flavour all complimented the Matsuzaka gorgeously. The thrill of enjoying raw and highest quality of A5 ranking Matsuzaka elevated the senses even more… my ultimate favorite of the wagyu dishes I tried that day!

Well, if raw is not your preferred choice, then the River Stone Cooked Kobe A5, Sauces would be just as tempting. From Hyogo Prefecture, Kobe beef reigns the culinary scene. This one is cut into cubes and served with a hot river stone nestled snuggly in a basket and accompanied by sauces. One gets to play and cook the Kobe beef to your liking with this dish…

Such quality grade only requires a few seconds of searing on the hot stone in my books. Then enjoy these with sauces and salt with wasabi. I personally enjoyed my Kobe with salt and fresh wasabi as it really enhanced the lush and creamy notes of the wagyu. The marbling rendered such flavours unlike any other meat I have had.

Our third wagyu dish of the evening took form in Sukiyaki of Kagoshima A5 Cube Roll, Truffled Onsen Egg. More lux and this round, it featured the very best of wagyu there is. The elite of the wagyu clan, Kagoshima A5 are sliced and artfully draped on a cast iron pan with Shungiku chrysanthemum leaves and Eryngii mushrooms. Served with a sous vide onsen egg yolk dabbed with black truffle and a pot of sukiyaki broth, the dish also allowed diners to cook and enjoy the wagyu to your heart’s content.

As the sukiyaki broth was poured onto the wagyu, the anticipation of savoring this dish heightens the sense of excitement…

Once the broth comes to a gentle simmer, pour the onsen egg yolk over the wagyu and lightly coated each slice to ensure even distribution of scrumptiousness. The sweet and sublime sukiyaki broth elevated the luscious melt-in-the-mouth Kagoshima wagyu to perfection. Perhaps it was also the onsen egg that took the wagyu to new heights with its velvety coat of lusciousness. Either way, I am certainly satiated with the Kagoshima wagyu.

Truly an unforgettable experience of savoring the best of wagyu, it would now be hard to come back down to earth and enjoy regular beef like the norm… this is one splurge worth every penny one can afford!

Wagyu Promotion Course Menu

Available from 4 July to 30 July, 2017

4 Course includes 3 snacks RM610++ per person

6 Course includes 3 snacks RM930++ per person

Wagyu Ala Carte Menu

Available from 4 July to 30 July, 2017

Raw Matsuzaka A5 Strip with Caviar, Uni, Fresh Grated Wasabi, Soy Gel, Gold Leaf (RM140++ per piece)

River Stone Cooked Kobe A5, Sauces (RM160++)

Semi Seared Australian MB9+ Wagyu Nigiri Sushi with Arima Sansho (RM160++ 4 pcs)

Charcoal Grilled Kagoshima A5 Ribeye with Yuzu Kosho and Narazuke (RM160++)

A5 Tartare “Yukkwe” Pear, Brioche Rounds, Sesame Aioli, Sesame Oil Powder (RM160++)

Sukiyaki of Kagoshima A5 Cube Roll, Truffled Onsen Egg (RM160++)

Choice of Wagyu Steak Charcoal Grilled Medium Rare Per 100g

(Kobe RM400++, Matsuzaka RM360++, Kagoshima RM275++, Australian RM225++)

Besides the Wagyu promotion, we also savored several signature Japas from Ramsey’s ala carte menu.

Ramsey injects molecular science into his dish of Mozzarella Explosion and Amela Tomato. We were told to carefully lift the mozzarella ball to enjoy the whole ball itself. Do as told, the explosion of milky mozzarella cream was utterly pleasurable and delicious. What takes effort and meticulous preparation, to only be savor within a few seconds of thrills, seemed all worth it. Amela tomato, known to be the world’s sweetest tomato from Shizouka Prefecture, is the perfect sidekick to the savory mozzarella ball. It tasted of sweet fruity notes and was perfect after that savory explosion. A light drizzle of EVOO added much smoothness to the overall dish.

Grilled French Royal Oyster with Tama Miso, a tribute to the aphrodisiac mollusk with creamy egg miso sauce. Just ever so lightly grilled, the plump oyster was lightly briny and beautifully creamy.

The next dish of Shimaaji and White Konbu was like a piece of beautiful contemporary art. Japan’s seasonal striped horsemackerel served sashimi style had a sweet delicate note. It was cleverly enhanced with a snowy sesame oil powder and other small touches. While it may look relatively simple, I am sure Ramsey had put in quite a bit of delicious magic into the makings of this dish as it tasted rather superb!

BabenDazs, another signature of Ramsey’s, is his fun and cheeky take on his foie gras, V.S.O.P. and mirin ice cream sandwich. Instead of sweet, this one is cold, savory and decadent in musky flavours. He makes hundreds of these at times and now we know why. Tiny sandwiches that packed a punch of flavours!

Ramsey strikes comfort with his luxurious Black Truffle King Crab Chawanmushi. Taking classics and updating it with black truffle and king crab certainly ramped up extra brownie points from me. We enjoyed the soft wobbly egg custard elevated with sweet crustacean and heady aromatic black truffle. Something I can certainly enjoy daily if not for the price tag…

Perhaps the most familiar dish we could relate to Japanese cuisine was the Hokkaido Don. Sushi rice generously blanketed with lots of sweet king crab meat, globules of briny salmon roe, creamy sea urchin and finished with dashi jelly.

This one really lets the premium ingredients shine as they are meant to be.

Plenty of beverages to accompany the food. We settled on some of their specialty soft drinks of Torch Gingerale and Roselle Tonic. One’s deliciously gingery with a pop while the other is floral with a rosy note.

It’s a revelation of a gastronomic journey like no other. Babe has certainly proved its worth with Ramsey helming the culinary team. This is one gastro adventure that one should not miss. Food and ambiance is worthy for your loved ones, special occasions or not.