The Butcher’s Table @ Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

 

Meat-ing Expectation

 

Talk about a blast from the past… somethings should always make a comeback! In this case, it did… The Butcher’s Table is the newer offspring of Mr. Ho Kim Loon, who was more renowned with his first offspring of Mr. Ho’s Fine Foods. Back in late 1990s, foodies know where to go for exceptional roast pork and premium sausages and that is at Mr. Ho.

 

After a hiatus from the food scene, the Ho family decided to make their comeback with The Butcher’s Table first outlet in SS2 few years ago. Roping in his kids now, they have recently opened a new outlet in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur in late February this year but had to close due to the recent pandemic situation.

 

The Butcher’s Table is now open, and diners are in for a meaty treat. Talk about meat-ing expectation… the restaurant is located on level 7 and offer diners several section of dining areas along with a private room as well. We like the simplicity and modern ambiance where smart casual vibes allow diners to enjoy a hearty meal from this delicatessen.

 

The menu is filled with lots of choices of meat and poultry with a few seafood thrown in for good measure. Most of Mr. Ho’s signatures are present along with a few newbies. Add-on a very affordable wine list, diners are set for an unforgettable dining experience of beefy and swine-ful dishes!

 

Perhaps the Crispy Roast Pork (RM17.50 | RM25.00 with one side) would be the perfect choice of appetizer to kick off here. After all, Mr. Ho’s legendary Siew Yuk is what most of us remembered him for. And disappoint us it did not after a decade… the crispy roast pork is still fabulously yummy.

Even and gorgeous layers of fat and lean meat, rendering much juiciness, on the pork belly along with that beautiful golden crackling is enough to send your palate sense on overdrive of glee. Honestly, one word to describe this would be perfect… at least from me on that evening with some hardcore foodies. Served with house special garlic chili sauce, I daresay it didn’t need this sauce as the roast pork was just perfect on its own.

 

Grilled Pancetta (RM17.80 | RM25.30 with one side) made its appearance like some sexy symbol on a plate! House cured, the salty pancetta is finished on the grill, resulting in that smoky char with a glistening exterior that makes one drool lusciously over it. Absolutely bursting with much umami notes… this might be the new cure for everything.

 

I am a bit biased because I love salted beef. Always enjoyed it when I studied abroad but could never really find one locally as good as what I had before. The restaurant’s Signature Salted Beef (RM39.50 | RM47.00 with one side) has now became my benchmark for salted beef after my first bite. The beef, served with generous lashings of mustard, is buttery tender and sublime from the curing process as well as slow cooking at low temperature. We had ours with a side of sauerkraut. It has that well-balance moreish salty note and aroma of beefy goodness that is simply irresistible… I am glad Mr. Ho made a trip to Selfridges in London decades ago…

 

Sausages and sausages… its another item with many variations that the restaurant is famous for. We are speaking about the real McCoy of sausages where zero fillers, nitrate-free, preservative-free and natural casings resulted in diners tucking into succulent premium sausages made from pork, lamb, beef and chicken. Heck, there’s even Iberico pork sausages to satiate even the finickiest palate of gourmands.

 

Seriously, I don’t recall which sausages we savored that evening… simply because all of them were darn good! I am pretty sure we had the Deluxe Cheese ring with melted cheddar (RM27.75 each) and a spicy one but the rest didn’t really matter because it was all so juicy and scrumptious.

 

If you must know, then the sausage list reads of Deluxe Nuernberger ring (RM27.75 each), Deluxe Cheese ring (RM27.75 each), Garlic, Flaming Hot, Farmer’s Bratwurst, English Oxford, Mushroom (RM10.50 each), Lamb Merquez (RM11.90 each), Chicken (RM10.50 each), Australia Beef (RM12.90 each) and Iberico Pork (RM12.90 each).

 

Just when I didn’t think that I could get more impressed with the dishes, the Tomapork (RM88) made its appearance with coleslaw and fries. Our table of foodies anointed this gargantuan hunk of a pork to royalty status. One bite and you will be lusting after this cut like we did. So, there is a 35 mins waiting time for the dish but it’s truly well-worth the wait.

 

Sharing the similarity with its beefy cousin of a Tomahawk, the cut comes with a long rib with a huge slab of lean and fatty bits grilled and roasted to much gloriousness. The meat is beautifully tender with so much juiciness spilling into our mouth upon bites of it. Seasoned well, the pork literally brought out the cavemen in one of us as he proceeded to gnaw his way to enlightenment on that rib!!

 

Perhaps because we were full and the other dishes made such a tasty impact, the Smoked Pork Knuckle (RM86.25 | RM93.75 with one side) didn’t live up to the others. On a personal note, there was nothing wrong with the dish as it was tender and had a lovely smoky note from the smoking process. I just happen to prefer its German version of Crispy Pork Knuckle (RM108.00 | RM115.50 with one side) version to this smoked one. Nevertheless, the portion is generous and should be shared with a few carnivores.

 

What I do like was the German Potato Salad on the side. Utterly creamy with small chunks of potato along bacon bits, gherkins and apple, I kept going back for this despite being full. Other sides worthy of an order is their sauerkraut and coleslaw too…

 

All that meat and we decided to add-on the basic order of Coleslaw and Garden Green (RM13.50) dressed with balsamic vinegar and caramelized shallot dressing. Simply because we could then lessen our guilty pleasures of this meat-up.

 

The Butcher’s Table is back and back with a big bang. We heard on the grapevine that they are now setting up their latest outlet in Sri Hartamas soon. Connoisseurs can also head to their other outlets in Penang and Johor as well as the original SS2 outlets for their cravings. As for me, I just can’t wait for their latest outlet to be open since its nearer to my neighborhood.

 

 

THE BUTCHER’S TABLE

Lot 7.01.07, level 7, Pavilion KL,

168, Jalan Bukit Bintang,

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2110 4438

 

Facebook: www.facebook.com/thebutcherstablekl

 

Business Hours:

Daily 10.00am to 10.30pm