war of the roses

enough of wine, women and song after last night. well, almost enough...
it was the war of the roses, not between the house of york and the house of lancaster in the 15the century but between jacob's creek's sparkling rose and shiraz rose.
i know, i know - i have written at length about both wines but this time, the wines were matched with a variety of cuisine that is best called a food safari.
the safari was at the aptly named floor called feast at the starhill gallery, the new foodie complex in the centre of kuala lumpur.
the evening began with some 30 of us trooping in to sentildo tapas, owned by angie hiew - who also owns that great restaurant called flamenco and managed d'vine, both in plaza damansara, kuala lumpur.
the starter was a tapas that had marinated oysters, scallops in paprika sauce, grilled prawns and some salmon with toasted bread, more than wonderfully complimented by the jacob's creek sparkling rose.
it was just simply and absolutely a wonderful marriage of a fresh citrusy and subtly sweet sparkling rose with the range of seafood tapas.
all too soon, we had to quit our tables and walk single-file through starhill gallery's feast floor to the next restaurant - vansh, surprisingly indian - what else but an indian fine dining restaurant.
indian cuisine in kuala lumpur has been pretty indifferent of late, something which i found out after a recent trip to new delhi and discovered an amazing array of indian cuisine that would thrash the best that malaysian chefs can conjure.
but vansh vanquished any doubts with an excellent assortment of samosa, a fish cutlet, sundried tomato on bread and an indian-style nacho accompanied by a mint raita, chilli chutney and a mixed fruit yoghurt.
the shiraz rose evenly matched the range of indian dishes, except for the fish cutlet which somehow diluted the wine's complex favours.
having said that, this indian restaurant looks like a winner.
all too soon, it was time to quit vansh for the next course. the safari toured the feast floor and ended up at koryo-won korean restaurant for some famous barbecue and the ubiquitous kimchi.
let's just say that kimchi and the shiraz rose did not go together. then again, not much can match kimchi except for some korean soju. now that's another story altogether.
koryo won did not disappoint with splendidly barbecued lamb, beef and chicken in a sweet sauce. the barbecued lamb was the killer dish that danced with the shiraz rose.
the beef was slightly tough, the chicken nice and a bonus with some cuttle fish to add to the range available.
the evening, and the war of the roses was coming to an end as we ended up again at sentildo tapas for dessert.
jacob's creek chief winemaker philip laffer joined my table for dessert. we said something about getting to stop meeting this way but his face lit up when he saw the dessert combination that would make whoopee with his sparkling rose.
the dessert was the original sin.
chef angie hiew outdid herself with her dessert of four - tiramisu, chocolate mousse, snow white (cream cheese on a biscuit base) and profiteroles.
all went well with the sparkling rose except understandably for the chocolate mousse.
enough already. the war of the rose ended with the sparkling rose clearly outdoing the shiraz rose.
and angie hiew rose - pun intended - to receive the best wine matchmaker prize as her sentildo tapas cuisine more than ably matched the sparkling rose though vansh and koryo-won had their moments with the shiraz rose.

kiss from a rose

its kiss from a rose today, the song by seal from the batman forever soundtrack that came to mind at dinner.
this time we were having a jacob's creek shiraz rose to accompany a rather elegant chinese meal at the elegant inn in taman connaught kuala lumpur.
there was a difference. it was no ordinary wine dinner not that any wine dinner is ordinary.
this was the launch of the dining table - a group of gourmands dedicated to good food, great drinks and gregarious friends. and we started it auspiciously on 8.8.2005 with jacob's creek chief winemaker philip laffer whom i met over the weekend.
the evening started with the shiraz rose and proceeded to an array of jacob's creek's wines such as the riesling, chardonnay, grenache shiraz and the shiraz cabernet - all matched with the best hong kong style dishes that elegant inn's chinese restaurant could offer.
chef wesley ng, a young kelantanese, pulled out all stops in the show kitchen for the three tables that constituted the dining table.
claypot chicken wonton in a soup that was boiled for hours was the start and whetted our appetite for the rest of dishes that was quickly cooked in the show kitchen in front of us.
the shiraz rose accompanied the lotus meatcakes with hong kong silverfish and eggplant deep fried with garlic flakes, contrasting the wine's fruity flavour with the salty fish and eggplant and the sizzling meatcakes. nice was an understatement.
something fishy was in the air next. a steamed live tiger garoupa, with its intrinsic sweetness set in a sauce and complemented by a riesling. but the subtle wine lost out to the most excellent fish in taste.
out came the chardonnay to do battle with the next few dishes. we drank it with the hong kong style stir fried vegetables with garlic and crabs fried with salted egg yolk it ably matched both dishes though the crabs were distinctly and appetisingly in a class of their own - and the this image is but a poor and unworthy representation of a wonderful dish.
the chardonnay also ably accompanied the home made beancurd with meat and prawns. the beancurd just melted in the mouth, slipping and sliding suggestively with the wine in the mouth.
the night was still young and the circle of gourmands were swapping tasting notes when chef wesley ng put on a show in the kitchen.
he was frying elegant inn's special fried rice, swirling and twirling the rice and ingredients in a wok over high heat, and the results spoke for themselves.
the rice was fluffy and tasty and went pretty well with the grenache shiraz.
never quite got to the last dish of sweet and sour pork cheeks. well, i don't eat cheeks, just nibble them and frankly, sweet and sour isn't really my cup of tea, so to speak.
had the shiraz cabernet though. quite plummy.
that was the start and end of the dining table's first dinner. and an autographed bottle of jacob's creek shiraz rose was the souvenir of the night.
what an auspicious and unique start the dining table. looking forward to the next one!

rose, rose, i love you!

the song rose, rose, i love you is a very very old song, with chinese songstress yao lee recording it in 1940 and about a decade later, frankie laine cutting it in 1951.
why am i going on about this and what has it do with drinks or food? plenty.
i thought of the song as i sipped my first glass of jacob's creek sparkling rose, the latest sparkling wine from the australian master wine producer, at mizu, a japanese restaurant in bangsar village, kuala lumpur.
it was billed as an evening with a chief winemaker who turned out to be jacob's creek's philip laffer.
the rose was the star but laffer also brought along bottles of reserve chardonnay, riesling, shiraz and cabernet to go with some splendid japanese food.
featured here is the menu for the evening with a bowl that had miso soup - nice and as you can see, i finished it - a glass of shiraz on the left, finished the cabernet and the remnants of the rose.
the rose is great.
had a couple of glasses of this sparkling wine made from chardonnay and pinot noir grapes.
the non-vintage fermented sparkling wine is dry, combining the best of the citrusy chardonnay and the strawberry flavours of the pinot noir.
a soft appealing taste without the plumminess of red wines, the rose at 11.5 percent alcohol by volume, is great as an aperitif or with the dessert that we had, ice-cream with strawberry sauce. i did try it with some wasabi but it didn' t work out that well. guess there is a limit to both the rose and the wasabi.
having said that, the meal at mizu was quite good. it started with a sesame bean curd with a hint of wasabi combining well with the reserve chardonnay. a better combination followed after the clear soup when the reserve riesling superbly accompanied the shashimi trio of tuna, salmon and yellow tail with the wasabi and shoyu in attendance.
the riesling tangoed with the fish and wasabi, dancing in unison as i slowly savoured the complex flavours.
it was time for some red and the reserve shiraz made its appearance. the big and bold wine was paired with some foie gras delicately sitting on daikon or white radish in sauce. good stuff as the shiraz and the foie gras - featured here - held out their distinctive taste.
the cabernet heralded the start of the main course, a beef teppanyaki that was accompanied with rice, miso soup and pickles. quite good.
a great dinner to start the week.