Café Café, Jalan Maharajalela, Kuala Lumpur

We decided to go to Café Café to celebrate Kav’s and a friend’s (Guest #1) birthday as it was touted to be one of the most beautiful restaurants in Kuala Lumpur – a fitting place for two beautiful people. :-)

True to its word, the ambience that greeted us was beautiful in an old –fashioned manner, flowers and ornaments adorned the walls and it had a very French outlook. A romantic setting for a date!

We had the option of choosing between four set menus or going with the ala-carte menu (which meant choosing any of the dishes offered in the set menus). We decided to opt for the ala-carte menu in order to try a variety of dishes.

* Please forgive the lacklustre photographs, as we were not allowed to use the flash on our camera. We were informed by a waiter that Café Café has a 'no flash policy' in their premises as it may disturb other patrons.

We were initially served complimentary assorted bread with butter.

Kav: Bread was mediocre. 

Guest #1: Found the sesame bread a bit hard. I would usually go for seconds but thought I'll give my jaw a rest. The butter was delicious, creamy, and had the right texture and proportion of salt. 

Shiv: The butter was delicious but the bread could have been fancier.

Mien: Slices of bread were nothing to shout about. Butter was very good.

Gaj: Although the bread was warm, it wasn’t great but the butter was good.

We had two dishes for starters, the first being, Niçoise Salad, a traditional salad from Nice, mixed premium salad, boiled eggs, anchovies, freshly cut peppers and olives. It was tossed with a special dressing of sundried tomato and roasted walnuts (RM29).

Kav: Thought it was a mediocre salad, liked the combination of olives and tuna. 

Guest #1: The salad was fresh, tangy from the combination of peppers and sundried tomatoes but would have tasted better if there was more dressing - vinegar and olive oil. 

Shiv: I really liked this – very fresh and had a nice tangy flavor.

Mien: Nothing like the ones from Nice….. very unflavourful… 

Gaj: The salad was fresh, but I could not the taste the anchovies and the dressing was very light. Not the best salad that I have tried – it was alright.

The second starter was Escargot in Garlic Parsley. The escargot was cooked in a garlic parsley sauce (RM32).

Kav: It was pungent, savoury and earthy all at the same time. The escargots and the garlic were a mouth watering combination. The pungency of the garlic is not for the faint of heart. 

Guest #1: I found the dish too garlicky, enough to scare any Dracula or date, which overshadowed the natural taste of the escargot and the richness of the parsley. 

Shiv: Was good, however, they could have given more bread to accompany the dish. The escargot itself was amazingly flavoured though. 

Mien: It was good… the best dish I had here.

Gaj: This dish was yummylicious and the garlic parsley was heavenly. Best dish of the night!

The first main we had was Fettuccine with Cod. This dish had an olive oil base, garlic and parsley, shredded cod fish is tossed with al dente fettuccine, garlic and parsley and sprinkled with roasted crushed macadamia nuts (RM55).

Kav: The pasta was too thick and was not flavoured well. To top it off, it was not cooked al dente. FAILURE!!! 

Guest #1: Shame for the poor choice of pasta (not to mention it being uncooked) for it let down a perfectly flavoured cod. I liked the idea of macadamia nuts as it went really well with the parsley whilst the garlic-ness was kept just about right.

Shiv: I like this one. Was very earthy and the cod used was fresh although they could have been more generous with it.

Mien: The flavour itself was good; however, the pasta used was too thick and overshadowed the flavor.

Gaj: I felt like fettuccine was the wrong pasta for this dish as the cod and crushed macadamia nuts did not coat the pasta well as it was too thick. This is a pity as the flavouring (garlic, parsley and macadamia nuts) of this dish was delicious.

For the second main, we had King Prawn. Chargrilled prawns, with mixed Mediterranean vegetables served with Sicilian-pistachio dressing (RM63).

Kav: I don’t get how a fine-dining restaurant can serve stale prawns!!! Poorly flavoured. The only saving factor was the ‘charred’ flavour that went well with the prawn. 

Guest #1: You just can’t serve stale food. 

Shiv: They were relying on the freshness of the prawn to carry this dish, and thus did not over-flavour the prawn. Unfortunately, the whole dish ended up being a failure, as it lacked both.

Mien: The prawn was not fresh! BAD FOR A PLACE LIKE THIS! 

Gaj: The prawn did not taste fresh, it was a bit mushy, however it had a nice char-grilled flavour. Though the vegetables were good, the dish was a letdown.

We waited for the third dish with bated breath as we have heard good reviews about the Duck Confit. The duck is preserved in its own fat, and then, salted, served lightly waxy, and dried with duck flavour (RM59).

Kav: This was the best dish of the night. The duck was flavoured perfectly as it was savoury and there was a strong duck flavour that I loved. However, there is one little complain, which is, the duck was a little dry, probably because it was overcooked. 

Guest #1: Crisp on the outside, tender in the inside. The dish preserved the natural fat from the duck which gave its flavour.  Thumbs up. 

Shiv: The reviews were spot on; the Duck Confit was prepared perfectly and as a duck lover, this did not disappoint.

Mien: Not a fan of duck…. hence did not like this – too duck-ey. However, the flavouring of the vegetables was good.

Gaj: I am not a big duck fan, but this dish was pretty good as the skin of the duck was crispy; the smell not too pungent.

Next up, we had Lamb Medallion, lamb served with mustard honey-vinaigrette dressing (RM80).

Kav: Lamb was a little dry and poorly flavoured. 

Guest #1: I thought the lamb was plain. Not enough dressing… a hint of mint would have flavoured it better. 

Shiv: Not impressed one bit! Poorly flavoured and not well done enough (despite requesting for it to be well done).

Mien: Not a fan of lamb, hence did not like this dish as it was too gamey!

Gaj:  The lamb was not tender enough and I felt like the lamb was not flavoured well.

The last main of the night was Pancette –Roulade of Cod with Frog Leg, pan fried cod fish roulade with pancetta, served with pear-morel mushroom dressing and deep fried frog leg (RM95).

Kav: Stale Stale Stale!!! ABSOLUTE CRAP! 

Guest #1: Again. You just can't serve stale seafood. Period. Seafood and amphibians don't mix. 

Shiv: The cod was not fresh at all and the dressing was laced with too much sugar!!! BAD!

Mien: Cod was not fresh! Not a fan of frog – too chewy! Highly disappointed!!!

Gaj: Very disappointing as the cod was not fresh. I did not understand why the cod was served with a frog leg as it did not complement each other.  Was not a big fan of the frog leg, it lacked flavour.

We ordered 4 desserts and were given one complimentary cake for the birthday babies.

The first dessert we had was Chocolate Cake with Ice Cream, molten lava chocolate cake, served with vanilla ice cream (RM30).

Kav: Loved this dessert. The hot oozing chocolate cake with the cold ice cream was a pair like none other. However, I think I tasted the exact same chocolate cake at Werner’s, Changkat Bukit Bintang. 

Guest #1: Love anything with chocolate and vanilla ice cream. 

Shiv: A true indulgence, however, the vanilla ice cream used could have been of better quality.

Mien: OK… too rich!!!

Gaj: This dessert was divine, heaven on earth – the hot chocolate sauce oozed out of cake and melted in my mouth…deserving of an AMAZE- BALLS!

The second dessert was Tarte au Citron, classic lemon tart served with butter crumbles (RM20).

Kav: Funny how the lemon tart had a fishy taste to it. This was inexplicable!!! 

Guest #1: Didn't like it at all. Horrible fishy taste to it….something must have gone wrong in the kitchen. 

Shiv: WAY TOO EGG-Y!! Had potential as it had a nice lemon tart-y flavour.

Mien: Too egg-y.

Gaj:  This dessert had a fishy taste to it, and though the butter crumble was nice, it was not enough to save this dessert. MAJOR DISLIKE!

Next, we had Crème Brûlee with Espresso. The Crème Brûlee was served with a shot of espresso (RM25).

Kav: Creamy yummy goodness!!! 

Guest #1: I love Crème Brûlee and this one passed the test. The caramelised sugar wasn't too thick; the inside was not too eggy or sweet. 

Shiv: The best dessert of the night… possibly the best Crème Brûlee I have ever had. The accompanying coffee complemented the dessert perfectly.

Mien: Considering I am not a fan of Crème Brûlee … this was REALLY GOOD!

Gaj: Both the Crème Brûlee and espresso were very good, excellent!

We then had Tiramisu, classic version with biscuit  cuillère soaked with Kahlua and brandy, layered with Italian mascarpone with touches of Grand Marnier (RM25).

Kav: Dry and one of the worst tiramisus I have tried. 

Guest #1: Poor choice of liquor (could have been Jägermeister!) in the tiramisu. Bad. 

Shiv: The Cuillère layer was too thick and dry and was not a fan of the type of liquor used.

Mien: BAD BAD BAD… Was sooo disappointed… but I should have expected it as I was in a French restaurant and not an Italian one!!!

Gaj: The tiramisu was bad, very bad – I did not like the taste of the liquor – tasted like medicine.

The complimentary cake was a lemon cake.

Kav: Like the creamy, tangy flavour of the cake. 

Guest #1: Cake was fresh, simple and liked it. 

Shiv: Like this as the lemon cake was tart-y and fresh tasting.

Mien: Love lemon cakes / biscuits. This was a pleasant surprise.

Gaj: This cake was nice, had a nice lemon flavour.

We ordered 2 bottles of wine. Firstly we had the Château D’Esclans Whispering Angel Domaines Sacha Lichine Rouge 2006 Côtes de Provence (RM165).

Kav:  This was a smooth wine. Fruity and light. Loved it. 

Guest #1: Light, fruity without an after taste. Very nice. 

Shiv: Loved this. My first time trying a Château D’Esclans, and it was a pleasant experience.

Mien: Light – which was why I loved it!

The second wine was Petit Mars 2009 Vin de Pays de l’Aude (RM156).

Kav:  Personally didn’t like this wine much. Found it a bit sweet and dry. 

Guest #1: Still fruity but a bit more dry that the previous wine. Would try this wine again.

Shiv: Was heavier and not as good as the first one.

Mien: Light and dry, however, not as good as the first.

Verdict: WOK OFF!

PRICE: Expensive as expected for a fine dining place (RM967.44 for 7 dishes, 3 desserts and 2 bottles of wine).

AMBIENCE: French-like ambience. Good for a date if you are not a firm believer in the 'less is more' concept, as it was slightly overdone and congested.

SERVICE: Good, food arrived promptly.

FOOD: Disappointing as some of the seafood were not fresh and not to the standard of a restaurant of this stature. Unimpressed! 

CAFÉ CAFÉ

175 JALAN MAHARAJALELA

50150 KUALA LUMPUR

WILAYAH PERSEKUTUAN

Tel: +603 2141 8141

Website: http://www.cafecafe.com.my

Opening Hours:

6pm-12am, daily