Just had an amazing Cantonese dim sum lunch, one of the very best in town, at ππ² π¦π²π»ππ² in Damansara Kim, curated by owner, Chris Chew, and conceptualized by Chef Shiro Onishi.
The menu degustation consisted of:
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Black truffled xiao long bao dumpling - lovely rendition, with a subtle hint of black truffles which did not overwhelm the sweet pork flavours (unlike what happened in many other places).
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Kagoshima pork with fish-maw bouillon - one of my favourite courses - I love well-made pork meatballs, and this one was juicy and hit all the right spots, flavourwise.
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Koshikari rice roll with fresh prawns & crisps - Iβve come across this upgraded versions of the humble cha leung in a couple of other top dim sim places in KL: Elegant Inn and Ming Ren Xuan.
It blew my mind how something as spartan and basic as a βchar leungβ, basically flat rice noodle wrapped around a Chinese cruller or βyau char kwaiβ could be made so infinitesimally better by replacing the doughy, stodgy cruller with chunks of sweet, fresh prawn-meat and fine, crisp-fried noodles. The textures were to-die for.
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Croquette daifuku with nagaimo and chives - a very refined rendition of "ham sui kok: glutinous rice dumpling with a crisp, chewy exterior and a moist meaty filling. The version here was excellent, with rich, complex, almost molten pork-and-chive filling that flowed out once the dumpling was pried apart.
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Daikon radish with XO conpoy - this classic Cantonese βlo bak goβ, and perhaps the most meticulously produced one Iβd ever had. Ticked all the boxes. Itβs the quality of ingredients used here that made all the difference.
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Iberian pork jowl with organic vegetables - this was the main course (if there ever was one in a dim sum menu degustation), tender, well-seasoned pork jowl with a pronounced smoky flavour. The medley of crunchy vegetables accompanying the pork was worth mentioning - good enough to be served on their own: gently-cooked gingko nuts, black wood-ear fungus, celery, carrots, fresh bamboo shoots and lily bulb petals.
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Taro croquette, with mountain yam and Iberico pork - another kick-ass rendition of a yum cha staple: βwoo kokβ - taro puffs with their trademark crisp-golden fine honeycomb shards.
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Wonton noodle soup with crystal prawn and Dover sole - no one produces good wonton noodles and soup like the Cantonese do. The one here was one of the best Iβd ever had in KL:, and Iβm pretty sure Chef Shiro has some Cantonese helper-elves hidden away in his kitchen to make this.
Desserts
9) Yuzu lemongrass jelly & organic black sesame mochi
Overall, an absolutely amazing restaurant, sequestered away in the corner of a quiet suburb of KL. In Michelin-speak, this would be a place deemed to have βExcellent cooking, worth a detourβ.
Address
Le Sense
8, Jalan SS 20/10 Damansara Kim 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +60129267137
Opening hours: 6pm-10.30pm Daily
12 noon - 2.30pm Monday only
