[Kuala Lumpur] Mod-Malaysian at Table & Apron

Two baristas from my regular coffee joint were the ones who pointed me in this direction: Table & Apron (formerly known as The Kitchen Table) in the relatively quiet middle-class neighbourhood of Damansara Kim. They were gushing over “the best fried chicken in KL” - Table & Apron’s house-brined free-range chicken, dredged in buckwheat flour and fried to a golden-crisp perfection, whilst the meat retained its juicy deliciousness. Shades of the fried chicken from Judy Rodger’s Zuni Café, I thought.

Turns out, when I finally did come to Table & Apron, I found that its progressive mod-Malaysian offerings did bear more than a passing resemblance to Zuni Café. Its amazingly addictive butterhead lettuce salad with bonito aioli and croutons, for instance, has a tasty crispness which reminded me of Zuni Café’s bread salad.

Owner-chef, Marcus Low, retains the Nordic-meets-Damansara look. Not sure if his business partner, Mei Wan Tan (a Marcus Wareing alumnus) from The Kitchen Table is still around. The two took KL’s dining scene by storm back in early 2014.

What we tried this evening:

  1. Paku (local fern) & green mango salad, with peanut crumbs, dried shrimp and pickled mango.

  1. Smoked mackerel pate, with ricotta cheese & lemon zest, served with sourdough bread.

  1. Pulled pork in cilantro salsa, served with apple-sourdough bread.

  1. Butterhead lettuce with bonito aioli and croutons.

  1. Crispy sweet potato with ricotta cheese & Gula Melaka.

  1. Miso-marinated charred eggplant, with green onion puree and bonito flakes.

  1. Pork ragu with tagliatelle, flavoured with tamarind & chilli.

  1. Fried chicken - house-brined & with crispy buckwheat dredge.

It’s bustling restaurant, but not unbearably noisy as in some other larger KL dining hotspots in the nearby Bukit Damansara and Bangsar neighbourhoods. Small is beautiful.

Address
Table & Apron
23, Jalan SS 20/11, Damansara Kim
47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Malaysia
Tel: +60 3-7733 4000
Opening hours: Tue-Sun 11.30am-4pm, 6pm-10pm. Closed on Mondays.

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All looks and sounds delicious. You’ve got me hankering after fried chicken. I’m on Gili Air an Island off Lombok so it might be tricky to find.

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Indonesians love fried chicken - although their type, of course - so you should be able to satisfy your craving. :joy: