Raising a glass to relaxed dining in the city

By Eu Hooi Khaw

So good -- the Tasmanian Beef Tenderloin with Black Pepper Sauce

FEB 6 — The Oyster Shooter, the Poached Prawns with Herb Clarified Butter and the Tasmanian Beef Tenderloin all made a great lunch at Kanpei recently, matched with an excellent New Zealand sauvignon blanc.
But then I would also “kan pei” (bottoms up) to the Hainanese Chicken Curry and the Sichuan Hot and Sour Soup. They are all in the Asia-Euro menu of the Kanpei Restaurant and Bar at the newly reopened Micasa All Suites Hotel in Kuala Lumpur.

It used to be the old Tapas Bistro. Kanpei is not gourmet or high-end like Cilantro, just a moderately-priced casual dining restaurant that has its place in a hotel like this. I like the open spaces of this restaurant that overlooks the garden. There’s an open deck outside where you can sit, eat and drink.

The Poached Prawns with asparagus spears and cherry tomatoes tasted fresh and perky dipped in clarified butter scented with fresh thyme.

The Oyster Shooter, so refreshing with notes of lemongrass

I loved the sensation of tipping the well-chilled glass of lemongrass-infused tomato juice with oysters in it into my mouth.

The grilled Tasmanian Beef Tenderloin in a black pepper sauce was a very good steak, smooth and so tender, served with a really hot pepper sauce. Mashed potato and grilled zucchini and eggplant made this a completely satisfying meal. I wouldn’t mind having just this in another meal at Kanpei.

The restaurant serves a surprisingly good Hainanese chicken curry, hot and fragrant with spices, which you could eat with bread or rice. I suggested to Mike Saxon, general manager of E&O Hotel in Penang (Micasa is part of the E&O group) to bring back the curry tiffin lunch that was so popular at the old Majestic Hotel in Kuala Lumpur. “Consider it done!” he said. So my next trip there is definitely to eat this: with pickles, chutney, chopped salted egg, fried ikan bilis, fried peanuts, and finishing with a sago pudding.

The Hot and Sour Soup was really hot stuff: there’s shredded chicken, bamboo shoot, black fungus and creamy tofu in it and enough chilli oil to sear it in your memory.
Having had a superb Chiu Yim or Salt and Pepper Fried Silver Fish at the Elegant Inn (Menara Hap Seng) before this, the Kanpei version did not hold up. Still it’s a snack that’s great with beer.

From the Claypot Loh Shu Fun which tasted a little bland and starchy, our confused palate went back to Vegetarian Aglio Olio Pasta, that had just enough chilli and garlic in it, and stood out with the red and yellow cherry tomatoes and asparagus. I would have preferred spaghetti instead of fettucine done in this style.

If you fancy Penang char kway teow and Fried Hokkien Noodles, you can get them here too.

There was Crème Caramel after all that we had. I could imagine this delighting a child, who could have had the Fish and Chips which is on the menu too.

Kanpei serves a set lunch at RM35++, and there’s going to be BBQ night on Saturdays. There’s a big TV screen at the bar for football and sports fans at night, while in the day CNN and business news are on. It’s certainly a good place for a celebration.

The restaurant, located in the hotel’s main lobby, is open from 7am to 11pm daily, and the bar from 11am to 1am. Tel: 03-2166 3603.