Chim by Chef Noom introduces its Summer menu featuring five delectable courses. As always, the focus is on authentic Thai flavours on an elevated scale.
Chef Thaninthorn “Noom” Chantrawan is a 7 consecutive-year Michelin-starred chef who has also won in Iron Chef Thailand.
He spent 14 years working in some of London’s hottest restaurants such as Zuma, Roka, Patterson’s, Momo, and Sketch before returning to Thailand and winning the hearts of locals when he appeared in the cooking show.
Around 2016, he dove deep into the history of Royal Thai cuisine and reintroduced the classic dishes using original recipes with modern techniques back to the masses.
Here are the Summer menu offerings:
- Amuse Bouche
- Grilled Scallop
- The Lost Recipe
- Slipper Lobster with Thai Flavoured Risotto
- Chef’s Selection Dessert
The Taste Test
After we were seated, we were given a hot towel infused with ylang ylang and served the Welcome Drink, which is kombucha flavoured with passion fruit and pineapple and topped with pieces of nata de coco.
The first dish served was the amuse bouche comprising of three snacks. The first is a rice cracker with fried shrimp, a red capsicum biscuit topped with smoked haddock fish, and potato pave with tuna tartare.
The rice cracker with fried shrimp has a nice salty flavour and crunch which reminds me of a prawn cracker. Meanwhile, the capsicum biscuit topped with smoked haddock fish has a sweet, savoury and refreshing taste. The potato pave with the tuna tartare gave a delicious burst of rich tuna flavour.
The second dish is the grilled Hokkaido scallop sitting on a bed of avocado salsa mixed with Thai Garlic Aioli and topped with ikura and coconut foam. At the first bite of the scallop, there’s a lemongrass flavour and a smooth and creamy feel from the coconut foam and avocado. The brine from ikura rounds up the flavours and the scallop is mouth-meltingly soft.
The third dish is a soupy tomyam dish called The Lost Recipe. Chef Noom shared that this particular tomyam recipe used to be served to King Rama II. What sets it apart from the tom yam we’re all familiar with is it features all natural flavours. This means there’s no addition of sugars and the like. All the natural flavours come from the ingredients used.
The Lost Recipe is made by cooking wild-caught river fish in starfruit juice, fresh mango and pickled garlic juice, dry chillies, citrus fruits such as som sah, fresh lime and Thai calamansi. The other ingredients include burnt shallots and garlic chips, burnt tomatoes, deep fried chillies and fresh Thai herbs.
At first look, the Lost Recipe looked like an incredibly spicy dish (red red hot hot!). However, upon tasting, the hearty soup tasted savoury. There’s spice for sure but it doesn’t overwhelm the other flavours. The fish meat was cooked tender and the burnt tomatoes provided another layer of sweetness. The way the flavours come together is truly unlike the tomyam soups out there.
After slurping the delicious soup, we were served the slipper lobster risotto. The Thai flavour risotto is topped with prawn bisque, adding a creamier texture to the rice. Meanwhile, the soft lobster had a rendang-like flavour.
Finally, the meal is concluded with a dessert inspired by Thailand’s famous mango sticky rice. The first is a coconut sorbet topped with mango puree served with coconut flakes, followed by mango and sticky rice balls topped with coconut foam, which can be eaten with the mango mousse.
The Verdict
When it comes to fine dining, many people take a look at the small dishes and think it won’t fill them up. Although the Summer menu only has five courses, it’s enough to fill one until dinner time.
All of the dishes tasted great and it’s tough to pick favourites. However, for the Amuse Bouche, I found the red capsicum biscuit and potato pave combination more flavourful of the three snacks.
Guests should definitely give The Lost Recipe a try if they dine here. As for the dessert, it was lovely to see mango sticky rice interpreted differently.
Chim by Chef Noom
Address:
L2-03, TSLAW Tower, 39, Jalan Kamuning, 55100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 55100
Operation Hours:
Closed on Mondays
Friday to Thursday: 5.30pm to 11pm
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