The Grand Hyatt Malaysia’s iconic restaurant, Le Petit Chef, has elevated its average dining experience into a grand theatrical show! Presented in a unique form of dinner with a visual production, this restaurant is taking us on a culinary journey exploring the Silk Road.
Le Petit Chef’s dining show includes a lavish 6-course meal, where patrons can feast on multiple international cuisines. Additionally, thanks to an avant-garde 3D mapping performance, patron’s can also watch a show projected right onto their dinner tables. This uncommon combination of dinner and a show is nothing short of spectacular, as it excitingly pleases both the eyes and the taste buds.
Replicating Marco Polo’s travels, the 90-minute dining experience explores the rich tastes found along the Silk Road gliding through Asia. Patrons will be served dishes representing each destination located along this historic route, while a visual story complimenting each course will unfold right in front of your eyes. The courses in this meal explore cuisines from France, Arabia, India, Himalayas and China.
The six course meal comes in three variations, namely Marco Polo’s Expedition (RM599), Marco Polo’s Journey (RM399) and the Kids’ Menu – Marco Polo’s Little Voyager (RM199). Each menu variation offers the same theatrical experience and cuisine selection, with differences only in the type of dish or ingredients.
The kids’ menu has dishes that are more suitable for a child’s palette, while the visual 3D show itself is a hit amongst the young ones! These variations in the dining show’s menu makes it ideal for both couples and families.
1. France – Bouillabaisse
The dinner and 3D visual story starts off in France, where patrons will first be introduced to the world’s tiniest chef. This tiny yet adventurous chef is set to explore the Silk Road, and is eager to take us along with him. To kick start the journey, patrons will be served a light bouillabaisse in France before setting off to explore the rest of the world.
Together with the bouillabaisse, we were also served poached seafood, dill sour cream and saffron foam. If you opt for the Expedition menu, you will also receive some tastefully delicate avruga caviar with the bouillabaisse as well.
2. Arabia – Cod Fish Kofta
Next, Le Petit Chef takes us to the Arabia region. This destination’s visual presentation showcased dates and deserts, while we were given a delicious cod fish kofta to savour. Kofta is typically made with meat, but Le Petit Chef clearly doesn’t do anything ordinary, and reinvented the dish to make it stand out. This little twist made it our favourite dish of the night.
The Arabia course was also accompanied by a beetroot and truffle hummus, tabbouleh, muhammara and seaweed pita. The hummus was instantly eye-catching, as the use of beetroot gave it a vibrant purple colour – in contrast to the plain white hues we usually see in hummus.
Furthermore, the artistic use of Arabian dining ware, along with the deliciously colourful food items, gave this course a stunning visual appearance.
3. India – Cafreal
The chicken cafreal recipe was introduced by the Portuguese when they occupied the western parts of India to use it as a spice-trading hub. And thus, the succulently soft chicken cafreal in this course was aptly filled with spice and flavour. This main item was also accompanied by grilled potatoes, pickled onions and crispy papadam.
For those who opted for the Expedition menu, the chicken was replaced with a juicy king prawn cafreal. Every bite of the prawn oozed with the rich flavours of India, making it quite a delectable experience.
4. Himalayas – Kaffir Lime Sorbet
Before diving into the main course from China, we were given a kaffir lime sorbet to cleanse our palettes from the strong flavours enjoyed in the previous courses. To be honest, while the tangy goodness of the lime sorbet was refreshing, it is the theatrics that came with this dish that we loved the most.
Once the sorbet was served onto our tables, diners were asked to pour water into a dry ice holder that rested under the sorbet. As soon as we followed these instructions, a cloud of smoke rose from the dry ice to beautifully envelope the sorbet that stood on its pedestal.
To say this moment felt like magic would be an understatement.
5. China – Steamed King Garoupa
Le Petit Chef arrives in China to defeat a dragon and feed us a steamed king garoupa. In China, surplus (余) shares the same pronunciation with fish (鱼), hence the significance of fish is said to be a must-have dish for auspicious occasions in this part of the Orient. Luckily, we got the chance to indulge in this must-have dish at Le Petit Chef’s dinner show.
Salt and spice were tactfully combined in this course, as the garoupa was basked in a tangy soy sauce while also accompanied with a side of preserved radish and chili. For the Expedition menu, diners were served a 8-head abalone, braised black angus short rib, radish, mushroom, siew pak choy and the THIRTY8 signature XO sauce.
6. Dessert – Pahang chocolate
For the final course in this culinary journey, Le Petit Chef serves a dessert that draws inspiration from all the ingredients picked out on his travels along the Silk Road. This tiny chef also commemorates the beautiful country we are currently in by choosing the Pahang chocolate as the primary ingredient for this course.
In the grand finale, the Pahang chocolate is enriched with essences of cardamom to replicate Arabic flavours, chili for its common use in South East Asia, and kumquat to remember the taste of China.
What better way to end such an encompassing dining experience, than with a dish that ingeniously incorporates all these flavours.
To sum up the entire dining show, all we need to say is that it was truly nothing like we have ever experienced before. To be able to watch your table come to life with dazzling colours and designs, while also being able to indulge in such innovative dishes, is exciting in every sense.
Le Petit Chef’s culinary experience not only took us on a journey exploring the world, but it was also out of this world!
For more information on Le Petit Chef’s dining show, click here.
