Sabayon in EQ Kuala Lumpur Serves Sights and Delights

Perched on the 51st floor of EQ Kuala Lumpur is a sumptuous space with floor-to-ceiling windows letting in the city’s sights, along with delicate sounds of clinking tableware, the low hum of conversations punctuated by the occasional laughter, and the slight whiff of mouthwatering food wafting by on plates expertly manoeuvred by spiffy uniformed waiters. The restaurant in question is Sabayon, EQ Kuala Lumpur’s pièce de résistance fine dining restaurant located on its topmost floor.

Alongside a lush ambience, Sabayon also offers an extensive degustation menu that we got to try for ourselves. Prior to our visit, Sabayon had the pleasure of hosting Chef Alex Dilling, chef-owner of his eponymous two Michelin-starred restaurant in London for a 10-day residency. His influences can still be seen in this new degustation menu, highlighting the restaurant’s desire for greatness.

As we settled into our seats, awaiting the seven-course Le Degustation menu, we were served a sparkly drink—in my case, a flute of Bottega Gold Prosecco. Our hosts present to us Gallagher oysters, sitting pretty on ice. These are farm-raised Irish oysters, known for their large size and plump, juicy quality—and they did live up to their expectations, especially paired with a squirt of lemon juice and a dash of tabasco sauce. These Gallagher oysters are available as an add-on to the degustation menu at RM98 for three pieces and RM188 for six.

And finally, we began the course.

A trio of amuse bouche arrives, dainty on a plate. I begin with the spring seafood tart, with smoky salmon cubes breaking together with the crisp tart. Then, it was the potato pavé, thin layers of potato expertly confit, producing a crisp outer layer and moist inner layer—it was a good amount of richness in one bite. We end the amuse bouche on a tasty note with spiced cauliflower sandwiched under crispy bread, with a small dollop of yogurt. It was my favourite out of the three.

The degustation menu continued with Salmon Rillettes, served in a dainty little tin filled with a combination of freshly cured salmon, smoked Norwegian salmon, and pickled cucumber. One might feel that doubling down on the salmon is quite much, but together, the pungency from the smoked salmon alongside the sharpness of the cured salmon worked, cut through with the pickled cucumber. It was served with little pancakes that were extremely cute given the setting.

You’d think the pairing of avocado and foie gras to be too rich in the Goose Liver & Avocado dish, but the avocado surprisingly cuts through the fattiness of the foie gras. The following dish was a Dilling signature, and definitely one worth whipping out the phone cameras for (if you haven’t already been doing that throughout the meal). On the menu it says “Macaroni with Mushrooms and Truffle”, so you wouldn’t be wrong to assume an elevated mac and cheese. It is that—but so much better. The macaroni is artfully arranged upright and in a circle, surrounding a concoction of mushroom and black truffle jus, topped with 32-month-aged parmesan cheese and shaved truffles. To say it was decadent would be a near understatement—the combination of truffle and cheese was rich in all welcoming aspects. The portion was perfect—not too much to overwhelm your palate for the rest of the course and not too little that you only had a mouthful of the dish.

Other main course options include (from left to right) Cornfed Chicken, Lamb, and Tiger Grouper.

Next, a palate cleanser to reset our tastebuds: a zero-ABV gin fizz before proceeding to our mains. I was recommended the Wagyu Steak MB8—perfectly medium-rare cuts with truffle shavings atop truffle potato puree and a small garden of vegetables that make me feel a little better about this lavish meal.

For desserts, guests have an option to choose between dark chocolate cremeux or a fruit tart. I opted for the latter in an effort to end the night on a lighter note following courses filled with goose liver, melted cheese, and rich MB8 wagyu—and it was the right choice. The tart is a work of art—dollops of mulberry-flavoured cream adorn the corn tart alongside a quenelle of mango carrot sorbet. The fruit tart is altogether refreshing and subtly sweet—the perfect end to this degustation menu.