As Head Chef at Raw Kitchen Hall, Chef Leong Chee Mun brings with him over a decade of experience from some of the top tables in the region. Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, Chef Leong made his name as a Junior Sous Chef at the award-winning Spago in Marina Bay Sands and as Sous Chef at Firangi Superstar in Singapore. He now helms the newly opened Raw Kitchen Hall in Else Hotel, bringing Mediterranean flavours fused with familiar Asian ingredients to discerning diners in the heart of KL’s Chinatown. Here, he tells us of his early memories of food and reveals his love for Indian cuisine.
My earliest memory of food was when I was four-years-old and the first dish I learned to cook was a fried egg.
My favourite childhood meal is baked beans with fried eggs and my ultimate comfort food to this day is definitely baked beans with a fried egg and minced pork.
My current go-to restaurant is Thong Kee Sri Petaling and Khan’s for Indian food.
Since I returned to KL from Singapore, I don’t often go out for drinks, but if I had to choose a place, it would be the Inn Bar at Sri Petaling (because they have a good live band) or 2008 Snow Beer at Yulek in Cheras.
My favourite place to shop for ingredients is definitely at Village Grocer.
A current favourite ingredient to cook with is a good cut of sirloin steak.
My obsession at the moment is definitely a nicely grilled sirloin steak or a good bowl of curry laksa.
When I’m not in the mood to cook at home, I would just make kaya toast with a soft-boiled egg.
Chili’s Restaurant has always been my guilty pleasure food.
My dream dinner guests are definitely people around me that influence me. They are Chef Greg, Chef Thiru, Chef Dwayne and Chef Gerald.
For me personally, the best cuisine is Indian food, because I personally love Indian cuisine a lot.
Catch Chef Leong at work on November 27th along with Chef Jun Wong (of the soon-to-open Yellow Fin Horse, Else Hotel) and Chilean chef Cristian Encina at Kita Food Festival for a Latin American – Asian inspired feast.
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