Review: Horizon Grill at Banyan Tree KL serves up satisfaction in the sky

The Horizon Grill at Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur is serving up some seriously satisfying dishes with an equally stunning skyline to match.

The view is not the only thing that’s soaring at the Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur’s Horizon Grill. The restaurant is serving up some seriously satisfying dishes that will be a treat for your senses, from its new Degustation Menu – the brainchild of the Grill’s Chef de Cuisine Daniel Wong. Chef Daniel – who has 13 years of culinary experience under his belt – oversees all operational matters at the Horizon Grill from menu creation right down to plating. He has worked in kitchens across Asia including Beijing, Hong Kong, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur and is now helming the flagship restaurant of Banyan Tree Kuala Lumpur.

Chef Daniel Wong of Horizon Grill at Banyan Tree

The Degustation Menu is a course of six dishes that are recent additions to the Horizon Grill’s main menu. This menu can also be paired with a selection of wine from the restaurant’s wine list. Ala carte options are also available.

Located on the 58^th Floor of the Banyan Tree Hotel and Residence, the Horizon Grill greets its customers with a pleasant and inviting atmosphere. Large ceiling fans surround the restaurants, giving the air a light and cool feel. With both indoor and outdoor al fresco dining areas, guests can enjoy the best of Kuala Lumpur’s skyline, with the KL Tower and Petronas Twin Towers just a glance away.

Through the generously sized restaurant windows, light pours into the restaurant, giving the space a good amount of light and adding to its inviting ambiance.

After taking in the view, you can have a seat on the plush chairs, and get ready to be wined and dined by polite and prompt service staff.

The first course on the menu is the Hamachi Crudo, a Japanese amberjack fish salad. It is a refreshing starter with a citrusy lime and hazelnut vinaigrette, enhanced with fresh cilantro, celery leaves, wakame delivered from France, red chillies, pickled shallots and red radish. The pairing of the fish with the orange slices gave the dish a wonderful zesty flavour, which complemented the creaminess of the Hamachi. A wonderful light starter to prepare the palate.

On to the next gastronomic adventure – the Foie Gras Terrine. This dish came with house-made buttermilk brioche bread, and a bittersweet prune puree. The foie gras is delightfully fatty, which contrasted wonderfully with the light and crisp brioche bread. The textures matched wonderfully with the candied hazelnut soil, which is made from local hazelnuts. All of this was topped off with a wonderfully tarte sundried prune puree – which added sweetness to the foie gras and lifted its flavours to prevent it from becoming too rich.

Next up was the Free Range Chicken Consommé with foie gras ravioli, topped with a healthy dose of local herbs. The soup was made using a sakura chicken, a local mixed breed crossed between spring chicken and yellow chicken. The ravioli was made using an eggless dough, which made it chewy yet light, a good texture to match the herbal flavour of the soup. Japanese flour mixed with water was used to make the ravioli, which was rolled out thinly and then the foie gras was placed inside. The herbs used were ulam, coriander and local parsley to round off this dish’s homey, comforting taste.

If you like pasta, then the next course would have been right up your alley – the Lamb Ragout Pappardelle. Cooked with an array of vegetables such as carrots, leeks, and cherry tomatoes to add sweetness, the lamb ragout pappardelle has a deliciously warm and comforting flavour profile. The part of the lamb used to make the ragout is the upper thigh of the animal that is painfully and tediously hand chopped and minced, after being braised in port wine and porcini. The dish is then topped off with some shaved pecorino cheese.

Now it comes to the stage in the menu where you can choose from an option of the Pan Roasted Nordic Salmon or the Goulburn Valley Beef for your main course. The fish is fresh Norwegian salmon that’s slow cooked with kaffir lime leaf oil, tamarind emulsion, on a bed of grilled leeks and oven dried tomatoes. According to Chef Daniel, this dish popular choice with the ladies at the restaurant, due to its lightness and flavour. The salmon was cooked to flaky perfection and wonderfully seasoned. The kaffir and tamarind gave the dish an unmistakable Malaysian flavour. It is a wonderful option if you want the less heavy option between the two mains.

The other mains option was the Goulburn Valley Beef. The filet mignon is cooked sous vide to retain its juiciness and came with the perfect accompaniment of Cameroon tomato salsa, coriander, garlic and extra virgin olive oil and a choice of sauce selections. Cooked to medium perfection, it was tender enough to melt in your mouth, promising a hearty, filling option for the meat lovers out there!

Dessert lived up to the standards of the appetisers and mains. The Horizon Royal was a chocolate delight on a plate, made up of several components: sago rice pudding, a hazelnut crisp, devil sponge cake, chocolate caramel, balsamic sauce and homemade chocolate ice cream. Eaten together, it was a rich and multi-textured experience that was not an overly indulgent end to the meal. The sago rice pudding nicely balanced out the richness of the other components of the dessert.