KLue RSVP: Market Place Restaurant & Lounge

Amuse Bouche: Sun-dried tomatoes on watermelon (IMO)
Having missed a few KLUE RSVP events for the last few months, I was looking forward to going to this once with a bunch of friends. An evening of dining and trying out a new restaurant with free flow "drinks" in the great company of friends at a very affordable price, it clearly looks set to be an intoxicating (in more ways than one) evening for sure!

This time, the dinner was held at Market Place Restaurant & Lounge at Lorong Yap Kwan Seng in KL. I must admit that I have never heard about this place before this event and neither do I frequent this side of the city. Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there are a few more charming restaurants along the road which I will surely return later to try them out.

Back to Market Place. The restaurant is housed in an old converted bungalow. Looking rather chic, it seems to be a good place to chill out for drinks. But let's focus on the food this time. In the promotional leaflet of the event, the amuse bouche (pictured above) was listed as Goat Cheese with Strawberry Compote but what came instead was Sun-dried Tomatoes on Watermelon. The pairing although not extraordinary, was pleasant enough as a starter.


Appetiser: Homemade Mushroom Soup with Cream
This has got to be my favourite of the meal. Thick, rich, hearty mushroom soup. Simple comfort food but yet truly delectable.


Main Course: Pan-fried Cod Fish on Mash and Greens
For my main, I had the Cod Fish. Again, on the initial menu, it was listed as Pan-fried Cod Fish with Wasabi Mash and Fresh Passion Fruit but the chef must have a change of mind again for I didn't detect any fresh passion fruit nor tasted any wasabi in the mashed potatoes although I appreciate the addition of some leafy greens in the dish. Well, it is rather difficult to spoil a cod fish as long as it is fresh and not over-cooked and I happened to love this fish a lot! Other than that, this dish is rather unremarkable, particularly in terms of creativity. It would also have benefitted if served a tad warmer.


Main course: Pan-fried Salmon
All of us, except one chose the cod. This particular friend of mine broke the mold and had the salmon instead. *grin* Again, the chef must be having a fitful day. I guess the "fresh passion fruit" originally planned for the cod fish went to this dish instead, replacing the pernod sauce which was originally planned. Again, this was a rather average dish that could have benefitted if served warmer, as commented by my friend.


Dessert: Chocolate Mousse
Here comes dessert! Martini-glassed Chocolate Mousse. Appearance-wise, reminds one of "you-know-what" but tasted divine although I found the texture to be a bit strange, almost like semi-melted rich chocolate ice-cream that was served slightly warm, not very mousse-like. Would be even better if served colder. But the strangest thing is that quality differed from glass to glass. Some of my friends had theirs in a darker-colored version, lighter texture but tasted bland. Hmm..... I guess that I was lucky mine tasted just fine.

I didn't take any pictures of the drinks this time because they were the same from the last event with the exception of a special creation at the end of the night, Martell in Sour Lemon which was really good! After what seems like endless rounds of drinks (it was a rather warm night and hence we were *ahem* pretty thirsty), we called it a night but not without promising a return trip to explore the interesting-looking restaurants in that area.

Market Place Restaurant & Lounge
4A Lorong Yap Kwan Seng, Off Jalan Yap Kwan Seng,
Kuala Lumpur.