Sage - FINALLY!

Picture top, left to right: amuse buche; mushroom consomme with a heady aroma; foie gras with avocado and fine bean tempura - sick! So sickeningly good! Liquid butter of foie gras exploding in the mouth.

When Sage first opened I couldn't wait to blog about it. I guess it must have been a case of over expectations. I absolutely adore its sister restaurant Cilantro's and Hunky and I were both suffered mild gastricitis upon hearing they would be closed for renovations. Its been more than a year now and Cilantro's is rumoured to reopen end of the year. And still, I have not blogged about this place. Up until now it just hasn't wow'd me. There were a couple of good dishes but to sum the first 5 experiences - underwhelming. Well, you know what they say - sixth time lucky! Or was that third time lucky? Oh well, nevertheless, LL and Boolicious celebrated my birthday at Sage with me. It has been well over 9 months since I last visited. Infact it was FBB's surprise birthday when I last visited. This one meal, was the best I ever had at Sage. Maybe it was a weekday and the service staff are not so swamped with orders. Or maybe the dust has finally settled and Chef' Takashi Kimura's true colours shine. I'm pleased to see that they are still doing their 3-course and Chef's Menu menus. I must remember to come here for lunch.

All of us ordered foie gras with avocado and fine bean tempura. Great minds think alike after all. We were curious about the avocado and foie gras pairing. Fat upon fat? Surely not but surely it would be divine! And it was. It was a weird sensation as both fats are merely separated by a thin crispy layer or batter. Thank goodness there was only a small piece of avocado. I might've had a heart attack at the table. The foie gras was perfectly cooked. A little wobbly in the middle. Its like liquid butter on the tongue. Mmmm...

In between courses we were presented with a complimentary cup of mushroom consomme. This was because our main course was taking a little longer than expected. Honestly, we hadn't noticed so it couldn't have been that long a wait. Well, if you're going to give me a freebie I'm certainly not going to refuse. I am so happy that they did because I would not have realised how deliciously aromatic this soup is. The smell! It was woody, perfumey and earthy all at the same time. We felt so nourished and virtuous drinking it and convinced ourselves that the bad foie gras had been cancelled out by all this mushroomy goodness.

The clear winner of the evening- Boolicious' wild rice risotto with scallops and prawn.

I loved my main course! Tender herb crusted lamb rack with a hint of wasabi. I could've eaten the whole lamb! Having said that, the clear winner of the evening was Boo's mind blowing risotto. Yes, I never thought I would ever describe risotto that way. This was just an oxymoron of flavours. It was light and delicate yet rich and creamy. The seafood broth used to cook this must've been from Neptune himself as it was so incredible aromatic. I think I should have left it at that because my Jivara chocolate dessert just tipped me over the edge. It was so dense and rich. Oh man, I just wanted to lie down there and then and go to sleep! LL and Boo chose their desserts better. LL's almond tau fu fah was lovely and refreshing. Okay it was actually a blancmange but it really is a lot like tau fu fah! Boo's light pastry with fresh cherries was lovely to end the meal with. I was also presented with a small cake compliments of Sage. How thoughtful! Thank you Sage for converting me into a believer! I will be back soon!

Thank you Boolicious and Lyrical Lemongrass for a wonderful dinner and restoring

my faith in Sage!

Sage at The Gardens, Midvalley. 6th Floor, The Gardens, Mid Valley City, Lingkaran Syed Putra, 59200 Kuala Lumpur. For reservations 03 2268 1188