I had been invited by Mr. Flo to enjoy the traditional French dish at Rendez-Vous, located at Bangsar. This invitation surprises me as I do look traditional French food for long. Despite that I am invited and writing this article, I had an agreement with Mr. Flo to print accurately. Sadly the restaurant of Rendez-vous is no longer open in Bangsar.
Rendez-Vous located at Lorong Maarof. It is easy to find as well as an available parking lot. When I come, I do miss the place as I used to stay at Bangsar for about five years. It still looks the same as when I first arrive at Bangsar.
It is an open-air concept, and you can see there is aircon (necessary, especially during lunchtime). The decoration is warm and straightforward. Especially the color of the wall. This place is perfect for business dining, celebration on special occasions, or perhaps big group lunch. Each table has an Eiffel tower, french famous icon, but does not mean you can take home such beautiful decoration.
Something beautiful before we start our feast. This egg with mayo and some tomato goes well in the proportional. If you could not drink lots of alcohol or you are driving, try their mojito. It is by far the best mojito that I drink so far. The mint leaf is fresh.
This is my drink, cocktail with syrup. I love this drink, the alcohol is smooth, and it does not taste strong in mouth. I can say it is a bit dangerous for me as I tend to drink in a significant amount in a short time, which makes me drunk quickly. I can say bravo for the bartender making this great drink.
This fish soup is served in rendez-vous with Rouille sauce and confit vegetables tartare. One highlight of this soup is no fishy smell. It takes fresh fish and adequate skills to remove the fishy smell, especially when you make soup. I love the balance of saltiness, and the lobster juice makes the taste rich and tasty. Personally, the feeling is slightly strong to me, which is why if you pair up with white wine Chardonnay 2013, it not only enriches the rouille sauce, but it will reduce the strong taste. Another highlight is the portion is significant, so sharing this soup is a wise choice if you want to taste more food.
Now, this bread is excellent. My wife and I have never had enough with this bread, I dip this bread in the fish soup, and I can experience another taste that can crave into your memory. It is even better than Italianise restaurant.
Our second dish is Thon Confit, Candied tuna with cauliflower puree. The taste is traditional french, especially buttermilk taste. The secret trick to enjoy this dish takes the tuna, and dip into the puree, after that chew slowly in the mouth. Try to taste the buttermilk taste and freshness of tuna. Accompany by Narrow Valley wine, which has characteristics of pineapple taste. This wine is the right pairing with something creamy.
For all French restaurants in Malaysia, cooking Foie Gras is a challenge not only it is hard to get the material, and the quality also hard to maintain to have the same standard, plus not many Asians able to take the strong taste. I like this dish, especially the port wine sauce. Sadly my wife could not take the strong flavor of the duck. Talk about the pairing wine, Porto Cruz is an excellent pairing since dried fruit will help to smoothen the liver taste. The last drink that I have with this wine is back then in Barcelona, where this bottle is common and widespread. Salute for the sommelier pairing this wine with this dish. If you order this dish, getting this wine is a must to have a full taste.
The highlight of this Rendez-vous dish is that the sea beam cooked in bread crust, with creamy “bouillabaisse” sauce. Fillet cooked nicely, but one thing that I found the saltiness is an imbalance. Some part is saltier than the other. Another commendable with wine pairing, with delicate lemon and lime taste from Pinot Grigio, it does complement this fish dish well.
This dish is my wife favourite and most highlight dish in Rendez-Vous according to her, the tenderness of the lamb, with well seared in every part, goes well with the herring cream. I can see the chef making effort on using local ingredient to cook this, if you look closely, you can find chinese cabbage inside this dish. Baron for wine is good, but personally for me it is not strong and dry enough for this lamb dish. Consider really dry wine is hard to get in Malaysia, plus not many like drink this type of wine.
This dish is my wife’s favorite and most highlight dish in Rendez-Vous according to her, the tenderness of the lamb, with well seared in every part, goes well with the herring cream. I can see the chef making an effort on using the local ingredient for cooking this, if you look closely, you can find Chinese cabbage inside this dish. Baron for wine is good, but personally, for me, it is not stable and dry enough for this lamb dish. Consider really dry wine is hard to get in Malaysia, plus not many like drink this type of wine.
I like Paris best, it is not too sweet to me, and hazelnut custard is superb, this one I have to fight with my wife since she also likes this dessert. The skin is crunchy, but the inside is tender and sweet — perfect dessert to end our outstanding meal. The second dessert is apple cream with lemon sorbet. All these desserts go well with Pinot Chardonnay; it smells aromatic and tastes fruity.
Overall, our meal experience with Rendez-Vous is outstanding, I am rating this restaurant as two stars simply because the taste that they offer is authentic for traditional french food, plus the portion is significant, so you can expect to share with your members. Wine pairing is outstanding, and the captain floor knows well about dishes and wine. When I have chances to have some conversation with chef Benjamin, I am sharing to him that it might be a good idea to serve sorbet in between starter and main dish. It will help in clearing the taste that had been build during openers. Big salute for him on sourcing the ingredients with a local store and also humbly taking input from amateur people like me.
Personally, if they are able to slightly weakening the strong taste of some dishes, to bring ingredient’s original flavor, plus high control on salt and butter, I believe they will be able to deliver outstanding french cuisine to Malaysian. Nearby here you can find one of good steak shop.
Below are the location of Rendez-Vous in google map:
https://goo.gl/maps/7WLZs14muaQ2
You can find more info about Rendez-Vous from website below:
http://rendez-vous.com.my/
I love your review of this restaurant!! It helps me to understand more about French cuisine. Will recommend this to my friends. Thx again!