Psssst.... I have a secret!
I do love secrets. Not so much about telling them but keeping them close to my heart.
In the past year or so, Kuala Lumpur seems to have been inundated with supper clubs that have become fashionable and the alternative to diners sick of the restaurant scene. Most of them are no longer well kept secrets since mainstream media have covered them extensively.
With Transparent Apron, its locale is still under wraps. Run by two passionate chaps, Nicklaus Au and Ryonn Leong, you may need to show them a "friend card" to waggle for a coveted invitation to their cosy get togethers housed in Ryonn's own pad.
This follows in the same vein of the London underground supperclubs where you join their Facebook page and get only told their whereabouts via email.
Still very much in the works, one session can only fit up to six persons. I was privileged to be invited as a "test bunny" for their food. Joining me in that session were fellow food bloggers and even a restauranteur.
Running on an apple theme, our three course (with a bonus item) meal was a well thought dinner that got our lips licking on what else these two talented guys have in store for us.
Their first dinner was all about playing in the kitchen with molecular techniques and sous vide cooking. For their second effort, it went back to something simpler but equally tasty. We started out with a burst of colour and flavour, in the form of an apple salad, fish tartare with a ginger lime miso reduction. While the fish tartare was in actual fact, salmon sashimi slices, the salad was refreshing and the sauce was a winner with its creamy texture punctuated with bursts of ginger. Lovely starter for a meal.
Next came a bonus item, originally thought of as a clams dish, the boys had to tweak with it to work with green lipped mussels. It was good. Again a nice light dish with the seafood being paired with garlic and chillies with a sauce that you lapped up with nice crusty bread.
Who can say no to their main meal since it is fork tender braised dark ale cinnamon pork with a mushroom apple sauce. A ramekin of creamy potato mash is set on the side. Purely comfort food, my only complaint was more of that yummy sauce so I can drizzle that on my pristine clean fluffy mash.
Dessert is an interesting apple terrine, thin layers of green apples sandwiched with buttery sauces and cinnamon that is paired with a lemon sauce and crunchy nuts. The idea of the apple terrine is fabulous and it keeps to the theme of light and fresh. However, maybe a choice of decadence can also be offered since we always want to end with a sweet note to make it simply memorable.
This kind of underground dining scene may take some time for diners to get used to. While even Transparent Apron is not A-perfect and needs some tweaks, I salute them for following their dreams and am happy to be part of this journey to further their passion.
For me, this whole set up is all about two aspiring chefs who want to set up their own thing to test the market first before they may jump full swing into the culinary world. It means less structure than a restaurant, so anything goes such as personal touches like their adorable llama mascot with his transparent apron on their menu. Who knows your waiter may break out in song...I heard they do a mean L-O-V-E jazzy number (not only can they cook but they even sing!).
Just expect to have a good time here like how your friend invites you over for a meal. Don't expect full service dining service or a chef with a string of kitchen experiences, and you are good to be an underground supper club convert.
Transparent Apron
Somewhere in Kuala Lumpur
For more information, email them at trans.apron@gmail.com
More pictures are found in my Flickr set.
Note: This was a trial run by Transparent Apron.
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