Skillet at 163 – KL Restaurant with Autumn Degustation overflowing with ingenuity

You know it has come to the time of the year to travel, shop and feast when you step into a restaurant where trees are dressed in ornaments while Christmas garlands and sparkly fairy lights lead the way.

Skillet @ 163 is here to welcome anyone in a warm embrace, and so are the cordial service crews looking ready to perform stunning magic performances.

Just that these magics are more than appealing to the visuals; they end off your meal on a sweet cheery note.

For dinner, you simply choose the degustation RM300++ or the three-course RM128++. The menu is currently featuring Autumn’s favourites where you get to taste freshly shaved truffles and seasonal root vegetables.

Skillet @ 163’s menu is largely innovative. The chef dares to venture and you would be surprised to find that combination between two unexpectedly flavours might just strike a chord in you (or not). While it seems like a classic European fare, there are dishes infused with a touch of Asian flavours and local ingredients. Here, you can taste Indian curry and spices from the Foie Gras or have your Short Ribs rubbed in coffee. Before it even primed my appetite, it has opened my mind to many possibilities.

It has been a while since I fine-dined and specifically a degustation. But I felt not foreign stepping into Skillet @ 163 that resembles a homely two-storey bungalow with high ceiling while teak wood furniture graced the spacious dining area at comfortable distances.

Service was prompt. I was offered two menus (food and beverage) and asked if I wanted still or sparkling.

I had wine.

The Snack came in a box, half opened with fried squid-ink sago topped with salted egg mousse and a skillet truffle shaped in a lollipop. I enjoyed both instantly and the later appealed to the senses more with its aromatic and strong truffle taste.

Fans of Bread would love the sourdough and onion bread slathered with some velvety smooth butter.

With that, it opened doors for the starters, beginning with a luxurious Egg Custard accompanied by a dollop of caviar and shredded crab. It was a rather well-balanced sweet and savoriness for the sophisticated palate.

The second course was the Onion, fried and pumped with oozy Roquefort (blue cheese), autumn truffles and pine nuts, while delicately mounted on a bed of charcoal soil with coriander as garnish.

The onions were admirably sweet and crispy, plus I got a kaleidoscopic note of earthiness from each bite altogether. The blue cheese got alarmingly overwhelming after a while though, since I am not exactly a blue cheese lover. That said, it was an eye-opening experience to have onions with blue cheese.

Singaporeans would find this snugly familiar – Sambal Tiger Prawns wrapped in crispy pastry which is reminiscent of the must-order dim sum back in home country. Laid against it was a chopped-off cubic stem of the Eryngii mushroom peeking ever so slightly underneath the tom yum foam.

All the flavours on the plate were distinctively well executed. Kudos to the Eryngii which was exceptionally tender and delicious that I mourned the last bit.

The last starter was the Cullen Skink featuring a sushi-lookalike.

The roll-up fleshy white barramundi was then given a thick and creamy leek bath by the tableside. It was a tie between the fish and the soup, with the former being so euphorically moist on the tongue while the later rewarding me with a belly-warming heartiness. This was nice, but I would like it more flavoursome.

After the satisfying prelude was the heartier mains, with a choice of either Beef Short Ribs or Lamb.

I took up the recommendation for lamb and was glad I did. Cooked medium rare, the lamb was nothing theatric at first glance but taste-wise the meat was just the right texture, nothing gamey nor chewy, and punctuated with the saccharine of the longan sauce. Many chefs can place lamb racks on the plate, but few can be eaten with such zealousness.

The other two racks were slightly more medium-looking but I had no complaints. There was also a small portion of lamb and rosemary Crépinette (sausage).

At the base was the celeriac mash and Brussel sprouts which I actually finished for the first time. I usually dislike Brussel sprouts.

I was almost full by then but Desserts always warrant a separate compartment in the body.

I would have loved a refreshing lime sorbet for some palate-cleansing moment but that would have wasted my time typing this.

Instead, I got served a bowl of caramelised Apples and ice cream…

…followed by their signature Texture of Chocolates specially designed for Autumn. (This dessert is meant for two diners to order; another option would be the Salted Macadamia.)

Surrounded with autumn leaves, the majestic centrepiece basked in -196°C liquid nitrogen. Things got wildly exciting and before I knew it, the chocolate shell has split apart, revealing a mess of pumpkin chocolate that momentarily curled into flowery popcorns.

The colour was similar to the salted egg yolk right down to the slight powdery texture. There was a notable restraint on sugar and the cocoa nibs at the bottom acted like bitter antidotes to the overall taste. I finished almost guilt-free.

If you are going for the three-course meal, you can still get a fanciful dessert that is the Liquid Nitrogen Sorbet and it is served tableside too.

Finally, I ended the two-hour-plus degustation with Mignardises. The coconut panna cotta with passionfruit was wobbly and smooth.

Skillet @ 163 also has a 2-course RM 55++ and 3-course lunch menu RM 70++that allows you to have a taste of the dinner menu too.

It was a splendid night at Skillet @ 163 and I was extremely happy to have made it here during my last night in KL. The degustation is surely worth the buck as you get to savour most of the autumn specials as compared to the three-course set. Oh and the night didn’t just end here because, for every guest who dines at Skillet @ 163 for dinner, he/she gets a digestif at the sister bar, Beta KL. And that bar is such a beauty!

 

Skillet @ 163

163 Fraser Place, No. 10 Jalan, Perak, 50450 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +603-2181 2426

 

Daily: 12.00PM – 3PM, 6PM – 11PM

Website: https://www.skilletat163.com/

 

Check out Beta KL too!

Beta KL – Malaysia’s Chic Bar for one-of-a-kind Craft Cocktails

 

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