Macalister Mansion is one of the prestigious and prominent places for fine dining. Every now and then, the chef of Macalister Mansion will come out with a new menu to suit the request and taste from all walks of life. This round, Macalister Mansion’s Head Chef Johnson Wong is bringing his creativity to the next level, which is by utilising different types of mushroom as the theme of his new 5-Course dinner.
This new 5-course dinner is named as “Much Ado About Shrooms”, priced at RM228 nett per pax, with additional RM100 for wine pairing.
Starter:
Canapé
- Touch of lemon – lemon infused crushed ice and based with lemon mousse
- Deep Fried Filo – with fish cracker and truffle sabayon
- Tart with tomato salsa
Just like any other course meal at Macalister Mansion, it will kick off with Canape as the starter. This is something to boost your appetite before the meal begins. The tartlet consisted of lemonade flavoured crushed ice, deep fried filo which had been enriched with cinnamon aroma and lastly a tartlet with tomato salsa.
Main Courses:
Black Trumpet – Asparagus, Snow Crab, Yuzu. The first mushroom to be on the list is black trumpet. The look of this dish is like a mini Eden Garden. The snow crab meat was cut into cubes and served with slices of black trumpet, cracker and some coriander on asparagus. Serving along with it was sauce made from yuzu (a type of citrus).
Before proceeding to the main course, there will be some coffee-flavored mini buns served with homemade butter.
The buns were soft and fluffy and were served hot. It was a simple enjoyment when the butter was melting on the hot buns. No doubt this is just the bread and butter of every Western restaurant, sometimes the basic food is all we need to bring us enjoyment.
Porcini – Egg, Edamame, Leek. The egg was slowly cooked in a constant temperature of 62.5 degree Celsius. Along with it was some edible “soil” which was consisted of porcini mushroom, edamame and slices of leek. For the wine pairing option, it was served with a glass of BANFI Toscana Le Rime – Italy.
The precision cooking of the egg at 62.5’c made the texture of the egg bouncy yet soft. The yolk was not runny when cut, the texture was very delicate like a soft paste. This is an incredible dish. The combination of the egg with the soil gave a nutty flavor to the dish.
Morel – Day-old bread, velouté, walnut. Morel mushroom is also known as Morchella. This mushroom is is a genus of edible sac fungi. It is not a common mushroom that you can get in any local market. Morel are highly prized by gourmet cooks, particularly in French cuisine. Serving with velouté sauce, the term velouté is from the French adjectival form of velour, meaning velvet.
The texture of Morel mushroom is similar to sponge. It was cooked with some chicken broth before served. The velouté sauce, on the other hand, is a light chicken stock cooked with morel mushrooms and thickened with a blond roux. Serving together with the day old toasted bread, it is a mini and thicker version of our familiar mushroom soup. I love the crunchiness of the walnuts which were added to the sauce. Pairing together with this dish was MONOPOLE Rioja 2011 – Spain.
The palate cleanser was made from some lemon and orange juice into a mini ice ball which was sourish and is an ideal way to cleanse your palate.
Eryngii – Cod, Red Wine Sauce, Thyme. The Pleurotus eryngii mushroom is also known as king trumpet mushroom, it was sliced and served together with cod fish and red wine sauce.
The combination of cod fish with red wine sauce is something new to me as usually red wine sauce is served with red meat. At first, I thought it might not be great, but I was wrong. To my surprise, cod fish paired really well with the red wine sauce. The slightly sourish of red wine sauce balanced off the richness of the cod fish, making it more appetizing. The pairing for this dish is ESSER Vineyards Carbonet Sauvignon – USA.
Enoki – Chargrilled rib-eye, Garlic Chips, Tomato Pesto. Enoki mushroom are commonly used in the Japanese, Korean or Chinese cuisine. The chargrilled rib-eye was covered with vibrant tomato pesto while the white sauce was cooked with enoki mushrooms. The pairing wine for this dish was EVEN & TATE Metricup Road Shiraz – Australia.
The doness of the rib eye was a perfect medium-rare. The tomato pesto was quite appetizing but the taste of the enoki mushroom sauce was slightly salty on its own. It is recommended to pair the sauce with the steak and it would be a perfect match.
Dessert:
The dessert was “Black and White Truffle”– Black and white truffles, chocolate, mint, berries. It is actually quite impossible to infuse mushroom into desserts. But Johnson managed to think of using truffles for this dessert creation. The black and white slices were made from black truffle and white truffle essence and beneath it was a 70% dark chocolate mousse.
This was indeed a brilliant combination and surprisingly the aroma of truffle in a dessert was acceptable for me. The pairing for this dessert is TRIMBACH Muscat Reserve – France.
Overall, this set meal was great as it incorporated mushrooms from all around the world into its dishes. This dishes were so unique where you get to taste different mushrooms from beginning to the end of the dinner course. This is a brave and unique creation from the chef.
Editor’s Review (5 Stars Rank):
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Quick Facts:
| Family Friendly |  |
| Parking | |
| Pork Free | |
| Alcohol | |
| Credit Card | |
| Smoking |  |
| Reservation | |
| Private Room (Private Area) | |
| WIFI Available | |
Operation hours: 7:00pm – 11:00pm (Close on Monday)
Contact: 04-228 3888
Address: 228, Jalan Macalister 10400, Penang
GPS: 5.4189103,100.3165523