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Sunday, November 24, 2013

Heaven Gate ~ Noah's Wine Dine Dinner Invited Review

After having had a prior review at Heaven Gate, we were invited again to sample their wine pairing dinner which was titled Noah Wine Dine Dinner which is priced at RM138++ that comes with 1 glass of house wine or RM188++ where you will get all 4 wine pairing.
This special menu is only available with bookings of 10 pax and is not available on a walk in basis as the restaurant wants to ensure that the ingredients are all freshly prepared and it will be too rush to prepare this impromptu. Well it would seem that 10 pax might be hard to come by but at least its a good option to have.
For a person like me who doesn't drink alot, 4 glasses of wine might sound alot but the fact is, this is a wine pairing dinner where the wine is match to the food and you don't really have to gulp down the whole glass. Just take some sips, swirl it in the mouth abit and have the food. The taste of the wine, whether its sweet, mellow, fruity or nutty helps to accentuate the taste of the food and this is what matters.
So hope you will read on to find out what I think about this Noah's Dinner menu and for those who had tried it, leave a message or comment too!

Do you know your cutleries? The forks and spoons on the dining table? Well, a simple rule of thumb, just use the cutlery furthest away from the plate and move inwards. Thats it, very simple right, but always be gentle and if a piece of meat is too tough to handle, just skip it rather than embarrassing yourself, or you can always ask the staff to help you with it ya!
 So to start the dinner, soup is served and its Cream of Pumpkin soup which helps to get the appetite going. Its serve with a slice of toasted garlic bread which goes very well with the slightly sweet and creamy soup

 Next we are served the Poseidon Cocktail Canapes which I found very nice to have bite size portions that has a burst of flavors to them. Make sure to scrape some of those sauce on the side of the plate as well as those are very flavorful as well.
 To go with the Canapes, we have this rose wine from New Age. Its light and fruity and works great as an appetizer wine indeed. I really enjoyed this one as it was very easy to drink
 Next we have a white meat meal which is the Lavayolk Chicken. This is complemented with wine from Simonsig and I have to say, this lavayolk chicken was really good. I did not expect the lavayolk to work so well with all the fresh herbs blended together. The chicken was flavored with salt and pepper and it was very moist and not dry at all. A very good way to start of the meal.
 A preview of all the wine that will be serve. From left to right, after the white of the Simonsig, there is the red Serafino and then finish off with the Versus dessert wine.
 The next dish which is still going with the white wine is a fish dish. This time, its Crab Remoulade Salmon. The size of the piece of salmon is huge (almost 80-100gm) and with the crab remoulade, its almost like a single main course in itself. This was actually one of the feedbacks we mentioned that day to the owner, the portions were out of this world, but to sample so much in one sitting, its tough to enjoy it. Make it slightly smaller, and it would be perfect. Again here, the salmon was done up very well with a crispy skin and moist meat. Mix the bites with the remoulade and they are both paired up nicely. A swish of the wine complements the fish and its a good way to go through half the course.
 And the third mains is now finally here with a Premium Rosemary Garlic Shoulder Lamb Rack (what a long name). This is the red meat of the day at being paired to a Cabernet Sauvignon which is more nutty in flavor works well for a gamey meat like lamb. The use of rosemary and garlic to mellow out the meat is well executed. My only qualms was that the base also use the mashed potatoes which was already used in the chicken dish. I would have been happy with just the lamb in its own too.
 Top view of this lamb rack!
After 3 types of meat, chicken, fish and lamb, the mains are not over yet. The last one to go with the red wine is their Laksa Pesto which is their own savory take on one of Penang's most popular noodle dish. The use of a pesto sauce with coconut milk and torch ginger flower makes this one yummy pasta meal. But as a fine dining option, it felt hitting the limit on my stomachs capacity and also like its a Chinese dinner where they worry that you have not had enough and lets add a noodle dish at the end to make sure you are full kind of feeling. No doubt, the Laksa Pesto works and is delicious, but after having the very sizeable portions from the above, I have hit limit. This is the first fine dining where I feel like Im stuff. Its great for those that has always complained that the portions are tiny weeny but not here at Heaven Gate!

 And finally we have reached the dessert. The dessert is a Layer Crack served with a big scoop of homemade vanilla icecream!
 A layer crack is as its name implies, layers cracking!
 In between the pastry, they have a layer of fruits as well. Again, huge portion, but a slight comment here is that the layer crack was abit hard. This was probably so that it doesn't get soggy quickly but then again, if its was smaller in bite size package, and serve with the icecream, this could have been a winner too!
The sweet wine though was very nice and I have always had a liking for port!
 The 4 wines which we had for the evening

 Overall, its a good experience dining at Heaven Gate and its good to know that they are up to it to host a wine pairing dinner. This is one fine dining experience where I walk out the restaurant feeling full and this is not a bad thing, just that this is a heads up so that so you save some stomach real estate for the next item on the menu! Do check them out and again as a reminder, The Noah Wine Dine Dinner is on reservations of 10 pax or more only.

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