Michelin-star Chef Xabier in stellar form at Sabayon

Despite a major hiccup with his flight to KL, expected jet lag and all, Michelin star Chef Xabier Goikoettxea delivered a stellar lunch at Sabayon, EQ Hotel Kuala Lumpur last week. Chef Xabier helms the one Michelin-star Oria Restaurant within the prestigious Monument Hotel in Barcelona.

Comte cheese crunch, smoked eel

The amuse bouche defined the chef’s exquisite touches, from the lacy, crunchy comte cheese leaf holding smoked eel, to the salt cured prawn with sea tempura and the tomato illusion macaron holding trout tartare. The food whispers to you, dances on your palate and you go “wow”.

Salt cured prawn, sea tempura

Tomato illusion macaron, trout tartare

And who could refuse dipping sourdough and focaccia into the superb extra virgin olive oil from Spain? I didn’t leave a drop behind.

Sourdough, extra virgin olive oil

Cured scallop with smoked hollandaise, orange, chervil offered a flavoursome velvety scallop. Sliver by sliver it went down, deliciously touched by the smoked hollandaise. I just wished there was a teaspoon to clean the plate of it.

Cured scallop, smoked hollandaise, orange, chervil

“Donostiarra” soup, prawns, cured egg yolk hints at Chef Xabier’s Basque roots. The soup which is like a bisque, slides into the whisked cured egg yolk and potato foam as it is poured. The flavours are amazing, the textures too. Prepping for this took 16 hours, I’m told. (Donostiarra is the nickname of San Sebastian, where some of the world’s most famous restaurants are).

Donostiarra soup, prawns, cured egg yolk

Turbot, Pil Pil, Caviar

Turbot “Pil Pil” Caviar presents sliced turbot skilfully assembled, topped with the pil pil white sauce, crispy fried quinoa and caviar. There’s tomato and capers gel at the side, which balances the rich turbot with a little acidity.

Roasted sirloin, au jus, date chutney

Roasted sirloin, aux jus, date chutney was my main course. The medium rare steak was just how I liked it. The medjool date chutney, the celeriac ring and puree were worthy accompaniments.

Creamy raw almond, basil water, lemon peel frozen pearls

Creamy raw almond, basil water and lemon peel frozen pearls came together with aplomb in the dessert. It was incredibly refreshing. The chef revealed there were bits of green beans in it too, lemon foam and lime gel.

Textured Chocolate, Tonka bean

Textured chocolate, tonka beans presented chocolate in various flavours, forms and textures – bitter, sweet, mocha, thick, smooth, crunchy.

Chef Xabier has worked for 15 years under superstar chef Martin Berasategui, whose seven restaurants in Spain have scored a total of 12 Michelin stars with different chefs who have individually found fame with their own culinary creations.