My Thursday evening was made very special by being able to dine at Vin’s Restaurant and Bar in Taman Tun Dr Ismail. I had yet to visit this establishment but I’ve heard great things from people, so I was quite excited.

Our dinner started with a Tomato Confit Bruschetta (RM24): cherry tomatoes confit in extra virgin olive oil (known as EVOO on their menu), garlic and basil atop house-baked whole wheat bread.

I had never had confit-anything other than duck at this point and it was a very enticing combination of flavours, with a bit of ricotta and balsamic to tie this appetiser off.

Surprisingly, this ended up being one of my favourite dishes for the night.

Next came the Brandy Prawn Bruschetta (RM34). Extremely fresh, seasoned prawns were sauteed and combined with homemade pesto and Hennessy brandy aioli and carefully placed on the baguette slices.

I quite enjoyed this dish, but my only wish was for there to be a little bit more brandy, the bitter alcohol with the rich mayo would do the trick for this dish in my opinion.

We also had a second prawn dish, the Catalanion Garlic Chilli Prawns (RM34): tiger prawns cooked in EVOO with garlic, chilli, lime and a variety of spices. It was pretty enjoyable, and my companions loved it, but I felt that because this style of prawns was so readily available in many other places, it wasn’t as memorable as the other dishes there that night.

For the last of our appetisers we had the Italian Lamb Meatballs (RM29). Vin’s has their own butchery down the street called The Food Company where they curate their own meats and cheeses.

This is where customers can also purchase these amazingly tender meatballs. Made from lamb shoulder, lightly seasoned and then simmered with tomato puree, this style of preparation made the meatballs extremely tender and juicy. It was extremely light and we reckoned that it would perfectly pair with just about any form of carb.

We then tried their Corned Beef Hash with Eggs (RM36) from their ‘Bar Bites’ menu. I’ve had corned beef a couple of times before and never really enjoyed them.

They were typically overwhelmingly salty and difficult to consume, but at Vin’s I did not have this problem.

In fact the team and I lapped up every last bit off the rather large pan. Again, prepared at their very own butchery, the corned beef was tender, soft and flavourful. Added together with the eggs and atop their bread? Finger licking good indeed.

We had four main dishes to share between us. We started with the Seafood Medley pasta (RM44) that boasted a selection of mussels, prawns and squid.

It was slightly spicy, with delicate parmesan sheets, and had a broth made of lobster and clam jus with a dash of Chadonnay. It was this combination of flavours that made the dish stand out. The linguine however, felt a little too al dente for my own preference. But still enjoyable all the same.

The Charbroiled Barbeque Chicken Fillet (RM42) was soon to follow, paired with pear walnut salad and roasted garlic mash. I’m personally not a fan of breast meat, and therefore found this dish too dry and lacking in flavour.

However my companions strongly disagreed and hence I conceded to the fact that this dish may just fall under the ‘depending on personal preference’ category. I did enjoy the mash potatoes and salad though, so that’s something.

We also had the good fortune to share their Smoked Salmon with Capers and Onions Pizza (RM42). 100% a sharing dish for it would take someone used to extremely rich foods to finish the entire thing, but it was really delicious overall.

Our last main was the Provencal Ling Cod (RM64), which was cod sourced from New Zealand served with a chipotle cream sauce that they created themselves. It was definitely a very interesting dish, leaning towards the spicy side. The coating made of breadcrumbs, parmesan and parsley changed the texture of the soft fish, creating an interesting experience all together.

My second favourite savoury dish of the night - the Baja Cod Soft Shell Taco (RM36) while not a exactly considered a ‘main’, was certainly filling enough to be one.

Diced cod with bell pepper, avocado, lettuce folded in between a soft shell tortilla and dressed with Vin’s own sour cream and garlic aioli was truly satisfying.

The fish was crispy, light, and fresh. Not to mention their house-made hot sauce, which just brought the whole taco to new heights. A definite recommendation. I would go back for more.

Last but definitely not the least, their desserts. The Caramel Hazelnut Ice Cream and Luxurious Toffee Banana Cream Pie (RM22) were the perfect end to our delicious evening. Neither were overly sweet or overpowering, and unique enough to set them apart from other desserts of similar flavours.

All in all, I really did enjoy dinner at Vin's. Check out their other outlet, Manja KL here.

Vin's TTDI 6 Lorong Datuk Sulaiman 1,

Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000

Open Mon-Fri 4PM - 2AM Sat and Sun 12PM - 2AM

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