MARCO Creative Cuisine, Bandar Utama
MARCO Creative Cuisine is a modern gastronomy restaurant that just opened up in One Utama. It is helmed by up-and-coming chef-owner Daren Leong.
Located on the ground floor of One Utama's Old Wing, the 62-seater restaurant offers Chef Daren's creative culinary creations in a hand-crafted, multi-coursed menu that only uses the best and freshest artisan produce.
Check out that super cool and mesmorising tank of jellyfishes!
If you're thinking of dining here, be sure to come with a really empty stomach and a raring appetite to go because you will be treated to a full seven course meal here. Fine dining in One Utama? Why not?
First, we were served a palate cleanser. When the Velvety Matcha-Lime Shooter arrived, my first thoughts were "Yeay! Matcha latte!" until I took the first sip... Unlike anything I've ever tasted, the matcha foam blankets a "chilled Lime Snow" at the bottom (which tasted like lime sorbet). I liked the combination of flavours for this dish and it was perfect for whetting my appetite for more to come.
We had a Savoury Eclair as the appetiser - gruyere cheese flavoured pâte à choux (or choux pastry) topped with aubergine caviar, green chilli pesto and tomato confit. I'm personally not a fan of aubergine, but I did enjoy this dish very much!
When dining here, your first two courses are chosen for you but for the rest of the five courses, you can take your pick among several yummy choices.
For the soup, we decided to try the Strawberry Gazpacho, which happens to be their recommended and signature soup. It's a cold soup consisting of strawberries and capsicum, garnished with dehydrated strawberries and microgreens. The soup didn't have a strong strawberry flavour to it, which isn't too surprising since the capsicum had a stronger flavour that slightly overpowered the soup's overall flavour. However, it made the soup quite refreshing, and an interesting change to have in our hot Malaysian weather.
We also tried the Soufflé Mushroom Soup, which looks beautiful. A souffle covers the bowl of mushroom soup with truffle oil, making it aesthetically pleasing but also one that is technically challenging to pull off. I quite liked this dish because I'm quite a big fan of truffle, but it could get a little jelak (too heavy) - must be the combination of the souffle and the truffle. But if you're a fan of decadent flavours, you will relish in the flavours that this dish has to offer.
For the entrée, we had the Chicken Liver Parfait. This, too, was recommended and we had no regrets! This dish would be the perfect introduction to those who have never tried liver before. The creamy chicken liver was covered with a brûlée top and you spread it on top of toasted bread slices and eat them together with apple chips. It was fantastic. Definitely a must try!
We also decided to try the Savoury Ice Cream Salad, because it's never too early during a meal to have some ice cream! And I was very curious to how savoury ice cream would taste like. It turned out tasting just like salted vanilla (which is reminiscent of salted caramel, but less sweet) and surprisingly works well as a salad dressing with the greens.
We had the recommended Duck Breast with Orange Purée and Roasted Beetroot for the main course. We were presented with a beautifully plated sous vide pan seared Peaking duck breast with orange purée, served with roasted beetroot and Valrhona dark chocolate. The duck meat was so tender and juicy. And who knew duck and chocolate would make quite the handsome couple?
We also tried another recommendation, which was the Chicken Roulade with Brussel Sprouts. A roulade of super juicy chicken thigh with flavourful chicken jus and crunchy brussel sprouts on the side. Roulade can be a tricky dish - cooked for too long and it'll be dry and toppings may fall off (oh yes, we have been unfortunate enough to experience this) and sometimes it may even come out undercooked. But this chicken roulade was cooked perfectly and we enjoyed every element of this dish.
And now, finally, desserts! We had the Deconstructed Lemon Meringue Pie. Although I'm generally not a big fan of lemon meringue pies, this came highly recommended. And this did not disappoint. I like that the meringue wasn't too sweet and the creamy lemon curd with passion fruit gel on the side was not as sour as i thought it would be. The white chocolate sherbet went very well with everything and did not overpower the lemon curd.
I personally like vanilla flavoured desserts and this was perfect for me. The Crème Brûlée with White Chocolate Sherbet was heavenly. The crème brûlée tasted like a beautiful marriage between eggs and vanilla. The white chocolate sherbet was made with vanilla beans and enhanced the vanilla flavoured when eaten together with the crème brûlée. Absolutely fabulous!
Finally, the last course of the meal was a lovely ending to our lunch. We were treated to a Hot Single Origin, French Press Coffee, which settled our tummies after our scrumptious lunch.
But if you're not a caffeine person, the Sparkling Iced Berry is a great alternative. The drink carries a slightly sour taste, but it is very refreshing and I loved it. It was the perfect cool drink to have mid-afternoon in our country's warm weather.
Now, you would think that with fine dining and multiple courses, it would leave a sizeable hole in your pockets. But you'll be glad to know MARCO wants to make its food accessible to everyone and comes at a reasonable price of RM78 (including 6% GST & excludes 10% service charge). So, I guess now you know where to bring your date to without breaking the bank!
MARCO Creative Cuisine
Lot G146, Ground Floor, 1 Utama Shopping Complex,
1, Lebuh Bandar Utama,
47800 Petaling Jaya,
Selangor, Malaysia
Tel: +60 3-7731 8923
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