Albion, Changkat Bukit Bintang

I first read about Albion when I was googling for some travel facts on another country. I was scouting for info in Tripadvisor and I could not help but to notice a particular one liner in the website- Best restaurants in KL. Curious on what tourists would rate as the best restaurant in KL, I clicked on the link and out pop Albion - ranking no 1.

Obviously curiosity got the best of me, I was there by end of the week..

Albion's a cozy, relaxed placed to catch up with family and friends- the ambiance certainly got us in the mood. The staff were friendly and not overbearing, which I was very glad of.

Some warm rolls served in cute baskets to start off our meal..

Fluffy bread goes well with butter or tomato anchovies salsa..

The Blue Cheese Pear salad was next..

The refreshing crunch and sweetness of the pear paired pleasantly with the pungent blue cheese, caramelised walnuts and fresh vegetables.

We went cheese crazed and proceeded to order the Twice Baked Cheese Souffle..

Smallish portion but the souffle was light, though it did not lack in strong goat cheese flavour. The slightly salty souffle were balanced with a spicy sweet tomato jam artfully spread across the plate.

The braised baby octopus was somehow disappointing..

The sauce tasted similar to the tomato anchovies spread we had with our rolls earlier. And it's salty.

I didnt have a hard time choosing what I wanted. While I was waitng for my friends to arrive, I noticed many plates of roasted pork were brought out to the diners. Must be a popular mains, no?

Here's my Slow Roast Belly Pork..

Pleasing to the eyes, the pork was meltingly good. The layer of fat and meat-rolled into a tight medallion, was cooked, i suspect, for many hours and it melted so quickly in my mouth. The skin on the other hand, was crackling good. The accompanying apple sauce and potato bake did great in toning down the richness of the pork. Really wonderful dish.

Jun had the Pan fried seabass..

A simple, honest way to celebrate the freshness of the fish. Lightly salted, the seabass was panfried until it's skin was crisp while the meat remains moist. Scrumptious stuff, though she did mention that the sides (broad beans and cured pork cheek) were rather forgettable.

Kenneth decided to be plain and safe, so he ordered Ballotine of Chicken..

It's actually stuffed chicken thigh with pork and bacon stuffing. He said it was nice and tender, though he was not wax lyrical about it.

MC had the Lamb Hotpot, since she's a big fan of lamb..

The lamb was fork tender, and not too gamey. The sauce was light, which I liked though some friends did comment it was slightly bland.

Amy had the Confit of Duck..

The duck thigh was rather tiny I thought :p. It was panfried to a nice crisp exterior, but some parts of the meat was slightly dry. The braised reb cabbage was excellent though, sweetish and tart- went well with the duck.
Mr Chardonnay, decided to be adventurous and had the Char-grilled South African Ostrich

He declared this was the worst ostrich dish he had ever tasted. The meat was tough, hard to chew and served with bland polenta, well, it didnt earn more brownie points with this pairing. Mr Chardonnay declared he would never come here again, the food was not worth the effort. Hmmmm.

We skipped desserts (though it looked tempting) as we had a nice cake for some celebrations. darn :p

Overall, most of our dishes (I liked mine!) was pretty decent. But when there's misses (like Mr Chardonnay's), it can be a big miss..hehehe.

Does it really live up to the best restaurant in KL? For now, I wont agree. Enjoyable but needs more polishing for some of its dishes..

Albion is located at 31, Jalan Berangan, Changkat Bukit Bintang, 50200 Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 603-2141 9282. You can check out the menu at Albion HERE