Pretty, Pretty Lights....

The Dinner

This time we ventured to a new restaurant called Gobo Chit Chat at the Traders Hotel near the KLCC Convention Center. I love the ambience there: Its high ceiling gives it an airy feel and it's modern finishings are trendy and sleek yet lush:
A peek at Gobo Chit Chat
The one thing that stands out particularly would be the Gobo light show on the ceiling - absolutely entrancing!
(... or maybe I'm just easily amused by pretty lights...)

The menu here is a strange conumdrum which can be summed up as: Varied but limited. Basically, they have a varied range of different cuisine - Japanese, Italian and Asian - but somehow, the selection of each range felt rather limited.

Anyway, we were given a free welcome bite and some warm bread with dip:
Left to right: The teeny welcome bite and the Bread and Dip
Nothing much to say - it was free and it tasted ok (something like a mini shish kebab). The bread and dip was interesting though - nothing spectacular about the bread but the spicy red pepper dip (which I initially thought was some sort of sambal) is something different from the usual butter served at restaurants....

We then started off with the Caeser Salad:
The Ceaser Salad
More bacon would have been good but otherwise, the salad was really nice - crispy croutons and fresh leaves (very important) coated with just enough creamy dressing.

Then, we choose the Seared Yellow Fin Tuna Steak and Porcini Mushroom Risotto for our mains:

Clockwise from top: The Porcini Mushroom Risotto, Close Up of Seared Yellow Fin Tuna Steak and the Seared Yellow Fin Tuna Steak
I really liked the Risotto. It was bursting with flavour and had a healthy amount of yummy Porcini mushrooms in it - definately one of the better risottos in KL and something I wouldn't mind having again.

The Yellow Fin Tuna Steak, served on artichokes, was ok.
I chose for it to be served medium cooked, so it was still a little pink inside.
I found it a little dry but I suppose that is the nature of tuna - flakey and dry. I thought that the artichoke mash thingy went really well with the fish.

The waitress was so cute though. Darling P complained that it tasted too fishy and she retorted happily: "Well Sir,... it's fish!".
*lol*

For dessert we had the Dessert Sampler. With that, you get a nice serving of fruits and a choice of 4 out of 6 different desserts (which is supposed to vary from night to night). That night, I chose the Lavender Creme Brulee, the Chocolate Pie, the Chocolate Walnut Cake and the Green Tea Tiramisu:


Left to right, top to bottom: The Green Tea Tiramisu, The Chocolate Walnut Cake, The Whole Dessert Sampler, The Chocolate Pie and the Lavender Creme Brulee

The Lavender Creme Brulee was really interesting - it literally hits you like an accidental gulp of bath wash in your mouth. The funny thing is that after the initial recoil of horror, it actually kinda grew on me.....

Sadly, the 2 chocolate desserts I chose (being the chocoholic glutton that I am) were total non-events: the Chocolate Pie was a bit too mushy and strangely, not very chocolatey whereelse the Chocolate Walnut Cake was ok but had an overpowering taste of Maraschino cherries which I found to be a bit sickly sweet.

My favourite was the Green Tea Tiramisu - the texture was light and smooth, with a hint of the bitter green tea flavour instead of the usual coffee, which made it refreshing and interesting.

So it's: Decent prices and wine selection, wonderful airy ambience, captivating light show and friendly staff BUT hits and misses on the menu and expensive parking.

(Psssst... The hotel parking is shared with the KLCC Convention Center - basically you enter through the Convention Center parking entrance and can either park there and walk to the Hotel Lift Area or drive through another barrier gate to the designated Hotel Parking Area. Mind you, parking is a pretty pricey in the hotel area - came up to RM11 the night I was there - but I don't know whether it'll be any cheaper in the normal Convention Center Parking Area and walking a few extra metres)

Restaurant Review
Summary Sheet:

Gobo Chit Chat @ Traders Hotel, KL

Taste: 6.5
Ambience : 8
Service : 8
Price** : RM65++ per person
Parking: Expensive but Ok

** Approximation - 3 course meal, excluding drinks
Telephone No.: 03-2332 9888
Opening Hours: 11am - late

NO PORK SERVED

TAGS: Food, Blog, Weblog, Malaysia, Restaurant Review, Restaurant Reviews, Gobo, Gobo Chit Chat, Fusion, Japanese, Italian, Traders Inn, KL, Kuala Lumpur