Lingua Gustatio: The O'lives Restaurant @ Lintang Burma, Penang

December 20, 2015

Lingua Gustatio: The O'lives Restaurant @ Lintang Burma, Penang

Dear readers,

Have you decided where to dine in Penang for this coming X'mas and New Year? I have an absolutely perfect option for you - The O'lives Restaurant which is located at the inner corner of the ever bustling Burmah Road.

亲爱的朋友们，圣诞节和新年要去那儿庆祝吗？我这儿有个很棒的推荐，就是位于车水路的The O'lives Restaurant。

The O'lives Restaurant was first founded in July 2014 and the kitchen was run by an elite team led by Chef Ryan Khang. They customize their every single dish with love and passion, combining classic menu as well as improvised menu. Their aim is to serve customers with premium quality ingredients in order to give food lovers the best experience when they dine in. 早在2014七月，他们已经开始经营了，不过他们会时不时在餐单上更改，就是要让客人吃的开心。而这次为了迎合圣诞和新年，厨师特别打造了一系列的精致菜单，用的都是上等的材料。

The elegant interior makes people to feel comfortable and classy at the same time.

一踏进餐厅，就可以感受到浓浓的圣诞气氛，而且还有温暖及舒适的感觉。

We were so thankful to be invited to try out the new Christmas and New Year menu in this lovely afternoon. This menu pays a great tribute to the Mediterranean cuisine with a touch of Northern French essences. Apart from that, it also includes divergent savour from Italy, Turkey as well as our lovely Penang.

我们很荣幸被邀请来试这特别餐单。厨师主要是以中东餐店为主，还有少许法国，意大利，土耳其及槟城的元素在内。

Photo from The O'lives Restaurant

This entire 7-course menu is only priced at RM118++/ pax. (Supplement RM100 for wine pairing)

圣诞及新年特别餐单需一人RM118+，额外加上RM100就可以享有美酒搭配了。

We were greeted by a glass of Cono Sur Tocornal Chardonnay at the foremost. To be frank, I am not a wine expert but I do enjoy wine very much. 我们以这一杯白酒来开餐。味道偏酸，不过香味十足。

（不好意思，我不是品酒之人，不过我也是爱喝美酒的）

While waiting for our starer, we had the butter bun with truffle butter. The rich fragrance of truffle totally permeated the butter and it was definitely a great match as a spread.

首先，我们有面包配松露奶油。只需一小口，就可以品尝到那浓郁的松露了。

The first up was the Waldorf Salad which comprised of mix greens, Fiji apple, pecan, honey wild mint and apple coulis. The crisp French crepe was fried with duck & foie gras oil, and matched with various flavours like walnut and apple butter.

打头阵的是前菜- Waldorf Salad。它是有法国脆饼以鹅肝油炸过，配上胡桃和苹果奶油。

Spot the three cute little yellowish orange sauces? They were actually sweet and pleasant, made up of carrots and raisins. Aren't they tempting?

还有那三粒橙黄色的酱是由胡萝卜和葡萄干合成的。卖相十足，味道也一级棒。

Undoubtedly, this Amuse-bouche (French: mouth amuser) stole the limelight of all. The O'lives Trio, was made up of Tomato & pecorino cumble, black olive tapenade, goat cheese chantily and olive bon bon. The latter was chef's signature masterpiece. It required talented skill in handcrafting the encapsulation of olive oil into the sugar.

这才是今天的焦点，那橄榄油完完全全被糖浆包住了，是厨师个人拿手强项，可真是吸引人呀！

The three coloured items had three different aroma respectively. To begin, you may attempt on the first white goat cheese chantilly which was soft and fluffy cream cheese. The next is the black olive tapenade which was salty and greasy and lastly, the tomato and pecorino crumble had the strongest flavour with the mix of sourness and sweetness.

除了那橄榄油，旁边的三色是由第一，松软的山羊奶酪，接下来黑橄榄酱（有点咸咸的），

而最后是那番茄奶酪饼，是偏酸和甜的。

Besides, we had Cono Sur Tocornal Sauvignon Blanc to pair with this trio. It tasted sweeter and lighter than the previous one. 为此，我们搭配了另一种白酒，是比较甜和爽口的Cono Sur Tocornal Sauvignon Blanc。

Click here to see how I break the olive 'capsule' apart. *I expected it to be glass-hard hahaha*

你可以点以上的link，看我怎么把那橄榄油糖浆打碎。哈哈

And yes, it flowed smoothly and seeped into the toast.

那橄榄油就缓缓地吸进去面包里头。

Appetizer was Pan Grilled Duck Liver showered with cider sauce, accompanied by roasted apple and casis tart.

这鸭肝是我们的开胃菜啦，它是由苹果酒一起熬成的，还有旁边的是苹果塔。

Despite looking brawny hard externally, this classic foie gras was indeed rich and succulent which melted in the mouth instantly. You could also taste the cider lingering with the liver.

虽然外表看是硬梆梆的，但是内里却是入口即化，味道持续在嘴里多久都不散。这就是鸭肝的精髓啦。

There is always a companion for foie gras to balance up its strong flavour and here, we had apple and cassis tart topped with balsamic pearls which was rather sugary and pleasant. The wine paired for this was still Cono Sur Tocornal Sauvignon Blanc.

苹果塔是来平衡浓郁鸭肝的味道的。甜甜的，还蛮好吃的。

After the appetizer, we were served the Cream of Chestnut and Ceps. The natural fragrance of French chestnuts remained sweet and balmy in the creamy soup. There were also aroma from the leek, onion and thin spare of foie gras.

接下来上的是，栗子浓汤。果然是真材实料，每一口都可以尝到栗子的口感，还有其他材料如洋葱和少许鸭肝的香味。

Before we could reach for our main course, we had strawberry sorbet to cleanse the palate.

吃了鸭肝，是得用草莓冰淇淋来清一清我们的舌头（是味蕾啦）哈哈。

My main was Pacific Salmon Fillet with Saffron Aioli and torne vegetables. The fillet was nicely grilled and I particularly adore the sauce which was the aioli (the crush of garlic, olive oil and eggs) matched with saffron spice.

我的主菜三文鱼来咯~ 它的烹调方式是我喜爱的，熟度刚刚好。配上了Saffron 和Aioli（是一种特别以橄榄油，蒜和蛋捣成的）味道真的很棒。我认为分量真的很大，不过可能对男生来说是刚刚好的。

If you wish for a heartier meal, you could opt for this 100 Days Grain Fed Australian Rib Eye Steak which appeared as pleasing as it was. It was prepared with porcini jus, purple carrot puree and torne vegetables. The wine paired was Cono Sur Tocornal Cabernet Sauvignon. (Supplement RM65)

如果你想试试牛扒，不妨点这一个。卖相十足，而且还非常的香呢。除此，你也可以搭配红酒，只需加RM65就行了。

The other alternative is Grilled Rack of Lamb which tagged along the whisky sauce, nutmeg and torne vegetables. The chef recommended to pair Cono Sur Tocornal Merlot with this dish. （Supplement RM75）

烤羊肉也是主菜之一。它的特点是那酱汁是由威士忌及豆蔻合成的。有道地槟城的感觉。（因为豆蔻嘛）你也可以加RM75就可享有特定的红酒啦。