[Pork-free] Entier French Dining is one of our favourite restaurants in KL.
We’ve visited this modern French establishment thrice since 2019, and we’ve enjoyed every single dining experience.
[Nov 2023 UPDATE: Entier was added to the Michelin Guide KL & Penang 2024. Check out our Michelin post here]
Entier French Dining just flourishes in every aspect to make a memorable meal – from the excellent front-of-house service, and impeccable decor, to food that truly excites and satisfies the senses.
[This was one of our Top Nine Meals of 2022. Click here to check out the list]
Entier French Dining in Alila Bangsar
Opened in 2018, Entier is a modern French restaurant that celebrates nose-to-tail dining in its offering of authentic French fare, where no part of the animal or vegetable goes to waste.
We first visited this restaurant to celebrate our wedding anniversary in Feb 2019, and were completely captivated by the level of precision in its dishes, the attentive and excellent service of its floor staff, and the classy (but not pretentious) interior.
Entier may be a good spot for special occasion dinners, but we’ve hosted corporate lunches here as well – which makes for a suitable setting with the 3-course lunch set offering incredible value for RM148.
Entier French Dining helmed by chef Masashi
Entier French Dining is helmed by executive Chef Masashi Horiuchi, who heralds from Fukuoka, Japan.
Chef Masashi has over 20 years of experience in European and Asian kitchens, having trained under esteemed chefs such as Philippe Grout, Adolf Blokbergen, and Antoine Westerman. Chef Masashi also served as Sous Chef at two Michelin-starred L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in London.
We could definitely see Chef Masashi’s exquisite touches on the menu – as he integrates French techniques with Japanese precision while showcasing seasonal and Malaysian produce in the dishes.
During our latest visit, we did find an updated menu with different dishes (in addition to a few regular fixtures) but they still wow-ed us.
Bread is still lovely as ever
The complimentary house bread here is still one of the best in town and lovely as ever.
The house Corn Bread here is served warm with a nice pillowy soft inside and good crisp exterior. We had to resist filling ourselves up with the bread, as it is served with its special Signature Kombu Butter – made with salted kombu (kelp), truffle oil and butter.
This is one of the best (free!) butter in town – as it is beautifully fragrant with subtle umami from the kelp and light touches of truffle to flavour the bread.
Pays Basque Tapas
The first sign of Entier’s updated menu is the new Basque Tapas section, which we did not recall on our last visit here in 2020.
While we may be familiar with the concept of tapas in Spanish cuisine, Entier’s offering is a tribute to the French Basque Country region (close to Spain, after all), with its offering of rillettes, chicken liver pate, and Tanjung Malim caviar.
Delicious duck rillettes
From the tapas menu, we picked the exquisite Duck Rillettes (RM65) – an excellent recommendation by the wait staff. The duck rillettes (similar to pâtés but meat is seasoned and slow-cooked in fat for several hours) were served in a metal tin and served with two slices of crispy sourdough toast.
Made with duck leg, we found the shredded meat to be extremely flavourful and tender, with hints of buttery smooth foie gras.
The buttery, umami flavours of the duck rillettes went really well with the sourdough toast, so much so we wished we had more toast to finish the rillettes! This was most délicieuse!
Decent French escargot
We also ordered the Escargot (RM65 for a dozen) – french snails cooked with burgundy garlic herb butter. Similar to the duck rillettes, they came in a metal tin with toasted sourdough slices on the side.
We found the Escargot to be a decent starter. The snails had a nice chewy (but not rubbery) texture, and were sufficiently seasoned in the burgundy garlic herb butter. If you enjoy garlicky hits with herbal pesto-like notes, you’ll love this.
But we much preferred the duck rillettes.
Beautiful black cod
For mains, we wanted to try the Pigeon but it was unfortunately sold out that evening.
Hence, we turned to the Seafood section and ordered the Black Cod (RM180) – which turned out to be one of the best cods we had!
The fish was cooked perfectly with super tender and juicy flesh, with a slightly smoky, caramelised skin.
In fact, the charcoal-grilled fish had a lovely sweet and umami-rich flavoured skin as it is marinated with shio koji – a paste made with fermented grains – which gives it a unique rich flavour. This is wonderfully complimented by the buttery radish sauce, and savoury ice lettuce.
Our only gripe is we wished the portion were bigger (so we could enjoy more of it!).
Lamb loin, with love
The lightness of the Black Cod was wonderfully contrasted by the Lamb Loin (RM110) – beautifully seared lamb loin served with tomato crust, accompanied with artichoke puree, and finished with muhammara, black capsicum and lamb jus.
This was another stellar dish! The loin was super tender and juicy, with the lovely tomato crust providing some crunch and acidity.
The meat was wonderfully complimented by the earthy flavours of artichoke puree, with the sauce giving enough acidic sweetness to really make a wholesome dish.
Watercress – a lovely palate cleanser
From the Plant section, we’ve tasted (and enjoyed) the Corn, Leek and Cauliflower that’s grilled on the Josper oven during our previous visits, so we decided to try the Watercress salad (RM30) instead.
This turned out to be a good decision as it was such a great palate cleanser and contrast to the cod and lamb. We enjoyed the herbally notes of the watercress paired with the sweetness of pomelo, and pomegranate, with a refreshing, citrusy touch from the calamansi vinaigrette.
Our favourite Dark Choc soufflé
We ended the meal with our favourite Dark Chocolate souffle (RM45) – which we never fail to order whenever we are here.
Made with 70% single-origin Pahang chocolate and served in a ramekin, the souffle is still one of the best in town with its beautiful fluffy texture with a runny-gooey centre. The flavour is dark with a hint of sweetness – and the vanilla ice-rem is still the best accompaniment to this dessert.
However, we did notice that the size had shrunk over the years, while the price had increased as well sniff.
Summary
Overall, this was another satisfactory dining experience at Entier French Dining.
We enjoyed the service, and décor and the new menu truly surprised us in the best way possible. For this visit, we recommend the Duck Rillettes, Black Cod, Lamb Loin, and Dark Chocolate Soufflé.
We love a consistently performing restaurant, and Entier is one of them.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!
Entier French Dining
Address: Level 41 at Alila Bangsar No 58, Jalan Ang Seng, Brickfields, 50470 Kuala Lumpur
Hours: 12pm-4pm, 6pm-9pm Daily
Phone: 03-2268 3819
Reservations: letsumai.com
Website: https://entierfrenchdining.com/
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