Chateau Dionne KL — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Good food and good service, but a few dish misfires and a truly embarrassing wine pairing make for a lukewarm recommendation. For the price, I'm being pretty generous with 3 stars.

Great service at Chateau Dionne and the food overall was quite good. Cured mackerel, lobster veloute and the duck breast main were all excellent and showed quite subtle but effective mastery of flavors and technique. I will say everything was a smidge salty, especially the lobster veloute.

The other choice of main (the brittany fish stew) was oddly pedestrian, with the three fish, Isaki, Kinmedai and Seabream all a bit too similar in texture and flavor, and to me, slightly overcooked and flaky. The stew/sauce they were served in was pleasant, but didn't do enough to elevate the dish. It was a distant 2nd to the duck.

The duck breast, as excellently cooked and flavorful as it was, was let down slightly by the accompanying foie gras, which was painfully gamey, and not adequately seared. It failed to have the smooth, buttery interior and seared umami exterior of well-cooked foie gras. One-note in texture all the way through, with the gaminess adding to the unpleasantness.

Dessert cheese platter (Comte, Goat, Roquefort and Brie) was excellent with an actual chunk of honeycomb, though the other dessert choice, a deconstructed mille-feuille, did not impress.

Finally, the wine pairing was simply a disgrace. For 238 (more than half the chefs tasting menu), I was given small tasting portions of 4 wines; all of which were available by the glass for EXACTLY the same price as the sum of the wine pairing! I couldn't believe it when we calculated it; we paid extra for smaller glasses of a la carte wine. I did enjoy the wine they chose, but I'd have much rather ordered one glass of the Gewurztraminer, one glass of the St. Emilion, skipped the dessert wine and Pessac Leognan white, and saved RM120. Wine tastings at this price should have specifically chosen wines for each course, not whatever they have open at the time. Chateau Dionne only offers 6-7 wines by the glass in total, so they just "paired" the food with whatever they had open. It's all the more galling when you see the full wine list, which is packed with interesting bottles. When I mentioned this at the end of the meal, the hostess sheepishly admitted that it's not a very interesting tasting, but it did little to make me feel better.

In any case. I do think the food is quite good. The staff are attentive and the portions are quite generous (so many petit fours!). However, with this caliber of restaurant (and the associated price; +1,100 for the two of us with 1 wine tasting and 2 chefs tasting menus), there simply can't be mistakes of the magnitude we experienced. Try it out, but at...

Food tasted good. But way too expensive. I never saw a glass of wine starting at 88 bucks and I’ve been to quite a few fine dining places in KL over the years. The pricing for the 3 course menu was all over the place. I was told that the menu is in the works so I can work around it. My observation is that 170 for entree, starter and main dish seemed very fair for lunch until you realize that choosing a beef steak which was included in the 3 course menu is an add-on option for another 100 bucks and fois gras which was also included in the 3 course adds another 25 or 50 bucks, taking it to 300+ which changes your perception and expectations. It sort of makes you feel like you’re paying 170 for just a soup and entree while you have to ala carte your way out for some steak. I gave my opinion on the menu to the waitress who also seemed to be confused a bit as the menu is new to her as well. so I was given the steak with no additional cost which I appreciate. I’d suggest to just make a menu thats very clear. It’s ok to cost 300 or 400 or 500, but clearly mention whats included and include a glass or two or wine in it, in which case the customer knows what to expect. Even better, make one with wine pairing and one without. It’s better to set an all inclusive menu that customer has no questions about. I had to also look at the ala carte menu as i was confused as to which one is better value like I’m at a McD kiosk. Haha.. what I wanted to have from the 3 course menu just shot up the price by more than 2x, that too without wine. I was very disappointed not to pair wine with the steak I had because I didn’t have the heart to shell out 88++ just for a glass of red. Nothing to do with being expensive but compared to other fine dining places I’ve been to which have house reds, it didn’t feel like it’s worth it just for a casual lunch. Overall food tasted good which is important and no dish was below average. But like one of the other reviewers mentioned, there are so many options in KL fine dining space. Would I come again? Maybe I’ll give it another shot in the future. The food was good, service was warm so why not.. but only if I get to know the menu, wine pairing options, pricing etc have been revised and looked into with some market research from some similar level fine dining restaurants in the...

Celebrated my bf’s birthday at this place. Overall the food was very good.. the restaurant is based on an open kitchen concept where you can see the chefs cooking your food. The food presentation was beautiful as well. Each food presented to us was then explained very well by the chef/ waiter on how the food was cook. The highlight was probably the dessert we tried. The soufflé was probably the best soufflé I’ve tried in my life! The inside was so moist!! Nothing that I ever tasted before.. I enjoyed the dessert so much that I almost had the urge to order another one 😅😅 and because it was a birthday celebration, they even provide us with a mini chocolate mousse cake for my bf.. appreciate the thought.. thank you🥰 the service overall was okay..

Some things to point out: the scallop we had was a little over seasoned on the outside.. perhaps this is just based on personal preference. The outside was too over seasoned that the scallop inside was a little under seasoned.. the Australian wagyu oyster blade was very tender but there are some parts that are difficult to cut because of the tendons. And finally.. one more to take note: When it’s time for payment, I paid with my credit card, swiped and tap a few times in the machine, it says host timeout.. what put me off was your waitress words.. she said that there is something wrong with my card… honestly I find it very offensive. If my card has problems it would state card decline on the machine and not host timeout. So I offered direct transfer, then she took it back at the bar counter.. and came back.. ask me to try swiping it again. So I did. And the payment is through without delay.. initially everything was good, although there are some hits and misses in the food but I can definitely get pass it…. however, I was put off by your waitress feedback.. so yea.

Again.. thank you for...