Maillard Grill — Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur

Maillard is a cosy restaurant located in a small complex of eateries and drinking places in Kuala Lumpur's suburb of Damansara Heights. Named after the chemical reaction which browns meat when seared, Maillard is primarily a bistro that offers a good range of steaks. Wines are limited, but its owners have an equally cosy speakeasy next door specialising in gin cocktails (hint: the door opener is somewhere on the desk outside). The quiet atmosphere and limited seating make it a good spot for an anniversary dinner, which is what Rozaila and I went there for tonight. We chose to sit indoors, but there is also outdoor seating which faces a boisterous Mexican bar.

Our decision to share the Beef Wellington was the right one: round not long, it could have served four nicely and was filling for two. I have found that this dish divides people—you either like it or you don't. Maillard's version of it—wagyu beef slathered with a tangy mushroom mix wrapped in puff pastry—is full of flavour and, cliché as this may sound, really does melt in the mouth. I liked it, but Rozaila concluded that after having it for the second time in her life, it just wasn't her thing. Maybe their lobster variant would have been more to her taste.

She did however enjoy Maillard's dark red rich lobster bisque. It is flavoursome without the gritty aftertaste that often comes from grinding the crustacean shells into a paste to thicken the soup. We went halves on another starter of thick grilled watermelon. This could have been more refreshing had it not been for the overpowering sauces drizzled on top. But we were pleasantly surprised by the banana loaf we shared (it was after all an anniversary meal) which showed it is still possible to concoct an imaginative dessert with banana and chocolate. A pity we couldn't pair it with coffee since they'd run out of it this evening.

Perhaps the high point of our meal was being served by Calvin, who knew his food and took care of us with the attentiveness of a flight steward—which isn't surprising seeing as he had been one for many years before deciding to hang up his wings for a more grounded career in F&B. He dutifully took our pre-orders, accommodated several changes patiently and even made some sensible serving decisions for us. Overall, a lovely, if a little...

With good company, we head out for a nice weekend catch up at Maillard Grill~

Before going into the good bits, Reservation was a nonplus; not picking up calls and was bounced over to a voice message which no personnel seems to care to noticed or reply even though details were provided. So, we turned up with a walk-in only to be queried about reservation.. blank stares all around~

Fast forwarding to the food. Heard good stuff about the butter-aged meats - ordered a 30-Days Butter-Aged Striploin after the hostess guided and recommended us the available selection. To follow up on the chomping list, we ordered a Caesar Salad, Barley Risotto, Fish & Chips, Creamed Baby Spinach and Baby King Mushrooms~

To whet our appetite, slices of good crusty bread with buttery smooth pâté to spread on were quickly dissappeared! Nomnomnom~

The Medium Butter-Aged Striploin was superb, albeit the temperature was slightly leaning towards medium-rare (which i personally prefer); the aroma, the char and the juice that oozes out from every bite, really checks off list. Bravo!

Caesar Salad; doused with the savoury anchovies vinaigrette over the chunky greens and the duck lardons, topped off with pecorino romano was great.

The Barley Risotto was a welcome change of pace; the warm glistening barley helps to mellow down the glorious fats earlier, coupled with the babies; Creamed Baby Spinach & Baby King Mushroom.

The Fish & Chips was nothing to shout about but noticed that the pea mash seems to be just shrunk frozen peas with otherwise, slightly dry (personal preference) fillets in a golden brown sarcophagus. Side note, it's called Chips but it is named as Tripled Cooked Fries.. shrugged~ The charred lemon did helped to elevate the dish~

All in all, surely not going to pick bones over everything for, it does offer quite the dining experience if one wants...

Summary: Very impressive grillhouse that offers great steaks and inventive sides at quite reasonable prices. Wonderful ambience and flair for both indoor and outdoor seating. Highly recommended

On the ground floor of Republik (that big white building in Bukit Damansara), Maillard is a specialty steak house, but unlike many, offers interesting and reasonably priced sides alongside the crazy steaks

The Caesar salad is obscene, with both grated pecorino and parmesan, but they don't use cream or mayo, so it's far closer to a classic Caesar dressing than 99% of places. A solid salad

The Barley Risotto was both delicious and interesting - barley really works as the main grain in risotto, but i'm terrified to ask how much butter and cheese was used. The sweetness of the pumpkin takes some getting used to, but overall a great dish

The triple-cooked fries are as good as they get for fries, but i did find them a bit heavy. The insane crunch and fluffy insides overcame the oiliness for my partner though, and she demolished the whole tray

Maillard ages their steaks for 30 days, and for the first time I can recall, I truly understood why aged steaks are such a big deal. Full of beefy flavor, with just a hint of funkiness, the aging really adds something substantial to the steak. So many places either under (most places) or overdo (Vantador) the aging, so I've always been somewhat agnostic on dry-aging. Maillard changed my mind, as it will yours.

Maillard isn't cheap-cheap but the 320g ribeye we had was about rm240, which isn't bad for the quality. All non-steak dishes are less than rm50, and most far below. I think it's quite reasonable for the quality and atmosphere.

If you like steak you owe it to yourself to try Maillard. Even great for non-steak eaters (Need try their...