Interlude

Interlude is a place that serves trendy gastro-bar food. It also proudly proclaims itself as the first international tapas bar in Malaysia.

Out of curiosity, we asked why this name. According to Rabin, the Director/Chef, he has a long and short version of the reasons behind it. I am someone who loves stories so I asked for the long version. He said, long time ago, after graduation in Melbourne, he harboured dreams to work for a famous chef in a French restaurant, called Interlude but they did not have vacancy at that time so he looked for another job elsewhere. He told himself that "One day he would work for Interlude." After he has signed contract with another place, Interlude Melbourne contacted him but he has accepted the other job offer. 

Fast forward 2 years, whereby he came back to open a restaurant, naturally the name "Interlude" came back to him as it bore significance for him, with a certain nostalgia. 

So in this relaxing place, 7 of us friends actually spent a total of 4 hours to wine and dine. 

Lemon Chicken Salad (RM 16) 

This is mixed fresh raw lettuce tossed in lemon vinaigrette with a few slices of chicken breast. All the lettuce are the type that are imported instead of the local ones and come in purplish and greens. On top, there is a light sauce on top, which is just nice compared to the mayonaise or Thousand Island. 

Nachos (RM 28) 

Though the name itself looks so simple, it's the bestseller here, and great to go with beer. I urge you that this is something you MUST ORDER, if you are into Mexican food like me. I even sacrificed my ulcer to eat this! It contains tortilla chips with pork or chicken, guacamole, sour cream and cheese. I had a few helpings of this, forgetting my ulcer altogether! Before digging it, you might even wonder where did the nachos go because the whole dish is completely with cheese and baked together. The sliced jalapeno is also great to go to balance out the cheesiness of it all.

As I eat this, it reminds me of my evening at Disneyland in USA where I ate mexican nachos the same way, inside a disposable boat.

For the Star Wars fan out there, check out this video: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bUzHsUnkcg

Nantua of Spaghetti with Seasonal Seafood (RM 30) 

Initially, when we ate this, Wendy Lee and I thought that this is curry based sauce with spaghetti. Today, I learnt a lot of new terminologies from talking to Chef Rabin and am glad I spent some time to drain him with questions together with the rest.

Nantua is actually made from bisque and napoli sauce. Bisque based sauce is cooked using lobster or prawn shells and the second option is chosen by Interlude to keep the price reasonable. We rarely see nantua in restaurant menus because it takes 6 hours of preparation. Bisque is made before it is mixed with Napoli sauce and added with a cream. Napoli is called marinara sauce in American language. The seafood-2 pieces of mussels, calamari and prawns are then grilled separately. 

For me, Nantua is a welcome change from the ubiquitious spaghetti bolognaise and carbonara.

Crispy Pork Belly (RM 24) 

If you can ever make me, who used to give away every piece of Siew Yoke (Chinese style roasted pork) or the minced pork on my plate, to ever eat this pork and after that, proclaim it as delicious, then you are great! For that, bravo to Interlude for their success! 

The Crispy Pork Belly is marinated with five spices then the flesh is baked for the first time to cook it.  After it is cooled down the next day, it is then put back into oven to make the skin crispy. 

When there is something with high medium of fat, we need something with high level of acidity and vinegar to help the person appreciate the fat. That is when the pickled cabbage comes into place. The kilkenny glaze is drizzled slightly on top to add sweetness to the overall taste. The result? Spectacular, and believe me or not, am I converting to someone who eats pork belly? Haha!

17 Hours Slow Cooked Pork Belly (RM 26) 

This is the highlight of the day! Interlude actually cooked this for 19 hours, for real! 

For slow cooking to happen, the chef must maintain low temperature for long period of time. Before they cook the pork, they would remove the flab or what we, the public, term as "skin." Under the flab, is a thin layer of fat between the meat and skin which sets when it is cooled down. The sugar protein would then be caramelised using high heat with heavy based pan, similar like what we do for steak. The process of caramelisation is called mailard reaction. After 17 hours, the pork is pressed to become a perfect square shape.

My favourite thing to do is to dip the the pork on top of the greenish sauce. The savoury sauce is made from Gribisch inspired sauce with chicken stock, cream, taragon and parsley. The chef generously shared the trick of cooling the sauce as fast as possible to retain a bright green colour. Previously, they used vanilla based sweetish sauce but Malaysians are not used to this. 

Refer to this video for a short cut on the preparation:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fK6kCtyvbU

(You can skip this part if learning to cook is not your thing)

From afar, I was almost conned by the squarish cube shapes, making me think, is it cheese cake for dessert? When my teeth sinked into these cubes, it connected to all my senses, from the smell to the delightful sin that I have just committed by slowly savouring it. Since I was told that the fat has been removed, I persuaded myself that it is alright to eat this. For women who are not into pork belly, it is advisable to share this with another friend.

Pork Belly or Me? 

Interlude's Crispy Pork Fried Rice (RM 18) 

Don't let the name of this dish fool you into thinking it's just something you can eat at the hawker's stall or kopitiam! It looks simple but it is very fragrant, the aroma coming from the deep fried siew yoke (roasted pork), the same texture like the Crispy Pork Belly. Another thing I don't eat much is fried rice but when I do eat it, that means it is tasty!

Ultimate Interlude Pork Burger (RM 26) served with chips 

I kept haunting the chef, asking "what's the difference between Ultimate Interlude Pork Burger  and Pulled Pork Burger?" 

Ultimate Interlude Pork Burger - patty is made from minced pork. I really love the burger here as it does not have the oily taste of burgers.  

Pulled Pork Burger (RM 26) is braised pork shoulder which is then flaked. I like the fact that it was not flaked till dry like how others do it. Some moisture is still retained here. It is heated on pan with Guiness Babi Sauce. Currently, there is a promotion for Pulled Pork Burger Set with Guinness Float for RM 46 nett. Each of this cost RM 26 separately.

Both burgers are served with chips sprinkled with paprika and also oregano. 

....

DESSERTS

According to Chef Director Rabin, he once received a sentimental birthday present of a book of handwritten recipes for desserts from his dearest friend but could not use much of it as Interlude is more of bar whereby people don't usually come here for desserts except for families or women who like to turn to the last page of the menu and see how dessert can fit into their menu plan. 

Cheese Cake (RM 22) 

According to Chef Rabin, there are two types of cheese cakes, one is set by gelatine whereas the other is baked and he only sells baked cheese cakes for now. The one we tried had cream cheese, grated dark chocolate, biscuit and berry puree. 

The cheese cakes are all made in house, and there are weekly specials so we have to enquire to know what is the menu of the week. They have offered nutella, white chocolate, ferrero rocher and oreo cheese cake (featured on the menu). Some customers have tried their nutella cheese cake and proceeded to order for their own events. The nutella cheese cake is so decadent till one needs to prepare a glass of water to take this. 2 bottles of Nutella is needed to make a 2 kg cake that costs about RM 250 for special orders.

Caramel Triple (RM 22) 

This has Mediterranean flavours such as dates and pomegranate molasses (reduction), custard, ice-cream and biscuits.

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Beverages 

For those who don't drink, they have wondrous mocktails such as what we ordered below to refresh ourselves at any time of the day. 

Virgin Alyaa (RM 18) 

This is made of strawberry puree, banana puree, cranberry juice and soda water, all mixed together to become something sweet and sourish for sweet girls (peeps!) I recommended this to my cartoon blogger friend, Sin Yee.

Passionfruit Punch (RM 18)  

Shirley Temple (Grenadine Syrup) (RM 18) 

Frankly speaking, these drinks are ordered by my friends so I could not comment much except that judging from the first drink, it must have been tasty too. 

Cocktails 

Esmerald Island (RM 26) 

This is a mix of vodka, midori melon, malibu and pineapple juice. The cocktails here are as amazing as the names! It doesn't taste like cough mixture like some others I have tried elsewhere. It is also not too sweet. It would have been better if served inside a triangular cocktail glass.

Pink Senorita (RM 26) 

This contains tequila, triple sec, lime juice and cranberry juice served inside a triangular cocktail glass. The taste is also not bad, with a sourish taste to it.

Margarita (RM 24) 

This frozen mixture of tequila and triple sec is quite refreshing, except that it would have been better with more sourish taste.

Guinness Float (RM 26) 

For those who like a tinge of alcohol yet cannot take hard liquor, now this is a perfect alternative. The cream with chocolate sauce play a role to balance out the bitterness of alcohol.

Rabin is a man with big dreams. He shared with us that in future, there would be "Four Seasons Scale Fashion" shows on every Wednesday, 10pm-1am ongoing the entire year. The objective is to give an opportunity to local fashion designers to showcase their upcoming designs and market them. I just can't wait for this programme to launch as I am a big fan of fashion and modeling.