“Welcome back,” he said.

It was a Saturday evening, and I was chuckling to myself when his words interrupted my reverie.

“Whatever for?” I asked.

“You’re back.” He smiled. “So we’re going to Prime to celebrate.”

“Back? I never went anywhere.” I looked hard for the bump on his head where he would have knocked his head on the cangkul.

“I thought I had lost you this past week.  You were turning into a grumpy little thing and your language had become quite colourful,” he said.

He was right.  I had turned into a grouch. A grumpy cynical grouch. It almost felt like it was my cross to bear. And that’s the thing. It was my cross to bear. Every vote counted in the end.

And so, to let him know that I had indeed returned, I agreed to let him buy me dinner at Prime.

Two types of bread were placed before us. A slightly spicy focaccia bread, soft and herby, and several slices of nutty mexican bread.  Three different types of butter accompanied the bread – salted, barbecued and herbed.  All were excellent, and as much as I told myself that I wouldn’t pig out on bread, I did.  If there’s one thing I can’t resist, it’s good butter.  And now that I have to wait almost 16 months for the incomparable truffle butter at Cilantro, I have to look for substitutes before I start milking cows and churning cream to make my own butter.  Which can be quite a feat considering that I have little space in my humble abode for cows.  I can hardly see them grazing on my 10 x 10 ft lawn.

The portobello mushroom salad, costing RM45 for 2 pieces, came covered with rocket, cheese and truffle. I loved how the mushrooms came perfectly grilled, and had absorbed a hint of the accompanying flavours.  (Sorry, in my haste to photograph this salad, I forgot to lift up the skirt to reveal the temptations beneath.)

He ordered a mother of a steak. All of 16oz of it. It was an Australian T-bone steak (aged 60 days, I think), grilled medium rare and served with a creamy mash sprinkled with bits of fragrant truffle, asparagus, peppercorn sauce and a glorious bearnaise sauce.  He pronounced it a good piece of meat, juicy and succulent and grilled to perfection.

Prime was having a special promo (for March) on the king of steaks – the magnificent Kobe. As much as the other options (and there were many) tempted and tantalised me, I was steadfast in my choice. The master kobe chuck flap tail tataki with cannellinni beans stewed with smoked beef bacon, rocket leaves and a winter truffle sauce was lightly seared on the outside, thus retaining the juiciness inside. And the flesh? It was pink and tender and yielded easily as I sliced it with my knife.

My dessert was a warm chocolate cake accompanied by a scoop of macadamia nuts ice-cream and fresh fruits.

The chocolate cake was delicious served with some chocolate sauce poured over it.

Yup, I was back.

Prime
Le Meridien
2 Jalan Stesen Sentral
Kuala Lumpur Sentral
Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 2263 7888

The good people of AD may view the pictures HERE.