Chong’s prawn toast is an easy, addictive meal opener that turns tradition on its head. - ESCA
Ensconced along Kuala Lumpur’s increasingly gentrified Petaling Street is the brand new Esca KL. The eatery is perched in a century-old shoplot and is neither too casual nor too fancy, sitting prettily in that sweet spot where comfort and luxury intersperse.
The new opening is the brainchild of chef-owner Chong Yu Cheng who also helms Terra Dining, a Michelin Selected casual fine-dining restaurant he opened in 2023.
At Terra, Chong’s lens is on progressive Malaysian cuisine, which means he has a firmer stricture in terms of the kinds of ingredients, cooking techniques, ideas and inspirations that he can work with.
Esca represents the opposite end of this spectrum, in that it gives Chong a long leash to play around with global influences and ideas. It is ultimately is a space where he can truly let loose. In many ways, it is also the spiritual successor of his very first restaurant, Above Gastrobar, which he opened in Ipoh, Perak when he originally waded into unchartered culinary waters.
“We recently closed Above Gastrobar to move our focus here. But Above is where I started cooking and where I learnt how to cook, so it is where I grew my references from all over the world – from Latin America, Japan, Korea, and north Africa even. I find myself missing that way of cooking, so this is sort of an outlet for that,” says Chong.
At Esca, Chong has tossed aside conventions and rules and picks apart global influences and puts them together on plates that defy traditional labels.
As a result of his enthusiastic global mixing and matching, the menu – though short and sweet – offers a rich, diverse panoply of culinary interpretations and riffs on classics that also unabashedly incorporates open-fire cooking.
The Prawn Toast (RM32 for two pieces) for instance is a different take on Hong Kong Cantonese-style prawn toast, which in its classical mould is a shrimp spread over fried bread infused with sesame.
In Chong’s interpretation, the prawn paste is enhanced with jicama (sengkuang) for added crunch and the thing that takes it over the top is the mayonnaise in the mixture, which is made using oil infused with flavour extracted from prawn heads.
Overall, this is a dish where all the components work together like a well-oiled machine, lending flavour, texture and dimension with every mouthful, from the crunch of the bread to the sweet fleshiness of the prawns and the aquatic leanings of the mayonnaise.
The Barramundi Crudo (RM36) is a take on a Latin American ceviche (raw cured fish dish), albeit with a very Malaysian twist. Here, the local persuasion has a clarion call that sounds loud and clear in the form of the winged beans, cili padi, lime juice, lychee and raw mango scattered throughout this concoction. The fish has even been cured in an entirely local configuration of lime juice and coconut water.
Grilled red snapper is paired with unusual bedfellows in the form of harissa beurre blanc and grilled cucumber salad in what proves to be a winning combination. — Photos: Esca
The results speak for themselves – the fish here is both fresh and fleshy and rides the waves of the flavours and ingredients that anchor it, from the sharp fieriness of the chillies to the astringency of the limes. It’s a gastronomic perk-me-up that will awaken your senses.
Up next is the Grilled Octopus (RM48) with salted devilled egg, sambal matah and triple-cooked potatoes. The inspiration for the dish is based on the Galician favourite of grilled octopus with boiled potatoes.
Here, the devil is in the salted egg smattered atop, which gives the dish pronounced local notes, as does the sambal matah, and is made in true Balinese style. The triple-cooked potatoes are stars in their own right – crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside.
The eatery is housed in a century-old shoplot and has a casual yet sophisticated appeal.
Together, this is an unbeatable combination, the culinary equivalent of a blockbuster film whose star power is fuelled by a compelling storyline and masterful performances all-round.
Chong’s culinary compass at Esca knows no limits and this is evident in his Lamb Baos (RM28 for two pieces) which straddles an East Asian vessel (the bao) with a South Asian filling (mutton keema) alongside seemingly random additions like grilled spinach and yoghurt.
The bao is soft and doughy and the mutton keema adds the spice-riddled undercurrent so familiar throughout the Indian sub-continent. The yoghurt counters this fiery tempest and just when you think it can’t get any better – the grilled spinach enters the fray.
This sleeper hit gives this entire dish a smoky, charred disposition that takes it to a whole other unforgettable level.
From the vegetarian family tree, there is the Cauliflower (RM38). “This represents my love for Szechuan cuisine. And also, you know how everyone does a cauliflower steak, and it’s usually quite boring and uninspired? So this is a way to spice it up, literally,” says Chong.
The wagyu ribeye is plump, pink and perfectly tender. — Esca
The cauliflower dish lacks the lustre and star power that makes the rest of Chong’s dishes so distinctive and appealing. The cauliflower itself isn’t as charred as you might like and the Szechuan mala dressing doesn’t have quite the punch and power so ubiquitous in its tongue-numbing composition.
Perhaps this is by design because the foot traffic in the area does lean quite heavily towards tourists who might appreciate the gentler approach here.
The Red Snapper (RM68) features grilled fish with a harissa beurre blanc and grilled cucumber salad. If you think this sounds odd, well, you would be right. And yet, like so much of Chong’s convention-breaking offerings, his particular genius is in bringing together unlikely characters and getting them to play together nicely.
The snapper is a salient temptress with a charred outer skin that segues to firm flesh within. The harissa beurre blanc adds warmth and character to the dish while the grilled cucumber salad is a stealthy hit in its own right.
Next, move on to the Chicken Leg (RM48) with green tandoori and biryani. The biryani is flavour-packed and very good but the true triumph of this offering is the chicken, which has been cooked to a fine art, so that the skin retains just a whisper of char and smoke while the meat within is firm yet so succulent and juicy that you’ll wonder what spell Chong has cast upon this chook.
This sweet ode to yam is both compelling and satisfying. — THERI BURHAN/Esca
End the savoury part of your meal with the Pureblood Wagyu Ribeye (RM148) with grilled pineapple chimichurri and grilled tomato salad. The wagyu has been grilled to retain its purity – ensuring a charred, blistered skin that descends to meat that is pink in the centre and soft as a baby’s bottom on the palate.
The highlight of the chimichurri is in the addition of the charred pineapples in the mix; there’s a surprising yet welcome astringency and sweetness to the concoction.
Sweet surrender calls in the form of the dessert of Textures of Yam (RM28) which features yam cream, yam balls, crispy yam and brulee pineapple to finish it off. It’s a sweet, holistic tribute to yam that has the potential to go overboard and yet simply doesn’t. Instead, you’ll find yourself willed into submission by the charms of this tuberous treat.
A meal at Esca defies every known conventional wisdom about culinary pairings. It throws out the books, has a renegade approach to conformity and yet with Chong at the helm, everything magically works.
In his hands, disparate pairings that might have been hell-bent on rebellion instead form peaceful unions that make sense on plate and palate. Evidently, Chong isn’t just breaking the rules; he’s rewriting them.
