🇲🇾 Dewakan *

As Malaysians we’ve always seen Dewakan as the pride of Malaysia in the fine dining scene, offering avant-garde food using ingredients specific to Malaysia 🇲🇾

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We’ve tried quite a few menus from Dewakan over the past few years & were mostly satisfied with their innovative, interesting & unique dishes.

When Michelin was announced in Malaysia we were delighted Dewakan was bestowed 1 Michelin Star, which based on their previous menus is very well deserved.

This is the current menu of Dewakan & it is with a heavy heart we opine that it’s the weakest menu we’ve tried to date. That said, let’s dive into the dishes.

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**Savoury Drink of Mulberries**

An interesting presentation, a cup of smoked Tomato & Mulberry juice sits on the left, accompanied by a skewer of Mulberries marinated in Litsea, topped with Candied Asam Gelugur & sitting atop a piece of Kaduk leaf 🍃

Broth is executed rather well, robust with smoky fragrance, paired with a tang from the mix of Tomato & Mulberry, with Tomato leading the flavour spectrum. An enjoyable broth that brings about a savoury feel due to the smokiness🥣

Mulberry skewer on the other hand fell flat on excitement, you get the ‘green’ flavour from Kaduk, followed by sourness from the Mulberry with an acidity that builds up over time. The candied Asam Gelugur helped bring a hint of sweetness but not nearly enough to tingle the palate😗

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**Octopus slow cooked and grilled, Pucuk Paku, lacto fermented Coconut, blackened Banana & Kulim sauce. Breadfruit**🐙🍞

Next came a plate of assorted ingredients consisting Octopus, Pucuk Paku, Coconut flesh & a dollop of Banana Kulim sauce. On another plate we have 2 pieces of wrap made from Breadfruit 🍞

Each ingredient was well prepared, smoky Octopus, moderately bitter in parts with a chewy but not rubbery texture, salty coconut with a nice fermented coconut-ey flavour, sweet & tangy banana sauce with flavour of garlic! The Breadfruit carries a melodious fruity sweetness! 😋

However, when it all comes together the flavours clash…it was all over the place, with the smoky octopus taking up most of the flavour spectrum & the breadfruit losing its fruity tone. We ended up eating the ingredients separately as it was infinitely more enjoyable than eating it as a wrap 😅

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**Cured Mackerel, Bamboo Shoot braised in Mackerel broth, spiced Kwini broth, edible Flowers** 🐟🥭🌼

Beautiful presentation! The entire flavour profile of this dish is very light, in fact we’d say overly muted in terms of excitement.

Mackerel carries a very light tang, where broth has absorbed a depth of mackerel flavour, presumably from the bamboo shoots, paired further by a slightly different tang from the Kwini which was cooked with aromatics & spices, reminiscent of a very, very light, asam laksa broth.The bamboo shoots unfortunately carried no flavour but has a good refreshing crunch.

The orange edible flowers (we heard Lantana Flower BUT we could be DEAD wrong as a quick google shows the flower to possibly be poisonous) brings a complex spice flavour that helps provide some excitement but not nearly enough.The flavours in this dish work but ultimately doesn’t light up due to overly timid flavours 😗

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**Charcoal grilled mussel, caviar, Pisang Abu, tapioca sauce (white), gooseberry & banana, egg yolk cured and sliced thinly** 🦪🍳

An interesting dish focusing on the umami of the very smoky Mussels, bolstered by sour sweet banana & gooseberry, a creamy tapioca sauce & the umami from the cured egg. The cured egg however sticks in your teeth, causing a rather unpleasant mouthfeel. We did taste pronounced traces of Kantan which ties this dish together rather well.

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We did notice at this point that the entire course seems to have focused way too much on smoke. It’s turning a tad one note in terms of course flow.

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**Clams drizzled with Sentul, sliced Rose Apple & Guava, cold broth of Guava, Mint, Yoghurt & Selom**

This is a cold dish that carries refreshing ‘green’ flavours of mainly Guava, Selom (a bitter, tangy leaf) & Mint. The clams were cooked unevenly, some being just the perfect medium cooked crunchy texture whereas some were a tad rubbery, we attribute this to lack of consistency. Sentul gives a delightful hint of spice whereas broth carries the flavour of Guava, made complex by Mint & Selom but seems once again rather muted & uninspiring where at the end only the naturally sweet, crunchy rose apple sang to us.

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**Weeds & Ice**

Here’s where the tides finally started to turn…We have a palate cleanser of shaved Asam Paya ice, a really sour shaved ice that’s eaten with an array of ‘weeds’, namely Ulam Raja, Asam Gelugor, Watercress, Fried Jackfruit Seed, Pickled Mustard Seed.

You crush and mix them evenly and take big bites of them, instantly cleansing your palate as the sour ice is balanced our by a mix of melodious herby, spicy, green taste from the multitude of greens. Fried Jackfruit Seed brought about a crisp, toasty oil fragrance whereas pickled mustard seed brought some grittiness to this dish!

This is what Dewakan is about! We’re finally seeing the usual Dewakan!

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**Venison glaced with Busut Mushroom Miso, grilled local vegetables with Oyster emulsion, served with a salted lime with Javanese Long Pepper & some Pickles**

Another well executed dish that’s so very Dewakan in terms of the flavours! Venison is slow cooked & lightly salted, exuding a depth of smokiness while being tender with a good bite. The glace was not apparent to us, perhaps forming part of the complex umami of the Venison. Bed of vegetables under is soaked in the Oyster emulsion which carries a light base of oyster flavour along with a tinge of tang, pairing very well with the Venison.

The kosho dip is a good bright spot that livens the venison. Pickles carried a pronounced natural flavour of their own & are crunchy.

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*Continues in next comment*

This looks amazing. Adding this one to the global bucket list. Thanks OP!