Christmas comes early at Saint Pierre Kuala Lumpur this December, as the French restaurant launches four festive menus. Crafted to be enjoyed with family and friends in mind, the restaurant pulls no punches to facilitate fuss-free dinner parties come year end.
“We want to cater to both corporate and private parties,” says chef-owner Emmanuel Stroobant. “Christmas and New Year’s Eve are two different celebrations. Christmas will feature more traditional foods like oysters and foie gras and New Year’s will have a celebratory vibe with items like caviar.”
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Saint Pierre’s eight-course Christmas dinner menu (RM668 per person) takes place on December 24. This extravagant meal features fine de claire oyster, Japanese sea urchin, lobster, Cornish chicken, lamb and spiced wine, among other traditional treats. The New Year’s Eve menu, on the other hand, is a nine-course experience (RM698 per person). Diners who opt for this dinner will taste dishes that spotlights osietra caviar, king crab, Hokkaido sacallop, venison, quail and more.
“We try to maintain a local touch as much as possible. The king crab dish on the New Year’s Eve dinner menu, for example, uses top quality crab, adding freshness from cucumber (reminiscent of Penang assam laksa), corn and a hint of turmeric, ginger and lemongrass,” says Stroobant. “You have to maintain a certain finesse to ensure you don’t overwhelm the taste of the crab.”
For the venison, Stroobant cooks the deer meat with sambal hijau and serves it with local fresh fig and fennel, believing that the sambal helps to lift up that gamey flavour. Another specialty, the restaurant’s duck dish (available on certain menus) is aged for seven days and roasted at 58 degrees for an hour before it’s allowed to rest for another hour, locking in the bird’s juices at a medium rare doneness.
“Why do I think Malaysians would love these dishes? I’ve been here (South East Asia) for 25 years or more and I believe I have an understanding of what we like to eat. I maintain a French-European style but also instil close influences from the region,” says Stroobant. Fun fact – the chef’s wife is Malaysian.
For those looking to tuck in to festive dishes before Christmas arrives, Saint Pierre’s “Festive Set Lunch Menu” will be available from December 4 to 30, Wednesdays to Sundays. The three-course (RM188 per person) and four-course menu (RM258 per person) features your choice of first and/or second starter, a main course and dessert. Highlights include a black truffle dish alongside button mushroom, porcini, and egg, as well as an Irish duck served with endive and sansho pepper. For dessert, guests will have a choice of traditional sweets – fruit cake or yule log – or one unconventional creation – pineapple cooked with ginger and brown butter.
A similar special corporate dinner menu is also available to companies looking to celebrate, available from December 3 to 30, Tuesdays to Sundays. The menu comes in either a five- or seven-course at RM388 and RM588 per person respectively, with exclusive dishes – Kuhlbarra barramundi, monkfish and a 36-hour braised beef short rib.
