The weekends before heading up to Mt. Kinabalu (will post that entry soon), we had the good fortune of having a proper French dinner at Rendez-Vous.

Rendez-Vous Traditional French Restaurant at Bangsar

Situated at Lorong Maroof, the tagline for Rendez-Vous is “Your Traditional French Restaurant in Bangsar”. The restaurant does not pretend to be a fine dining establishment, but at the same time they do run it the “proper” way, utilizing imported ingredients in Chef Benjamin's creation of succulent, seasonal dishes, maintain a comprehensive wine list, and having well trained staffs.

like all good meal, we started off with a simple amuse bouche

Impressively, they manage to do this at a price point that is accessible to most, with the three-course menu starts at RM 69 (four-course RM 115, five-course RM 159). Main Dishes are priced from RM 36 (stuffed chicken) to RM 89 (ribeye), again, rather reasonable.

cocktails, and “Meli-melo de rillettes de poisons”

Our first starter for the night was “Meli-melo de rillettes de poisons” (RM 23), or duo of seabass and tuna mousse served with baguette and crostini bread. I've had tuna mousse before, but seabass was my first, and I must say the lighter and more refine taste works out pretty well in this.

We also had a couple cocktails to get the mood flowing. If you have specific preference, do tell the in-house mixologist as he'll be more than happy to customize a cocktail to your taste.

“Escargots a la Bourguigonne”, Narrow Valley Souvignon Blanc

Second starter was the snails with parsley and garlic butter sauce in vol au vent, or “Escargots a la Bourguigonne” (RM 28). This doesn't come with any shells (they're recycled shells at any restaurants anyway) and the garlic butter sauce gives the snail meat a really smooth and buttery texture which was really complete with the Souvignon Blanc pairing with its contrasting mild acidic taste.

“Foie Gras de Canard”, Porto Cruz Tawny

Then there was “Foie Gras de Canard” (RM 48), or duck foie gras de terrine, port wine and spices, mushrooms flavours. We had this with Porto Cruz tawny, a sweeter drink that complements the really rich starter pretty well. I though the bits of smoked duck breasts adds to the complexity of the dish and break the monotony of those blended liver.

“Fillet de daurade en croute”, Colombelle Coeur de Gascogne wine

We shared a couple different main dishes between the two of us, starting with “Fillet de daurade en croute” (RM 58) or seabass filet, creamy carrot puree and avruga caviar, citrus vinaigrette. The fish was cooked just right those caviar really does add a dash of luxury to the dish. I did enjoy having the citrus with the fish more than I thought I would, quite a bit of revelation really.

We had another glass of wine to pair with our main dishes, but I'd be lying if I tell you I know anything about.

“Poulet façon cocotte” – stuffed chicken w French mash potato & creamy mushroom

The 2nd main dish was their cheapest on the menu – “Poulet façon cocotte” (RM 36), or stuffed chicken, French mash potato and creamy mushroom. I was rather curious on how they manage to prepare the chicken into a big ice hockey puck shape, but it was easy to eat. The poultry was quite moist and succulent. It is a modest dish but one that is more than decent if you're not into fancier dishes.

Other main dishes available here includes pork belly, pork blood sausage, braised beef chunks, pan seared lamb, and a few other fish dishes.

Fromages – Seasonal selection of French cheeses, Bonpas Côtes du Rhône

We bridged the main dishes and desserts with a selection of cheese (RM 29 small, RM 46 big platter) to go with Bonpas Côtes du Rhône. If you're a cheese lover, you'd definitely enjoy this, the brie was really soft and rather strong, but my favorite was the blue cheese, positively pungent and really really strong. It's a bit like durian, you either love it or you despise it.

“Delice au chocolat et caramel”, “Tarte au citron meringue”,
Le Contesse Prosecco di Treviso Extra Dry

By the time we reached desserts, I've already had way too much alcohol & food in me, but we were still presented with two plates of beautifully crafted dishes it was tough to resist.

“Delice au chocolat et caramel” (RM 22) was as expected, rich, smooth, and not overly sweet, while the “Tarte au citron meringue” (RM 17), or lemon tart with hard and soft meringue was perfect if you don't want something overly heavy to end the night. The tart was quite light and fluffy.

Haze & KY at Rendez-Vous, Bangsar

If you haven't had proper French cuisine due to price or you're not one of those who likes to dress up for a fancy fine dining meal that lasts 3 hours, Rendez-Vous is a place you need to check out.

Address:
Rendez-Vous Traditional French Restaurant
100, Lorong Maarof, Bangsar Park,
59000 Kuala Lumpur
GPS: 3.132636, 101.673110
Tel: 03-2202 0206