Modern Australian Cuisine @ Drift Dining & Bar, KL

Good day mate!

For those who've followed the Masterchef Australia, you would have know that the australian food scene is really exciting, diverse and multicultural with influences of the greeks, italian, chinese, portugese and many more and now they have this new cuisine called the Modern Australian which is basically the fusion of various culinary influences into one dish that represents Australia multi diverse communities..

It's really a rare treat to get a modern Australian cuisine right here in the heart of KL but we are pretty lucky to be able to have the chance in trying it out.. So this place is quite hidden with all the buildings but it's actually just right behind the Hotel Istana building..

The layout of the restaurant is really simple with the wide entrance welcoming you and the bar which is the first thing you see displaying all the various alcoholic concoction that is available on the menu and not to forget the wines.. They have quite an extensive wine list which ranges from Australia to France and they also have their by the glass options too!


After much studying from their menu, with growling stomach we decided to have variety of dishes to share! We noticed that their food is mainly for sharing which fits perfectly for table of 5-10 person..

School Prawns (RM10)

To start the dinner, we had their School Prawns which is fried prawns with salt & pepper accompanied by their Nan Prik Sauce.. 

The portion of seems rather small but the prawns are really delicious, crispy and crunchy!  

Quite addictive as well 

The Nan Prik sauce has a strong influence of the Thai cuisine that incorporates the salty fish sauce, lime juice, heat from the green chili and some sweet.. This sauce makes it the prawn very enjoyable to eat and great starter to whet your appetites for more food!

Charcuterie Board (RM44)

The 2nd appetizer to share that we had was the Charcuterie Board which is mainly consist of Serrano ham, bresaola & Villar Chorizo! Its the meat lovers appetizer! Will go great with some medium body red that goes well with all this ham and chorizo like Amarone della Valpolicella , Italy or even Chianti Classico from Tuscany.

Really nice but would love to have either in a larger portion or with more varieties.. But you could add on with their olives or even with a cheese platter 

Fried Polenta cake (RM19)

After a tantalizing appetizers, we were welcomed with their beautifully presented and photogenic Fried Polenta cake.. This cake looks gorgeous and even taste absolutely fantastic too! 

This polenta dish is with gorgonzola cream and sauteed mushroom! Really worth every bite and calorie! 

A little fun fact about Polenta!

Polenta is basically a staple for all the italian household which is made by grinding the corn into flour or meal that gives its signature rich yellow, yolk like colour and it brings a hint of sweet flavour. This flour is usually cooked to a creamy and thick consistency and can be eaten either cold or hot.. 

Back to this dish, the polenta cake is fried and it's really amazing how fluffy and light it still is and not oily and it goes wonderfully well with that thick creamy gorgonzola cream.. Great pairing of flavours! Sadly, the mushroom wasn't really prominent in the dish as the whole time the star was the polenta and the cheese!

Nevertheless, it still one of the go to dish that you've gotta try when you're dining here!

Crispy Skin Barramundi (RM39)

After the polenta cake, we are by the beach already with this Crispy Skin Barramundi! This fish is the classic fish of Australia that makes you to always relate australia with this fish.. 

For this fish, it was accompanied with olives, mint & oranges that gives this an explosion of flavours and made it really delightful yet refreshing to eat! The portion itself can make you to go back for 2nd as there was more servings of the vegetables rather than the barramundi.. Overall it is really citrusy, light and clean flavours that makes you wanting to go back for seconds despite the portion..

Slow Braised Australian Lamb Shank (RM75)

Other than the Barramunndi, we moved on to the Slow Braised Australian Lamb Shank.. If you love meat being cooked on the bone, this is the dish for you! 

This lamb shank was braised with palm sugar and black vinegar which usually you would associate it with the chinese braised pork dish that would give a very strong herbal yet sourish note! 

The portion of the lamb shank is just nice for 5 person and the texture of the lamb was beautifully braised as the meat literally falls off from the bone with minimal effort from the fork! The braising liquid does softens the gamey taste and texture of the lamb and give it a rather homey feeling when eating it and we noticed some spices in there as well.. 

A delicious plate of meat to share and maybe some soba noodles would be nice or bread to wipe the sauce clean!

Here comes the Pasta!

Tagliatelle (RM35)

The 1st dish which is the Tagliatelle with crab claw, cherry tomato & Basil Pesto! 

This pasta dish reminds me of the Dr Seuss story of a green eggs and ham but this was the interpretation of it being that it is green pasta minus the ham..

The tagliatelle was a nice ribbon with a moderate portion of crab meat and generous amount of basil and cherry tomato! The pasta was coated with the basil pesto beautifully like a second skin and it gives the pasta a nutty yet perfume kind of sensation and taste that the basil has! Really delicious and love the addition of grated parmesan on top of it to finish off the pasta! 

Beautiful hand made pasta & well seasoned dish! Great option for those who seek vegetarian option 

Finale

Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower (RM25)

The last sharing dish we had was the Moroccan Spiced Cauliflower with Saffron Yogurt & Rum Soaked Raisins. For this dish which is quite reasonably priced dish yet it was still rather small to feed the stomach of 5.. 

The moment this dish arrives to the table, it looks pretty and really resembles the colours of Morocco spice market which is really amazing! 

The cauliflower is really packed with the spices that you would associate with the Morocco Spice Market that was saffron, ginger, turmeric and a hint of cumin which has the ability to make your taste buds travel to that country itself.. 

The saffron yogurt does gives it a relief from the paprika which was present towards the end of the palate and the rum raisin gives it a hint of sweet molasses to give the dish a difference in terms of texture and taste rather than it being overwhelmed with spices.. 

Sadly the dessert which we looked forward in ordering wasn't available as the kitchen closed at 10:30pm. So remember to order everything before the kitchen closes on you! 

Verdict: Great place for gathering

Affordable pricing & great list of wines

Food is really interesting and well made!

Their menu do change sometimes but please check with their server!

Must have :

Fried polenta cake 

Ambience: 3/5

Food:4/5

Price:3.5/5

Service:3.5/5

Drift Dining & Bar

38, Jalan Bedara,

Bukit Bintang 

50200

Kuala Lumpur 

Opening Hours:

4pm- Late

Monday- Sunday