Chateau DeCanter @ Taman Tun Dr Ismail

As usual, after an adequately pleasant meal at Kouzu, we proceeded to Chateau DeCanter @ Taman Tun Dr Ismail as my friends like to enjoy a bit of wine after dinner.

This wine bar is a hidden gem (emphasis on 'hidden') as it's located, of all places, above a "tai chow" restaurant.  It's a corner shoplot but if you're not coming from the right direction, you might just miss the name of the place (which is only visible from the side of the shophouse).

That's because the front signage is a little bit queer, and a little bit funny, as it carry the words "every time you drink wine at home, you kill a wine bar" instead of the name of the place.  If you see these words, you're in the right place.  Walk up a flight of stairs (on the right) and you'll find Chateau DeCanter on the first floor.

The menu lists three sections....bar bites, main courses and desserts.  The bar bites include anything from french, sweet potato or porky fries to pork tacos, popcorn chicken, cheesy nachos, salmon, mushrooms and crispy pork belly.  The main courses selection covers pastas, lamb shank and lamb rack, pork knuckle, steak, salmon and salt baked chicken.  The dessert list was short and sweet with three choices.  There's also a 'Wine Tea' platter with cheeses and cold cuts to accompany your bottle of wine.

Once we were seated, we were given a wine list that reportedly showcase their top ten wines (that's according to the lady serving us, one of seven partners here) ranging from RM170 to RM400+ (if I remember correctly).  In the end, my friend picked one direct from the shelves at the bar.....

.......a Chilean wine, Cono Sur Bicicleta Merlot @ RM150 a bottle.

This Merlot was an easy wine to drink as I found it to be much lighter (and on the fruitier side) than the ones I've drank before, so I was able to drink more than one glass this time. ^_*

We were served this very refreshing tidbit of thinly sliced pickled guava which was unassumingly good. ^.^ We wished we were given more and it would have disappeared in no time as well.

Since we've already had a filling dinner, we could only muster an order of the Snack Platter @ RM35 for sharing and nibbling.  After all, our objective was to chill and drink some wine.

And when there's wine.....there's cheese...like the 'Wine Tea' Platter...but how about a  cheese fondue instead? ;)

This Snack Platter, filled with bacon wrapped asparagus, sausage, sweet potato fries, cheese and ham crackers and some plain crackers served with a hot and gooey cheese dip, was the ideal accompaniment for our bottle of wine.  I especially liked the tasty sausage and bacon wrapped asparagus.

Flipping through the menu, we couldn't resist ordering one of their three desserts, the Chocolate Brownie @ RM15 served with vanilla ice cream and chocolate sauce.

When it arrived, let's just say it wasn't among some of the better presented desserts I've seen, so I wasn't expecting much actually.  But the homemade warm chocolate brownie blew me away as to just how rich and chocolaty it was.  A spoonful of the brownie in my mouth was like eating pure melted chocolate...it was unexpectedly good! ^o^  If you're here for dinner, make sure you order this dessert for a delicious end to your meal.

There's also a live performance every night....and we had the pleasure of listening to soothing ballads and easy-going tunes on the night that we were there which was just great.

Cheers to 10 years of friendship! ^.^

(which is no mean feat for ex-colleagues to have kept in touch for this long)

And here's to another 10 (as one of my friends said)! ;)

Points to note:

1)  They allow smoking indoors (which I'm not in favour but didn't know until we got there) and noticed ashtrays on the tables.  I believe they have a separate alfresco area, so I really don't know why they would allow smoking indoors in an air-conditioned place.  We were lucky that there were hardly any smokers that night.

2)  Check out discounts offered by eatigo (for food only).

My Personal Opinion

Certainly an ideal destination to consider if you want to chill with nice wines, good music, live performance in an easy-going atmosphere.

It's a great place to wind down your evening with a little wine sipping and light conversation with friends or colleagues after a hard day's work....and oh, don't forget a side indulgence of something chocolaty while you're at it! ^o^

Cheateau DeCanter
175A Jalan Aminuddin Baki
Taman Tun Dr Ismail
60000 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 012-633 6609