Dean & Deluca @ Pavilion

When The Press Room Bistro, one of the places I go to for Josper-oven specialities (occasionally) closed in 2017, I was sad and disappointed as I've always found my dining experiences there (since 2014) to be very satisfying (and couldn't understand why they weren't able to survive).  I had written three blogposts on the place in the past (how about a little recollection here, here and here).

So, out of sentimental reasons, I decided to follow the space to see what would take over in its place.  Some time later, I saw the space boarded up with the signage of Dean & Deluca but it took an eternity (about a year, I think) before it finally opened (and that was in August last year).

Based on the reviews I read, the one here is on a much smaller scale compared to their other international outlets with no gourmet food hall concept.  I did see some limited merchandise on sale.

let's begin with the Eggs Atlantic @ RM26, a popular brekkie choice with many (me included).  Well, who doesn't like smoked salmon and poached eggs, right?  It comes served on English muffin with sauteed vegetables, a fresh salad (with cherry tomatoes) and some peppery arugula as well.  Actually, this wasn't what I ordered initially (on my maiden visit) but more on that later.

It's been a while since I've had myself some good poached eggs.  My favourite way of having my poached eggs done is by the freestyle method (by swirling it in a pot of simmering water), not in cling film or a mould! I'm such a fusspot, aren't I?  The folding of the egg whites over the yolk freehand yields the fluffiest soft whites (I feel) with an absolutely runny yolk if cooked to perfection...and this was cooked perfectly.  And with that runny egg yolk oozing down onto the smoked salmon below and the bread soaking up all that lusciousness (you can't even tell the yolk apart from the sauce!) but who cares, it's just a mouthful of deliciousness! ^o^

Some hollandaise sauce can be cloyingly heavy....and I've had my fair share of those.  But not this one.  This was beautifully done...not too thick but with just the right consistency and acidity to bring that hint of freshness to the sauce.  The only thing I found peculiar was that I thought I tasted something sweet in the sauce.  That's when I realised that they must have sprinkled some sugar on top to get that bit of charring on the hollandaise sauce (coz I bit into some sugar crystals that hadn't melted completely).  You don't need to brulee the top if you ask me.

So, did I enjoy my breakfast of poached eggs?  What do you think?...with the plate wiped clean like that..haha! :D  Only the decorative curly-leaf parsley 'survived'...wuahahahaha! :P

When I was here another time with my sister-in-law, we had the Eggs Benedict @ RM20 which was similar to the earlier Eggs Atlantic I had in every sense of the word (and by that I meant it was beautifully cooked with the same good flavours) except this one had beef bacon instead of smoked salmon.

On another visit with yet another sister-in-law, we ordered the Eggs Florentine @ RM18 (with add-on sauteed mushrooms @ RM5) to share as I simply love sauteed spinach.  Again, the poached eggs were expertly executed.  And I did spot one difference with the one from a week before...there was no bruleed thingy on top of the hollandaise sauce but a sprinkle of black pepper instead which I much prefer (a different cook must have been manning the kitchen).

What really surprised me (on both occasions) was how good the sauteed vegetables tasted...especially the potatoes (wished there were more of it than just 2 cubes).  There were cubes of carrots, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes and finely diced onions.  Usually, the vegetable component is an afterthought (sometimes they would just throw some salad leaves together and call that a salad!)...but not here.  Here, they took the extra effort to make sure they were equally worthy on the plate.

Our other dish for sharing was the Bacon & Eggs @ RM16 which consisted of eggs done any style and beef bacon on toast served with a fresh salsa.  I thought I should give the scrambled eggs a chance (finally!) and they were cooked well, not too stiff nor too runny.  Though I did enjoy the scrambled eggs, it isn't going to pip the poached eggs to first place anytime soon. :P

I thought the beef bacon was tasty and of a good quality...and the fresh salsa turned out to be a fresh tomato salsa with diced onions and parsley.  This would be the choice for smaller eaters looking for a lighter breakfast.  Otherwise, there's always the option to add on toast @ RM2, English muffin @ RM5, eggs @ RM5, beef bacon or chicken sausage @ RM6 and smoked salmon @ RM10 to make it a more substantial meal.

No breakfast is complete without a good cup of coffee as companion.  I really enjoyed the Hot Hazelnut Latte @ RM12.

Aiks, why is the latte art facing the other way (away from the cafe's name printed on the cup)?  Left-handed barista?  Or I am supposed to hold the cup with my right hand and the printed name should rightly face outwards for others to see?...heheh! ;D

The Hot Cappuccino @ RM14 was equally good.

Water is foc but is served only if you ask for it.  Hey, the glass is imprinted with the cafe's name too....nice. What wasn't as nice?  My sister-in-law's fresh orange juice served in a single-use plastic cup....tsk...tsk! >_<

Looks like all iced drinks are served that way...so was my Iced Hazelnut Latte @ RM13 on one visit.  I can understand if it's for take-away, but not dine-in.  They can have printed glasses for water, but don't have glasses for iced drinks?  That's not acceptable and I hope to see an improvement in that aspect.

Service is always pleasant but they need work at being a little bit more attentive to what the customer orders (or says).  In one visit, the add-on mushrooms were supposed to be on the plate of Bacon & Eggs but they ended up on our other dish of Eggs Florentine.  On my first visit, I ordered Eggs Florentine but got Eggs Atlantic instead.  I didn't make a fuss since they were predominantly the same, poached eggs with hollandaise sauce, except one had spinach and the other smoked salmon (+ I had already dug in before realising that I had gotten the wrong dish).  And then I was billed for Eggs Florentine Atlantic.  Ah, I guess this is one time that having snapshots of the menu and food (finally) paid off....hehe!  I checked the menu pic and realised that Eggs Florentine Atlantic was supposed to come with both smoked salmon and spinach (+ it was pretty obvious from the name of the dish too).  I showed them the pic of my dish which only had smoked salmon (not that I thought they wouldn't believe me) and they were quickly apologetic and amended my bill.

Check out a more recent post on the place here.

My Personal Opinion

It took me a while before I made my first visit because I've been influenced by the not-so-favourable reviews I've been reading of the place.  People started to compare them to their other outlets in Thailand and Singapore and felt that this one wasn't of the same standard in terms of...well, just about everything...food, service, ambience, size (of the place), menu choices, merchandise and no gourmet food or groceries for sale.

Well, I've not been to any of their other outlets elsewhere, so I'm privileged in that sense I have no comparisons to make...haha! :D  So what if it's smaller and have a slightly different concept.  People just need to evaluate it based on whether they like the food or not...and I'm glad to say that I did.  It was one of the better poached eggs I've had in a long time with care and effort put into the making of the side vegetables (and not just some lettuce leaves thrown together on a plate).

From eggs atlantic to benedict to florentine (and almost florentice atlantic...kekeke), I've tried them all!  If you love poached eggs as much as I do, you should give the ones here a chance to impress you.

A breakfast with poached eggs here is a meal that's instantly easy to love...and at these prices (around RM20) at Pavilion, just take my money already. ^.^

Dean & Deluca
C3.10.02 Level 3
Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2110 0140