Sink your teeth into baby-soft, succulent, melt-in-the-mouth baby back ribs that are unforgettable. — Photos: YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
We all have those dreams – those lofty, tenuous ambitions of one day writing a book or opening a bookstore or moving to a far-flung part of the world and living out our golden years. But few of us actually get round to doing the things that fuel our dreams.
Having lived, breathed and dreamt about food for years, long-term friends Damien Lim Yat Seng and Loke Wai Fun finally decided to open that restaurant they had talked about for so long.
Lim is a chartered accountant while Loke used to run a school canteen and had a catering business specialising in nutrition-dense meals. Both love going out to eat and over the years, spent a considerable amount of their free time doing exactly this.
“Before we opened the restaurant, we had a habit of regularly eating out to try different things. We travelled quite extensively, too. So we thought, ‘what if we had an avenue of repeating the experience or sharing the experience with other people?’
“That was something we felt we wanted to do. I think we also felt that there’s a spot that’s missing in the food scene here where the ingredients speak for itself. If you feed the ingredients with respect, the ingredients will speak for itself,” says Lim.
And that is how the two ended up opening Black Salt, a restaurant in an unassuming part of Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur that pays homage to their love of making good food. Loke says the location was selected primarily because the duo felt that the area’s denizens were the perfect audience for the story they were trying to tell.
Lim (left) and Loke are friends and avid foodies who decided to band together to open a restaurant that champions simple food made well.
“My mum lives in this neighbourhood and I have always loved it because I find that I can express myself more and people get what I am saying. So the place, the menu, our philosophy – it is all a setting for us to do what we want because we don’t follow trends. If we want to show what we do, it better be in the right place,” says Loke.
At the eatery, Loke spearheads the food, the highlight of which is a charcuterie (a French term traditionally used to describe prepared meats made from pork), all made in-house, including house-made sausages, bacon and a range of pates.
“I think having your own charcuterie is always a better choice because you can determine how much salt goes in everything. Now everybody is concerned about cured meat because of the salt and nitrate in it. Here, we cure it for way longer than a lot of people because we use very, very little nitrate,” says Loke.
At Black Salt, love and care form the foundational force upon which all the meals are built. The menu offers a range of meals that seamlessly bridge the East-West divide and are tantalising regardless of your own eating predilections.
To begin, start with the Organic Chicken Liver Pate & House Sourdough Toast (RM40). The chicken liver pate is made with spices and cognac while the sourdough toast is produced in-house and depends on the day’s specialty, which could include bread infused with chilli or the Sarawak buah dabai (a kind of Borneo olive), or even black bean.
Sausages made in-house showcase Loke’s kitchen skills and ability to extract flavour out of cured meats.
The chicken liver pate is sublime – silken smooth, creamy with an unctuous, intoxicating undercurrent that lends itself to a wondrous flavour odyssey that is enhanced by the toast, which has a crisp edge and a good chew and bite.
Another offering from the charcuterie is the House Sausages & Corn Polenta (RM65) which features two fat pork sausages, crispy pan-fried gnocchi, corn polenta and a red wine jus reduction. The sausages are in a sheep and pork casing and have a fat-to-meat ratio that is as close to perfection as you can find in a sausage, with a lubricious quality that tides it all together. These are sausages that will fill your stomach and your soul in one fell swoop.
The polenta meanwhile is a thing of beauty. Loke actually shucks fresh corn and blitzes it in a food processor, so you won’t get the powdery texture of commercial polenta. Instead, you’ll taste a smoother, creamier, sweeter offering that has an instant addictive pull.
Up next, have a go at the Pork Bacon Steak (RM59). The house-cured bacon shoulder has been cut thickly to give it that steak-like configuration and this is accentuated by onions, pumpkin, gnocchi and a bacon mustard sauce. The pork is the highlight here and is rife with meaty overtures – basically the equivalent of bacon on steroids.
Thick-cut bacon feeds the gluttonous in mind, body and spirit. — YAP CHEE HONG/The Star
For a dive through aquatic waters, take the plunge and reap the rewards of the Seafood Paella (RM78) which is made up of saffron arborio rice, seafood stock, a humongous prawn and lots of squid.
The paella isn’t served the conventional way in a cooking pan, but this doesn’t really matter. The rice is fabulous, each kernel distinct and fluffy and the socarrat (crusty bits layering the pan and the rice) that define paella are prominent in this concoction.
The crusty components give the rice added depth and dimension and this is accentuated by the prawns and squid that imbue this underwater tribute with a triumphant overlay.
The eatery also has a few items from the charcuterie that require a two-day pre-order. Of what’s on offer (including whole roasted cured duck and lamb and pork sausage Wellington), do try the BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs (RM172). The char siew cured baby back ribs are served with pickles and pan-fried rice rolls (cheong fun).
This is a mammoth meal that will appeal to those with carnivorous inclinations. The baby back rib is the section of the pork between the loin and the ribs and is prized because it has less cartilage and a sweeter taste.
Seafood is the heart and soul of Black Salt’s paella, which is addictively good.
Here, the ribs have been glazed with a char siew sauce and have achieved that malleable, melt-in-the-mouth consistency so desired among porcine enthusiasts. The resulting texture is euphoric – juicy, incredibly tender and packed full of flavour.
The other accompaniments are honestly sideshow stars to the main attraction (although the pickles do a great job of sluicing through the richness of the meat) but let’s be honest, this dish has one lead star and her name is baby back ribs.
For something sweet, end your meal with the Grand Marnier Crepes Suzette with Vanilla Ice Cream (RM35). Nearly everything here has been made from scratch, from the crepes to the vanilla ice-cream, which uses fresh Madagascar vanilla beans and the freshly squeezed orange juice that laces the crepes.
As a result, this is a superlative edition of a classic French favourite – the crepes are soft and spongy and the orange juice and orange liqueur offer a lovely citrusy indulgence to this doughy goodness that is then taken to the next level by the vanilla ice-cream, which is honest-to-God, one of the best vanilla ice-creams in town.
The Grand Marnier crepes Suzette is wondrously good from start to finish.
Loke and Lim have devised a range of alcoholic coffees from all over the world, and you would do well to sip on the luxurious Irish Coffee (RM45) which features Italian espresso, Irish whiskey, Baileys and whipped cream.
This is a lovely, soothingly hot drink that combines coffee and alcohol in a way that calms the mind and nourishes the soul, paving the way for either a wondrous perk-me-up or a good night’s sleep.
Moving forward, Lim and Loke say they have no grand plans to expand. Instead they hope to keep producing good food and carve a niche for themselves.
“Actually I think our philosophy is to do simple things very well and this also includes using the best possible ingredients. I’m not looking to expand sideways, upwards or whatever it is. Basically we just want to do our own thing and make sure our food is good,” says Loke.
Black Salt
Block B, East Wing, 10 Semantan Service Suite
10 Jalan Semantan
Bukit Damansara
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 018-760 1600
Open Tuesday to Sunday: 11am to 10pm
