A vibrant new restaurant in Kuala Lumpur offers a rich panoply of Spanish tapas and dishes. — Photos: Las Meninas
Perched in a quiet corner of central Kuala Lumpur’s new behemoth The Exchange TRX mall is Las Meninas.
The Spanish restaurant is awash in bright, festive hues and has a lively bar area that segues into a cosy dining area. The outside dining area is festooned with foliage and the overall vibe draws the mind to sunny days in Spain’s vivacious city of Barcelona.
Las Meninas is inspired by artist Diego Velazquez’ famed 1656 masterpiece of the same name, which has mesmerised people across the world for centuries.
The eatery is the collaborative brainchild of the Cinnamon Group (which owns and operates restaurants like Aliyaa and Bocado) as well as Valiram (which has brought in fashion brands like Michael Kors and Hermes, and is also the supporting force behind eateries like Quivo and Bacha Coffee).
De Ponte hopes the restaurant becomes the spot of choice for people looking for a wide range of Spanish tapas.
A meal here is designed and wrapped around the concept of Spanish tapas, says the restaurant’s F&B events manager Natalia De Ponte.
“We kind of want to make this like an extensive tapas restaurant, so we recently just changed our menu and added more tapas.
“So if you go to any Spanish restaurant in Malaysia – the tapas are very similar. So we wanted to try and extend that and make it more unique, especially because we don’t serve pork and only use halal-sourced meats.
“In Spain, people typically eat a lot of pork, so that’s why we are trying to be different and see what we can do to come up with tapas options that are pork-free,” says De Ponte.
The eatery has a vivacious energy and charm. — Las Meninas
The kitchen is helmed entirely by local chefs who were all trained under Spanish chefs and have since developed their culinary chops and love for Spanish food. Affable restaurant manager Poul Riche is also on hand to provide information or guide you through your Spanish odyssey here.
The tapas selections at Las Meninas are indeed very, very extensive so you’ll be simply spoilt for choice.
Of what’s on offer, look at starting with the Pimiento De Padron (RM38) which is essentially Spanish fried mini green peppers served with sea salt.
The peppers are piquant and lively, and the sea salt adds a touch of salinity to the proceedings, embodying this light, vivacious opener with a salty kick.
The mini green peppers make for lively meal openers.
The Croquetas (RM25) meanwhile feature crisp, rotund balls filled with mushroom bechamel and served with a black truffle mayonnaise.
Each fat parcel is packed with rustic, creamy, earthy notes that are enlivened even further with the addition of the truffle mayonnaise.
This is a meal that is like going to a concert and discovering a brand-new star in the form of the opening act.
The croqueta, filled with mushroom bechamel, is a hedonistic, vegetarian delight.— Las Meninas
The Queso de Cabra (RM29) is made up of deep-fried semi-cured Spanish goat cheese with lemon honey sauce.
This is a meal that is the dictionary definition of “hedonistic”. Each offering is deep-fried to perfection and retains crunch on the outside and ooey-gooey cheesy goodness inside.
This is then emboldened with the addition of the lemon honey sauce, which adds a sweet contrast to the meal that takes it from “good” to “extraordinary” in one fell swoop.
Deep-fried goat's cheese with a lemon honey sauce might just become your new favourite thing to eat. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star
The tapas fiesta continues with the Chuletos De Cordero (RM59) which is composed of two pieces of grilled lamb cutlets with aromatic herbs, garlic, olive oil and aioli smeared atop.
The lamb is cooked perfectly and still retains a juicy pink inner core, which in turn means the meat is incredibly tender and malleable.
This is a dish that takes you on a short, sweet meander through the wonders and pleasures of lamb done well.
The lamb cutlets have been cooked to perfection and retain a juicy succulence.
Next, take a sojourn through aquatic waters with the Gambas Al Ajillo (RM45), a tapas staple that features sizzling tiger prawns with olive oil, garlic, chilli and parsley, served with bread.
This is a heart-warming instant scene-stealer that features fat, fluffy prawns drenched in olive oil suffused with garlicky nuances and a hint of fire, courtesy of the dried chillies in the mix.
It is absolutely impossible not to fall in love with this dish – be warned, you will fall for its charms.
Plumb the depths of oceanic delights with the Pulpo a la Gallega (RM95) which is essentially grilled Atlantic octopus on a bed of truffle mashed potatoes with Spanish paprika and aioli.
The octopus is cooked to perfection, retaining a light char, a voluptuous mouthfeel and a slight buoyancy that means it is has an instantly addictive quality. The only downside is the mashed potatoes which have a slightly gritty feel, as though there are tiny little pebbles interspersed here.
The seafood paella offers a delicious dive through the treasures of the sea. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star
Move on to more substantial fare in the form of the Paella de Marisco (RM55 for one person; RM99 for two people). Here, Spanish bomba rice is cooked with black tiger prawns, whole black mussels, squid, clam and peas in what proves to be a fabulous odyssey through the bounty of the sea.
The rice has a lovely crust (soccarat) that imbues a texture that flows fluidly between slight crispness and chewy bite and this is accentuated by the livewire of sea-faring flavours that have seeped through every morsel of rice. It is an unforgettably good dish – one that provide euphoria in every mouthful.
End your meal on a sweet note with the Churros (RM28) served with chocolate sauce, pistachio crème anglaise and a berry marmalade. Churros are fried batons of dough that are dusted with sugar and served everywhere in Spain.
The churros are the perfect crisp, doughy sweet treat to end your meal here. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star
Here, the churros are sensational – each long log features a crispy outer carapace that segues into a soft, doughy interior that is fantastic on its own, but even better when dunked into the chocolate sauce provided on the side.
No Spanish meal would be complete without the charms of Sangria (RM42 a glass). The eatery has three variants that incorporate either white wine, red wine or rosé.
The rose sangria offers lots of festive, fruity fun in a glass. — LAS MENINAS
Rosé sangria is particularly rare in the Klang Valley, so if you’re looking for something off-the-beaten track, you would do well to try this. The sangria is enriched with wine, brandy and rum and an assortment of fruits and is a light, flirty drink that delivers pure shots of fun.
Ultimately a meal at Las Meninas is transportive. It makes you feel – at least for an hour or two – as though you are experiencing a slice of life in Spain. And it’s an experience so wonderful, you’ll want to repeat it again and again.
