A first look at Carbon in Kota Damansara, where open-fire cooking takes centre stage
PETALING JAYA, Aug 20 — Newly opened in Kota Damansara is Carbon, the latest in what feels like a relentless slew of restaurants that offer seasonal chef-driven tasting menus, usually with a gimmick or two up their sleeves.
Characterised by chic decor and a polished social media presence, these places often flaunt some kind of premium aspect to the experience that doesn’t always deliver, despite charging a hefty price to match.
Which is why I was pleasantly surprised when, halfway through the meal here, I took a bite out of a fiercely charred floret of locally-sourced broccolini and thoroughly enjoyed it.
It sounds odd to heap praise on a seemingly modest dish before even discussing the more conventionally exciting stuff (dry-aged grain-fed duck, anyone?) but I always get excited when something unassuming truly impresses.
It’s the definition of destination dining: The restaurant is surrounded by offices in a semi-industrial area, making for a rather quiet approach at night.
Carbon or charcoal is a recurring motif, from the dark branch-like door handle to the imposing calligraphy piece of the character 炭 - Mandarin for carbon - with the wooden counter surrounding the open kitchen capping it off.
Chef and owner David Tay previously worked at Labyrinth, ranked 11 on Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants 2023, and even spent time as a butcher at Meat the Butcher, also in Singapore.
The entrance to Carbon.
Carbon started from a conversation with partners in 2020, with the feeling that many places in Malaysia charge more than they’re worth, leaving a gap in the market for them to come in and do better.
"If I take anyone’s dollar, I want to live up to that dollar,” says Tay.
He describes much of his experience in restaurants as "lean, focused on profit”, relying largely on the "goodwill of the staff” which he didn’t enjoy.
Instead, he believes in reinvesting revenue into the team and staff, and creating a good work environment for them will in turn enrich the guest experience.
Turning back to the food at Carbon: Locally-sourced ingredients and charcoal cooking play a central role, the latter in the form of grilled proteins, or as a component: Burnt onion oil, for example.
But perhaps most interestingly, Tay explained that he wanted us to free ourselves of certain expectations or preconceived notions.
Each course is explained only as it is served to you, with the intention of leaving the diner receptive to the unexpected as opposed to being limited by their own imagination, which is a sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with.
The open heart(h) of the restaurant, for all diners to see.
The restaurant is pork-free and the only decision we had to make was a choice between fish or duck for the main course.
I went with the duck, eager to see if the open-fire grilling was up to par on the dry-aged protein.
We were soon served a trio of handheld snacks that we had been eagerly watching being prepared, like hungry hawks.
Delicately sweet, the flower crab tartlet was seasoned with soy sauce and adorned with ikura, outshining the slightly under seasoned torched salmon and tamagoyaki, which were presented on a rice cracker.
The last of these was Wagyu beef tartare served on a potato páve, the latter a classic Thomas Keller preparation that had a viral moment on TikTok a while back.
Unfortunately, I felt it should have been crispier, to really provide some textural contrast to the delicious and tender tartare.
The beetroot-cured salmon that followed was much better.
Beetroot-cured salmon, fermented pumpkin and beetroot puree, herb oil and dill. A highlight of a dish.
It was thinly sliced, served with a drizzle of herb oil, a few sprigs of dill and two purees: Fermented pumpkin and beetroot.
The fishiness was gone and instead, the richness of the salmon melded with the sweetness of the beetroot, beautifully balanced against the green and refreshing dill and herb oil.
A chawanmushi with prawns, sea snails and little clams followed, which was delicious and emblematic of some Japanese influence that would later crop up again.
The aforementioned charred broccolini arrived, dressed in burnt onion oil and carrot puree on the side.
This was a standout dish, with each bite of broccolini bringing forth an intensely smoky, singed flavour.
Bitterness, provided by the oil, was welcome and balanced out by the puree’s sweetness.
Purees showed up multiple times throughout the meal, and I found them excellent each time.
Chawanmushi at Carbon (left). I was most impressed with the charred local broccolini (sourced from Cameron Highlands) with burnt onion oil and carrot puree (right).
Tay later mentioned that before operations began, purees sometimes proved challenging for some of the staff; I couldn’t tell when eating it.
I’m always happy to support restaurants that are willing to invest in the growth of their staff, and in this case, it seems to have paid off.
Proceedings continued with another impeccable dish: a fresh tiger prawn, grilled to perfection (and thoughtfully deshelled, I might add) and topped with strips of nori, served atop cold somen with "Mandarin spice”.
I’ve come across many variations of cold somen, many of which are enjoyable but mostly forgettable, but the "Mandarin spice” left a lasting impression.
It consisted of dried mandarin peel (a classic ingredient in Chinese cooking, 陈皮) and some fiery peppers, adding a spicy and slightly bitter kick to the final dish.
Grilled tiger prawn, cold somen and "mandarin spice” (left). The 15-day dry-aged duck breast from Perak was another standout (right).
Finally, we arrived at the main course, which we oohed and aahed over as it was carved in front of us
It was a splendid 15-day dry-aged duck breast, grilled over an open flame and still pink in the middle, served with a lavish sauce of duck jus and Cointreau, and pumpkin two ways on the side: Grilled and pureed.
A maitake, white corn and mizuna donabe was the final dish before dessert, showing some Japanese influence again.
The interplay between the sweet white corn and savoury maitake made for a hearty conclusion, washed down with a robust three-day duck consommé.
A funky combination of desserts proved a hit all around, from a boozy tiramisu (faithfully scooped from a tray), to a fermented pineapple and lime ice cream served on a bed of kuih kapit-like crisps and finally a trio of chocolate bonbons from Chocolate Concierge with flavours including lime and lemongrass, mango and passionfruit and teh tarik.
For RM268 per person, the experience definitely delivers.
There’s no doubt this is a special occasion kind of place, and while I didn’t fawn over every dish on the night, I enjoyed the prospect of being surprised at every course.
A bowl of the aforementioned donabe (left). A tiramisu that’s nothing less than excellent (right).
Come September, Carbon will transition out of the soft-launch phase, with Tay planning to incorporate better ingredients and new ideas in the menu, reflected in the new price of RM388++ per person.
Carbon
7, Jalan Pekaka 8/1D, Kota Damansara, Petaling Jaya, Selangor
Open Thursday to Sunday, 6-10.30pm
Tel: 012-9887219 / 03-6734 8090
https://www.instagram.com/carbon.kl/
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