TUCKED away in a row of shop lots in Damansara Kim – situated between Petaling Jaya and Taman Tun Dr Ismail – is Le Sense, a Chinese restaurant serving Modern Chinese Cuisine (Cantonese) that offers a unique fine dining experience.
Instead of having a fixed menu like most restaurants – or even something more seasonal as is the trend – the menu at Le Sense is tailor-made for each diner(s).
No, the staff here don’t have mind-reading abilities, but this arrangement means no walk-ins are allowed, and anyone who wants to eat here has to make reservations at least a day or two in advance.
According to restaurant proprietor Annan and owner of La Moon, a guest just has to come in or call and say how many people they plan to have come for dinner and what their budget is per person. For dinner, it has to be at least RM250++ per person, while for lunch it’s a bit lower at RM138++.
With his information, the staff at Le Sense will curate a menu and send it over. Prospective diners will also be asked if they have any dietary restrictions for the kitchen staff to keep in mind.
The guests or whoever is making the booking will get to see the menu beforehand and note any changes they would like to see. After some haggling, the menu is finalised and the dinner is on.
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Corkage is free for those who want to bring in their own alcohol to enjoy with their meal.
For the purposes of this article we were treated to a seven-course (including dessert) dim sum lunch menu, made fresh on the day, which is what Le Sense promises to all their customers.
That being said, this is not exclusively a dim sum restaurant, with dinner being of the more ala carte variety.
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The dishes we had were Truffled Dumpling (xiaolongbao), Shellfish Fritters, Kagoshima Pork (fish maw bouillion), Yuba Skin Roulade (tofu skin roll with collagen demi-glace), Daikon Radish, King Prawn Wonton (smoked dover sole egg noodle broth), and a Savoury Dessert (Yam Croquette and an Egg tart).
These dishes were served individually, with restaurant supervisor Adyson, explaining the provenance of each in turn – though meals can also be served in the more traditional Chinese communal fashion where everything is served at once.
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While the dishes differed in taste and texture (mouthfeel), what they all had in common was that they were all delicate, flavourful, and meticulously worked over. You can tell they were made fresh to order.
For example, the King Prawn Wonton’s noodles were made in-house, the broth made using just three ingredients and was slow cooked over six hours, and the wonton itself has two different types of prawn (one imported, one local).
Other highlights include the Truffled Dumpling, which is not a soup dumpling so it won’t burn your tongue, the Yuba Skin Roulade, which offered a crispy counterpoint to most of the delicate dishes, and the Daikon Radish, which offered textural variety in one bite with the crispy exterior and the soft and slightly sweet interior.
In Anann’s explanation of what makes Le Sense unique, the word ‘curate’ came up a lot, which describes the experience at the restaurant. It’s not a big space, with seating for 20-25 people at the most so it’s really a place for those looking for a tailor-made experience.
“The idea of Le Sense is actually Chinese, more Oriental, more sublime, we want to make it a little bit more fine dining, not so much business-like but the more private ambiance,” he explains. – The Vibes, December 30, 2022
