If you’ve ever talked to a foreign friend or a tourist about Malaysia, you probably noticed it’s always our food that gets us most excited. Sure, we’ll mention the tall buildings or the sweltering heat, but food is what we brag about. But why is it so important to us? Maybe it’s because food brings us together, even when we don’t speak the same language. Or maybe it’s because someone else decides what’s worth celebrating, and we just go along with it.
As Akar and Terra Dining receive their first Michelin Star in this year’s Michelin Guide Kuala Lumpur & Penang, Men’s Folio catches up with the visionaries of these restaurants to understand what it takes to connect with our diverse palates and ways they challenge the notion that fine dining establishments are an intimidating experience.
“It feels good being recognised,” shares Akar’s Chef Aidan Low. “That being said, it’s also essential to acknowledge that you have much more to give. This recognition will not divert our ethos or how we operate.” As for Terra Dining’s Chef YC Chong, receiving the star was a surreal experience, as Malaysian cuisine, in its different forms, is being recognised on an international level. “I’m very happy to see our local restaurants, like Akar, which is our neighbour (in TTDI), express different stories through the lens of different chefs and find our way to stand toe-to-toe with some of the best restaurants in the world,” he says.
Terra Dining’s Star-worthy recipes are a love letter to our local favourites — just as memories are not meant to be objective accounts of history, but instead fond recollections of specific sensorial touchpoints. The laksa dish combines two traditions: one half draws from Terengganu Laksa, a heavy, coconut milk-forward dish with little acidity, so homemade lemongrass is added for balance. Volume techniques and zabaglione are used before turning it into an espuma — a foam — to pair texturally with the acidity. The other half references Sarawak Laksa: XO sauce with dried cuttlefish, and thinly-sliced squid cooked in squid-flavoured oil, forms the noodles. Although radical as a cold dish, Chong presents it in a culturally familiar way, but with a unique interpretation.
Akar’s Chef Aidan Low
Akar, too, roots itself in personal takes on Malaysian ingredients. “Everyone’s tradition is different, so although we use the same stuff, the outcome differs.” What is unique to Akar is its Japanese flair, cultivated through Low’s Japanese training and former stint at Ed.ju Omakase. “Given my background and my love for Japanese culture, we incorporate elements of Kaiseki cuisine and some Washoku into what we do, down to how we see local ingredients. Just as food has always evolved with time, these new interpretations of Malaysian cuisine allow chefs like Low and Chong to showcase their artistry and actively shape our dining culture. “I have my thoughts on local dishes and don’t hold everything sacred. If I find something that could be improved on, I say we do something about it rather than defending it aimlessly,” Chong doesn’t claim his takes to be superior, but instead stand as an unadulterated expression of his creativity.
A common thread that weaves through both the newly minted One Star restaurants is their use and celebration of local ingredients. Why the emphasis? Akar’s Chef Low sees it as an exercise of getting to know his country and origins better. “As a Malaysian Chinese, there was a lot that I did not understand about our home — and how much inspiration could be drawn from nature,” he says. Rather than considering our ingredients as either good or bad, he wants to focus on what is available around us. “Are we looking closely enough? If they are good, why are we using them? We take these conversations to farmers and the indigenous community to understand life beyond the three big ethnic groups. The goal is to take inspiration and showcase a side of Malaysia that’s not commonly portrayed.”
Terra Dining’s Chef YC Chong
For Chef Chong, insisting on local ingredients is an act of standing up as a Malaysian. “I don’t see our ingredients as particularly good—it’s about our human capital and the high demand to feed the nation. With modest wages, we can’t demand highly skilled labour to process these ingredients. Our soil and waters are beautiful, and we cultivate beautiful produce, but lapses in logistics and distribution can prevent these ingredients from reaching their prime,” he explains. Still, if the solution is to use foreign ingredients more effectively rather than supporting local produce, artisanal producers will eventually disappear, unable to sustain their businesses. Is this not an allegory for losing local talent if we don’t retain them? “Exactly,” he confirms.
As fine dining has always had a reputation for being intimidating, Akar and Terra Dining have found ways to heighten their guests’ sensorial experience without causing overwhelm. “Akar was built on creating a more intimate experience, where it feels like going to have a meal at a friend’s place. As we are trying to introduce ingredients that might catch you off guard, the last thing anyone wants to experience is a cold service, especially when they’re already out of their comfort zone,” explains Low. Terra Dining begins with the way the restaurant is set up. “No tablecloths, no confusing, elaborate set of cutlery. As Malaysians, we love our food and don’t take it too seriously — unless some neighbouring country tries to claim it — making food a very intuitive experience,” Chong adds.
Rather than treating the restaurant like a temple where one goes to worship the chef, they try to centre the experience around good food and having a great time. “If neither the chefs nor the guests enjoy the process, then food becomes purely transactional. Sometimes we forget that in the whole pursuit of technical perfection, too.” In conversation with Akar and Terra Dining, it becomes clear that what they do is not for the sake of prestige, but to offer earnest interpretations of what our land has to offer, serving up a flavour that connects others through shared lived experiences.
Akar and Terra Dining are both located in TTDI.
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