Marco Creative Cuisine, 1U - “7 courses” for under RM100

C’mon guys, you know me well enough by now to know that I’m an absolute sucker for set deals because it’s generally less money for more value. So it was a no brainer that when I heard of a place that was serving a “7 course” set menu fine dining style for under RM100, I had to pay a visit.

Marco Creative Cuisine

My experience at Marco was in May 2017, back when its set menu was going for RM78+ per person. I went with my mom as a little treat and it was a fun experience eating together for over an hour. It’s gone up to RM98+ since then so chances are, the bill will come up to slightly over a hundred for the set which despite the raise, really won’t do much to knock off its position as an affordable fine dining venue.

I should note that it’s fairly casual as a venue so you won’t be going there for the fancy atmosphere. For starters, it’s located in a mall where most are casually dressed and there isn’t a clear dress code. As in many Malaysian restaurants, you’ll find all sorts - the fancily dressed couple celebrating their anniversary, the family in their matching polo tees, the sulky preteen in the sweatpants and T-shirt, etc. So make of that what you will. 

Tell me about the food..

Allow me to take you through this course by course.

- Appetizer -

We kick things off with the appetizer, the chef’s choice of a savoury eclair. topped with aubergine caviar, green chili pesto and tomato confit. The pastry was more dense than I would’ve liked, but just the right amount of savoury to satisfy. 

- Soup -

For soup, you get an option between these three. We opted for the french onion soup and truffled mushroom soup.

French onion soup with french toast

I enjoyed this a lot! Melted cheese topped the soup which made a hearty dish even richer. The fresh toast was delicious and buttery. If it sounds indulgent, it’s because it was.

My mom opted for the truffled mushroom soup, described as a plant-based creamy mushroom soup infused with truffle oil. Gotta admit I didn’t taste the truffle but assuming the plant referred to was the mushrooms, it was a solid mushroom soup and we drank every drop.

- Entrée -

For our entrée, surprise surprise, I opted for the savoury ice cream salad. This was really fun to eat because you know you’re having a salad, but your brain tricks you into thinking its dessert. It’s brilliant, especially for those who aren’t conventionally healthy food lovers.

The ice cream wasn’t weird either because I was half expecting frozen dressing. It tasted mild and salty, but not overwhelmingly so. Dishes like these give Marco its middle name and I wouldn’t mind having salad and ice cream more often.

When we visited, the menu offered chicken liver parfait with bread and apple chips. It doesn’t seem to be part of the menu anymore but for posterity, I will note here that the first few bites were delicious. However, liver has a very strong flavour, and we left it mostly untouched after we ran out of bread to mop it up with.

- Main -

My choice of main was the duck breast, which was perfectly cooked and absolutely delicious! They served it a little differently when I had it, and was described as “sous vide pan seared Pekin duck breast with orange puree, roasted beetroot and Valrhona Dark Chocolate”. They’ve changed it up a bit now, calling it the Smoked Duck Breast as seen above, but if they’ve cooked it as perfectly as they did before, I’m sure it’s still delicious.

Best duck breast I’ve ever had.

My mom opted for the salmon, which when we had it, was described as “Atlantic salmon with squid ink hollandaise, garnished with pickled beetroot and green chile pesto”.  It’s now the Salmon with Green Chili Pesto. It was good then, and if they’re using the same green chili pesto in the appetizer, it should still be good now.

- Desserts -

We’re at my favourite part of a meal - desserts! Honestly, I haven’t found a single fine dining restaurant that serves better dessert than restaurants that specialise only in desserts. But restaurants can’t get away without serving it either!

Here, we got the crème brûlée which was yummy but not the best I’ve had. It could’ve been creamier and its crust could’ve been thinner, but it was decent nonetheless. However, it was a while since I’ve been there so maybe they’ve improved since then? Still a good choice for dessert, I reckon.

When we were there, we opted for the Raspberry Decadence, a raspberry cheesecake with passion fruit gel and ice cream. It’s since been removed from the menu, which is just as well, because I remember it tasting pretty meh. They’ve replaced it with something called the Texture of Chocolate, which sounds amazing! But I’ll have to pay another visit to give it a try.

- Palate cleanser  and drinks -

If you’ve been counting you’ll see that we’re at 5 courses and at the end of the meal. I was a little doubtful about calling this a 7 course menu (hence the inverted commas above) because here, the palate cleanser and drinks are considered a course each. This isn’t typical so in effect, it’s really a 5 course menu.

- Palate cleanser -

In the UK, I found that the water I drank had a bit of a metallic tinge (because I usually ordered tap water to save money LOL) so rather than help clear the taste of the previous course, it just left a iron-like taste on my tongue. That’s where palate cleansers come in!

The first time I had a palate cleanser, I had no clue why I was being served sorbet in between courses. Like whaat? I didn’t order this? Fortunately, I had more initiated friends which explained that it was akin to a refresh button between courses to make sure that you get to fully appreciate the flavours of each.

The waiters at Marcos are trained to explain your dish to you so rest assured, you’d get the appropriate introduction.

Velvety Matcha-Lime Shooter.

The palate cleanser was served between the entrée and the main.

Not much to say about the drinks, but I suppose it’s nice to not have to pay extra.

You should try it if…

• You want to take your partner on a nice, yet affordable meal
• You appreciate creativity in your food
• You want to try fine dining for the first time
• You want to treat your parents to something nice, but don’t want them to feel overwhelmed in an overly fancy restaurant
• You enjoy taking your time with your meal
• You’ve been there once before the menu change and wondering if it’s worth a revisit

You can make a reservation here 24 hours in advance from their website.

Minding Money Tip

Wish I knew this before I went, but booking through offpeak.com gives you a 15% discount on certain hours and days. You could even book through offpeak.com if you want to pay a visit on the same day as your booking which you can’t do on the website.

You can click on the pic above or check it out here.

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Marco Creative Cuisine

Lot G146, Ground floor (Old Wing)

1Utama Shopping Centre

47800

Petaling Jaya 

Opening Hours: 

Daily

11am-9:30pm