A FINE thread runs through the buka puasa spread at Curate, Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur.

Take, for instance, the seafood umai-umai of baby squid, prawns, lobster and native pickle. I revelled in the sweetness and freshness of the seafood binding together with coconut oil, chopped chilli, daun kemangi and native pickles, and finished with calamansi juice. It was perky and refreshing.

This amazing Sarawak seafood appetiser kicks off this “Sajian Tradisi Kita” journey through the various states, depicting their unique ingredients and cooking styles.

Celebrity chef Fazley Yaakob steers the course, in a collaboration with Junious Dickerson, the hotel’s executive chef.

Fazley’s sup campur of smoked bone marrow, berempah spices and kampung herbs is a refined take on sup gearbox, and I applaud it.

The soup was so aromatic and flavourful. The chunk of bone marrow sitting in the soup was topped with garlic and shallots fried in kicap manis and a crispy emping.

A slice of sous vide beef tongue completed this splendid soup. The most enjoyable moment of this came with scooping up with a spoon the gelatinous mass of the marrow and slurping it up.

We tasted the chef’s signature dishes of ayam golek Pekan, kacang pool with croissant goreng, daging dendeng, tempoyak daun kayu and rendang Rembau.

Then there were the desserts of pengat durian goreng, ubi telampong, puding Di Raj and Panna Cotta Iftar.

The spicy and sweet daging dendeng stood out, as did the rendang Rembau.

For me, I love anything with durian in it, so I kept going back to the tempoyak daun kayu, which was laden with fresh herbs.

Pengat durian goreng was awesome; a whole seed of it with lush flesh had been grilled and put in the superb pengat. I was in durian heaven.

I was pleasantly surprised by the light sweetness of puding Di Raj with golden threads of egg yolk and sugar topping a creamy soup.

Ubi telampong is steamed tapioca in banana leaf served with palm syrup.

Panna Cotta Iftar has the Italian cream custard crowned with a delicate lychee jelly and ringed with sago and selasih in rose syrup.

Lepat loi, a Bugis speciality of glutinous rice wrapped in banana leaf, tapai ubi and tapai pulut were within the circle of sweets. The pillowy and heady tapai ubi is my absolute favourite.

Delicious smoked meats and seafood were in the salai platter with lemak cili api. Beef, chicken wings, udang galah, crabs and mushrooms (cendawn kukur) were smoked and paired well with the spicy lemak curry.

The nasi tradisi platter presented nasi dagang with kari ikan tongkol, nasi ulam, nasi kerabu and lontong.  Rendang tok daging, nasi kebuli kambing, lamb shank curry, mapung chilli crab and itik golek Pekan (carved coconut-marinated smoked duck with pickled jalapenos) are the other dishes in this buka puasa spread.

Alongside Malaysian fare, diners can also have their pick of modern European dishes, Arabian delicacies and Indian tandoori meats and curries.

It’s RM238 per adult, RM119 per child from now till April 25. From April 26-May 2, it’s RM198 per adult, RM99 per child.

There is also a takeaway festive set menu for four at RM118 per person from now till May 16. To book, call 03-2382 8888. – April 16, 2022.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.