IT’S a breakfast that could build up to a hearty “layered” brunch if you want it to. We were at Ultime Atelier & Boulangerie in Kuala Lumpur on a Saturday morning when the city was quiet and we could take things slow at breakfast time.

Trays of freshly baked sourdough, baguettes, croissants and brioche greet you on entering Ultime. I’m drawn to the Danishes with different toppings, especially the fruity ones of cherries and strawberries.

I’m keen to try the Faluche, a round dense white bread from northern France that looks like a deflated football.

The breakfast menu at RM25 (till May 31) offers you two bread or pastry selections with butter or jam and Americano coffee. Add RM8 and you can have orange juice or other coffee varieties.

If you bring a partner, you can share different breads and pastries. It would be so good if there are takeaways for these breads and pastries.

Still peckish? Add RM25 and can have a bowl of granola with nuts and berries, yoghurt and maple syrup. You can also choose to have eggs in an omelette, scrambled or sunny side up, or a garden salad.

Then it’s almost a lunch menu with pasta marinara (RM35), grilled Ora King salmon with truffle cream linguine (RM55) and wagyu hamburger with port wine and grilled vegetables (RM70). There’s a selection of cakes and tarts (RM18) to end it on a sweet note.

It’s the ultimate croissant here at Ultime, made with Brittany French butter. You sink into flaky layers, and get wowed by a soft, moist, buttery centre. I’m into the fruit and custard Danish pastries, and the less sweet cinnamon roll.

As for the breads, the pillowy Faluche tastes wonderful with the different kinds of butter served – charcoal truffle butter, unsalted butter, salted butter and pesto.

The charcoal truffle butter is outstanding and I love it with the various breads. I tasted a brioche filled with sweet cream; I would have preferred it without.

For the next course of our breakfast, we shared a granola and an omelette. The granola was lovely with toasty oats, nuts like pecans, almonds and walnuts, dried cranberries, fresh fruits like blueberries, blackberries and strawberries. It was topped with yoghurt and drizzled with Canadian maple syrup. I was pleased that there was no milk in it, and the granola stayed crunchy and nice.

The omelette was perfectly done, with a soft, creamy centre. A side salad comes with it, so the garden salad option can be ignored.

As for the two pasta options – pasta marinara and grilled Ora King salmon with truffle cream linguine – the second was a better choice as the linguine was al dente and the truffle cream embraced the pasta.

Ora King salmon is a premium ocean-farmed salmon from New Zealand noted for its sustainable breeding practices. It was a rich luscious salmon, pan-fried to perfection topping the linguine.

The meat patty for the wagyu hamburger is made from the cutaways from Tokushima wagyu. Generally, I like a firmer mouthfeel for the patty: this one was crusty on the outside but a little too soft and creamy on the inside, as expected from this wagyu.

Desserts at Ultime include burnt cheesecake, pandan cake, pecan tart, chocolate walnut brownie and chocolate tart.

On Saturdays and Sundays, there are degustation menus for lunch at RM120 and RM260, and for dinner at RM390 and RM650, adding more for wine pairing.  Visit ultime.com.my for the menus.

Ultime Atelier & Boulangerie is at Unit 4-1, Level 3A, Menara Noble Land, 2 Jalan Changkat, Lorong Ceylon, Kuala Lumpur. Call 03-2704 0988, 012 858 8016 for reservations. – May 1, 2021.

* 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.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.