WE tried all five lunch options at Joon Dining, a restaurant located in Seksyen 51A, Petaling Jaya.  

Our meals showcased the head chef’s flair for European cuisine with Asian accents.  

A three-course menu at RM48 and a four-course one at RM60 seemed reasonable.  

I loved the first course - ciabatta roll with garlic lemon butter and crispy garlic flakes.  

We shared three of the starters: roasted cauliflower, fungi, and baby octopus.  

The roasted cauliflower came with sultanas and pumpkin seeds and was flavoured with salted egg gribiche (a French cold egg sauce). It was pleasant. 

The fungi starter was sauteed wild mushrooms and slivers of duck gizzard in balsamic cream with onsen egg in the centre. Paired with large croutons, it was delicious.   

The baby octopus was served Ajillo-style, with pomelo salad, crisp garlic, and chilli flakes. The mirin tamarind dressing worked well on it to create a lovely, balanced salad. 

Two wispy pani puri, filled with chopped salmon and compressed apple, and laced with ginger ponzu dressing vanished in a bite.  

I would have liked to have the whole mushroom cappuccino to myself. The foamy soup was rich and aromatic with just a hint of truffle oil, served with super thin melba toast. 

Our first main course was the Vongole pasta with Borneo clams, garlic, and chilli. 

The addition of tuak lifted it to another dimension, gelling with the juices of the clams and flavouring the fresh, al dente pasta. I slurped up the sauce.  

There was a Korean twist to the lobster pasta, which was cooked with kimchi, adding a hot and sour flavour to it.  

It was not bad, except that we spent time grappling with the wild-caught spiny lobster, which didn’t have much meat to it. We paid an extra RM18 for this. 

We fared better with the super seafood paella that featured mixed seafood, arborio rice with tomato cream, edamame, and blobs of sweet basil aioli.  

For this we paid RM28 more, but it was worth it as it was loaded with seafood like clams, crab, lobster, squid, and fish.  

Free range dry aged chicken confit with sweet corn velouté presented us with tender, flavourful meat, but I did miss that richness of duck confit cooked in its own fat.  

The sweet corn velouté and tajin lyonnaise potatoes accompanied the chicken. 

In between, we had the Izumidai, a sashimi-grade tilapia, which had been dry-aged for seven days to enhance its flavour and texture.  

The fish was broiled and served with ulam raja parmesan espuma, salted vegetables and choy poh popcorn. The fish stood out with the complex, creamy espuma. 

The Mala Mongolian lamb ragout with green radish had deep salty flavours from the fermented black bean in it.  

We missed the “mala” feel of Sichuan pepper. The lamb came with deep-fried mini mantou. 

Dessert was a lemon cheese curd tart with peaches and blueberries.  

Joon Dining is at Lot 1, B. Land PJ, 2 Jalan 51A/225, Petaling Jaya. Call 016-848 4257 for enquiries. – October 7, 2023. 

* 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.