Although I’ve been to Saujana Hotel more times than I can count (most of the visits were during the time when it was known as The Hyatt Saujana), I’d never visited The Club Saujana Resort just next door (separate entrance). It certainly looks and feels more resort than hotel due to its more tropical setting and ambience.
The Club Saujana is a 105-room boutique hotel. Whereas The Saujana Hotel is more family oriented, The Club Saujana will suit couples looking for a romantic getaway not too far from the city centre and business executives seeking a quiet, tranquil place to work and unwind at the same time.
Surrounded by the lush tropical gardens of The Club Saujana Resort is the posh and elegant The Restaurant. As posh as it is, there is a certain casual feel to it and it is rather inviting, non-intimidating. The best feature of The Restaurant (other than the food of course) is the fact that it overlooks the beautiful pool set among lush foliage.
The Restaurant is having a Wagyu Beef Promotion for the entire month of July. I didn’t know all that much about wagyu beef other than that it’s world famous for its superior quality, juiciness and tenderness. It also has distinctive marble-like patterns and certain areas of Japan are well known for breeding this cattle. However, the Wagyu Beef served at The Restaurant is from Australia. According to Wikipedia, the Australian Wagyu Association is the largest breed association outside Japan.
Our food-tasting session was going to be from the RM350++ set menu but a separate a la carte Wagyu Beef menu is also available. It’s better value to select the set menu as you get to taste 4 Wagyu Beef courses + 1 dessert. Prior to dinner being served, I was chomping on the wafers and cheese sticks served with butter and sour cream and if I ate more than my fair share, it was justified because dinner was served an hour after I arrived due to late comers or no-show comers.
The Restaurant’s Executive Chef is the very attentive and informative Austrian born Alexander Waschl. He has more than 9 years experience in a hotel in Switzerland and was part of a team that earned 16 Gault Millau points, equivalent of 1 Michelin star. During this promotion, Chef Alexander will be offering a variety of different cuts and preparations of Wagyu Beef.
Spiced Wagyu Beef Tartar
Crispy Potato Roesti, Pickle, Pan-Roasted Quail Egg, Sour Cream
Actually, this isn’t in the set menu but is one of the items in the a la carte menu. This dish is compliments of Chef Alexander and I am so glad it was an addition because I liked everything about it, from the crispy potato roesti to the delicious quail’s egg to the melt-in-my-mouth wagyu beef, so tender was it that I didn’t even have to chew. It literally melted like butter once it was in my mouth, completely awesome and indescribable. This is one of those dishes where I wouldn’t have hesitated to put my hand up if the chef had asked “Anyone for seconds?”.
Wagyu Beef Carpaccio (1st course)
Parmesan Cream, Parmesan Shavings, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Aged Balsamic
The history of carpaccio dates back to 60 years ago when it was first served at Harry’s Bar, Venice. It’s a dish of thinly sliced raw meat or fish served as an appetizer. Now, I am not exactly a raw meat person especially not red meats but for the sake of this food tasting, I took the plunge, sp to speak. The carpaccio is a long, thin strip of meat which was quite difficult to cut, in part due to the blunt knife provided and perhaps in part due to the texture? I’m no expert but it was tough and chewy. I only managed to down it by combining bits of it with the parmesan cream and shavings which were so creamy and made all the difference to the dish. I liked the parmesan a lot more than the carpaccio.
Wagyu Beef Cheek Consommé (2nd course)
Homemade Wagyu Beef Cheek Ravioli and Vegetable Balls Shavings
There are actually 2 dishes in this 2nd course as the Consommé was served with a Ravioli (same as in the Consommé) in a creamy sauce with minced wagyu. The Consommé was a light beef stock soup with celery balls which added a crunchy texture. My favourite of the 2 was the Ravioli in creamy sauce as I could have had an entire dish of this pasta on its own. The creaminess of the sauce with the minced wagyu was perfect.
Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek (3rd course)
Wagyu Beef Cheek Wantan, Oven Roasted Vegetables
The wagyu beef was as outstandingly tender and juicy as the Spiced Wagyu Beef Tartar. The sauce complemented the wagyu beef cheek very well and if only all wantans were like this one! Never had a beef cheek wantan before this and the meat is just fantastic wrapped in the crispy wantan.
Wagyu Beef Striploin (4th course)
Black Pepper Sauce, Garlic Beans, Horseradish Moussline
You know how sometimes black pepper sauce can overwhelm the taste of the meat? Well, not here as the black pepper taste was quite subtle. I am normally not a fan of black pepper sauce but this one was quite agreeable. The striploin wasn’t as tender as the Spiced Wagyu Beef Tartar or Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek but this is striploin. It wasn’t too chewy but it just wasn’t my favourite dish of the night.
Chocolate Cake (5th course)
Raspberry Sorbet, Raspberry Sauce
If you love dense chocolate cake, this is it. Decadent and divine but a bit too sweet for me. The sweetness was toned down a little by the slightly sour raspberry sorbet. I absolutely loved the sorbet and could have done with one more scoop, make that two.
There are 11 dishes on the a la carte menu, namely:-
Spiced Wagyu Beef Tartar RM128
Crispy Potato Roesti, Pickle, Pan-Roasted Quaill Egg, Sour Cream
Wagyu Beef Carpaccio RM128
Parmesan Cream, Parmesan Shavings, Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Aged Balsamic
Light Smoked Wagyu Beef Striploin RM155
Arugula Salad, Parmesan Shavings, Aged Balsamic
Wagyu Beef Cheek Consommé RM42
Homemade Wagyu Beef Cheek Ravioli and Vegetable Balls Shavings
Braised Wagyu Beef Cheek RM98
Wagyu Beef Cheek Ravioli, Brown Butter, Sage, Parmesan Shavings
Grilled Wagyu Beef Tenderloin RM245
Black Pepper sauce, Truffle Risotto, Sautéed Spinach
Red Wine Poached Wagyu Beef Tenderloin RM255
Horseradish Cream, Roasted Potato, Garlic, Roasted Beans
Deluxe Wagyu Beef Burger RM188
Foiegras Shavings, Sautéed Onion, Portobello Mushroom, Cheddar Cheese, Home Pickle Gherkin, Hand-cut Potato Chips
Wagyu Beef Skewer RM210
BBQ Sauce, Yellow and Red Pepper, Hand-cut Potato chips
Wok Roasted Wagyu Beef Striploin RM218
“Teriyaki Style”, Spring Onion, Braised Vegetable
Wagyu Beef Striploin RM218
Herb Butter Jus, Grilled Vegetable, Baked Potato, Sour Cream
For reservations with regard to this July promotion, please call 03 7806 7000 or email dine@theclubsaujanaresort.com. The Restaurant opens for breakfast 6.30am-10.30am, lunch 11.30am-3.00pm & dinner 7.00pm-10.30pm. The Restaurant can accommodate 80 persons with indoor and outdoor seating. There is one private dining area for a maximum of 20 persons. All prices stated above are subject to 10% service charge & 6% government tax.
