When I mention the brand Renoma, automatically you will think of underwears right?

Most of them are available nationwide in the supermarkets across Malaysia. However this is the first time I heard that they venture into F&B industry. The owner Mr Maurice Renoma began his artistic career by breathing new life into men’s wear at the beginning of the sixties by introducing the Ready to Wear men’s fashion and Ladies High fashion, accessories, shattering the prevailing conventions of men’s clothing and freeing men from austere conservatism and its dated codes. A lover of Art in all it’s forms, Mr Maurice Renoma expressed art through clothing, then later through the object, an original vision, unfettered by aesthetic prejudice, daring to experiment with new fabrics, bold colours and novel combinations.

Over the years, RCG has been pulling in trendy, suited and booted local punters from around the environs of the Avenue des Champs-Elysees and has become one of the places to be seen in Paris.

Tempted to have another marvellous art form bistro, Renoma Cafe Gallery extends its presense in the heart of KL on Sept 2012. RCG KL will be the second RCG after Paris, also the first in Asia.

The concept of Cafe in a Gallery or vice versa, remains faithful to Maurice Renoma’s defying and visionary imagination. This would be a perfect place for a chill out place where it combines art gallery, fashion boutique and chic bistro concepts.

The Upper Floor VIP room for private functions and dining. Neo-classical sofas and armchairs with a nouveaute appeal.

A luxurious feel and setup room for the elites guests. This room is open for public and whoever that can afford it may book the room for themselves.

Mythologie Series Photo where shots of a striking animal heads clad in elegant or casual outfits.

This 3 photos is Mr Renoma’s favorite shot as a photographer. The first one is a horse, ostrich and the third one is a monkey.

Upon sitting down on our table, we were greeted with some house baked cup cakes. I had the red ones which is a red velvet. I try to control myself not over eat them as I still got a range of main course to go on.

I ordered myself a non alcoholic Refreshing Summer cooler to cool myself down as the weather recently kinda humid and extremely hot. This is a perfect drink to start a night. While sipping down the mojito, I ran through the menu and impress with its range of French offerings.

Designer style menu yo ….. a very cool looking ones which it is well sectioned and full of surprise.

Assorted Canapes @ RM20 featuring “forest, sea and farm” elements. Fresh mushroom ragout, smoked Scottish salmon, beef pastrami and air-dried Muscovy duck on slices of toasted brioches is a perfect way to kick start your meal with. Different blend of flavours that play along on your taste bud.

Beef pastrami

Inspired by the theme “forest, sea and farm” elements. There are fresh mushroom ragout, smoked Scottish salmon, beef pastrami and air-dried Muscovy duck on slices of toasted brioches all presented very prettily. A good start to any meal.

Cured Muscovy Duck Breast Salad @ RM28

The French duck breast has been cured with camomile tea hence do not have the strong duck smell which some people don’t like it. The runny egg yolk in the center tells how skilful is the chef in preparing the dish at its best and most original style.

Nicoise Salade with Scottish Salmon @ RM28

The combination of mixed salad leaves with the silky smooth salmon, grilled artichoke, heirloom tomatoes, anchovies, quail eggs and and a red wine vinaigrette are something new to me. Maybe I always ordered Caesar salad and forgot about this salad.

120gram of Pan Seared Foie Gras @ RM78

I hardly go all out for starter. This time, we got ourselves a piece of finely done Foie Gras that are grilled to perfection. The foie gras are moist and smooth in textures. I wouldn’t recommend to take this alone unless you are a super fan of it and intend to skip the rest of the mains. Though the grapes are there but it doesn’t help to lighten it. It is still heavy to be consumed alone.

Mini Snails Parcels RM18

Parcels?  Sounds a bit awkward right? They are actually oven-baked Burgundy Escargots in puff pastry and presented hidden behind curried lotus root chips.

 Rock Lobster Bisque RM32

Intensely flavoured from the crustacean veloute and I find it kinda salty for my liking. Perhaps the chef shall consider to reduce it and let the customers take care it via the shakers. Besides little medallions of rock lobster in the broth, what’s uniquely surprising about this bisque is the serving of fried crispy whitebait on top and a drizzle of spicy cream. Perfect to go with the breads that neutralize the flavour. But once run out of bread, the taste are rather intense.

French Onion Soup @ RM20

Caramelized Onion in a Beef Bouillon topped with toasted bread and Melted Gruyere cheese. I love the soup! A recommended to order here. Who will say no to order this dish in a French Restaurant ? duh …..

Croque Madame @ RM28

RCG serves a Croque Madame (RM28) and not a Croque Monsieur. An interesting explanation on the difference between a croque madame and a croque monsieur is that the former has a poached/fried egg on top because that fried/poached egg looks like an “old fashioned lady’s hat”! To put it simply, a croque monsieur/madame is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich popularly served in French cafes as a quick snack, much like the American hamburger.

The croque madame served in RCG is a bit more sophisticated – it has cured beef, Muscovy duck, turkey ham bathed in melted Gruyere cheese and the poached egg crowning it is seasoned with a shake of black truffles.

L‘Artisan Burger @ RM 58

Would you pay RM58 for a burger? Well, if that burger has a patty made from 220 gram grass-fed Beef Striploin.

With rillette of Muscovy duck and a piece of foie gras stuck in the middle of it and all these sandwiched between a 6” bun, served with a rocket salad, made the price tag all worth it. Some more it is paired with hand cut fries with house special dipping.

Oriental Rack of Lamb

The glistening pieces of lamb, char-grilled to perfection – the insides are so pink and juicy, are served on a bed of saute’ed vegetables and sweet Shimeji mushrooms.

Boeuf Bourguignon – Slow-braised Beef Cheek  RM58

The taste is good, texture wise are too soft. This is subjective to every individual, I like my piece of meat kinda hard. The beef cheek are melting in your mouth type of softness.

Ribeye Wagyu (with a marble score of 6) @ RM128

Beef lovers would do well with the various cuts available on the menu, from hanger, ribeye, sirloin and tenderloin, all at 220g. We tried them and it was well handled. All their steaks are served with seasonal vegetables by the side and black truffle pomme puree and you also get to choose the sauce to go with it. However, we had our steak sans sauce just so we could taste the natural flavours of that superb slab of meat! Not to mention paired with their house wine which is the Shiraz type perfect to go along with the steaks.

Cod Meuniere @ RM62

If you find that the meats are too much to take for dinner, you can go for their cod fish which are pretty decent in size. It is pan-seared in brown butter and served with seasonal vegetables on the side with some delicate aromatic infusion from kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass.

Cog au Vin @ RM36

Coq au Vin is a classic French dish of chicken cooked in red wine. Here they use spring chicken where the meats are softer.

Rock Lobster Thermidor @ RM148

This is something to order if you’re set to impress your guest. A whole rock lobster tail is saute’ed with chanterelles (a fungus with fruity aroma) and served with Porcini mushrooms, crustacean veloute and melted Gruyere cheese. However the presentation is lacking. Imagine you are ordering such and expensive dish and lobster are famous to make your table look impressive. The chef shall retain the lobster to decor the dish?

Orange Vanilla Creme Brulee @ RM18

Valrhona Chocolate Fondant @ RM20

Becareful with this as you cut in, the hot chocolate will ooze out and make you active whole night with sugar rush.

Le Cafe Gourmand @ RM18

A small glass of Espresso together with 4 assorted RCG sweet patisseries – macaron, mango millefeuille, eclair and croquignole (double-baked biscuit). This way you get your coffee fix after meal and also the sugar to sweetened it up.

Peach Melba @ RM18

Left: Chef Alven Tan (Chef de Cuisine); right: Chef Amanda Lim (Chef Patisserie)

Renoma Cafe Gallery
Lot 510 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-2143-9919

Open: Sunday-Tuesday: 12.00pm to 11.00pm
Wednesday-Saturday: 12.00pm to 1.00am

Website here

Some of the descriptions were quoted from www.taufulou.com and www.pureglutton.com. Credits goes to them.