Chiqui Don
Bursting With Fusion Flair
By Hiranmayii Awli Mohanan
Nestled in the enclave of Bukit Damansara, Chiqui Don takes its name from the Italian, ‘little mafia’ and intends to pack a punch through its fusion of local and global flavours. A community-inspired restaurant at heart, Chiqui Don involves the masses in crafting its menu, encouraging people to submit their ideas and experimentations. Beyond its threshold, at the heart of the restaurant, the bar beams with its Mediterranean tiles and a substantial range of spirits and crafted cocktails. Inside, style and substance meet, only elevated by its fare.
We start the culinary voyage with the Oven-Baked Nachos, which ticks the checklist off of everything a perfect nacho should be, from the matrimony of tomato salsa, sour cream, flavoured nacho chips to the homemade guacamole. Bursting with zest, savouriness and sizzling from the hot plate, this addictive appetiser is a delicious way to start a meal.
Inspired by a written-in recipe, the Garlic Chilli Sea Bass is a sinful seductress, alluring with its moat of prawns sautéed in olive oil, garlic and chilli slices. Served with garlic bread, this appetiser boasts succulence and scrumptiousness, perfect as a whet.
The staple Indian dish beloved by many, Chiqui Don’s Mutton Varuval is as authentic as it gets. Tender pieces of mutton are arranged around a shank, potent in colour and packed with flavour. Accompanied by slices of garlic bread and soft paratha, this dish is the perfect blend of seasoning and spices, coating your palate with a beautiful blanket of bold flavours — a must-try. Be sure to use your hands and lap up all the gravy.
From the Pasta and Rice Segment comes The Claypot Seafood Rice, another a community-inspired creation, suffused with comfort and familiarity, resembling something out of your mother or grandmother’s kitchen. Available in seafood and mutton renditions, we opted for seafood. A medley of rice, tiger prawns, tenggiri fish, fresh squid and hard-boiled egg is cooked in a traditional Indian claypot and served with papadom, banana chips and raita, for balance of piquancy.
Sweet indulgence at Chiqui Don is choosing between Warm Chocolate Brownie with Tillamook ice cream, chocolate, caramel sauce and peanuts, Burnt Cheesecake featuring a brûléed crust or the Mango Panna Cotta — Italian cream jelly with fresh mango puree. Alternatively, if you’re not a sweet tooth, a speciall suit your palate should just do the trick.
Address: Chiqui Don, 9-G, Jalan Medan Setia 1, Plaza Damansara, Bukit
Damansara, 50490 Kuala Lumpur.
Tel: +6017 2125158