My Element Fresh
Nourishing and Fulfilling
By Hiranmayii Awli Mohanan
From a gym café founded in 2002 in Shanghai, China, Element Fresh has come a long way; now with over 40 restaurants across China and a new franchise in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur. The fundamentals of Element Fresh lie in creating great tasting dishes with a nourishing slant.
This hidden gem is Pavilion’s newest and interesting restaurant, alluring with its rose gold walls, bronze furnishings that add a rustic charm while booth-style seating contributes to the the overall experience.
With the philosophy that “great taste makes eating right easy”, the restaurant believes that a healthy lifestyle starts with eating right. True to its name, each dish is carefully planned, starting with fresh and premium-quality ingredients available in the market, topped off with relentless attention to detail.
The menu at Element Fresh is extensive — offering over 100 of the best dish honed successfully in China for 18 years, ranging from breakfast, starters, soup, salads, pastas, steak and grill, vegan items and dessert. You’d also find that the dishes here take inspiration from across globe, spanning Mexico, Morocco, Rome to Ho Chi Minh City. Most sauces, dressings and marinates are made in-house and keeping to their healthy motto, no MSG is added to their dishes.
Start your meal with the salad, namely the Moroccan Spiced Chicken With Bulgar Wheat. Beaming with Moroccan influence and wholesomeness, this warm, fulfilling salad comes with grilled chicken breast marinated in Rasel hanout spices for a subtle introduction of earthiness, served with mixed lettuce, garbanzo beans, kale, carrots marinated in turmeric, grilled apple, grilled red pepper, mint, almond and finally drizzled with a citrus yoghurt dressing. This is the epitome of a well-balanced meal, both nourishing and scrumptious.
Another tempting choice is the Garden Grilled Salad, a bountiful assortment of grilled and roasted vegetables – artichokes, tomatoes, red peppers, summer squash and roasted marinated potatoes over mixed lettuce and arugula, garnished with hard boiled egg, walnuts, balsamic glaze and red wine vinaigrette. If you think you won’t be satiated from this bowl of goodness, think again.
For something light that works as a starter, the Tuna Fillet and Avocado Salsa is a good choice, gracing your palate with tropical flavours from the mango salsa, alongside tuna fillet with sesame and a wasabi mayo salad. Alternatively, travel to Mexico through the Chicken Tacos Diablo — an assemblage of crispy chicken thigh dressed in chipotle BBQ sauce, topped with grilled pineapple, pickled carrots and finished off with a chimichurri ranch sauce.
Black Mussels in Fruity Fish Stock is one made for sharing. This interesting dish strays away from the usual mussel preparation, featuring sautéed black mussels in cointreau and orange-flavoured fish broth which blankets the taste of the sea from the mussels and balances it with freshness.
From the mains, the Oven Roasted Cod Fish will tantalise your tastebuds with its tender, melt-in-the-mouth texture, only complemented by tanginess from the orange peel and balsamic reduction marination. It is oven roasted, served with sautéed snow peas, barley, baby mushroom and a fruity yet spicy orange sauce.
Keep some space for dessert because you would want to try their Warm Bread Pudding, made from buttery challah bread, with dried cranberries and white chocolate. A moat of raspberry sauce surrounds the bread pudding and perched atop is a dollop of vanilla ice cream and caramel. The Homemade Rice Pudding is a wonderful choice too, boasting jasmine rice steamed in milk with vanilla-infused cream, salted caramel and dried cranberries.