TFT Travels: Aziamendi 88 by Eneko Atxa

An 88 day Spanish fine dining pop-up at the Mandarin Oriental in Kuala Lumpur by Chef Atxa, known as much for his exacting standards in the kitchen as his food. 3 Michelin stars don’t come easy.

Chef Atxa has been awarded 3 Michelin stars for his Bilbao, Spain based restaurant Azurmendi. Kuala Lumpur’s Aziamendi 88 was an 88 day pop up at the Mandarin Grill at the Mandarin Oriental because he wanted to bring specialty Spanish cuisine to the east.

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“Every story has a beginning. This menu is a retrospective of the most successful dishes created by my restaurant in Bilbao. I hope my yesterdays will make your today.” — Eneko Atxa, Executive Chef of Aziamendi 88

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Can’t say that it was the most delicious food I’ve had, but I can tell you that if you ever return your food at a 3 Michelin star, they take it very personally. I’m sure you’ve seen Burnt. To be fair I would have probably returned a beetroot salad anywhere. Nothing personal, Aziamendi.

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After that unfortunate incident (my bad) I was showered with special desserts from the chef and generally a lot of love and affection which I probably did not deserve. The desserts were excellent.

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A chicken yolk, with hot truffle consommé that’s been injected into it, cooking it from the inside.

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The tortellini was delicate (freshly rolled of course) and light as air.

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Lamb Shoulder, Pesto, Parmesan and Pine Nuts. The lamb was falling off the bone and well flavoured.

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The Squid ink garden salad looked prettier than any garden I’ve been to in real life. The “soil” is made from dehydrated beetroot.

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Our just desserts.

In all a very worthy experience, in beautiful surroundings.

Aziamendi 88, Mandarin Oriental, 50088 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Call them at +603 2380 8888.

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