Home Food Reviews Middle Eastern Cuisine at Cascade, Mandarin Oriental

Whenever someone mentions Middle Eastern cuisine, the first thing that comes to mind is hummus. My first encounter of hummus wasn’t pleasant – I remember picking up a small tub from Tesco UK and found it incredibly bland and grainy. Needless to say, hummus never made it to my favourite-things-to-eat-list. The hummus at Cascade in Mandarin Oriental however, had me singing a different tune. What was initially a sharing platter became my own and I ate all the hummus with the Za’atar Manakeesh and pita bread provided.

Al Fresco Dining

Interior

Arabic Mezzeh: Labneh & Baba Ghanoush

Freshly baked breads

Cascade – located on the 3rd floor by the pool – boasts a panoramic view of the city skyline, giving you a different experience from the other restaurants at Mandarin Oriental. Once seated, our waiter brought out a Greek Dip platter (RM34) and Arabic Mezzeh (RM34) for sharing, but as I mentioned above, I hogged the Arabic Mezzeh and even cleaned out the Greek dips.

Greek Dip: Htipiti & Melitzanosalata with Za'atar Manakeesh (herb bread)

Tzatziki: Strained yoghurt with cucumber and garlic.

Among the dips I enjoyed were the htipiti – a dip made with feta and roasted peppers, hummus – smoothly blended chickpeas and baba ghanoush – a dip of mashed eggplant. The entrée of cheese samboussek (RM18) with crunchy iceberg lettuce and Za’atar dressing was noteworthy. Flavours were subtle but accented by the crisp nature of the samboussek.

Cheese samboussek with crunchy iceberg lettuce

Lamb Shawarma

Arabic Mixed Grill

The Arabic Mixed Grill (RM86) was a large platter of lamb kofta, beef kebab, chicken shish taouk, Arabic rice and fries. I found the kofta moist and heavily seasoned with spices, while the beef cubes were tender and succulent. We had the lamb shawarma (RM45) – spiced lamb with Ekmek bread, where combination of feta cheese and tzatziki livened up the flavour of the meat. That said, I found the Ekmek bread a tad thick for my liking.

Succulent beef chunks...

Albondigas

Some of my dining companions were too full to eat the lamb meatballs/albondigas (RM22) so I happily ate their share. According to Raymond (Chef De Cuisine of Mosaic), the meatballs were seasoned with onions, marjoram, parsley, cumin and coriander, and topped with a sauce of bell pepper, garlic, onions and capers. This was good stuff. The Arabic pizza (RM38) was a bold combination of lamb, cheese, eggplant, pine nuts and chilli; a good snack by the pool.

Arabic Pizza

Lamb kofta kebab

Another popular item on the menu is the lamb kofta kebab (RM65), served with mint yogurt, Fitoush salad and a large portion of fries.  I couldn’t get enough of the Zabadi Berries (RM26), a yogurt mousse with caramelized macadamia nuts and amarena cherry. This was richly flavoured yet light in texture. Too good to share, this one.

Zabadi Berries

Shisha

Shisha is also available here, so choose your flavours (I recommend apple mint) and puff away. For the uninitiated, shisha is a glass-bottomed water pipe in which fruit-flavoured tobacco is covered with foil and roasted with charcoal. I haven’t touched shisha for almost two years as the smoke contains high levels of toxic compounds and cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens). So one shisha session is equivalent to smoking a whole pack of cigarettes. Just FYI.

Margarita

Community message aside, the Middle Eastern promotion is available from 15 June till 18 July 2012 and dishes are prices from RM18++ onwards.

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Ambiance: 6/10
Price: 4/10
Food: 7/10 (halal)
Verdict: I enjoyed the Lamb Meatballs, Arabic Mezzeh and Zabadi Berries best.

Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur City Centre
Malaysia
Tel: 03 2380 8888
Website: https://www.mandarinoriental.com/kualalumpur
Facebook: facebook.com/MandarinOrientalKualaLumpur
Email: mo***********@mo**.com

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13 comments

ulric June 25, 2012 - 11:36 am

Hey…Sri Petaling has a Saudi Arabian resto that serves a superb Lamby Mendy Rice…their hummus n homemade flour breads are superb too!…hehe =)

http://www.aldiafah.com.my/

Superb decor rite?…hehe =)

Reply
Bangsar Babe June 25, 2012 - 2:33 pm

Errr…the website so funky! :P

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ulric June 25, 2012 - 2:39 pm

It’s also funkaliciously good lar! =)

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Sean June 25, 2012 - 1:06 pm

mmmm, i think it’d take a lot of willpower for me not to continue munching on those creamy-looking dips until they’re all gone! i’d dip the bread in them, dip the veggies in them, dip the meat in them, and if there’s still more, i’d just dip my fingers in them! :D

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Bangsar Babe June 25, 2012 - 2:33 pm

Lol! I’m sure you can ask for more bread at Cascade. ;)

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Baby Sumo June 25, 2012 - 2:14 pm

Oh I see the reflection of Twin Towers in the 2nd photo. Nice shot :)

I like the hummus here too, so smooth.

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Bangsar Babe June 25, 2012 - 2:33 pm

Thanks! I didn’t get to try the tagine. How was it?

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The Yum List June 25, 2012 - 2:56 pm

I’m a sucker for Middle Eastern dips – so healthy and easy to share.

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Bangsar Babe June 25, 2012 - 3:05 pm

That you’re right. Unfortunately for those who dined with me, I didn’t share mine. Muahahaha!! :P

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Michelle June 25, 2012 - 8:26 pm

Ah, the food looks good but I am not sure if my parents are ready for this… They fear middle eastern food!

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Bangsar Babe June 26, 2012 - 8:35 am

Let them try bit by bit la…hehe. I started small. :)

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Simple Person June 25, 2012 - 8:42 pm

hmm I m not a big fan of middle eastern cuisine..
but mayb one day I should go and try.. :)

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Bangsar Babe June 26, 2012 - 8:35 am

Promo is until July 18…so that’s about 1 month more !

Reply

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