Seed by Whitegrass in Damansara Heights (All photos: Michelle Lin)
Seed by Whitegrass has been one of 2023’s more divisive openings. A spin-off of Singapore’s one Michelin-starred Whitegrass, it has moved normally gentle, docile souls to loud opinions, often unfavourable ones. I ponder this while on the now-familiar drive over to Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur. Is it the expectations created by virtue of association with the Michelin Guide? Is it the very aggressive dinner price of RM638+ per person, for a restaurant with no track record to speak of? Or is it the now rather hackneyed Japanese-French fusion cuisine that seems to have spread like a bad rash at dining rooms all over town?
I’ve sworn to remain impartial and block out these voices from my head, but the start of my lunch is hardly auspicious. After I place my order, the manager, for reasons known only to him, starts hollering at the kitchen. “One katsuo, one consommé, one sea bass, one dessert, chef!” he yells to the chef literally standing behind the counter from him, in a restaurant that is deserted and utterly quiet, in a voice that carries across the dining room to me. I mean, I get it, you’re trying to impress the rubes and noobs, but the “don’t screw with me, I’m a restaurant pro” wayang is genuinely nauseating and embarrassing.
The first course isn’t much better. A sashimi/crudo/poisson cru of katsuo (skipjack tuna) is inexplicably paired with shungiku (chrysanthemum greens) and dollops of smoked cream. The metallic edge of the fish (past its best, unfortunately) and its soy dressing clashes with the bitter greens, and the cream is more a texture than an aroma or savour. Flavours jangle like a car crash.
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I use the respite between courses to browse the wine list, which fits neatly on two sides of an A5 (size, not marbling score) card. It is tiny, and what it lacks in quantity isn’t compensated for in quality, being a selection of mostly uninteresting labels from large negociants. I feel myself descending into a deep slough of despair, and sadly, I have nothing decent with which to medicate myself. Chicken soup, usually a poultice for the soul, comes next in the form of a decent consommé with drops of lemongrass oil, but is ultimately spoilt by a bitter chunk of daikon.
Things suddenly start to look up with two masterfully cooked and generous chunks of “Japanese sea bass”. Cheap lunch menus should serve as a cost-effective showcase of what the kitchen can do, and this shows that yes, the team does have some decent chops. Carrots, snow peas and grilled Thai brinjals add sweetness and crunch, while a lovely herb butter sauce ties all the elements together. A great demonstration of classic French technique, shorn of any Japanese pretensions.
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Desserts in Malaysian restaurants are often bad tragicomedy, due to a lack of technically proficient pastry cooks and unwillingness of owner-chefs, almost always trained in savoury cooking, to invest in the necessary personnel and equipment. Having said that, whoever is doing the desserts at Seed deserves a huge pat on the back, because their edamame panna cotta is as good as anything I’ve had in KL all year. The lightly sweet flavour of edamame does a star turn here, the beans’ transformation into wobbly panna cotta perfection still echoing their original creamy texture. A light dab of kuromitsu (Okinawan black sugar syrup) gives it the funky, unfiltered zip to take it to another level. A further offering from the pastry section, this time of a freshly baked burnt butter financier, is similarly spectacular: a hot, crusty exterior surrounding light, fluffy insides with a beautifully nutty, almost coffee-like character.
I am very divided on Seed, to be honest. The savoury kitchen seems to be more comfortable when they aren’t working with superfluous Japanese flavours that unfortunately happen to be its unique selling proposition. The sweet creations, on this limited showing, rank easily with the country’s strongest, and put to shame far more accomplished and ambitious restaurants that relegate dessert to a mere afterthought.
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There are positives here, so you shouldn’t dismiss Seed out-of-hand based merely on hearsay. But many areas need improvement if it wants to achieve its fine-dining aspirations. Caution suggests you try lunch first and see if you like what you get, before committing yourself to a (much) larger investment over dinner.
SCORE: 11.5/20
Food: 5.75/10
Service: 3/5
Ambience: 2/3
Magic: 0.75/2
Seed by Whitegrass, Block E, L1-04, The Five@KPD, Jalan Dungun, Bukit Damansara, KL. 010 552 6891. Budget about RM200 nett for a four-course lunch, including non-alcoholic drinks.
This article first appeared on Dec 11, 2023 in The Edge Malaysia.
