Ever since I read boolicious' review on Max's Wine & Kitchen, I've been wanting and wanting to go try it out. A few other friends had also given it rave reviews, so when wife of King Of England suggested meeting for mid week dinner, I was rather pleased, but quickly vetoed the original suggestion of eating in Alexis BSC. In a plaintive voice I pleaded (as far as it's possible to show emotion on yahoo messenger) that I don't get to eat out very often, with four kids and all, so when I do, I would like to try new places. She acqueisced to my request, so off we went.
Parking is actually not bad, coz if you're willing to pay, there's ample car park, which gives easy access both to Tengkat Tong Shin and Jalan Alor, both the food paradises. As the car meandered through the tight Jln Alor, full with pedestrians, there were oohs and ahs and a whole running commentary by various individuals as to what and where to eat there. Thanks to the recent floggers gathering, I could chip in my 2 sen worth. (prior to that, the last time I ate in Jln Alor was err.....1989).
We kicked off with some communal starters. Uncle Francis who's been there before seemed to know what to order so we left it in his good hands. When the first plate of mushroom and aubergine came, it didnt even occur to me to take any pictures, since all I had on me was my lousy kodak easyshare camera, which doesn't even have a macro function.
Anyway, when the plump juicy scallops came, I thought what the heck, a bad photo is better than no photo....
I loved the sauce, it was garlicky, balsamic vinegar with chilli...very subtle, yet tangy, all at once.
The scallops were huge, and I reckon if you used Rasa Malaysia's scallop recipe, you could slice them into 4 slices horizontally without them being reduced to the thickness (or thinness) of a catholic communion wafer.
The next starter was the seared tuna. I liked the tuna, but the sauce tasted a bit dettol-ly.... couldn't quite place my finger on it.
The unagi was suprisingly good, layers of unagi, with some button mushrooms in a very satisfying sauce. Someone remarked that they preferred the cilantro unagi, ...yeah, well, that one has foie gras etc, and is double the price.
After my last wagyu beef cheek in cilantro, I was a bit wary of ordering it again, coz I didn't care much for the super gelatinous texture that comes with the cheek. After checking, and rechecking that it won't be so, I decided upon Boolicious' recommendation, to try it. No regrets there. It was super tender, and though a bit gelatinous, that part could be discarded.
Wife had the ocean trout, which exactly as Boolicious described, looked like salmon, (in fact, a few people had to reconfirm that it wasn't salmon), but tasted lighter.
Friend ordered slipper lobster, I know the picture was horrible.
All in all, I'd say the food was excellent, and not overly priced either. The duck breast was really good as well. Alas, we had to adjourn for dessert at another friend's place for coffee and cake, so didn't get to try the delectable sounding desserts at Max. Oh well, there's always next time.