Review: 3 dishes at Ultime Atelier & Boulangerie for you to get your fill at a ‘fine lunching’ experience

Ultime Atelier & Boulangerie — the romantic nightly rendezvous, tucked away in Changkat — now opens its doors in the daytime with its special 3-course lunch menu.

We get it. Sometimes, the desire to treat yourself to a fine dining experience can come amidst feelings of FOMO, especially when a new classy joint opens up — and sometimes, the hype around a place can be far greater than the experience itself. The phrase ‘fine dining’ has a certain notoriety about it: at worst, the food you get is no more than a morsel in a corner of your plate; but at best, you’ll get a meal so memorable you start thinking about your next visit.

My experience at Ultime Atelier & Boulangerie definitely leans toward the latter. On the surface, Ultime is the kind of ‘fine dining’ restaurant that seeks to challenge the phrase — while it retains a resplendent aura, it does so without any showy or over-the-top displays. Yes, there are lush curtains and marble floors, but there’s also exposed brickwork where the kitchen is, and it evokes a cosy, welcoming feeling you wouldn’t normally get from a ‘fine dining’ eatery.

Then, of course there’s the food, and here’s where I start to catch on to what Ultime might have intended with its name. Each dish has been artfully arranged with meticulous care — as in a chef’s atelier, if you will — and with every one that was served to me, I got more excited.

Known for its comprehensive dinner menu, Ultime has recently introduced its ‘fine lunching’ option, offering a taste for those who prefer to dine in the daytime. If you’re curious about the taste of the lunch menu and whether it’s worth trying — or if you should splurge on a full-course dinner instead — I’m here to break down the top three dishes you can get your fill of at Ultime’s ‘fine lunching’ experience.

Choix de Pain or, as the English say, selection of bread

As is the other half of its name, Ultime’s inner boulangerie shines through with its variety of breads and pastries. When the tray of treats made its way to me, I admit I was overwhelmed at first — and the itemised manner in which the breads were explained to me didn’t curb my curiosity. I wanted to try all the types of bread, but of course I had to restrain myself because I still had my main course and dessert waiting for me.

Eventually I settled on the sourdough rye, a slice of the croissant loaf and faluche, which was already flavourful on its own and soft, yet firm to the bite. The choix de pain was served with three curated pats of French compound butter — classic salted, pesto with basil and an interesting slab of cranberry butter — and were colourfully presented, as if they were daubs of paint on an artist’s palette. Each of the butters held its own very well. I was particularly intrigued by the pesto butter; despite its mild green tint, the hint of basil is very strong yet not too overpowering. The cranberry butter was also a perfect balance of creamy and fruity — it could be a two-in-one condiment for those who also like a jam spread on their bread.

Wagyu Short Ribs with Madeira sauce and asparagus

Before the bread could steal the spot as the star of the show, enter the main course. With a choice between mushroom risotto, red snapper or Wagyu short ribs, I couldn’t resist going for the red meat. After all, I like to believe that the best way to properly review a ‘good’ fine dining restaurant is by its meat — and right from the first bite, ‘good’ is an understatement for the short ribs. 

The meat is unbelievably tender, and it’s so juicy that I would have stuffed down one mouth-watering bite after another if I could. The sauce was a little on the watery side; not as full-flavoured as I’d hoped but the asparagus, excellently roasted in olive oil, made up for it in taste.

Chocolate Eclipse

For dessert, I opted for the chocolate eclipse — a pleasantly sweet and creamy chocolate mousse with a surprise centre. The surprise is a vanilla filling, so rich it all but melted in my mouth. Made from 72% Valrhona chocolate, the dessert is completed with a cookie dough-style base. Though the brownie was a little hard to cut through, the texture of the cookie was soft, filled with gooey chocolate, making it a soothing, chocolatey delight — a perfect end to the meal. 

Verdict

Priced at RM98 per pax for two courses and RM118 per pax for three, Ultime’s ‘fine lunching’ menu is a very decent experience if you’d like to get a brief taste of Ultime’s extensive full-course dinner. Among the dishes I didn’t touch on but would like to give a special shoutout to are the Soupe Du Jour (soup of the day) — a delectable onion soup that comes with a generous dollop of cream — and the amuse-bouche (appetisers) that included pai tee, bursting with flavour in just a small pocket of ingredients. If there’s one thing Ultime excels at, it’s elevating simple flavours and feelings to greater heights.

Learn more about Ultime Atelier & Boulangerie HERE.