Playte

Chicken breast and leg, clams, braised daikon and kaolin.

Wagyu rump cap with a salt baked jicama and laksa leaves. A little bit too thin slices of wagyu imo, but flavours on point.

With a raisin and tamarind puree, brown butter dressing and daikon. A little fishy but paired really well with the daikon.

Calamansi, pomelo, belimbing, pickled cucumber, fried broccoli and dill oil.

We checked out fresh-faced Playte at the refurbished Republik F&B enclave in Damansara Heights.

Helmed by three young chefs who met at Le Cordon Bleu: Playte showcases local ingredients done in contemporary and European cooking techniques.

Star local ingredients include Bario rice, pomelo, belimbing, and jicama.

Currently only operating for dinner service, dishes are meant to be shared in small plates. We took a dish each from the four categories: raw, small, mains, and dessert.

First up was Mackerel from the Raw category: morsels of fresh mackerel flesh served with starfruit and calamansi-based sauce, dill oil, pomelo, pickled cucumber and fried broccoli. The result was a refreshing and acidic starter to set us up for the evening.

Next up was the popular Ox Tongue (from the Small section). This was truly exceptional: tenderly-braised ox tongue topped with cured yolk(!) in XO sauce was perfectly balanced with the sharpness of the pickled onions and salsa verde. We enjoyed this very much.

For Mains, we settled on the Chicken to complete the trinity of 🐟, 🍖 and 🐔. The poultry dish features a duo of poached chicken breast and thigh - the former was super tender and juicy while the thigh was slightly seared to give that extra crispiness and added texture. Protein was served in shaoxing wine buerre blanc, and topped with clams, braised daikon, and deep-fried kailan leaves.

Gula Melaka ice-cream immediately called out to us from the Sweet section: we love the caramelised gelato served with cookie crumbs and topped with candied nuts. A perfect bittersweet finish for the night.

Top points for service - granted it was a quiet Tuesday night, but we appreciated the attention we received from the chefs behind and front of the kitchen counter. We also had the best seats at the counter as we watched the kitchen whip their magic!

Highly recommended - we really enjoy places like these who aim to showcase local ingredients through contemporary techniques.

See full review on @thokohmakan on Instagram.