Chili’s Grill & Bar Chef’s Cuts Menu
18. December, 2015
Chili’s Grill & Bar is a popular international restaurant chain with several branches in Klang Valley, and it’s great for groups and families to gather for casual dining or special occasions (many birthdays are celebrated here, that much I know). The first outlet in Malaysia is located at Bangsar Shopping Centre, opened since 1994, and it grew strong enough to branch out to nearly every popular suburbs. This one we went to in particular, is the closest branch to me at Citta Mall (almost walking distance, I might add).
The concept here is Souhwestern-inspired, Tex-Mex, I guess you can tell by its namesake, and Chili’s here means Chili Con Carne not just the spice. Things like Fajitas, Burritos, and Burgers regularly make their ways out of the kitchen. But they are also constantly updating their menu to spice things up a little. Well, the girls of Malaysia’s Hottest Bloggers were invited to taste their new promotional menu called the Chef’s Cut menu, featuring a number of delicious beef dishes with interesting twists. This menu is created in mind for those who have a little more premium taste, especially since it’s come to year end with the festive celebrations.
To kick start our very meaty dinner, here’s a trio of appetisers to whet our appetite.
Battered Chicken Crispers, Buffalo Wings and Deep Fried Southwestern Eggrolls along with some celery sticks to go with a trio of dips. Sitting closely beside were the mountain of tostada chips armed with tomato salsa. I needed to save my stomach space so I bypassed the whole starter. ‘
Oh by the way, the gorgeous photos are shot by none other than Andy Kho, so all credit to him.
Now, the main stars. The first dish that came to the table was a very pretty plate of the Texas Trio.
Those who can’t decide which protein they want to have, or plainly prefer a bit more varieties, this is the dish for you. Three amazing tastes on one plate – tender 4 oz. salmon on slaw drizzled with honey-chipotle sauce, juicy 8 oz. beef ribs on mashed potatoes drizzled with classic BBQ sauce, and grilled 4 oz. chicken breast on corn salsa drizzled with roasted garlic BBQ sauce, all sprinkled with crumbled feta cheese and chopped fresh cilantro. I’d suggest eating the Chicken first, followed by the Salmon and Beef in order of flavours.
Personally, I liked the sauce on the beef rib as I’m partial to sweet and savoury combination, and you can tell that the rib has been slow cooked for hours for that level of tenderness. The honey-chipotle on the salmon is also quite a lovely combination, although I’d prefer my salmon to be slightly undercooked, these are quite well done (perhaps good to specify your order, we didn’t). Not a fan of chicken breast in general but I did try a bit of that garlic BBQ sauce and arrived at the conclusion that Chili’s does do pretty good sauces.
The second dish was unlike anything I’ve seen before. Who would have known you could pair beef with crab?
The Spicy Crab Fillet features a tender 8 oz. fillet resting on bed of slaw, covered with spicy crab meat and melted Monterey Jack cheese, sprinkled with crumbled feta cheese and chopped fresh cilantro.
It’s difficult to tell the flavours of the crab because it was so cheesy with both the Monterey Jack and Feta, but it ain’t a complaint because I love the interplay of textures. The cow in question hails from Australia, which explains the robust flavour. This particular cut is cooked to medium, and you all know how I like my beef (still eating the grass on the plate), so I shall keep my verdict for the other steaks cooked more to my liking.
And if that wasn’t cheesy enough, this dish also comes with a cast iron skillet full of sexy macaroni and cheese.
I’m a sucker for Mac and Cheese, and this I can verify is a satisfying version. I’d happily JUST have this.
A pungent scent hit the nose and it’s unmistakably Bleu Cheese. That’s right, Bleu Cheese actually goes really well with steak (ever try a Bleu Cheese sauce at Squire’s loft, Melbourne? That’s amazing stuff I tell you), and here they went up a notch pairing it with some Chipotle magic. Throw the sauce on another piece of steak sleeping on a bed of slaw, and you have the Chipotle Bleu Cheese Fillet.
I’d say that this one is an acquired taste, as you do taste the spice, and the stink (cheese), but they do gel together strangely. Good to have some refreshing slaw to cut through the richness too. This dish also comes with some mash potatoes (a rather huge portion of it actually).
My favourite one though was the Glazed Prawn Fillet.
Here, the fillet is resting on a bed of corn salsa, topped with succulent glazed prawns, sprinkled with crumbled feta cheese and chopped fresh cilantro.
It’s not uncommon to see Prawns with Steak, otherwise known as Surf’ n Turf’. What I love about this is the crunchy sweet prawns, and the steak here is cooked to my preferred doneness, which is superbly juicy. You don’t even need additional condiments with this. To complete the dish, a nicely balanced corn salsa to add to the fun textural play.
Here’s me enjoying the perfect steak.
The last steak to arrive on our table was the Southwest Beef Ribs Fillet.
The corn salsa, the steak, and the crumbled feta cheese plus cilantro are still there, but this time with some shredded beef ribs and pickled onions.
My favourite part of this dish would probably be the pickled onions though, it was surprisingly sweet with just the right amount of tang, complement the steak quite well.
So that’s all 5 main courses done! But without desserts, it wouldn’t be a complete meal. The Chef Cuts menu also features a new dessert, the Chocolate Chipotle Cheesecake, with delectable layers of chocolate chipotle cheesecake and cracker crumbs topped with a dollop of whipped cream. As I’m sensitive to chocolate, I didn’t get to try the whole dessert but I did sample the top layer…….
Sorry, I obviously took the term foodporn a tad too far.
And here are the MHB Girls!
The Chef’s Cuts Menu is available until 17th January 2016, so visit your nearest Chili’s now! There’s also an instagram contest for you to win some vouchers, check this out:
This article is in the courtesy of : http://kellysiewcooks.com/2015/12/18/chilis-chefs-cuts-menu/