Cover Brasserie Fritz's moniker is something of an inside joke among its proprietors (Photo: Troika Sky Dining)

Quiet as a church in the hubbub of Persiaran KLCC, Brasserie Fritz serves stellar French fare, at times imbued with local flourishes

Well travelled and worldly, Christian Bauer and Eddie Chew of Troika Sky Dining are known for regaling rapt audiences with their tales of the road. Unsurprisingly, one or two in-jokes have rubbed off on their restaurants. Brasserie Fritz, for instance, came to be when two separate trains of thought crossed rails.

A giant among German movement artists, Pina Bausch planted the seed for the brasserie. According to Bauer: "Café Müller (one of Bausch's best-known works) got me thinking about Austrian cafés. Did you know that the café actually came from Austria, not France? So we thought, let's give it a funny name."

"Secondly, we have a friend who is very annoying," laughs Bauer. "We'll call him Fritz. When dining at this restaurant in Alberobello, he insisted on ordering a pasta dish that had nothing to do with the region." Dubbed Pasta à la Fritz, the offending dish served with bacon has made its mark on one of KL's best brasseries.

To welcome back Brasserie Fritz, we have dug up a review of the restaurant from our 2018 Tatler Dining Guide (see below). A recent visit confirmed that it is every bit as good as before.

Tatler Asia
Above Salinity and minerality, two qualities prevalent in champagne and shellfish, make them a handsome pair

The following review was originally published in 2018 Tatler Dining Guide:

A meal worthy of a mermaid, the Fritz Platter at Brasserie Fritz prompts a placebo effect: the scent of sea spray wafts over our party of three as the dish is scrupulously placed upon white tablecloth. Mussels, prawns, oysters, scallops and whelks are stripped of their shells and engulfed within mere minutes. Not called 'fruits of the sea' in French sans reason, the sustaining and soothing seafood sorts us out beautifully, though I suppose it could also be the effects of the champagne. A quintet of dipping sauces ranging from red wine vinaigrette to remoulade amplifies the image of extravagance, but the ramekins mostly lie untouched—cosmetics should not, after all, consort with natural perfection.

Related: 6 Suggested Seafood & Wine Pairings

Tatler Asia
Above Brasserie Fritz's old address in Bukit Bintang
Tatler Asia
Above Brasserie Fritz's new location in Troika Sky Dining

Au contraire, the Brasserie’s duck confit calls for hours of human intervention. Amply spiced and rendered in its own fat, the dainty leg is stockinged in skin so crisp that its shatter almost seems to echo across the room. Accompanied by a potato cake akin to a Paris-Brest, the poultry makes me reassess what to look for in a man: 'make sure to marry a chef from Gascony,' says a small voice in my head.

TATLER TIP: All restaurants under Troika Sky Dining's roof recently revamped their wine lists.

Tatler Asia
Above Momotaro tomatoes, basil, olive oil and aged vinegar
Tatler Asia
Above Smoked anchovies, maple butter and cream cheese on grilled sourdough

More food is ferried into the dining room by long-suffering waitresses with all the elegance of Meryl Streep, but two dishes deserve honourable mention. Stingray is swapped for ikan patin in today’s Fish à la Nage, although we assert that the latter should be a permanent fixture. Poached in broth and yielding a buttery mouth-feel, the fish dish could easily be an envoy bridging French-Malaysian relations.

On the sweeter side of the spectrum, pineapple tarte tartin and anise ice cream prove the unexpected dream team. Anise, a natural digestive, subtly perfumes the pineapple, which has been cooked to the point where the once fibrous fruit simply falls apart, filling the palate with delight.

Tatler Asia
Above Frothy hot chocolate at Brasserie Fritz with French pastries in the backdrop

Brasserie Fritz | Level 23A Tower B, The Troika, 19, Persiaran KLCC, Kuala Lumpur | +603-2162 0886 | Daily, 5pm - midnight; soon to open for lunch every Saturday starting January 15, 2021 | Reservations

Credits

Photography  

Shaffiq Farhan

Photography  

Troika Sky Dining

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