Coast, Rasa Ria Resort, Sabah, Malaysia

This late lunchquest is about the dinner I had with my wife at Shangri-La's Coast restaurant, on the last night of our stay at the hotel.

I booked a gazebo for a romantic outdoor dinner on the beach. Prior to dinner we were able to watch the sunset as I had reserved the gazebo for the evening, which was a pleasant way to start.

We went back to our room to freshen up and when we returned to the gazebo the table had already been set up for us and our butler was there to show us our seats. As well as booking the gazebo we had a prearranged menu, where we had a choice of starter, main course and dessert.

After choosing what to eat we were given a cocktail, which was part of the set menu but we had to remind our butler to bring it to us.

Carrot Veloute Amuse Bouche

The first dish to arrive was actually not shown on the menu and it was a Carrot Velouté for the amuse bouche. This small portion of soup was a nice surprise, with it being light and enough flavour.

I had chose Beef Carpaccio as my starter. Strips of raw beef were dressed with lettuce leaves, croutons and a creamy pepper dressing. The whole dish was nice enough, although they could have seasoned the beef a bit more.

My starter of Beef Carpaccio

For the main I opted for the Sea Bass. The fish was poached as it was served with a lemon garlic nage and sat on a bed of peppers with a broccoli puree. It was well cooked so that the fish meat was flaky and all the flavours combined well to make this a tasty dish.

Sea Bass Main Course

I went for profiteroles as my dessert. However, prior to serving I was told that there was no vanilla ice cream for them, which was replaced by chocolate flavour. The dessert was fine but the pastry could have been tasted a bit fresher and the having the vanilla ice cream might have given the dish more balance rather than having too much chocolate.

My Dessert of Profitiroles

Whilst I have referred to using butler (which was what was advertised) as the person who served us I would class her as a waiter. Service was friendly enough but not to the attentiveness and skill-level to butler standard.

The gazebo setting was lovely. The weather had cooled down during the evening but was warm enough for the mosquitos to have a good feed on us, though.

The price I paid per head for this dinner is about the same I had paid before for lunch at Caprice and whilst I had a nice time here, value for money wise I would still much prefer Caprice for food and service.

Scores:
Food: 3/5
Presentation: 4/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 5/5

Overall: 15/20

Total bill: 650MYR, about £65 a head.

I ate: Australian Beef carpaccio, Sea Bass, Profiteroles with Warm Chocolate Sauce

I drank: Cabernet Sauvignon and ice water.

I wore: Long sleeve shirt and chinos, but still managed to get bitten by mosquitos.