View: Fine dining isn't just about fine dining, you pay 'so much' for much more than food
restaurant. So, is it worth paying 'so much' for food?
Stepping into the swanky premises of Nadodi, an upmarket restaurant in Kuala Lumpur that reimagines South Asian cuisine in a novel way, the question briefly presents itself, but evaporates the moment the first course arrives. Honestly, if we had wanted just food, we could have had a meal in the hawker centre downstairs. We would have ordered a steaming bowl of laksa, opted for a roti canai, or chosen bak kut the, a pork rib dish cooked in broth.
Instead, we are here at Nadodi for the veritable art on our plates, the incredible research each dish builds on, and the use of exquisite locally sourced ingredients.
At Noma in Copenhagen, often voted as the best restaurant in the world, we had once lost count of the delirious number of dishes that arrived on the table in remarkably rapid succession. The restaurant takes a no-nonsense attitude, and expects its guests not to dillydally. Given a tour of the sprawling complex that houses this 'new Nordic cuisine' restaurant's dining and research facilities, our host pointed at a building where chef Rene Redzepi was busy experimenting and planning next season's food extravaganza with a team of his finest staff. Here, they do take all the time they need, none of this can be hurried.
That same week we had flown to the Faroe Islands, a self-governing archipelago and part of Denmark, to dine at KOKS, billed by the New Yorker as the 'world's most remote foodie destination'. After a 40-min taxi ride, we were dropped at the
