Madisons, Bangkung Row, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

The Bangkung Row on Jalan Bangkung is something of a hidden gem in Bangsar. Nestled in a leafy suburban neighbourhood, surrounded by expensive houses, is a line of restaurants that make up 'the row'. The restaurants are all high-end, and smartly decorated with most offering tables outside so diners can enjoy the pleasant surroundings.

Having had great success with other restaurants on the row, we decided to try out Madisons, which can be found about half way up.

The restaurant is Aussie-owned and the food served is Western fine-dining. Feeling slightly under-dressed (at least I was anyway), we opted for the lunch set - RM 40 (approx $13) for 3 courses.

We were given some homemade bread rolls which contained pieces of fig. The bread was still warm from the oven and was light and fluffy inside. It was a promising start!

For starters we had the roast suckling pig and seasoned apple, wrapped in puff pastry with apple chutney on the side. When the dish arrived, it looked somewhat like (at least to my crude eyes) a set of fancy sausage rolls. Have a look and see if you agree:

The pastry was nice and flaky, and the pork meat generously stuffed within was shredded and tender. You can't really go wrong when using pork and apple as a combo and this was no exception. Erin and I made sure the dish was equally divided, a sign that we were both really enjoying what was in front of us.

Overall - I can't see how this could have been done much better. 4.5 / 5

For our other starter we decided to go for the butter poached asparagus spears, sous-vide egg, sultana & almond shaved panna grattato with truffle honey. When it arrived it looked like this:

We both thought the combination of the asparagus and egg worked really well, especially when mixed with the shavings and truffle honey. The plate of food ended up looking like a bit of a mess, albeit a very tasty one!

Overall - another great starter 4 / 5


For our mains we went for the market fish (which was seabass) served with parsnip puree, french sausage and beetroot chips. The fish came served on a bed of the creamy parsnip puree and looked like this:

The fish was well cooked, with the skin nicely seared to give it a crisp texture. The sausage was finely chopped into small pieces, and added a touch of saltiness to the dish.

Overall - well-cooked, good combination of flavours. Could have done with a bit more! 4 / 5

For the other main course we had pumpkin gnocchi in sage butter sauce with mustard and pumpkin seeds.

Although there was nothing wrong with this dish, we both felt that it lacked a bit of the wow-factor we'd experienced with everything else. Nevertheless, it was still thoroughly enjoyable, with the sage butter matching the pumpkin nicely.

Overall - a good 3.5 / 5

We finished the food with the assorted desserts.

From left to right, lemon curd meringue, mini-chocolate brownie, deconstructed tiramisu.

All three desserts were good, however we both agreed that the lemon curd was the best of the bunch.

Overall - 4 / 5

We finished the meal with two cappuccinos, RM12 (approx $4) on the terrace outside while we waited for the impending thunderstorm to arrive and pass over.

We thoroughly enjoyed our lunch at Madisons, and although it isn't cheap by KL standards, you'd be very hard pressed to find food of this quality at this price back home. We will definitely be returning to try the dinner menu, and Madisons now joins Midi 57 and Jared & Rawlings as one of our go to eateries on the Bangkung Row.