Yeast, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur

Yeast is somewhat of an unfortunate name for a restaurant....As a teacher of English, I often stress the importance of collocation i.e. words which occur together. Herein lies the problem with the name Yeast; one's mind immediately plumps for 'infection' when confronted with the word yeast - not something that whets the appetite...

Anyway, I digress...Yeast, as in the lovely leavening agent responsible for bread, is one of the better known restaurants in Bangsar for providing authentic French Cuisine. It's situated on Jalan Telawi 2, a street which has plenty of eating and drinking options.

When we went there it was a lovely day, and we arrived in the early afternoon before a day of work.

Jalan Telwai 2

When we arrived we were informed that there would be a 10-15 minute wait, so I took some pics to keep myself busy.

We eventually got a seat outside under a fan. Despite being Halal and having no real 'jambon', Yeast gives the impression of being a real french establishment, with the atmosphere and decor belying the tropical surroundings outside.

Although Yeast is supposed to have an excellent lunch and dinner menu, we decided to go for their brunch options. I opted for the eggs benedict with smoked salmon on a toasted home-made brioche RM22 (approx $7).

The eggs were firm but broke with a simple jab of cutlery, and were covered in hollandaise sauce which was subtle enough not to dominate proceedings. The smoked salmon was lean and clearly a cut above your regular fare.

The brioche was toasted and warm, but perhaps could have done with being a bit more of an influence here. As seen from the pic above, the brioche was quite thin, which was a shame because it was tasty.

The dish came with a salad on the side, covered in a typical mustardy french dressing which works well for me.

Overall - A very good eggs benedict 4 / 5

Erin decided to go for the roasted chicken sandwich with basil pesto, tomatoes and rocket, which came served with french fries and a green salad Rm20 (approx $6) . Personally, I thought this was an excellent choice as the portion was huge, allowing me to eat a sizable chunk.

Looking at the pic above, it's easy to see that the chunky bread takes up a large proportion of the sandwich. This however, isn't an issue when the bread has just come out of the oven and is this light and fluffy.

The basil pesto, combined with the juicy tomatoes, helped reduce the crunchiness of the sandwich, but the dressing mainly served as a simple compliment to the succulent, shredded chicken pieces.

As a Westerner who has lived in Asia since 2005, I feel that I am well qualified to compare the strengths and weaknesses of the food found across the continents. As a general rule I would say that in many areas Asian cuisine often surpasses its Western counterparts; seafood, spices and sheer variety of flavours to name a few. However, in terms of one of the simple pleasures in life - the sandwich, I'm yet to find much in Asia that would stand out back home.

With this in mind, I couldn't help but feel that this sandwich was something out of the norm considering precisely where I was eating.

Simply put, this is an excellent sandwich, regardless of where you happen to be when you eat it.
The chips, which came in a nice little cup-type-thing, were also little bursts of satisfying salty goodness.

Overall - Asia often doesn't do great sandwiches, this one breaks the trend - 4.5 / 5

Sometimes you go to a restaurant and leave feeling a sense of trust in the chefs working behind the scenes. You feel confident that whatever you order will be good - Yeast left me feeling this way.  It was a lovely brunch in a nice setting with a lively atmosphere.

We will definitely come back to see what delights are on offer in the evening.

French pastries