“When a restaurant is touted as one of Malaysia’s best with innovative dishes, it couldn’t be helped that there will a lengthy wait for reservations. And so it was with Dewakan. I tried my luck giving them several Saturday evenings and was rewarded when a slot for 2 was confirmed. It was partly to celebrate my better half’s birthday as well so I wanted it to be a nice occasion.

Getting there was half the battle, we didn’t stay too far away and even then it was still challenging for us, especially when the roads leading to KDU were dimly lit. My guess is that it would be a bigger problem for diners not familiar with the area. Parking was easy and free and the guard told us where to head towards for the restaurant.

We were greeted warmly upon entrance and waited for our table to be ready. The menu was shown to us while we waited. There was a buzz around the restaurant and it was full. The restaurant staff were relatively young with many servers being college students. We decided to go for the whole nice yards and were recommended a white wine to pair the food.

What can we say about the food that has not been expressed by other reviewers? Sublime, different, beautiful and really good? What about good value for money and a good sign of the maturing dining scene in Malaysia? It was all of the above as far as we were concerned. There was a play with taste and structure, presentation was interesting and what you see is not necessarily what you get. And the white wine recommended went superbly with the food. Service was adequate, you have to give the ladies some room to improve, they do try hard and it was easier for us to understand the nerves.

We even had a chance to talk to Darren after the dinner and he was a very down to earth chap with lots to say about the fine dining in Malaysia and obviously a clear vision as to where Dewakan is headed. The man obviously has put in a lot of heart and soul to Dewakan. Go give this place a chance, it will blow your mind.”