Experience José Gordón’s famous cave-aged beef at Vantador KL

In an era of immediate gratification, José Gordón has built his life’s work around slowness. On the windswept plains of northwestern Spain, the chef raises cattle the old way: He lets them live for over a decade, grazing freely on pasture grass and wild herbs, so that the seasons and nature permeate every fibre of their being.

The result is worth the patient wait: Fragrantly marbled, faintly nutty beef nurtured in the Spanish countryside for years instead of mere months, in pursuit of perfectly charred, crimson-centred steaks for patrons who care about craft and provenance.

Dinner at Vantador is an adventure: Beyond Gordón's beef, the kitchen captivates with modern sophistication, spanning an experiential tasting flight of beef served raw, roasted and cured; a surf-and-turf skewered starter of Australian wagyu tenderloin with Argentinian red prawn; dry-aged turken chicken and coral trout; and an immersive Lemon Mirage sensory dessert.

Raise your knives for Vantador's José Gordón Premium Selection, showcasing chuletero-style bone-in loins, northward of 1 kilogram each (RM130 per 100 grams).

This is steak that's naturally aromatic, releasing a primal perfume that hints at its mineral essence coated in creamy fat. Beef at its most meditative, not mass-market.

Each firm-bodied slice reveals flavours that fuse fire with flesh, structured with a tangible beefiness that whispers of blue cheese and roasted hazelnuts, in a testament to a life lived under open skies.

Sides and sauces supply thoughtful accompaniments, including broccolini, glossed with garlic anchovy butter for briny pungency (RM27), luscious slow-roasted cherry bell peppers (RM32) and indulgently truffled house-crafted fries, served hot, chunky and fluffy (RM55), plus brightly herbaceous chimichurri (RM8) and beef jus to bolster the bovine richness (RM8).



Another must-order, Vantador’s Signature Beef Experience (RM65) is a refined introduction to the restaurant's philosophy, a trio of amuse-bouches that sketch a portrait of beef as carpaccio, roast and cecina.

Begin with a raw sliver of lusciously silky dry-aged tenderloin carpaccio, studded with caviar for oceanic decadence, to be folded with fingers and consumed as a mouthwatering morsel.

Next, a plush Australian boneless wagyu rib roast crostini, its robust succulence intensified with pickled wasabi relish, salsa verde and garlic aioli on house-baked focaccia

The finale is a golden Manchego puff, a nod to Spanish tapas bar croquettes, centred with molten cream of 12-month-aged sheep’s cheese, crowned with El Capricho’s cecina for a smoky, nutty crescendo. Fun fact: The cecina is cured and aged for four years in José Gordón’s caves for extra intensity!

The Petite Surf & Turf is a contemporary composition of a classic coupling, ambitiously bringing together Australian wagyu tenderloin with Argentinian red prawns.

The seared beef skewer boasts alternating layers of trimmed meat with a ribbon of fat, compressed and cooked meticulously between medium to medium-rare in a feat of temperature control, ensuring a crisp bite and melt-in-the-mouth chew.

The prawn is carefully cooked to full-bodied tenderness, perched on beef fat rice with charcoal-infused oil, channelling the charred flavours of claypot rice with caramelised-crust notes.

Both rest on a vibrant base of Choron sauce, a béarnaise brightened with tomato, buoyed by brown butter, as airy as espuma for a fine French flourish.

A miniature study in modernist cooking, each element earns its place on the plate.

Vantador's capabilities extend past beef to seafood too.

The Smoked Trout Tostadas (RM65) remix the Mexican staple in a taco shell crafted in-house, engineered to resist sogginess, crisply snapping with a mix of masa harina corn flour and cake flour.

Calibrated with smoke, salt and tang, the tostadas shimmer with precision, delicately draped with Atlantic trout cold-smoked in Vantador's kitchen, caviar and crème fraîche for cool creaminess, lifted with subtle salsa verde laced with pickled kizame wasabi, chives, onions and sour cream, 

Vantador also dry-ages seafood and poultry for top-tier taste and texture.

The Grilled Coral Trout (RM198) is a standout, sourced from the waters off Semporna in Sabah, where Vantador collaborates with fishermen to secure rare, larger specimens weighing between two to 3.8 kilograms. 

That heft is key: Fish of this size can withstand dry-aging to concentrate the flavour and firm up the flesh, helping the skin crisp convincingly when it's grilled to order. 

Seared scallops, plump and perfectly caramelised, bolster the seafood synergy, cushioned with cannellini beans and chorizo, voluptuous with lemon butter velouté for that shot of acidity.

Dry-Aged Turken Chicken (RM120) relies on free-range naked-neck fowl from a Pahang farm, dry-aged by Vantador and brined in a secret spice blend. The chicken is large too, remaining evenly enjoyable from thigh to breast when roasted, harmonised with herbaceous parsley-mint pesto.

There's a magical interplay of rustic and refined: Buttery-bitter endives meet the sweetness of vanilla-poached strawberries and pomegranates, with grilled blue cheese lending piquancy.

Red-meat carnivores can also sink their teeth into the Roasted Lamb Rack (RM205), an Australian lamb rack swirling with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern flavours, highlighting herbs in its searing with butter, sage and thyme. The ensemble is enlivened with chimichurri, celeriac, red endives and pomegranate jus, plus pommes aligot for a stretchy, silky mash-up of mashed potatoes and fondue.

Save space for a sweet sensation: The Tea Infused Lemon Mirage (RM45) resourcefully reclaims discarded citrus - lemon trimmings like skin, pulp and juices, simmered with thyme, cloves and essential oils to extract their full potency.

Those juices are poured on a sculptural lemon centrepiece that complements the dessert, its zesty scent carried table-side in wisps of smoke, an aromatic overture that sharpens the palate. 

On the plate, fruit-shaped yuzu curd summons the illusion of a lemon, beside a quenelle of Earl Grey sorbet on Spanish olive oil, its light bitterness framing the sorbet's floral lift.

The Chocolat Bergamote Réverie (RM38) is decadent and dreamy with depth and delicacy. Like a layered mousse cake, its biscuit moelleux base is topped with chocolate crèmeux, then bergamot curd that lifts the richness below with perfumed elegance. Chamomile gel softens the sharpness for floral roundness, encased in chocolate tuile for textural contrast. 

Finally, the Elderflower Peach Harmony (RM38) lives up to its name, melodious with the restrained sweetness of fruit, flowers and honey. At the base, Vantador's team hand-rolls its own French butter puff pastry, glazed with caramelised honey and elderflower between each fold. It's blanketed with slices of poached white peach, their syrupy sheen catching the light under a scoop of yoghurt sorbet, tempered by Rimba Wild Tualang honey (an ingredient so prized, it has its own certificate of provenance).