Pickle Dining, Tun Tan Cheng Lock Road

Pickle Dining offers one of our favourite restaurant experiences so far in 2024 - Malaysian chef-founder Danial Thorlby brings a genial, gracious presence to a gorgeous space that evokes a lower Manhattan industrial loft apartment, warmly rustic with wood and brick tones.

The open kitchen reveals the labour of a tiny team with a tight-knit collaborative spirit, soulfully peering out on a place that's a work in progress, centred by a communal French-carved table that Danial salvaged from a warehouse after decades of disuse.

Shelves filled with bottles and jars of pickles and ferments underscore Pickle's passion - a bumper-crop variety of vegetables, fruits and fungi, patiently preserved for months before popping up on patrons' plates, pleasurably cooked on open flames.

A short stroll from Chinatown, Pickle officially opens in February; a current trial run is ongoing by reservations only. The tasting menu takes inspiration from all across the world, with a cornerstone of contemporary French culinary techniques, true to Danial's years of working in Paris, New York and Singapore before returning to his home city of KL.

Mangrove jack ceviche with coconut nuoc cham; Carentan heirloom leeks with horseradish remoulade; shiruku suito sweet potatoes with nori cream; sunchoke espuma with pear compote; organic purple beans with rice soubise; Argentinean Angus beef tartare with guajillo chillies; apple-smoked free-range chicken with apple vinegar; grilled sirloin with Danial's favourite black garlic aioli; and fresh cinnamon doughnuts that reflect Danial's childhood memories, complete with wild honey cream - the selection is sophisticated but comforting at its core, making a meal at Pickle feel like the best housewarming party ever.

Pickle Dining

23, Jalan Tun Tan Cheng Lock, City Centre, 50000 Kuala Lumpur.