Brian Kennett
Amateur Chef and Boozy Traveling Foodie Extraordinaire
Gales Restaurant Level 44 Review, Hatten Place, Melaka
Gales Restaurant at Level 44: As we shared in the Ninakennett.net blog today was Saturday and the first official day of Chinese New Year. Because of that Malacca was pretty much on shut-down, as in like the old public holidays of the UK. It was SHUT. We also had to wait for our room keys so we had to leave our bags after check-in.
We decided to depart the 12th-floor check-in, drop our bags at the ground-floor concierge and then meander up to the 360 Sky-Deck and the announced French restaurant Gales at Level 44, Hatten Place, Melaka.
It was not French at all. It was a fusion place of lots of different styles and varieties. It was cool. Completely empty sadly when we arrived, I think maybe one more couple in there only. This is why I was bemused with the service, and I have to call it here too.
I think the staff need some F&B training. For example; our starter cutlery and plates were all left even when our mains arrived and were finished. We ordered dessert, the waiter took our order.
Then came back 10 minutes later to advise that the kitchen had closed. Er, WTF. I think you should advise when the kitchen is closing to give a chance to place the last orders, or at the very least say the kitchen is closed sorry.
So you lost more $$$ on dessert and drinks guys, and leave a rather annoyed client who won’t be coming back and will write about it despite your amazing food.
Gales at Level 44, Hatten Place, Melaka = great food but lacking experienced service.
CLICK HERE to watch a walk around 360 SkyPark – the Malacca version of Marina Bay Sands.
I can’t find their menu online, and the receipt is too vague so I write from memory, food experience and what I found in the public domain.
You know it’s going to be good when you get butter rock up like this. Hand-made herbed butter, mixed piped and likely frozen. Quality butter on some quality bread. Yeah, great start Gales.
French not. This is Spanish in style. They call it Garlic Prawns, but if I were a betting man this is fashioned on the Spanish dish of Gambas al Ajillo. You would sweat down prawn heads to get the head fat out and make an intense liver-flavour sauce with oil, garlic and chilis.
Looks very similar to me. Ollie and Wifey had this dish. Not super spicy, but smokier due to the dried chilli peppers, and very fresh prawns that were excellent dipped in the oil and along with the crusty bread.
Chicken Patties is the name on the receipt. These were absolutely superb. Served on a super-hot griddle pan so the creamy sauce was bubbling away when it arrived. Little chicken patties with a secret or two in there. Some garlic, some ginger and a nice punch of Chil Padi to boot. Hell yes.
Little stunners. Ollie and I were mopping up the creamy sauce too with the spare bread. This is a winner dish, and with smaller patties perhaps something I can steal as a concept for ChillaxBBQ. So good snack attack beer food. Loved it.
As they state on their Facebook site; “This super tender Wagyu Beef Cheek is slow-cooked for 8-hours with beef jus and served with al-dente angel hair pasta, poached asparagus and a dash of plum cherry tomatoes.” We had three of these haha.
Yeah, a wee mention of Wagyu and we’re all in. I will 100% agree with what they say. This Wagyu was SUPER-SOFT. The fat in the cheek had turned to a butter-like jelly. It was fall-apart meat that was so very flavoursome.
It was quality. Everything about this dish was a stand-out. Chef at Gales, be proud of this dish my friend, absolutely superb. One real surprise for me was the Angel Hair pasta. I am not a pasta guy, I just don’t do starchy stuff. But this… this was exceptional.
So light, a little al dente, and drizzled in beef jus. This was heavenly pasta. For the first time in forever, I finished every strand of pasta on my plate. This is a must-try if you eat at Gales folks.
Jude Jude shows off our amazing city-scape view of the Melaka Straits, the river and then the low-rise heritage buildings of Melaka – the terracotta roofs. It’s so like a low-rise Singapore and looking at Boat and Clark Quay with no sky-scrapers. Not a bad view for lunch right?
As they state on Facebook; “This mouth-watering meal features perfectly cooked angel hair pasta with fresh scallops on top. Tossed with plum tomatoes and a dash of pesto plus shaved Grana Padano cheese as a garnish, it’s certain to complete your every craving.”
Ollie had this bad boy. Seasoned perfectly, but a little chewy to his liking, the spinach discs with the cheese were very Umami with bursts of flavour (I agree with this as he gave me one to try) Pesto pasta was lovely in flavour, but strangely his was a little chewy (how bizarre when I compare to mine). All in all, the flavour was the absolute winner here… But check that plating too. Rather stunning don’t you think?
So there you have it folks Gales @ Level 44, Hatten Place, Melaka, our first meal in Melaka this trip. It was rather good, despite the silly service issues which were just schoolboy errors in hospitality. The taste was King here today.
The winning dish for me was absolutely the Wagyu Cheeks. For once it paid us to be cheeky. Great work Chef and crew, some seriously good food there, just enhance their comms with your front-of-house staff and it would be double groovy.
If you are down this end of town folks I would pop in and have some grub and take in that amazing view. I hope that for our day #3 Wifey and I will be back to Level 44 and The Drift Bar for a date-night cocktail or two up there in the clouds if Jude allows us and #1 baby-sits haha. Come and eat guys, it’s good. Hope you – ENJOY!!!
