Au Jardin @ Penang (2024)

Inside a bus depot-turned art space sits this distressed building clad in corrugated metal panels. Restaurant au Jardin, a white table cloth French fine dining, became its occupant. However, the interior is miles apart from the exterior, boasting a modern and sleek look. 

Home to a gallery, arts & events spaces and creative business outlets, Hin Bus Depot is a creative community hub in Georgetown. Whilst minimal renovations has been made and care has been made to preserve its old-world charm, the original interior structure of the building has become impossible to recognise.

Hin Company Ltd was one of the many private companies awarded motorbus licenses to operate on the island in the aftermath of World War II as part of the colonial government’s efforts to restore Georgetown. The depot itself closed its doors in 1999, whilst the famous Blue Bus finally ceased operations in the early 2000s amidst the proposed restructuring of Penang’s struggling public transportation system.

Through the decades, the depot had withstood both time and change but soon withered under the brutal tropical weather once left vacant. The shabby, dilapidated building finally came into private possession in 2010. It was not until Ernest Zacharevic’s 2014 Art is Rubbish is Art exhibition that the space took its first transformative steps to become the vibrant art collective it is today. It is within the bohemian atmosphere that Au Jardin calls home.

Strolling into the anteroom, a bright and airy atrium, this is just about as close as you’ll get to a garden here, with some various plants and small trees set about in the attractive and minimalist entry. This is where you’ll be met by the staff, who will then welcome you into the intimate dining room. With only four immaculately set tables and a marble bar flanking its open kitchen, seasoned diners will intuitively know they’re in for a special treat before they even take their seats. 

There’s also a dress code: Diners are expected to embrace smart casual attire at a minimum, with a notable step up at dinner time. This is very different from casual smarts that most of Penangnites are used to in this relaxed and tourist town.

Diners have but one option: the chef’s superb dégustation menu. The artisanal menu developed by Chef Kim Hock is built around passion in showcasing the freshest ingredients through simple but beautiful dishes that reflect both culinary tradition and creativity.

Amuse Bouche

Amuse bouche is a showcase of the creativity and techniques of the chef and team, and an overture of the rest of the degustation menu.

The first of the three one-bite amuse bouche was a chicken liver parfait sitting on a sugarless meringue, topped with a seaweed crisp. Delicious.

The second bite was really simple, just half a radish with squid bits in aioli. Nice.

I can’t remember the ingredient in the third bite. It was like a deep fried Cantonese wonton with a seafood filling.

Bread Service

The homemade Thosai bread with tomato chutney butter is always a highlight. The bread was made with a starter that is used for Thosai that has been cultivated since the start of the restaurant. The bread has that sugary flavour of a Thosai. A crisp crust holds a spongy dense middle, paired with what seemed to be an unassuming heirloom tomato but was actually tomato chutney butter.

The chutney butter was ingeniously fashioned in a mould to assume its shape and then dipped in refined curry leaves blended with coconut oil for a punch of zesty flavours. If that chutney butter was too much for you, the local churned butter was equally delicious.

Pea Custard

Petit Pois, Pea Crisps, Green Curry Gazpacho

This next course looks like a dessert but is a savoury pea custard. Peas are presented in three texture – as a custard, a mash and a cracker. Pea custard is an elegant starter due to the smooth texture and subtle flavour of peas.

The second texture is the green peas gazpacho infused green curry. This refreshing chilled pea soup gazpacho is made with whole, simple ingredients like peas, a citrus and green curry spices.

And the final texture is the pea cracker. Nothing fancy, but they have been making crackers using different ingredients.

Cured Wild Caught Prawn

Braised Local Beets, Nasturtium, Fish Roe Emulsion

Sashimi is seldom featured in French fine dining as the conditions to ensure non-contamination are very hard to achieve. So this next dish is the closest one can get to a sashimi. The wild caught sea prawn is sous vide and then served with cooked beets and nasturtium.

The dish is then completed with a fish roe emulsion as a dressing. Full of umami, the sweetness of the prawn went really well with the refreshing taste of nasturtium.

Mud Crab

Hot Broth, Chicken ‘Tsukune’, Dry Shrimps

The next starter is an alternative take on the Japanese yakitori favourite, the tsukune or grilled meatball. The meatball here was made with minced chicken with mud crab meat.

The skewer was made with a chicken feet. Minced chicken meat was packed around the bone and grilled like a tsukune using a black vinegar glaze. Crispy shrimps 虾米 were encrusted on the surface of the chicken meatball.

The accompanying broth is a chicken consommé with a slight gingery taste.

Tartare of Beef

Ultra Sonic Potatoes, Anchovies Emulsion, Shallot Rings, Pringles Espuma

Beef used for the tartare is the same as the aged beef option in the main course. Inspired by European culinary traditions that prize meat from older animals, fine dining chefs are now presenting the meat from retired dairy cows as a delicacy. Chef Kim Hock worked with local dairy farmers to fatten these retired cows before they are slaughtered and aged in-house to get the right tenderness and flavours.

Before this I only know that using ultrasound, you can wash your glasses really clean. Washing potatoes with ultrasound can remove starch from the potato’s surface and deeper layers, resulting in crispier, more evenly fried french fries. Ultrasound treatment can also reduce the amount of oil fried potatoes absorb.

The tartare is accompanied with a beignet filled with potato espuma and topped with ossetra caviar and a touch of gold foil. Warm potato espuma, inspired by the culinary innovations of Ferran Adrià, showcases the transformative power of simple ingredients when combined with inventive cooking techniques. Since then, this potato espuma-filled beignet with caviar has been featured in all fine dining tables in one form or another.

Magnum Sorbet

Lime & Jasmine

The next course is a palate cleanser, the ingredients to made these popsicle vary from time to time. Lime and jasmine were used for the sorbet that was dipped in coconut oil to form a thin crust to slow down the melting. The outside of the magnum bar was sprinkled with lime zests.

Underneath the popsicle was popping candy.  It was quite fun to eat. The lime and jasmine sorbet was really refreshing – I loved the sensation of the popping candy crackling away on the tongue.

Cognac & Hay Aged Duck

Fermented Guava, Guava Purée, Sze Chuan Pepper, Blanc Jus

One of Chef Kim Hock’s favourite ingredient is duck. His signature dish of Cognac & Hay Aged Duck is a delicate balancing act that tests the chef’s skills. The duck needs to be moist and sensuous to the tongue, with crisp skin and intense flavours that do not leave an unsettling gamey aftertaste. Painstakingly detailed cooking methods, care, and patience are required to achieve the desired result.

During the pandemic, Su and his team continued to develop this dish as time was on their side. “We experimented with the varying ageing processes and different combinations of ingredients to develop the flavour. After endless rounds of trial and error, we found a way to develop the desired depth of flavour.” 

It is currently paired with fermented guava, guava purée, and Szechuan pepper. The pairing changes with seasonality, the last time it was paired with pomme purée, Lapsang Souchong and passionfruit gel. A stunning blanc jus was poured alongside the duck, a reduction painstakingly made from 60 litres of duck bone and stock, simmered over three long days to yield just three litres of precious jus. To say this is a flavour-packed jus would be an understatement.

Juniper & Pandan

Espuma of Lime, Lime Pâté De Fruit, Pandan Oil

Firstly, it’s very pleasing to the eyes and that’s important for desserts. You eat with your eyes first. Then you cracked the “leaf” that covered the lime sorbet like a creme brûlée. And then you dig deep into the bottom to get a spoonful of sorbet, dried lime pate, lime espuma drizzled with pandan essence.

I think the inspiration of this dessert was gin and tonic. The pandan made it tasted like “bird nest water” that was sold in amusement park. Lime Pâté De Fruit tasted like the preserved kumquat from Ipoh. Couldn’t taste the juniper berries though.

Petit Fours

Three small bites to be eaten from right to left. The first bite, a reinterpretation of the Nonya pandan cake. A pandan-infused marshmallow sandwiched between two pandan gelée, this will definitely be a hit in your next Chinese New Year gathering. The next bite looked like a “curry puff“. The “puff” was made with cotton candy. The filling included some sweet and savoury stuff. Literally candy crush. Finally, an after-dinner chocolate mint wrapped in a playing card. At first glance, it looked like any other dark chocolate wafer in a wrapper. The secret? The wrapper can be eaten too.

One More Course – The Hock’s Dog

Like all good fine dining restaurant, au Jardin also gives you a take-home gift to extend the dining experience. Embracing their commitment to minimising waste, Hock’s Dog in the Box is a marvel of sustainability, crafted from flavourful meat or vegetable off-cuts. Savour this conscious snack tomorrow as a thank you for joining them on this journey to minimise waste and maximise flavour.

Elevating each bite with a medley of assorted pickles and lingering mustard remnants, Hock’s Dogs are unique to the mains that you ate the night before. The tomato brioche bun accompanying your dog undergoes a meticulous lacto-fermentation process, utilising the essence of surplus vegetables that might otherwise go to waste. Rosie was eyeing on the hotdog the moment we took it out of the packaging. The sausage was really delish, I wished they would come up with a take-home version for the sausage.

Michelin unveiled its Penang list in Dec 2022 and awarded two restaurants the coveted star – Restaurant au Jardin became one of the two recipients. And in this repeat visit, they have retained the star for 3 consecutive years. The food was still amazing, but I was looking something more that will show the potential of the team to get the next star.

Restaurant au Jardin
The Warehouse @ Hin Bus Depot
125 Jalan Timah, George Town, 10150, Malaysia
Tel : +60 12-428 9594

Visited Nov 2024

Michelin Kuala Lumpur and Penang Guide 1 Star 2023-25