It’s that time of the year again when food lovers from all over the globe descend upon Malaysia to take on the rich culinary adventure that is the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival (MIGF). For the entire Festival month of October, thirty of Malaysia’s finest restaurants will be serving up Special Festival Menus at Special Festival prices accompanied by a host of Special Festival Offers.
Into its 12th year, the annual MIGF has seen successive line ups of Festival restaurants all trying to outdo each other, year upon year, with the creativity of their Festival menus.
Thanks to all this healthy and good spirited competition, food lovers can now enjoy a rich and exciting blend of local and international cuisines that is truly unique,and especially so, given all the multicultural ingredients that influence and enhance the dining scene in Malaysia.
This year’s theme, “Classical Chefs!” represents pure and honest food, honouring the roots of a symphony of cuisines that include Malay, Chinese, Indian, Japanese, French, Italian and Lebanese, with the addition this year of delights from South Korea, Cuba and New Orleans Bar & Grill that make up MIGF 2012.
The Festival is an integral part of Tourism Malaysia’s “Fabulous Food 1Malaysia” initiative which promotes the country’s unique, multicultural, food capabilities to the world.
TASTE MIGF – A Theatre of Cuisines and a Gourmet Village
If you are lucky enough to be in Malaysia on the 28th September, you cannot afford to miss Taste MIGF, the spectacular launch event of the Malaysia International Gourmet Festival, which takes place at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre. For one glorious, mouth watering day food lovers from the general public can, for the first time ever, enjoy Festival tastings from our very best restaurants as they all gather in one amazing location. Taste MIGF will also include a host of other gourmet related activities.
At the aptly named “Theatre of Cuisines”, you will be able to embark upon a “Super Gourmet Safari” to sample creations from Malaysia’s leading chefs as they serve up tasting portions from their Festival Menus. These special tasting portions are big enough to showcase the creativity of the Festival chefs but small enough to allow you to taste as many dishes from as many restaurants as possible.
To sample these creations, you will need to buy “Taste Tokens” which have been created with the benefit of diners in mind so that there are minimal queues or delays in people waiting for their change.
Taste Tokens will be available for purchase on the day of the event itself but you can get straight into tasting at the Theatre of Cuisines by pre-ordering online from the Festival Website www.migf.com.
Taste MIGF will also feature a“Gourmet Village”, where purveyors of the finest gourmet meats, wines and cigars bring you their wares, while workshops and talks, on how to appreciate wines and cigars, among others, will return to spread the word on life’s little pleasures.
So mark these dates in your diaries, as Taste MIGF opens the scene this September for the month-longMalaysia International Gourmet Festival that will create a symphony of cuisines in October.
Participating Restaurants
Celebrating Malaysia’s rich food heritage are Bunga Emas and Enak KL which feature traditional Malay cuisine with Makan Kitchen providing a multi-cultural round up of Malay, Chinese and Indian cooking, as well as fare from the Peranakan, Kristang and Iban communities.
Chinese cuisine is strongly represented by The Emperor, Dynasty, Lai Po Heen, Five Sen5es,and West Lake Garden, while the Imperial Rama serves superb Thai and Chinese dishes.
Rounding up the Asian influence are Japanese masters Sagano Japanese Restaurant, Kofuku and Ten Japanese Fine Dining Restaurant with fresh raw seafood that can’t be beat, while newbie Onsemiro Korean Restaurant brings to the discerning diner creations from the land of Kimchi.
Moving northwest of Malaysia, MIGF takes up the challenge of Middle Eastern fare with Lebanese cuisine from Al-Amar, before hitting Europe’s classics, with Italian flair characterisedby expressive Master Chefs from Prego, Senja and Nerovivo, and French refinement brought by L’Heritage and Cuisine Gourmet by Nathalie.
Then there are Mandarin Grill, The Olive, The Restaurant, Samplings on the Fourteenth,Bubbles and Bites, Circus and Grill 582 with the best of Western and Continental dishes, including the finest meats in town, while The Pomelo creates a chilled-out vibe with exquisite spa cuisine.
From the Americas, New Orleans Bar & Grill brings the liberal taste of bell peppers, which together with celery and onions make up the holy trinity of Cajun and Creole cooking from Southern USA, while it’s the unique taste of Cuba and Trinidad that brings dazzle to the plates at Qba Latin Grill and Bar.
MIGF – A Heritage of Great Dining
The Malaysia International Gourmet Festival, now an integral part of the Tourism Ministry’s Fabulous Food 1Malaysia initiative to promotethe country’s food capabilities to the world, started out 12 years ago as a small group of intrepid restaurants dreaming of bigger things.
The 13 were part of only a handful of fine-dining restaurants in Malaysia, which were trying to survive in anindustryfaltering due to lack of exposure and limited pool of local customers.
Instead of rolling up the rugs, these restaurateurs decided to make their presence felt, through an annual Gourmet Festival and the creation of special set menus offered at a special price throughout the festival month, with the aim of making premium dining more popular, affordable and accessible and less intimidating.
An immediate hit – the set menus especially gave first-time diners peace of mind when trying out unfamiliar cuisines – the Festival grew by leaps and bounds over the years to become what it is today, an award-winning celebration of great dining that has elevated Malaysia’s food and beverage industry to a world class level.
And the ripples have been ongoing: As the dining arena improved, so did the service, in itself creating a better environment, and dining experience, for the discerning guest. And as more people chose to partake in premium dining, the pool of customers grew big enough to encourage more restaurants to open for business, in that way strengthening the premium dining platform and food and beverage industry as a whole.
After 12 years of the Festival, the booming dining scene in Malaysia now reflects all sorts of cuisines. Visitors to the country can not only discover the glories of Malaysian dishes, they can also find food from all over the globe too. This variety is vital for attracting MICE traffic and high yield visitors to the country.
Plus, forget the image of stuffy, pretentious and intimidating dining – during the month-long MIGF, the focus is on good food and fun. Diners are provided with an unforgettable experience that includes one-on-one cooking time with the Master Chefs and heart-warming offers from the restaurants (think birthday cakes and candles!).
Among the industry players themselves, MIGF serves to foster greater camaraderie and a collective effort towards making the premium dining business a sustainable one, which can only bring bigger benefits to all.
1. The Malaysia International Gourmet Festival
Dates: 1st to 31st October 2012
Website: www.migf.com
2. Taste MIGF: The Spectacular Festival Preview
Date: Friday, 28th September 2012
Venue: Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre
Website: www.tastemigf.com
a. Taste MIGF – Super Gourmet Safari
Venue: Theatre of Cuisines, Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre
Date: Friday, 28th September 2012,
Time:11am to 3pm and 6pm to 11pm
Admission: Free
Purchase: Only with Taste Tokens
Buy Taste
Tokens: www.v4tickets.com
b. Taste MIGF – Good Food and Wine Fair
Venue: The Gourmet Village, Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre
Date: Friday, 28th September 2012,
Time:11am to 11pm
Admission: Free
Purchases: Cash and Credit Card
c. Taste MIGF – Workshops
Website: www.tastemigf.com