KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 27 -- The restaurant scene in Bangsar is a hard nut to crack. But Nutmeg -- the new kid on the block -- has aced their report card.

Despite being barely two months old, it is fast pulling in the crowd and even becoming a second home for its regulars.

Thanks to Nutmeg’s owners William Chong and Gordon Yip, the place oozes a cosy vibe with a menu of honest-to-goodness fare such as all-day breakfast items, house-cured gravlax, salted beef and enticing homemade cakes.

“This place is designed like a home,” explains Chong who is in charge of the kitchen. Look closely and you find the restaurant’s front portion resembles a porch. Walk pass the Nutmeg signage and it opens up into the living room with comfortable chairs with art pieces on the wall.

It shares the same space as the dining room with a melange of tables and chairs. Adjacent to this, you have the open kitchen decked with chalkboards and hanging lights.

Further down, there’s a back terrace bathed in a white light and decked out with plants. It does make you think there is natural light pouring into the room. Very clever.

The beetroot and lemongrass gravlax arugula salad makes a light and refreshing meal

Chong who worked with an interior designer sums up the restaurant’s look in three words: retro, grunge and chic.

It’s unusual that Chong and Yip who both hail from overseas decided on Bangsar for their first cafe venture. The brothers-in-law’s link is their wives who are keen to return home. “They wanted to get out of the house and work, “ jokes Chong.

Ten years ago, the duo who are passionate cooks started to dream about their own cafe. Last year that dream started to become reality. “It was good timing as everything came together,” says Yip who is a Hong Kong native.

He also believes that the Malaysia market is getting more mature and this kind of European concept with some American cooking will attract diners.

The lemon trifle packed in a nifty jar is a refreshing dessert with tangy lemon curd, roasted berries and whipped cream (top-left). Perk up your coffee with adorable 3D latte art (top-right). The papaya cake introduced for Merdeka Day is fast becoming a favourite (Bottom)

Previously bankers, the duo who are in their early fifties are food and beverage novices. Chong who is Singaporean quit his banking job about 10 years ago. “I did a certificate in baking technology that taught you the chemistry and physics behind baking that sparked off my interest,” says Chong who continued to develop recipes.

Those special dishes are now shared with everybody... on Nutmeg’s menu. Before he started Nutmeg, Chong was the section head lecturer for life skills at Institute of Technical Education, a Singapore vocational school.

The menu really hits home with a mixed repertoire of dishes that the duo loves and cooks best. The restaurant’s name was inspired by the nutmeg spice that is used in all kinds of cuisines and a reflection of the owners’ versatile philosophy.

As the restaurant is pork free, the house-cured gravlax and own-made salted beef replace bacon.

Most things are made in-house like their brioche, bagels and even the chutneys.

Regulars keep returning to the restaurant that resembles a cozy home

Chong is also a stickler for making sure the recipes are authentic like his bagels, which are chewier like the original. “We were in two minds about the bagels, whether we should give the customer what they want or do the right thing,” he says.

This may irk the locals who prefer a softer bagel hence they educate their wait staff to alert diners about its texture before they order the item.

Breakfast is an all-day affair at Nutmeg. “We felt Malaysia could do with an all-day breakfast that really knows how to do eggs,” says Chong. “Eggs are very important to us.”

Diners can expect to be pampered with eggs done French style. “It is more creamy rather than lumpy,” he adds. Case in point: Nutmeg’s scrambled eggs is very smooth and custard-like.

Nutmeg is also one place that understands the need for healthier alternatives like its egg white omelette -- a dish unheard of in the city. “It is an expensive experience removing the egg yolks but it’s something that is needed,” says Chong.

William Chong prepares the famous OMG! chocolate fudge cake

The gravlax is Yip’s pride and joy as he took time to perfect the recipe. “Europeans like to eat gravlax for breakfast,” he adds. He has received many compliments from Swedes who dine at Nutmeg. One even proclaimed that the gravlax is even better than what she can get in Sweden.

Yip prepares three flavours for the restaurant: original, smoked paprika and the unusual beetroot and lemongrass. The original gravlax is made from the salmon marinated with mustard, lemon zest, salt and sugar for three days in the refrigerator.

The unusual beetroot and lemongrass gravlax is Yip’s own invention. “After curing the fish, it becomes a wonderful red colour and when you eat it you get the refreshing lemongrass taste,” he says. Even Europeans are receptive to the Asian flavours in the cured salmon. In the next two to three months, he will be introducing new flavours: ginger wasabi and honey cinnamon.

Enjoy bar bites like a delicious salt beef bruschetta from 6.30pm onwards (top). A crowd favourite is the pan seared slow cooked chicken served with sauteed button mushrooms and garlic mashed potatoes (center). Garfield would approve of the delicious lasagna with layers of casseroled minced beef and lamb, bechamel sauce and cheddar cheese (bottom)

Sweet lovers will also find that Nutmeg fits the bill perfectly with their repertoire of sweets that includes cakes, tarts and trifle. One of its bestsellers is the quirky named OMG! chocolate fudge cake. “The name came from the customer’s reaction as after you put it on the plate, they go OMG!,” says Chong.

Their carrot cake and flourless orange cake are also high on the popularity ranking. “It is a moist and simple cake with lots of citrus flavour that has a gritty texture with the blended almonds,” explains Chong. A new cake introduced on Merdeka Day was the papaya cake sandwiched with papaya curd reminscent of kaya!

It is fast becoming a favourite and one weekend, it even toppled the OMG! chocolate fudge cake as the most popular. “I use half raw green papaya in the cake and make a curd from the ripe papaya with eggs,” adds Chong.

The decision to use papaya for their Merdeka Day specials, as Chong and Yip point out, was because they researched online and discovered that papaya is known as the “unofficial national fruit.”

One of the positive things about dining in Nutmeg is the attentive service. Yip overlooks with a watchful eye over the wait staff and trains them to be proactive. “People will get impatient once they sit down hence I make sure the drinks are served within two to five minutes,” he explains.

Yip also encourages the staff to multi-task and keep a constant watch over customers. There is also a personal touch with the wait staff and regulars are greeted by their names. “We try to talk to the customer to see how the meal went and collect the information so we can improve,” says Yip. Customers can also fill up comment sheets.

It is early days yet but plans are underway to expand the menu. This includes adding some Asian elements reinterpreted differently. For instance, a laksa may be served in a pesto form or even the Milo dinosaur drink is transformed into a parfait dessert.

The back of the restaurant resembles an outside terrace with white light and plants

Plans also include a dinner menu that will showcase Nutmeg’s diversity since the chefs come from different backgrounds: fine dining, Italian, Japanese and even Indian restaurants. In the meantime, they have introduced a special daily menu to test the waters.

Dishes will be added to the main menu depending on their popularity. Next it will be pre-packed gravlax and salted beef for customers. “It’ll be like a deli and we will also introduce a line of pickles, chutneys and jams,” he adds. The chutneys like pear and walnut already appear in Nutmeg’s dishes, accompanying sandwiches and chicken dishes.

Chong who is on a 12-month sabbatical from his college believes it is the experience that matters when he returns to teach. “No matter whether I fail or succeed, I’ve got something to share with them,” he adds. We reckon he will be singing a success story to his students.

Nutmeg

UGF-28A, Bangsar Village II, Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

Tel: 03-22013663.

This story was first published in Crave in the print edition of The Malay Mail on September 27, 2013.