Sous Chef Paulin Dugas, Executive Chef Romain Fabre and Manager Benoit Le Rioux

Nostalgia has a way of making the ‘good old days’ seem just that – simple, in the past and always sunny. In the good old days, when I was a young boy in Ipoh, the height of my ambition was to cycle from Pasir Pinji all the way to Buntong via Tiger Lane and some other unnecessarily convoluted route. Back then Ipoh was a simple city and many of its citizens wanted simple things. But sometimes, even simplicity deserves a finer touch.

As much as the landscape of the city may have changed, finding my way to Garvy’s French Dining was simple enough, although its location on the lot of the BP Healthcare facility on Jalan Raja Permaisuri Bainun may raise some eyebrows. The short explanation to alleviate confusion is that the ‘Garvy’ in ‘Garvy’s French Dining’ is none other than Garvy Beh of BP Healthcare, who opened the eponymous restaurant considerably close to home.

Since inception, Garvy’s has strived to create something new by hiring the best hands where they matter most – the kitchen – and having developed a taste for Michelin star-linked chefs, Garvy’s current crop of kitchen hands speak to the heart of what the restaurant is all about.

“We want to show the truth about French cooking,” says Benoit Le Rioux, manager at Garvy’s, who along with chef Romain Fabre and sous chef Paulin Dugas make up the trio of Frenchman serving up French fine dining with a hefty touch of creativity:

The foie gras gyoza with mushroom consommé immediately displayed the best of French technique and playful creativity. The gyoza could have been gimmicky, but it served as an ingenuous vessel for the delicious foie gras, while the consommé served as an introduction to the chef's ability of packing a flavour-punch into seemingly simple solutions.

Chef Romain followed up with a scallop, vegetables and spinach consommé dish. Without needing to state the obvious – that it was cooked perfectly – the pan seared skin of the scallop brought out a natural sweetness that balanced out nicely with the intensely flavourful spinach consommé.

Continuing the pattern, the third course was a razor shell, cauliflower and truffle velouté with a sous-vide egg. On a Benoit's advice, I broke the egg yolk and gave it time to seep through the sauce and give it its velvety texture. The velouté was an excellent prelude to the main course.

Even eaten individually, the lamb rack, Jerusalem artichoke puree, and meat jus that made up 3/5 of the main course screamed 'Blockbuster,' but combined on one plate and rounded out with mushroom and potatoes for a touch of earthiness, this dish was to die for. Trust that I'm not exaggerating when I tell you I mopped up every bit of meat jus with a freshly baked baguette.

Chef Romain and his team began the wind-down of dinner with two desserts because, why not? First, I was served the tiramisu and homemade Bailey's ice cream – the 'sweet dessert' – that was everything a dessert should be, but it was the 'sour' dessert that took the round. Lemon merengue was sandwiched between cacao biscuits and served with a sour lemon and tarragon sorbet – it gave new meaning to 'ending on a sour note.'

“Fine dining isn’t – one piece of meat, little bit of vegetables and served in a big plate. That is not fine dining. Fine dining is the technique, the experience. Take your time, have some wine -- enjoy the experience. That is what we want to show,” were Chef Romain’s words before dinner, and by the end of it, I had to admit the trio did as they had promised.

The story of how the triumvirate ended up in Ipoh is one of friendship and courage. ‘Friendship’ because the men have known each other from their days learning at Institut Paul Bocuse and ‘courage’ because it took plenty of it to go from Michelin-starred restaurants in France and Switzerland to a small fine dining establishment in small city in a far-away land. But the one thing that unequivocally links the three men together is a love for good French food - something we couldn't enjoy in the good old days.

Dinner at Garvy’s French Dining is available as a 5-course or 7-course at a price of RM200 and RM250 respectively. For more information visit their official website.