I never knew the existence of a pork-centric restaurant residing in 1 Utama before a lovely dinner on the occasion of Ezel's birthday. From that moment onwards, Ante had become my go-to restaurant for amazingly delicious pork steaks. It is my trump card when needing to impress.
Ante's menu is not complete here so Zomato is your safest bet on the latest menu. In it, the Ante Signature Chargrilled Pork Steaks section is what you should pay attention to.
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| Pork Striploin Diane |
It may require a 15-20 minute wait but I assure you that you'll forget about the wait once you sink your teeth into that beautiful slab of meat. Seasoned and cooked so well, I didn't find the slightest bit of 'porkyness' which would usually be evident in such a large portion of untreated meat. The meat was so tender that I have finally had my 'like knife through warm butter' moment in life.
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| Pork Ribeye |
On a separate occasion, I had a Pork Ribeye served with a truffle butter sauce. It was absolutely divine. The truffle butter was as sinful as it was delicious and was a delightful accompaniment to the usually tougher ribeye. That slight char on the outside adds flavor to the meat while the inside is moist and so, so tender.
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| Miso Pork Belly |
The other item which I found interesting was the Miso Pork Belly. The Pork belly holds its shape on the plate but melts in your mouth. The miso taste was not too strong and complemented the meat really well. The fat melts away without the icky feeling so this was surprisingly quite pleasant despite all the fatty bits that I usually won't eat.
There were however 2 items that were outshined - the starter platter and the arabiatta pasta.
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| Starter Platter |
The starter platter had ciabatta that was too dry and parma ham that was too salty for me. The iberico ham was pretty good while the smoked duck breast amazing. Another knife through butter experience. The starters are available in separate portions so if I were you, I'd go for just the smoked duck breast.
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| Arrabiata |
The pasta had a nice smoky flavor to it thanks to the bacon but the pasta sauce was lackluster otherwise. Stick to the pork steak as a main.
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| Crispy Skin Smoked Duck Breast |
A portion of smoked duck breast would be like this. It's smoky and salty with a subtle sweetness - can't beat that combination of flavors on a tender piece of duck breast.
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| Bacon Sal |
The bacon salad keeps the sinfulness going - fresh romaine lettuce with crunchy bacon tossed in Caesar dressing and topped with parmesan powder. Leave your diet at the door, there's nothing healthy about this salad..
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| BBQ Ribs |
The BBQ Ribs was quite the surprise - meat falling off the bone accompanied by a smoky, tangy sauce that was not as sweet as American BBQ. Slow-cooked for 12 hours, it was an enjoyable slab of ribs if you'd like a non-pork steak option.
Ante is aptly named. they have definitely upped the stakes and standard of pork steaks in my books. I may never be able to eat another pork steak that is not Ante's.
