Musings on Food: Meat Cartel

Meat Cartel

Pictures by Gisele Soo

SeeFoon Visits A Carnivores’ Heaven

Some wag once said that “Becoming Vegetarian is a Big Missed Steak” and every once in a while I am inclined to agree.

Generally I lean more towards fish and vegetables but when a big platter of meat is put in front of me, all my gustatory juices start flowing and I will tuck in like a cavewoman to make any caveman worth his labours proud.

Thanks to Nicholas Poh, I was alerted to a meat lover’s heaven in Meru Raya.

At Meat Cartel, you don’t need a PHD in rocket science to figure out what is on offer. There is meat and there is meat and more meat. Grilled, pulled, barbecued, smoked, sausaged and drizzled with their secret recipe sauce, this is a meat fanatic’s paradise.

The only meat missing is pork as this is a HALAL restaurant.

The only concession to non-meat is the Plain Mac and Cheese (RM14) while the Bloody Mac and Cheese which sounded gory, has added minced beef and was actually very creamy and smooth. RM22 (RM20 for the chicken version).

While waiting for our big meat platter, we tried their Chicken Gangster Wrap: shredded smoked chicken, coral lettuce, romaine salad, cherry tomato, capsicum and sriracha sauce all wrapped in a tortilla, then cut into two to be easily held by hand. Big, beautiful, bodacious and juicy. Served with fries, the whole combination was satisfying, the chicken juicy and tender and the sriracha lending its mild piquancy. RM20.

Then the Heisenberg Platter arrived. The only Heisenberg I know of is the Uncertainty Principle by the German physicist Werner Heisenberg, who posited that the location and momentum of a nuclear particle cannot be known at the same time.

There was definitely nothing uncertain about this platter! For RM180 and touted on the menu as being meant for four persons, we could have easily fed six and maybe more if small eaters.

The platter comes with 150g of Pulled Lamb (melt-in-the-mouth tender); 150g Beef Brisket (also very tender); 300g Beef Short Ribs (yummilicious and tender); two links each of beef and lamb sausages, each 142g (well seasoned); a quarter BBQ roasted chicken (well marinated and we requested the leg portion); mashed potato and baked beans made with their own recipe.

The muscular sear and smoky, crisp burnish of grilled food has immense appeal. But achieving it requires time and attention to hot coals. Here they have obviously honed their recipes, and working with imported beef and lamb from Australia, they have done a superlative job.

Their barbecue sauce is a silky-smooth purée that’s rich but not excessive, hearty but not heavy, and spiked with a little chili powder, garlic and hickory flavor to liven things up. Imported from the USA, it is generously provided to douse on your meats.

Meat Cartel has both indoor and outdoor seating. While the air conditioned indoors can only seat 36 people, the outdoor area is ideal for a lively evening out under good weather.

Drinks: Passion Punch, a passion fruit drink in three layers. It has a slight fizz and is not too sweet, RM10. The Love Potion was a fragrant strawberry punch, RM10.