Lim is a maverick restaurateur who has rebuilt the team at Chateau Dionne and ensured that the rebooted restaurant is better than ever.
Five years ago, bubbly restaurateur David Lim opened French restaurant Chateau Dionne in Kuala Lumpur’s swanky Damansara Heights neighbourhood. The restaurant was a huge success, often packed to the rafters and requiring reservations weeks in advance.
Then in the middle of last year, Lim’s long-standing chef left and a mass exodus ensued. Lim was 55 then and contemplating semi-retirement.
Standing on the precipice of a major decision, he took the road less travelled: instead of cutting his losses and shuttering for good, he opted to rebuild and train a whole new team.
The result is what Lim calls “Chateau Dionne 2.0”.
“People said to me – ‘You’re 55, why don’t you take your EPF money and go on holiday? You know the kind of headache you’ll face running a restaurant?’ But I am known to be a crazy man.
“I named my first shop after my eldest daughter Denise. And Chateau Dionne is named after my second daughter Dionne – she’s the middle child so she probably lacked some attention growing up. There’s sentimental value in this restaurant and it’s made me want to work even more to make sure this is a restaurant that is known for good food in KL. I’ll fight this last battle to the end,” says Lim.
Lim is a maverick restaurateur who has rebuilt the team at Chateau Dionne and ensured that the rebooted restaurant is better than ever.
In many ways, this spirit of rebuilding and finding new purpose at every turn is deeply ingrained in Lim’s DNA. As a young adult, he started out in the family business (his father started Thomson Health, which makes health products).
He later left the company and after attaining a love of wine courtesy of his ex-wife, he started Denise Wines. At its peak, there were 60 outlets all over Malaysia and Singapore.
But in 2011, Lim’s marriage ended and he felt the need to build something new. He had always dreamt of setting up shop in China so he left Malaysia to start anew there.
He ended up establishing nearly 100 Denise Wines outlets in China and eventually in 2016, opened Chateau Dionne Shanghai, which became an enormously popular restaurant. At the height of this success, Lim’s restaurant was making RM600,000 a month in sales.
'I literally had to start from the ground again. There were many sleepless nights until I managed to gather a new team.'
Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened and Lim returned to Malaysia. With the help of a business partner from China, he opened Chateau Dionne in September 2020. The restaurant had its ups and downs but ran relatively smoothly until the departure of his chef-partner in July 2025.
“I literally had to start from the ground again. There were many sleepless nights until I managed to gather a new team. It’s like a rebirth but it still incorporates the spirit of what we started, which is to make sure the restaurant has a soul so that people keep coming back,” says Lim.
The restaurant itself is wrapped around two floors. On the ground level, diners can indulge in the a la carte menu while upstairs offers a more curated tasting menu or as the jovial Lim jokes, “Orang atas pergi atas lah (people with more expensive tastes can go upstairs).”
If you’re after options from the a la carte menu, there’s plenty to whet the appetite.
Artisanal Bread Basket (RM18) which features a canvas of homemade croissants and sourdough bread.
Start with the Artisanal Bread Basket (RM18) which features a canvas of homemade croissants and sourdough bread against slathering material in the form of the restaurant’s signature truffle butter.
There are few pleasures in life as satisfying as enjoying good bread and butter.
The croissant featured here is triumphant – a crisp, flaky shield that yields to doughy, fluffy innards and this matches the indulgence of the truffle butter, which is unctuous and studded with opulence.
The smoked salmon gougeres are light operators that deliver maximum satisfaction.
Up next is the Smoked Salmon Gougeres (RM33) which highlights a warm choux puff filled with horseradish cream and topped with smoked salmon and ikura.
This is a light yet utterly rewarding treat that pairs a light choux puff with a rich horseradish cream whose pungent undulations tread lightly as opposed to heavily.
This is enhanced by silken slices of smoked salmon and pearlescent bursts of brine from the ikura. It’s a simple combination of ingredients that cheer each other along remarkably well and epitomise the term “team effort” perfectly.
Perhaps one of the most popular mainstays on the menu is the Cold Capellini with Truffle Ponzu, Cured Egg Yolk, Amaebi (RM68 +RM48/10g supplement for Hokkaido bafun uni).
The cold capellini delivers both riotous fun and confident elegance in one hugely satisfying meal. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star
This dish is essentially the equivalent of an ebullient, yet sophisticated dinner party where you feel the need to bring out all the good china but are also in the company of a fun bunch of people.
The pasta is wound into a tight little circle but persevere in unwinding it and stirring everything together to release all the flavours lurking stealthily here.
The noodles here are slick and smooth and form the bedrock of the meal, which is enlivened by the acidity and vibrance of the truffle ponzu and the rich hedonism of the egg yolk.
The amaebi prawn, uni and bubbly bits of roe add the final flourishes to a meal that has greatness carved into its structural DNA.
The restaurant is one of the few French eateries in KL to serve the rustic French dish of frogs' legs.
If you’re after something a little left field, indulge in the charms of the Frog Legs a la Provencale (RM68).
Frogs’ legs are ubiquitous in France and trace their roots to medieval times. In Malaysia though, the dish is rarely seen in local French restaurants.
Chateau Dionne’s rendition does justice to this amphibian by shrouding it in a smoked garlic cream, parsley and lemon.
The frogs’ legs themselves are fat and very tender and the garlic cream is buttery and hedonistic.
It’s a simple, uncomplicated dish that hinges on the cook on the frogs’ legs – which in this instance, has been nailed to a fine science.
Hokkaido scallops and orzo pasta make for a mouth-watering combination. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star
From the mains, opt for the Pan-Seared Hokkaido Scallops (RM88).
The scallops are served alongside orzo pasta, seaweed, parmesan foam and beurre blanc in what proves to be a resounding success.
The scallops are seafood heavyweights that are smooth, unblemished and plump with a bounce and pep in their step.
The sleeper hit in this configuration though is the orzo pasta, which resembles fat grains of rice and offers a homey, comforting finish to the meal.
The classic French bouillabaise is an aquatic stronghold bolstered by red mullet, mussels and tiger prawns.— SAMUEL ONG/The Star
The Bouillabaisse Marsellaise (RM168) highlights a red mullet fish stew with saffron potato, mussels and tiger prawns.
The stew here is laced with a rich aquatic heart and this forms the backbone and strength behind the dish, which is enhanced with tender red mullet and plump, firm prawns alongside a few voluptuous, briny mussels.
End your meal with the Grand Souffle of the Season (RM38 + RM18 supplement for Grand Marnier alcoholic option), which has been a key highlight of the restaurant, with over 19,400 souffles sold since the restaurant’s inception.
The restaurant has sold over 19,000 of its hugely popular souffles since it was launched.
The souffle is a dreamy wonder that is light and cloud-like on the palate – its fluffiness lending an ethereal quality to round out a memorable meal here.
Despite having just found his legs again with Chateau Dionne, the energetic Lim still has other plans afoot. After all, he has a third daughter named Divine and a burning need to honour her too in some way – just like her older sisters.
“Once the restaurant has stabilised a bit more, my first plan is to open Petit Dionne – a more affordable French restaurant somewhere in KL. After that will be a jazz bar called Divine – named after my youngest daughter,” says Lim, smiling.
