New Set Menu @ Celestial Court, Imperial Hotel KL

Recently, my friends and I found ourselves back at the opulent Celestial Court again to sample their newly introduced set menu, thanks to the invitation from FoodStreet. Named Ying, Yang and Jing respectively, each of the set menu came with a carefully selected set of 8 to 9 dishes. Pricing per pax starts from RM98++(Ying), RM128++(Yang) and RM158++(Jing) with a minimum of 6 pax. As there were only 4 of us that night, we were served with a selection of 5 dishes from all 3 of the set menus.


Braised Shredded Abalone with Dried Scallop and Roasted Duck Meat
Starting with Braised Shredded Abalone with Dried Scallop and Roasted Duck Meat (from the Ying menu), the thick soup was tasty albeit a tad salty for our liking with a somewhat strong medicinal aroma (although not in a bad way), probably from the chinese herbs used in creating this tummy-warming soup.


Roasted Baby Duckling
Next to arrive was the Roasted Baby Duckling (from the Ying menu). To be honest, as far as I could remember, that was my first time having baby duckling although to me, I would have said that it's roasted pigeon if I didn't know better.

Anyhow, the roasted duckling was exactly how it should be; glossy thin skin fried till delicately crispy, with juicy sweet flesh within. The melting tenderness of the fatty parts would surely be a delight to those who knew how to enjoy it.


Stir-fried Prawn Roasted Minced Garlic
Easily the most popular dish of the night was the Stir-fried Prawn Roasted Minced Garlic (from the Jing menu). Big fat de-shelled prawns tumbled with lots of fragrant roasted minced garlic. The jumbo-sized prawns were sweet and bouncy yet firm to bite, indicating the freshness of the seafood. A definite hit for us!


Braised Vermicelli with Seafood
The Braised Vermicelli with Seafood (from the Yang menu) was a delicious jumble of seafood tossed amongst noodles and leafy vegetables. This noodle dish was generous with the fresh assorted seafood, if just a tad salty.


Double Boiled Snow Fungus with Sea Coconut and Lotus Seed
The Double Boiled Snow Fungus with Sea Coconut and Lotus Seed (from the Jing menu) provided a sweet ending to our meal. Although served warm, the nutritious sweet soup was cooling and refreshing although we would have liked it more if it was a little bit less sweet.

It was a delight to see that the restaurant currently offers a 50% discount for senior citizens as I am pretty sure my parents would have enjoyed the menu under the luxurious ambience of Celestial Court. In addition, diners who ordered the set menu will also receive complimentary parking.

Celestial Court
Hotel Imperial Kuala Lumpur
Jalan Sultan Ismail
Phone 60 3 2717 9900

Steamed Fish Head in Paramount

Steamed Fish Head in Claypot
One of my regular haunts during lunchtime for a venue that is close to my office; and when I am in the mood for fish head. I am not sure the exact name of this restaurant but if I am not mistaken, it is called Paramount Fish Head Restaurant. It used to be called something else but I think there was a change of owner. Anyway, this place is located opposite Giant in Paramount and so it's pretty easy to locate.

The default order is usually Steamed Ginger Fish Head (which is pretty good, by the way) but on this day, we decided to ask the "si tao poh" (lady boss) for her recommendation. She recommended their Steamed Fish Head in Claypot. I reckoned that it must be good for I saw the dish on quite a number of tables so we went along with her recommendation.
When it arrived, it looked promising. It's not too different from the Steamed Ginger version. The paste on top of the fish with its gorgeous green hue tasted like a mix of pounded ginger, garlic and spring onion or maybe cilantro.

Whatever it is, it paired perfectly with the fish head. I guessed that the fish was also steamed with a dash of wine which resulted in an absolutely delicious and tummy-warming soup (or stock) at the bottom of the dish. I was slurping it all up non-stop. The fish was also fresh; its flesh tender yet firm, and sweet too.

A side dish of vegetables is usually ordered to accompany the fish head. In this case, we ordered "Sin Kong Tau Foo" (Stir-fried beancurd with assorted vegetables in thick gravy).

"Sin Kong Tau Foo" (Stir-fried beancurd with assorted vegetables in thick gravy).

Prices are pretty reasonable too. The total bill for the above dishes, and 2 plates of plain rice and drinks was around RM34. Not bad for a healthy, wholesome and satisfying lunch, eh?

Dim Sum @ Celestial Court, Hotel Imperial Kuala Lumpur

Aargghhh.....
My Starwood membership was expiring and I still had a handful of vouchers to go. It was quite funny how I rushed to utilize most of the "complimentary" vouchers during the last month of my membership. Anyhow, one of it was the "Eat-All-You-Can" Dim Sum at Celestial Court, Hotel Imperial Kuala Lumpur (previously known as Sheraton Imperial Hotel).


Celestial Court
It was rather difficult getting a booking as this special deal was only available during weekends. Could it be there were also tons of other members who were in the "same situation" as me? (I.e., Utilizing all the vouchers at the very last minute before they expire). That was why I was rather surprised to see that the restaurant was rather empty when I went there. I knew that this special promo has been discontinued and not available to the general public but due to the Starwood vouchers given last year for their members, the restaurant had to honor them. Hence only Starwood members who hold such vouchers are entitled to the free-flow dim sum. Perhaps the restaurant pre-allocated the maximum number of reservations/tables for those utilizing this voucher. But seriously, since it was rather difficult making reservation and the fact that they actually called a couple of times to re-confirm the reservation, I was expecting at least a semi-crowded restaurant. Hmmppff.....

Back to the food. A special menu was given for this "Eat-All-You-Can" promo. Selections although not vast, were sufficient. Here are some of it.

Starting with the "steamed" varieties:


Shrimp Dumpling (Har Gow)
The Har Gow was good. Big, fresh, juicy prawns in thin translucent crystal skin.


Another type of dumpling with Konnyaku noodles in Spicy Chili Sauce


HK-Style Chee Cheong Fun with Shrimps served with Pea Sprouts
Nice and smooth cheong fun. Again, shrimps were fresh. But the measly pea sprouts looked rather pathetic and out of place on the dish.


And now the "fried" varieties:


Pan-fried radish cake
This was just average.


Deep-fried Yam Pastry with Minced Meat Stuffing (Wu Kok)
Didn't really enjoy this although wu kok is one of my favourite dim sum. Just lacking of something which I couldn't exactly pin-point. Or maybe it wasn't served warm enough.


Sesame Spring Roll with Shredded Roast Duck
Sounded promising but was rather forgettable.


Honey Stuffed Cruellers (Yau Char Kwai)
Too "dough-y".


Pan-fried Dumplings Beijing-style
Totally forgot what was inside.

From the "roast" section:


Crispy Skin Roast Duck
This was the "star" of the entire meal. Thin crispy skin and tender flesh. Absolutely no gamey taste to it. Perfect with the accompanying dipping sauce. So good that we had 2 of this.

Sweet Endings:


Chilled Sai Mai Lo
Needed something cold and chilling to help elevate the feeling of being "stuffed to the brims with meat". Not a very good sai mai lo. Too diluted, perhaps.


Chilled Almond Jelly with Longans
I usually detest almond puddings, broth and jellies hence I was somewhat surprised that I liked this a lot. The pudding was so smooth and silky with just a very slight scent of almond (which was what usually put me off). Nice!

Celestial Court
Hotel Imperial Kuala Lumpur
Jalan Sultan Ismail
Phone 60 3 2717 9900

Dim Sum @ Emperor, Sheraton Subang

The Emperor is a traditionally themed halal Cantonese restaurant, located in Sheraton Subang and one of my preferred restaurants to have halal dim sum.


The dim sum pre-requisite, har gow (prawn dumpling) with scallops. I think it is called "tai zi gow"?
The dumpling was good. Fresh, big and juicy seafood. Plus points for the not to thick nor thin crytal dumpling skin.


Seaweed Roll

Here's how it looked inside...


Some Crab-stick Roll (this was pretty average for I am not a fan of imitation crab meat)


This is more like it, the real thing. Crab Claw dumpling.


One of my usual favourite dim sum dish, the "wu kok" (deep fried yam dumpling).
Again, the wu kok here was just pretty average for me.


Mango Prawn Roll
Mmm..., rather nice as I recall.


Dessert: Lemongrass Jelly with Chocolate Chip Peppermint Ice-cream
Utterly disappointed with this. Very plain indeed! Jelly tasted rather bland and the ice-cream tasted like it was one of those common commercial brands readily available in supermarkets.

The Emperor,
Sheraton Subang
Jalan SS12/1 · Subang Jaya,
03-5031 6060

Dim Sum @ Eest, Westin KL

**Warning! Picture-heavy post ahead!**
Initial plan was to have lunch at the newly-opened Pavilion but due to the limited choices available (most shops aren't open yet), my friend and I decided to have a lunch leisurely at Eest, Westin KL just across the road.

It was a Saturday so we opted for the "eat-all-you-can" dim sum brunch at RM58++ per person*. As usual, I was pretty impressed with the interior decor of Eest. It truly looks like a posh club instead of an Asian (fusion) restaurant.

To start with, we were served with a complimentary appetizer platter.

Complimentary Appetizer Platter: Century Egg with Ginger, Spring Roll, Maki Sushi with pickle, Chicken Fritters with sauce and a small bowl of thai-style salad.

Let's start ordering!
Starting with steamed items,

*Signature* Har Kau (Crystal prawn dumpling with shredded dried scallop) - Fresh and juicy prawns! I like!


*Signature* Siu Mai (Shrimp and chicken dumpling topped with fish roe) - This is ok lar. More interesting are the vibrant colours of the generous sprinkling of fish roe on top.


*Signature* Poached Beijing Style chicken dumpling with spicy sauce - Erm, what spicy sauce? But these are pretty alright too.


Shanghai dumpling of chicken and crab meat - Pretty good for a "non-pork" version of Xiu Long Bao. I would have more if I did not plan to allocate my tummy for other stuff on the menu.


Pomegranate Dumpling scented with truffle oil (Vegan) - Sounds so fancy right? But nothing fancy about this dumpling at all! Rather plain, in fact.


Steamed cabbage roll with mushrooms and soy bean paste (vegan) - This was much more interesting although they didn't look as pretty at the one above. Served with a little milky soup base, it was good and I also like the soup that it came with.


Squid in pungent garlic sauce - I was not really expecting anything but when it arrived, I was cuaght by surprise. It looked so erm, "mild" in contrast to its rather "exotic-sounding" description. Still, it was a pretty appetizing dish. Kind of peppery too. However, somehow it reminded me of "Maggi Mee in chicken flavour"...hehe


Stuffed glutinous rice dumpling with seafood and roasted duck - Despite its promising description, I was let down by this dish. Stuffing was pretty sparse too.


HK Style Chee Cheong Fun with black cod and parsley - Black cod? All I tasted was the "fun". But granted, the rice rolls were pretty silky and smooth.

And now for the fried and baked stuff,

Flaky BBQ chicken pastries with parmesan cheese - I absolutely love, love, love this! My favourite dish during that meal.

Flaky and buttery pastry encasing sweet bbq chicken and topped with cheese. A winning combination!


Taro Dumpling (wu gok) with seafood and chicken - Not so good. Stuffing rather sparse and also not very appetizing.


Bean curd sheet roll with seafood and cheese - Actually, I ordered sweet bean curd parcels with teriyaki sauce but when it came, I think they mistook the order. Too lazy to send it back and exchange, we walloped this instead. I don't remember this dish much, so must be pretty forgettable!


*Signature* Mini egg tarts with caramel and cinnamon - Yum..., I like this too! They were still warm when it came so imagine the delight in biting into one of these flaky tarts with a smooth and silky egg custard filling, nicely fragranced with a dash of cinnamon powder.


*Signature* Stir-fried turnip cake with belacan dish - Another signature dish but what an utter disappointment! It looked good but tasted burnt! Maybe they over-fried the belacan sauce. We just sent it back after a taste.


Vietnamese Beef Noodles - My friend was craving for something soupy and this was the nearest that she got in fulfilling her wish. Since we were full, she ordered a small portion of this wit minimal noodles. And they really followed her instruction, It came with just a few strands of noodles. *LOL* But I didn't like it. The soup was rather bland, the beef too chewy. Plus, tt was not hot enough.

Never say NO to DESSERTS!

Basil pearls with mixed fruits, chilled coconut cream - It was good to have something cold after the heavy meal. This was not bad. The lump you see is actually a coconut ice-cream.


Chilled Double-boiled apple and aloe vera in light rock sugar syrup - Light and refreshing! But I don't like the taste of bitter almonds which were pretty evident!


Fresh mango pudding - Topped with blueberries, it was yummy!


"Tapai Pulut" glutinous rice with durian ice-cream - Ah, the durian-lover me could not resist this. And it did not disappoint either!


Green tea ice-cream, Japanese style - I assume the toppings on top was sweet azuki beans but if it was, it didn't taste like it. It tasted more like some kind of sweet bean sauce (something like the chinese "tao si", only sweeter). Weird...!

And oh, I should probably mentioned that we were happy with their service too.

Eest,
Westin, Kuala Lumpur.
* Starwood members are untitled to the usual discount for this brunch.

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