Note: I've been MIA because of CNY (figure the acronyms out yourself--am too tired to type!). We have relatives from Shanghai, my bro and family from Singapore stayed with us about 4 days, ate endless CNY dinners and had lots of visitors/visited friends, my kids each had turns hosting parties in the house (kids do learn from their parents don't they) and I am so tired that I wish I'm alone in some remote mountain. I left my camera in a friend's house and when I get it back, I will upload some CNY photos. I hope you had a great CNY too.
A week before CNY, Julia, the Communications Manager at Hyatt Regency Kinabalu invited me and a handful of other bloggers and media people to dinner at The Chinese Restaurant in the hotel. Chef Tayof the restaurant hadcreated a special menu of 12 auspicious dishes to celebrate the start of the Year of the Dragon and the promotion started on 16th January and will run for the duration of the CNY celebration.
A week before CNY, Julia, the Communications Manager at Hyatt Regency Kinabalu invited me and a handful of other bloggers and media people to dinner at The Chinese Restaurant in the hotel. Chef Tayof the restaurant hadcreated a special menu of 12 auspicious dishes to celebrate the start of the Year of the Dragon and the promotion started on 16th January and will run for the duration of the CNY celebration.
We started with lou sang/yee sang, a salad of veggies, fruits, flour crisps and raw fish. The dish is Malaysian-Singaporean and is eaten on the first day of CNY for an auspicious start (you can't write a CNY post without that word).
There were some hits and some misses but considering the attention to each dish compared to the mass-produced dishes at the major restaurants, especially the seafood restaurants, I'd say The Chinese Restaurant has some great dishes --provided you don't mind paying the higher prices and the standard hotel ++ charges.
Salmon yee sang, RM88/USD29 (medium). The restaurant also has a choice of abalone yee sang (RM188/UDS62) and tuna yee sang (RM68/USD22).
Diners toss the yee sang while shouting auspicious phrases, usually for prosperity and a healthy long life.
Why do the yee sang in hotels and restaurants have to be so overly sweet and why do they use crunchy colored flour strips instead of naturally green veggies and fruits? Home made yee sang may not look as fine but is far more tastier.
Steamed chicken with dried oyster, RM58/USD19 (large). This looked really good doesn't it. I didn't taste any dried oyster but I though it was a good way to feature fatt choy (a rare black algae, eaten during CNY because its name sounds like "to grow rich/prosper") but the chicken was rather bland. I think that this is would be a great dish for CNY reunion dinners but the chicken has to be home-reared or at last free-range.
My hub and I both enjoyed this light and tasty dish of pacific clams with Thai asparagus, RM88/USD29 (medium).
The number 8 in Cantonese sounds like 'prosper' and prices of the CNY menu are priced around that lucky number.
This was the best dish, deep-fried soft-shelled crabs. I'm not particularly fond of soft-shelled crabs because they are always deep-fried and soaking in oil. This plate of soft shelled crabs however was the best I've eaten in a long time--probably the best ever--because the crabs were super light, crispy, very tasty (I think it was chicken powder) and all the pieces I ate had roe in them. Superb. I would go back just for this but Chef Tay said that not every batch of crabs come this good. This is not on the special CNY menu and availability is dependent on the supply of crabs.
King Prawns XO Fortune sauce, RM88/USD29 (medium). The prawns were fresh and meaty, and the sauce was good if only it wasn't so salty.
Crispy fried salmon with honey sauce, RM20/USD6.60 per 100 gm. This was quite good but the sauce and deep frying overpowered the flavor of the salmon so I think it's a waste of a flavorful and expensive (at RM200/kg, 8 times higher than choice local fish) fish.
Fried rice with! bbq chi cken and chicken floss, RM48/USD16 (large). The bbq chicken was a big NO.
I liked this, steamed slices of sticky glutinous 'cake' coated with peanuts and sesame seeds, RM18/USD5.90. Hub found it too sticky but hey it is sticky cake.
Lotus paste pancake done very well, not too oily and not too sweet.
There were some hits and some misses but considering the attention to each dish compared to the mass-produced dishes at the major restaurants, especially the seafood restaurants, I'd say The Chinese Restaurant has some great dishes --provided you don't mind paying the higher prices and the standard hotel ++ charges.
Besides the CNY a la carte menu, there are two set dinner menus priced at RM88.88 per person and RM188.88 per person (minimum 5 persons).
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