GET SET FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR AT EQ

It was love at first bite the minute we savoured the Apple Wood Smoked Chicken Roulade with Barbecue Sauce. Served with Mashed Potato and Mixed Mesclun Lettuce, the show-stealer is one of Golden Phoenix’s Chinese New Year (CNY) menu specialities.

Light barbecue sauce enhanced the smoky-briny chicken roll whilst creamy potato mash and toasted sesame dressing laced mixed mesclun lettuce salad lent a refreshing spin to the dish.

The first salvo opened with a 10-head Abalone Yee Sang to herald a boisterous start for the impending Snake Year. Yee sang choices at EQ this year range from Norwegian salmon and jellyfish to advance orders of fresh Canadian geoduck and Austrian lobster. Portions start from RM128 for a small serving (4-6 persons), to RM668 for a large portion (6-10 persons).

 

Drawing from its 50-year-old culinary heritage, Golden Phoenix returns annually for Chinese New Year as a pop-up, serving familiar classics as well as debuting new dishes for the Year of the Snake.

 

Soul-satisfying umami flavours from Double Boiled Chicken Soup with Matsutake Mushroom and Fish Maw warmed our hearts and tummies with every sip. We relished the assorted ingredients’ contrasting textures and their warm, rustic depths.

Hot on its heels came Steamed Tiger Grouper with Cordycep Flowers and Red Dates. The fish’s fine flesh flaunted on-point doneness; its subtle sweetness dialled up by plump red dates with earthy cordyceps flowers providing textural variation.

More of the appetising dark soya sauce would have ensured the Fried Tiger Prawns with Dark Soya Sauce leave a more robust impact. Luckily that element can easily be adjusted.

 

Little ‘money bags’ – fried tofu skin pouches filled with diced water chestnuts, carrots and seafood – amped up the festive speciality of Braised Sea Cucumber with Dried Oysters and Sea Moss. The smooth, translucent sea moss-laden sauce sheathing the sea cucumber’s slippery supple texture was notable. Hints of the ocean emerged as we sampled the dried oysters.

Instead of melding seamlessly, the subsequent Braised Seafood with Noodles in Crab Meat Sauce tasted disparate. Also, the noodle strands appeared disconcertingly short and dry, making this particular offering underwhelming.

Things went swimmingly well with the fish-shaped Golden Phoenix Rice Cake. Accompanied by a delicate Baked Peony Lotus Seed Paste Pastry and a bowl of winsome Chilled White Peach with White Fungus and Red Dates, these dessert treats drew rave reviews.

The Hong Kong-style rice cake had some crushed peanuts and desiccated coconut to dial up its taste. Top marks for the paper-thin layers of lotus seed paste pastry too.

 

Golden Phoenix’s celebratory set menus will be available for the Reunion meal. The Happy Reunion menu is priced at RM288+ per person, Prosperous Atmosphere menu at RM388+ per person, Wealth Treasures menu at RM488+ per person, and Great Prosperity menu priced at RM688+ per person. A vegetarian menu, priced at RM188+ per person, is also available.

For more information, contact EQ Kuala Lumpur via https://www.eqkualalumpur.equatorial.com/chinese-new-year/