Life’s a continuous feast at Elegant Inn Hong Kong
Cuisine. March looks set to be marvellous with the debut of two special set
menus: Bountiful Harvest and Golden Harvest at this city’s arbiter of fine
Cantonese cuisine.
Highlighting a judicious selection of familiar
favourites and newer creations, we were accorded a taste of the Golden Harvest
menu recently.
Things got off to a happy start with us savouring Crispy
Soft Shell Crabs in Light Spicy Sauce, Hokkaido Scallop Bacon Rolls and E.I.
Crispy Vegetable Rice Rolls for openers.
Plump Hokkaido scallop wrapped in crisp, tasty bacon stirred
our gastronomic juices with the scallop’s oh-so-delicate sweetness amplified by
the bacon’s savoury richness.
Nice contrasting textures came into play from the Hong
Kong-inspired jar leong. Instead of yutiao (fried fritters), the smooth
flat rice rolls were filled with crispy taro strips. Drizzled with a little soy
sauce, this delicious morsel made for a sublime mouthful.
I’m not a fan of deep-fried soft shell crabs so this
appetiser was par for the course for me. Dressed in a tantalisingly spicy sauce,
there were also crispy onion rings amidst the crab chunks.
Known for its salubrious soups, Elegant Inn reinforces
its stellar reputation with a superbly Braised Twin Fish Maw with Sakura Ebi in
Flaky Fish Winter Melon Broth.
We lapped up every drop of that viscously silky
broth whilst relishing the slippery suppleness of the fish maw strips. Lending
it subtle crispiness and umami accent was some sakura ebi for that perfect
finish.
Deserving a gold medal IMO was the serving of Golden
Fried Sea Crystal Prawns in Salted Egg Yolk paired with Golden Prosperous
Chicken Meat Balls. Springy to the bite, the big prawns had us hooked at first
bite thanks to the attendant richly flavourful salted egg yolk crust.
Equally raveworthy were yummy chicken meat balls,
reminiscent of classic hai jou (deep-fried crab and pork mince balls). The hearty
bites brought back such nostalgic feels.
Heralding a sense of celebration in its wake was the
show-stealing Braised Five Treasure Pork Belly with Whole 9-head South African
Abalones, Black Garlic, Lotus Seeds and Chestnuts.
It was a stellar showcase of varied textures juxtaposed against a supremely lustrous, full-bodied sauce. We
thoroughly relished soaking it all up with deep-fried mantou.
After all those heavy hitters, we readily welcomed the
subtler nuances exuded by the Braised Vegetarian Assortment with Cordycep
Flower and Housemade Tofu. Spongy and custardy-soft melding with gelatinous and
tender textures ruled here.
Claypot Rice with Sea Star Garoupa Fillet, Hong Kong
Dried Prawns and Tung Choi instantly garnered effusive praises once we dug into
the scrumptious rice. Possibly the next best thing to Elegant Inn’s famed lap
mei farn (waxed meat rice), this fish-laden version dialled up the appeal
factor with a generous topping naturally umami-sweet HK dried prawns and preserved
vegetable.
Lunch finished on a splendid high with exquisitely
dainty Bird’s Nest Egg Tartlets and irresistible Nutty Sesame Balls. The latter
deserved special mention as each chewy ball was stuffed with coarsely crushed
peanuts and sugar, to deliver better mouthfeel. A treat worth going nuts over!
We chased those dessert treats with refreshing bowls of Double Boiled Fresh Pineapple with Lily Flower and Snow Fungus. An on-point, cooling broth to counter the current hot and hazy weather.
The Golden Harvest is priced RM1,188++ for 4 persons,
RM1,688++ for 6 persons and RM2,788++ for 10 persons and will be available
until end March.
For reservations, call Elegant
Inn Hong Kong Cuisine, at tel: 03-20709399 or 03-67379399 or WhatsApp 012-7223518.