NEW MENU FEEDS ALL AT HOTEL MAYA KUALA LUMPUR

One menu integrating signature specialities from Still Waters (Japanese and Cantonese), Maya Brasserie (all-day dining) and Ramah Tamah (deli) makes it debut at Hotel Maya KL, to provide a seamless dining experience in the new normal.

 

Sharmini Morganasundram, General Manager of Hotel Maya KL said “a lot of thought has been put into this initiative, to ensure diners can enjoy their preferred cuisine at affordable prices whilst maintaining safe social distancing guidelines.”

 

The expansive selection lists Malaysian favourites, Western choices, Japanese and Chinese specialities, and even healthy vegan fare. 

 

 

Deftly prepared appetisers such as Wok-Fried Shelled Tiger Prawns with Butter, Golden Oats, Curry Leaves and Bird’s Eye Chillies (RM23), and Butter Squid with Salted Egg Yolk (RM28) hit the right note thanks to the delicacies’ airy-light batter and on-point crispiness.

We highly recommend the show-stealing Set Nasi Kerabu (RM18) – blue-tinged rice with butterfly pea flower jus accompanied by delectable fried marinated fried chicken, fish crackers, salted egg, grated coconut fish flakes and shredded raw vegetables. A marvellous ensemble of vividly robust accents and varied textural interests that will induce you to make short work of everything.

For a perennial dish that conjures up the feeling of festive revelry, nothing beats the stellar Set Nasi Tomato, Ayam Masak Merah, Jelatah, Sambal Belacan & Papadom (RM18). Again, the culinary team here pulls off the tomato rice with aplomb: the zesty-tomatoey chicken in chilli is sublime especially when augmented by the tart pickled vegetables, zingy shrimp paste sambal and crunchy papadom.

More sedate, non-spicy fare like Olive Vegetable Fried Rice with Shrimps, Fish and Golden Crispy Garlic (RM18) should go down well if you’re not partial to spices and chillies.

Tastes of the Orient take centrestage in three set menus: Ixora (RM60 nett for 2 persons), Hibiscus (RM80 nett for 2 persons) and Rafflesia (RM100 nett for 2 persons). Crowd-pleasing curtain-raisers such as Japanese Gyoza with Shrimp & Chicken and Unagi Tempura with Tobiko pave the way for heartwarming broths — my personal pick is the tantalising Braised Hot & Sour Szechuan Soup with Crabmeat, Fish Lip, Shrimps, Black Fungus, Mushroom, Szechuan Vegetable and Beancurd.

Creamy Chicken with Curry Leaves and Housemade Spicy Dried Shrimp Sauce, Deep-fried Spicy Seabass Fillet with Housemade Plum Sauce and Shredded Young Mango, and Stir-fried Sweet Beans with Celery, Carrot, Black Fungus, Lotus Root, Ginkgo Nuts and Crispy Almond Flakes are among some of the main dishes featured in the set menus. They pass muster with white or brown rice serving as the foil to partake them with.

 

Dessert to choose from range between Chilled Sea Coconut with Longan and Lemon Syrup and Double Boiled Dried Pear with Chrysanthemum, Sea Bird’s Nest, White Fungus and Dried Longan.

 

Dine-in at Hotel Maya KL on weekdays (except public holidays) from 11am to 8pm (last order 7pm). You can also bring Maya Meals Home via self pick-up or delivery: hotelmayakl.beepit.com daily from 11am to 8pm. Free delivery for minimum spend of RM60 within 5km from the hotel and RM80 within 10km radius.

For more information, contact Hotel Maya Kuala Lumpur F&B Hotline: 012-282 8187. Hotel Maya KL is located at 138 Jalan Ampang, KL.

SOONG KEE@SETAPAK SERVES MORE THAN BEEF NOODLES

Established in 1945 by its eponymous founder Soong Kee, this 6-decade old lou jiu phai (notable brand name) beef noodles in Kuala Lumpur drew only loyalists during the early days.

Today, the business has grown beyond its original premises, with newer outlets making their way into mall-based food courts and independent set-ups appearing in commercial suburbs.

Although synonymous with beef noodles, Soong Kee has expanded its menu to include non-beef offerings, to widen its appeal amongst today’s familial crowd of multi-generational diners.

Our recent visit to Soong Kee in Setapak is an enlightening experience – we discovered new things to enjoy in addition to getting reacquainted with the tried and tested.  Firstly, the signature Beef Ball Noodles (dry/soup RM8.90) and Five Spice Beef Tripe Noodles (soup/dry RM10.90) especially the kon lou (dry) version remain a perennial fave to hit the spot. 

Here’s the unexpected clincher: meehoon or rice vermicelli is even better than mee when it comes to capturing the lush flavour of that beefy mince.

If you want more of the extra lieu (ingredients) such as Beef Balls (5 pcs RM5, 10 pcs RM10), Beef Slice (RM10), Five Spice Brisket (RM12) or Five Spice Tendon (RM13), the various items can be ordered a la carte.

Should you have family members in tow who eschew beef, Soong Kee now offers alternative options such as Char Siew Wantan Mee (dry/soup RM7.90) and Chicken Curry Mee (RM9.90). We can vouch for both the noodle variants especially the latter. Not only is the spice quotient pleasantly tantalising, the coconut milk creaminess is also nice enough without being cloying.

 

Accompanying comfort food dishes such as Fried Wantan (5 pcs RM4, 10 pcs RM8), Wantan Soup (RM6.50), Fried Dumplings (RM6.50) or Dumplings in Soup (sui kow) are plump and chockful of tasty mince filling; crowd-pleasing fare for both adults and kids.

 

 

Healthy Poached Vegetables (RM5.50) and succulent Steamed Chicken (RM9) are also served should you wish to supplement your meal with more substantial dishes for the family.

Call Soong Kee tel: 03-4141 8124 /016-924 0507 for delivery or take away (self pick-up) orders. Soong Kee is open during CMCO from 10am to 8.30pm daily. Address: 22A, Jalan Danau Niaga 1, Setapak, Kuala Lumpur

NEW CHEF REJUVENATES FIVE SEN5ES

The Signature Steamed Coiling Dragon Grouper with Golden Garlic Sauce is a notable headliner to reel us in. The symphony of garlic and fish jus is on song, the fish doneness satisfyingly on-point. Chunks of ridged gourd soaks up the savoury-sweet sauce.

“While heritage preserves the old dishes, innovation doesn’t mean forgoing tradition,”says Ron Lean Wen Seng, the new Chef De Cuisine of Five Sen5es.

The boyish Perakian chap from Langkap belongs to the new breed of chefs whose 15 years of experience means he’s not only adept in cooking but also self-assured enough to interact with diners and media. Despite having taken over the mantle a fortnight ago, Lean confidently deals with the barrage of questions posed to him. Perhaps past stints in Australia and international hotels in KL helped to dial up his game.

Back to his culinary largesse, Lean’s showboating commences with an impressive dual-prep lobster platter comprising Deep Fried Lobster Balls and Lobster Steamed with Egg. A speciality best pre-ordered in advance, the lobster balls hit the spot yet a zingy dip of sorts won’t be remiss.

Despite bearing a layer of golden yellow sauce (a blend of pumpkin, carrot and celery juice) and a bite-size cube of lobster meat on top, the steamed egg tastes underwhelming. IMHO, the flavour quotient is far too delicate to excite tastebuds attuned to strong, robust flavours.

Wading into the limelight is a notable Double Stewed Rambutan, Chicken, Crabmeat and Scallop. Lean assures us the palate-pleasing soup harks back to homey, comforting concoctions of yesteryear — he has merely used his own selection of ingredients including wolfberries and topshell to rachet up the soulful nuances.

Do you know the classic dish of sweet and sour pork – in this case it’s chicken – is originally from Fuzhou? It’s such a beloved Chinese speciality that any Chinese restaurant worth its salt is often judged by how well it can handle sweet and sour pork/chicken. In Lean’s case, he opts to return to the trad recipe in which hawthorn juice is one of the key components to making the sauce for his Fuzhou Litchi Sweet and Sour Chicken.

Instead of run-of-the-mill tomato and chilli sauces, the tangy-sweet sauce coating the crisp battered nuggets of fried chicken is muted by comparison. It may take some getting used to but perhaps such sedate sauciness is a nod to today’s healthful low-sodium, low-sugar dietary approach.

The Pomelo Crispy Prawns with Homemade Sauce treads a similarly muted flavour pathway. Texture-wise the prawns are on-point, with juicy burst of fresh astringency coming from pomelo sacs. However, a little more zestiness to the creamy mayo, egg white and mango sauce would do the offering greater justice.

Lightly doused in a mixture of pumpkin and chicken stock, the Braised Shimeiji Mushroom with Homemade Spinach Bean Curd hit the spot for us. A surefire crowd-pleaser that ticks all the right boxes.

Although the intention of using a claypot to retain heat is commendable, I personally prefer the Stir Fried Romaine Lettuce with Salted Fish to be stir-fried, lightning-quick. Serving the greens in the claypot wilts and leaves the greens unappetisingly limp.

The last hurrah of Chilled Peach Gum Soup with Red Dates and Longan in Coconut comes in a whole coconut. Can’t fault the pleasantly cool and mildly sweet finale to wrap up the debut of a new ‘sifu’ at Five Sen5es.

For reservations, call Five Sen5es, tel: 03-2773 8338. Address: Level 1, The Westin Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.