CREATIVITY RULES AT NEWLY REFRESHED TOH YUEN

Familiar yet fresh sums up the newly renovated Toh Yuen restaurant. Modern elegance with contemporary touches blends artfully with traditional accents of red and understated decorative elements to create a serene, sophisticated dining space.

 

With a seating capacity of 150 and four private dining rooms, Toh Yuen is ideal for casual and special outings.

Among the culinary gems awaiting diners is Roasted Peking Silver Hill London Duck (RM168 nett for half duck, RM268 nett whole duck). The Wagyu of ducks are meticulously roasted using a customised oven then carved tableside. Wrapped in delicate pancakes, the meltingly tender duck is accompanied by fresh cucumber strips, spring onions, and rich hoisin sauce; a delectable treat you’re unlikely to forget.

The remaining duck meat is then transformed into delicious Braised Shredded Duck with Ee Fu Noodle. Truffle oil adds a luxe touch to the silky noodles. Crisp cornets stuffed with duck meat and other dishes are available from the restaurant too.

For an overview of its dim sum repertoire, Toh Yuen offers a Dim Sum Lunch Set at RM99 nett per person. The culinary team puts a lot of efforts into creating exquisite morsels such as the goldfish-shape Steamed Cod Dumpling with Chicken Broth (so good I was tempted to lick the plate clean), Steamed Siew Mai with Hokkaido Scallop (an on-point showcase of bouncy-tender textures), and delicate Steamed Spinach Dumpling with Shrimp and Wolfberries (love the translucent skin yielding to a clean vegetal nuance touched with the fleeting sweetness of shrimp and wolfberries).

One of the show-stealers to gain two thumbs up is Baked Chicken Tart with Abalone. The flaky pastry encasing a mildly sweet-savoury chicken filling topped with mini abalone is memorable for its resemblance to char siu sou.

Even the soup course is levelled up with a mini pumpkin filled with Braised Crab Meat Broth with Scallop and Asparagus. Delicate flavours aplenty, with subtle crunch of the asparagus and supple-soft diced scallop bestowing textural interest.

Should you decide to go à la carte, we highly recommend sampling Toh Yuen’s signature offerings. Notable specialities such as Sweet and Sour Diced Chicken with Figs stood out for its enticing sauce and palate-pleasing fried chicken pieces paired with fresh sweet figs, and the supremely tender Stir-Fried Wagyu Beef with Porcini Mushrooms and Trio of Peppercorn.

Sweet with on-point doneness, the Steamed Pomfret with Pickled Red Chillies and Minced Ginger is divine. Kudos to the chef for the tantalising combination of robustly flavoured toppings.

The springy Golden Butter Prawns with Cashew Nuts appears par for the course. I’d wish the chef has given this offering a little twist, just to set it apart from the competition.  

It’s nice to conclude on a high with a distinct Egg Custard Pastry (deliciously flaky and custard-soft filling win every time). Even the Chilled Mango Puree with Sago and Pomelo finds favour with its just-nice sweetness.

Open daily from 12.30 pm to 2.30 pm and 6.30 pm to 10 pm, reservations at Toh Yuen are highly recommended. 

To book a table or more information, contact Toh Yuen, Hilton Petaling Jaya at tel: 03 7955 9122 or WhatsApp 016 216 0414, or email PETHI_FB@hilton.com, or visit eatdrinkhilton.com.

GREEK FOOD'S THE WORD AT AEGEAN BLUE

Contemporary Euro-Greek dishes takes the limelight at Aegean Blue within the imposing New Ocean Fine Food City, Petaling Jaya. As we set foot into the Greek restaurant, a projected image of Apollo, the Greek sun god greets us at the entrance. 

Inside the cream and sand enclave stands another life-size statue of Apollo amidst several Grecian columns. Modern, sleek partitions, mellow lighting and gauzy white curtains adorned the interior of this newish Greek restaurant. A tastefully decorated private dining room is also available onsite.

The most notable dish to savour IMHO is Ammos Moussaka (RM55), a befitting choice definitive of this Greek restaurant.

Topped with kefalotyri, a salty Cypriot-Greek white cheese made from sheep or goat’s milk, the baked gooey layers of eggplant with potatoes, minced beef and bechamel sauce looked like lasagna at first glance. We found its hearty richness agreeable and not overly cloying.

Another memorable speciality is Kolokythosoupa (RM20), a velvety pumpkin cream soup. Its smooth, delicate sweetness proved memorable, especially when paired with crusty garlicky toast.

Light and refreshing, the Aegean Blue Salad with Smoked Salmon (RM48) comprising fresh garden greens, smoked salmon, crème fraiche, black olives and balsamico vinaigrette is a well-balanced and wholesome creation to satisfy healthy diners. It was a welcoming precursor to our meal.

On a previous visit, we ate outstanding dishes such as grilled octopus salad, pan-fried duck breast and braised lamb shank. Although they aren't no longer in the menu, be assured plenty of culinary gems worth sampling await at Aegean Blue so a single visit may not suffice.

To lure the white collar crowd, there's an Executive Set Lunch at RM55+ per person inclusive of one drink is available from 1130am-230pm.

You can either start with Soup of the Day (think Vegetable Cream Soup with Shrimp or something similar to it) or salad du jour of Mixed Greek Salad with Grilled Chicken and Cheese. The mildly savoury vegetable broth was on-point, and superbly delicious when accompanied by crusty slices of buttery-garlicky toasts.

We also enjoyed the substantial Greek salad that included a sizeable piece of grilled chicken breast dusted with paprika. It sat atop fresh lettuce, boiled potato and carrot dices, blanched cauliflower and broccoli florets, cherry tomatoes, and boiled egg. TBH, this could be a meal itself for light eaters.

Main course was a toss between Grilled Chicken Leg with Mashed Potato and BBQ Sauce or Pan-fried Seabass Fillet with Dill Sauce, Orzo with Mushroom.

Both dishes were deftly prepared although the slab of seabass held extra appeal for us thanks to the fish’s natural sweetness. Perked up by creamy dill sauce and orzo (semolina pasta shaped like rice grains), we fell hook, line and sinker for it.

Juicy and tender, the slightly smoky chicken earned extra points on the deliciousness scale with a most stellar concoction of butter-honey-barbecue sauce.

Dessert fell somewhat below expectations as the Carrot Cake with Vanilla Chantilly appeared a tad too dry for our liking. Hopefully, this would have improved after our feedback. Aegean Blue has many good things going for it so give this resto a chance where Greek food is the word.

For reservations at Aegean Blue, please call tel: 012 988 2790 and 03-8408 8030. Address: L3-12A, Level 3, New Ocean World Fine Food City, 15 Jalan 19/1, Seksyen 19, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

 

DELICIOUS FINDS AT DELICIOUS

Guests of the E&O Residences Kuala Lumpur are spoiled for choice when it comes to satisying their culinary expectations. Several restaurants and bars at sited at St. Mary’s Place itself including Delicious, a casual dining haven exuding laidback, breezy vibes. 

 

 

Daily breakfast for E&O Residences KL guests are catered by the Delicious team but for a better grasp of what the resto can deliver, it’s better to pop in for lunch or dinner.

We did just that during our recent staycation, nabbing the banquette seats set against an Instagram-worthy feature wall. Cafe Manager Siow Kok Leong recommended some of the house thirst-quenchers and Deep-fried Salted Egg Fish Skin (RM17) for openers. Coated in creamy salted egg sauce and tufted with chicken floss, the crunchy bites amped up our anticipation for a Saturyay lunch to remember.

Not sure if it was our valiant attempt at healthy eating or was it the appeal of the dish’s simple, back-to-basics approach but the day's crowd-pleaser was the downhome Roasted Pumpkin Salad (RM25).

We love the pops of tanginess from the boba-like balsamic vinegar ‘caviar’ juxtaposed against the pumpkin’s delicate sweetness; imbuing bright, tantalising flavours to the melange of fresh baby spinach, arugula, toasted pine nuts, feta cubes, croutons and tomato strips.

According to Siow, the Nasi Kerabu with Ayam Percik (RM33) is a firm crowd fave with Delicious' patrons. Tinged blue with the juice of butterfly pea flower, the rice came surrounded by a whole grilled chicken drumstick smothered in a piquantly spicy sauce, a heap of chopped ulam (raw local herbs), fried keropok (crackers), half a salted egg and side dips of sambal belacan and budu (fermented fish sauce).

When the different components are mixed and eaten together, you'd find hot and zippy accents mingling cohesively with savoury and briny nuances amidst soft, crunchy, crispy and tender texures. What’s not to like?

 

The other sought-after local dish, Mee Goreng Mamak (RM28) also came up to scratch. Relying on its own tried-and-tested formula, Delicious augmented the spiced noodles with chicken, squid, tiger prawns, beancurd, tomatoes and cucur (fried fritters), to ensure hearty satisfaction.

Partial to more Western-oriented fare? We’d recommend Chicken Chop (RM28) – the slab of battered fried chicken fillet with tangy sauce, garden veges and fries got the stamp of approval from the Hainanese in our dining party.

 

Personally, I’m partial to the simpler, healthier Baked Salmon (RM38). The pared-down approach of pairing citrus and grapefruit segments with grapefruit reduction worked like a charm with the rich taste of the Norwegian salmon fillet.

A familiar fave to bank on is the Classic Cheeseburger (RM35). The scrumptious secret lies in the seared, juicy US Black Angus 80% meat and 20% fat ratio beef patty. Sandwiched between a sesame seed bun with cheddar cheese, sliced tomato, lettuce, onion, pickles and a special house sauce, the burger proved on-point.

 

 

Sweet indulgent treats such as Pavlova (RM18), Onde Onde Cake (RM15) and Brownie with Ice Cream (RM18) should please dessert fans. They passed muster although I found the slice of cake underwhelming.

For reservations, call Delicious, tel: 03-2856 6136. Address: G-7 & G-8, Tower A, St Mary’s Place, No.1 Jalan Tengah, Off Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL.