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.

CHINESE NEW YEAR MENUS AT ELEGANT INN HK

 

Fresh, natural ingredients form the mainstay for the customary Bountiful Harvest Salmon Yee Sang at Elegant Inn HK Cuisine (E.I.). 

Never mind about the muted colours; at least the whole platter was a natural composition of shredded carrot, radish and cucumber with pickled onion and ginger, pearl clams and sesame seeds. A dedicated member of the E.I. kitchen team painstakingly prepares this speciality throughout the celebratory period.

In addition to the house-made sauce, the raw salmon slices are sliced on premise, to ensure food safety and hygiene standards are met. Every mouthful of the delicious salad with its myriad of textures and flavours left us raving with sheer delight.

To welcome the Dragon Year with a bang, E.I. is offering 8 special CNY menus for groups of 4-10 persons and 3 individual set menus, available from 8 January (minimum 3 days prior notice) and throughout the festive period from 22 January onwards.

During our sneak preview, we sampled festive offerings selected by lady boss Jeannette Han from the different celebratory menus. A traditional soup of Double Boiled Spare Ribs with Night Blooming Cereus, Fresh Cordyceps, Organic Black-Eyed Beans and Topshell came hot on the heels after the yee sang salad.

 

The edible night blooming cereus is said to be rich in antioxidants; to help protect the body from free radicals, reduce inflammation, boost the immune system, improve digestion, and reduce the risk of certain diseases. Together with E.I.’s cachet of fresh cordyceps, topshell clams, black eyed-beans, Yunnan ham, chicken feet, dried conch and dried scallops, the resultant broth was soul-satisfyingly sweet.

Specially sourced from a Penang farm, the Free-Range Chicken cooked with Fish Maw, Lotus Root and Wild Termite Mushroom in Premium Soy Sauce wowed us with its impossibly tender and toothsome texture. We like the slightly resistant bite of the flesh; a far cry from the mushier mass farm-raised chickens. Of course, we couldn’t pass up the chance to lap up the slick, savoury-sweet sauce with all that chicken jus.

Fluffy-soft, crisp and succulent textures integrated nicely in the Trio Seafood Platter. The delicate, flake-like Fried Japanese Dried Scallops and Golden Coin Shark’s Fin is meant to resemble osmanthus flower petals hence the dish’s Cantonese ‘kwai fah chi’ name. A tricky dish that demands deft handiwork on the chef’s part, to prevent the scrambled egg from clumping into large clods.

Airy-light crunchy E.I. Salt Pepper Fried HK Silver Fish contrasted nicely with the earlier appetiser. Completing the tasteful trinity was delectable Hokkaido Scallop Bacon Roll.

 

The evening’s show-stopper of Braised Five Treasures Stuffed Pork Belly with Black Garlic, Chestnuts and Lotus Seeds garnered rapturous praises among our dining party. We found the black garlic’s fleeting licorice-like nuance lent a muted sweet earthiness to the meaty, collagen-rich sauce.

Almost too indulgent to savour, the expertly prepared slab of pork with its alternating streaks of fat and lean meat was sumptuously moist and sweet with rich, lustrous flavour. The chestnuts and lotus seeds lent a delightfully subtle crunch.

From the individual menus, the lady boss indulged us with Aromatic HK Liu Ma Kee (LMK) Red Beancurd Pork Belly and French Beans on Sesame Sauce, and Braised Fish Maw with Pork Cartilage Ribs and Prosperous Chicken Meat Ball in Crab Roe Sauce.

The first reminded me of an amped up version of Hakka jar yoke (fried pork); the pork belly marinated with Hong Kong’s famous and established LMK nam yue (fermented red beancurd) then fried to light crispness. Utterly yummy without being too cloying thanks to the crunchy French beans dressed in sesame sauce to balance things out.

Some clever textural interplay made the latter porky dish memorable, especially the tender meat which came off easily the soft cartilage bones. The varied softness of the velvet-soft fish maw and chicken ball with seamoss heightened the dish’s overall appeal.

To fulfill our quota of greens, we tried Fish Maw with Organic Spinach, Silky Egg White and Crab Roe. Primed up with pricey fish maw and crab roe in addition to custardy-soft egg white, the Japanese spinach would certainly induce even non-veg fans to succumb to its allure.

Instead of 'lap mei farn' (rice with waxed meat), the lady boss chose to treat us to a winsome Claypot Rice with Chicken Fillet, French Goose Liver and Fish Maw. Personally, I love it as a nice departure from the tried-and-tested. With the supremely rich-tasting foie gras oil coating the fluffy rice grains, each spoonful was a sheer joy to eat.

 

Tender boneless chicken fillet, dulcet smooth fish maw pieces and dices of melt-in-the-mouth foie gras added extra appeal to the offering. We also clamoured for the charred, smoky rice crust scraped up from the bottom of the pot.

We wrapped up our lavish preview with a light yet befitting dessert treat of Double Boiled Fuji Red Apple with Organic Apricot, Chinese Almonds and Snow Fungus. It was clear, nutritious with delicate textures; a sweet ending to another outstanding experience at E.I. 

Prices for the CNY Menus start from RM1,688++ per table of 10 persons. Festive set menus for 6-10 persons from RM2,088++ upwards and individual menus from RM228++ upwards per person are also available.

For reservations at Elegant Inn HK Cuisine, call tel: 03-2070 9399. Address: 2.01, 2nd Floor, Podium Block, Menara Hap Seng, Jalan P. Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur.

 

 

A HOT AND STEAMY AFFAIR AT XIAO LONG KAN

Chinese hot pot is all the rage now. From major shopping malls to suburbia, provincial Chinese hot pot in all shapes and guides have stealthily conquered the local food scene. Now, Chengdu’s famed Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot restaurant has also jumped onto the bandwagon with the opening of its maiden outlet in Bukit Bintang.

Established in 2014, Xiao Long Kan (XLK) holds true to its guiding principles of providing ‘flavours from the soul, quality with integrity’. This Chengdu hot pot restaurant chain commands long queues of customers who seek to experience its signature hot pot with a wide selection of meat, fresh vegetables, handmade meatballs, innards and offal in assorted broths prepared using an age-old traditional recipe.

 

Sited within the bustling retail strip of Bukit Bintang, XLK occupies a multiple-storey block with a cosy waiting area on the ground floor. Decorated with ornate Chinese doors, a majestic dragon wall sculpture and a pair of faux antique chairs, it leads into a charmingly decorated dining space that won’t look out of place in a Chinese martial arts movie.

More seating and private rooms are available upstairs but be prepared to burn some calories as you ascend stairs. Rustic wood-trimmed semi private dining pavilions inspired by the Qing Dynasty, dramatic wall murals and modern Chinese lanterns form a theatrical, immersive backdrop that ‘transports’ you to ancient Chengdu.

In our quest to sample the best of XLK’s signature broths, we opted for the 3-flavour Hot Pot comprising Mala(Spicy)/Mushroom/Tomato (RM48) soup bases. While waiting for the hot pot to come to a boil, we amused ourselves by whipping up the simple dip: open up the mini can of oil provided and mix it up with some oyster sauce, vinegar, chopped garlic and fresh coriander.

Notable appetisers to stave off hunger pangs during the wait include Fried Crispy Meat (RM16) – yummylicious tender, lightly battered fried pork strips with a dusting of fiery hot chilli flakes on the side and sausage-shape rolls of Brown Sugar Rice Cakes (RM13) that are toasty crisp on the outside and delightfully chewy inside, with muted sweetness.

Once the hot pot is bubbling away, we had a field day dunking in the assorted items into the different soup bases. Spice fiends looking for an adrenalin rush will revel in the trademark tongue-numbing, sensorial-stimulating broth. Our dining party aren’t made of such stern stuff so our preference geared towards the savoury tomato and more delicate mushroom stocks. The overall taste improved progressively as more ingredients made their way into the hot pot.

 

Among the distinctive specialities worth savouring are the hand-made Rose Meat Balls (RM26), the robustly marinated XLK Spicy Chilli Beef (RM48), Shrimp Paste (RM38), Australia A5 Beef (RM90) and Ling Long Rolls (RM20) – crispy deep-fried beancurd sheet rolls.

 

Offal and innards are highly sought-after among XLK clientele especially the paper-thin Sliced Kidney (RM16), cubes of Pork Blood (RM10) and a rarity in hot pot menu: Duck Intestines (RM28).

Crowd-pleasing choices such as Pork Neck (RM20), Luncheon Meat (RM17) and Quail Eggs (RM12) are also available alongside premium servings of White Prawns (RM52) and Bluefin Leatherjacket (RM22).

Textural interest and extra nutrients can be gleaned from plates of Shiitake (RM8), Enoki (RM8) and seasonal greens like Spinach (RM8).

 

We found the XLK service team admirably on the ball despite the restaurant’s early days. Soup and drink refills, extra orders, clearing of soiled and empty tableware, etc are dealt with swiftly. A block-long queue already formed outside the door on the first day so it looks likely Xiao Long Kan will go full steam ahead in repeating its hot streak of success in Kuala Lumpur.

At this moment, Xiao Long Kan Hot Pot Restaurant only accept walk-in customers. Address: Lot 03, Block D, 179 Fahrenheit88, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. Open daily 11am to 2am.