Locally sourced seafood and produce take centrestage
at Makan Kitchen as part of Hilton’s commitment to emphasise on serving
responsibly sourced seafood. Currently, Makan Kitchen enables diners to select their own seafood for the chefs to
prepare a la minute, in 10 different Chinese cooking styles. Our sampling of
the market-fresh seafood experience began with a free flow of Lemonade
Mint.



DoubleTree by Hilton Executive Chef Eric Siew and
Makan Kitchen’s Chinese Chef Chong Wai Yin explained to us the selection of market-fresh
seafood dishes will be served in addition to the regular buffet every Friday and Saturday night until 25 November.

With so many tempting dishes available, it took us
some time to make up our minds. It was a night of surprises aplenty but
pleasantly so I must admit. While the yabbies have never held much appeal for
yours truly, those little critters upstaged the whole undersea repertoire.


What looked like a standard-issue Steamed Garoupa
with Hong Kong Style Soy Sauce also wowed us jaded landlubbers. The fish's doneness was
on-point; the marble smooth flesh hitting the sweet spot with just the right
amount of fragrant soy sauce.


Upping the flavour ante slightly, we landed another
winner as the dish of Wok-Fried Tiger Prawns with Buttermilk & Curry Leaves
coated our palate with a lush creamy saltiness. Touched with the bright, aromatic freshness of crushed curry leaves, it clinched the seafood showcase for us. A similar sauce minus the curry leaves again worked its magic for the offering of Fried Squid with
Salted Egg.


We had such high hopes of the Fresh Clams in
Superior Broth but alas, they left us a tad high and dry with their rather
skimpy, rubbery meat that evening. The clear broth was nice though so hopefully, you’d have better
luck when you order this.

I fell hook, line and sinker for the Fried Red
Snapper with Pineapple Sweet & Sour Sauce. Never mind the disconcertingly
orangey sauce…I like the depth and slickness of it which coated the chunky,
flaky fish fillet evenly. Even the pineapple juiciness was discernible.


While the Steamed Scallops with Garlic & Glass
Noodles weren’t impeccable, I was partial to the shellfish. Personally I’d
prefer more restrained use of the fried garlic bits to allow the delicate
scallops to shine. The inclusion of glass noodles was a masterstroke as a
slippery canvas to soak up the speciality’s delicious nuances.

Although I didn’t pick the Chilli Crab, my dining
companions readily vouched for it. Since taste is subjective, nothing beats a
first-person experience of sampling the dish before dismissing it. Ditto for
the Deep-fried Pomfret with Spiced Salt & Pepper, and Steamed Mussels in
Ginger Emulsion.

Vegetable dishes such as Bittergourd with Salted Egg,
Four Heavenly Kings (pix above - a mixture of eggplant, okra, long beans and stink beans flash-fried in zesty sambal) and Stir-fried Sweet Potato Leaves with Garlic among others
are available to balance your meal.
Makan Kitchen’s For The Love of Seafood promotion is
available every Friday & Saturday from 630pm to 1030pm at RM165 nett per
person inclusive of free flow sirap selasih, lemonade mint and lemongrass pandan. Enjoy 35% off when you charge it to your Maybank, CIMB, HSBC, Affin or
Watsons card. Valid until 25 November 2017 subject to terms & conditions.
For reservations, call Makan Kitchen, tel: 03-2172
7272. Address: DoubleTree by Hilton KL, The Intermark, Jalan Tun Razak, KL.