- Bianca Hoh
Oriental Chinese Cuisine, Pullman Kuala Lumpur Bangsar
The end of 2018 is upon us - can anyone believe that Chinese New Year 2019 is approaching us (and quickly too)? Chinese New Year in the year of 2019 falls on 5 February - astonishingly early.
Lucky for us yee sang enthusiasts who can't wait for CNY, the Pullman Kuala Lumpur in Bangsar has already launched their Prosperity New Year set menu (YES - you can have yee sang now!) that will run up to 19 February 2019 for both lunch and dinner.
Do note that this menu is halal - what a great way to invite your Muslim friends and colleagues to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
There are three variations of the Prosperity Set Menu:
Gold Prosperity - RM 1298 nett per 10 persons.
Platinum Prosperity - RM 1598 nett per 10 persons.
Diamond Prosperity - RM 1998 nett for 10 persons.
We tried the Platinum Prosperity menu that day.
The CNY menu started off, as we want all CNY menus to start off, with Salmon Snow Pear Yee Sang, which symbolizes tossing up good fortune and abundance of wealth and long life. I really enjoyed the slight variation of ingredients used in this yee sang. It had purple cabbage and pumpkin included inside which definitely made me feel slightly healthier!
For those of you not feeling like ordering an entire set, you can even choose to have this dish a la carte for RM 58 for a half portion, and RM 98 for a full portion.
There are also variations of this yee sang, such as Vegetarian Yee Sang (RM 48 / RM 78), Japanese Scallop Snow Pear Yee Sang (RM 68 / RM 108), and Abalone Snow Pear Yee Sang (RM 68 / RM 108).
By the way, usually the Platinum Prosperity set will have the Japanese Scallop Snow Pear Yee Sang, but we were served the Salmon Snow Pear Yee Sang during the review.
The second course on the menu was a Double Boiled Soup with Dry Scallop, Fish Maw and Wild Red Mushroom. I loved our "cheng" the soup was whilst tasting extremely flavourful as if it has been boiled for hours. I also particularly liked the interesting wild red mushroom that they used.
We then had the Steamed Pearl Tiger Grouper with Superior Soy Sauce. The fish was extremely fresh with succulent meat. I was told the fish was fed on organic food and is extremely healthy for us.
This was the highlight of the menu for me - the Braised Assorted Sea Treasure in Bamboo Basket. Just look at that feast of Japanese scallops, South African abalone, prawns, waxed duck, Chinese mushrooms, broccoli, sea cucumber, fish maw, roasted duck and smoked oysters... I'm getting hungry just thinking of it now.
All the components were well braised and very tender and delicious. I'm thinking of ordering just this dish a la carte - RM 598 nett per basket.
The Sumptous Waxed Duck with Smoked Oyster Rice wrapped in Lotus Leaves was probably my least favourite dish in the whole set menu. This is not because it was not tasty - my co-reviewer Fung Tai loved it actually. But personally, I thought the rice could have more flavour and filling to it.
For those who know me, I love a good nian gao and was thus utterly delighted when I realised we were going to be served Deep Fried Nian Gao with Sweet Potato and Yam.
This is normally considered to be "street food", which is why I was so pleasantly surprised. The nian gao was so soft but not too sweet and had an interesting taste to it unlike what I've had before in my many years of nian gao-eating. The sweet potato and yam could have been slightly more cooked as I felt that some slices were a bit hard. But overall it was fried well in a light but crunchy and oily batter.
Lastly, we had the Double Boiled Peach Jelly with Ginseng and Red Dates. My criteria for Chinese "soupy" desserts such as this one is that it cannot be too sweet! Otherwise, it makes the dessert just impossible to drink. This dessert was not too sweet and had peach gum in it - a lovely, warm way to end a delightful review.
Oriental Chinese Cuisine, Pullman Hotel Kuala Lumpur Bangsar
No. 1, Jalan Pantai Jaya, Tower 3, 59200 Kuala Lumpur.
+603 - 22981888
Opening Hours: 12pm - 230pm, 6pm - 1030pm