St Regis offers you the choice of champagne to go with dainty canapés at its CNY-inspired afternoon tea (Photo: St Regis)
Hang up your apron and take advantage of some of the best meals and deals in town to usher in the Lunar New Year.
W Kuala Lumpur
If a restaurant that eschews run-of-the-mill menus is what you seek, YEN at W Kuala Lumpur will gladly be at your service. The restaurant has carefully curated set menus with a special affinity to the sea, touting dishes such as braised Hokkaido crab claw, steamed sliced tiger grouper fish Teochew style, and a belly-warming “Monk Jumped Over the Wall”. For a dose of nostalgia, each meal is capped off with steamed double-layer traditional nian gao coated in freshly grated coconut. Opulent yee sang options are also available when you toss to a prosperous year. Instead of garden-variety toppings, choose either a combination of crispy tempura Sabah lobster meat and soft-shell crab, or if money is no object, premium caviar, gold flakes, abalone and truffle oil.
The set menu starts from RM238 per person (minimum two pax). Book ahead via [email protected] or call (012) 357 4788.
St Regis Kuala Lumpur
The mystique of the traditional afternoon tea, including finger sandwiches and floral-patterned China, has extended to a chinois setting at St Regis. Shiny silverware is paired with sterling service at The Drawing Room, which offers you the choice of champagne to go with dainty canapés. A perfect excuse to escape from nosy relatives aside, the enticement of a quaint and quiet tearoom is the permission to linger as you leisurely nibble on auspiciously named desserts such as Jade Garden Cake, Berry Sensation Happiness, Money Bag Cheesecake and Yuan Bao Red Packet. Ask for takeaway if you wish to deliver them as a gift or pack the mat for a fancy picnic.
Dine-in, RM168 nett per person (RM298 with champagne); takeaway, RM178 nett per set. Email [email protected] or call (03) 2727 6696.
Hilton Kuala Lumpur
Long ago, poon choi was invented to feed the Chinese emperor’s army, which was at war with the Mongols during the Song dynasty. Due to its large portion and communal nature, the traditional dish has gradually transformed into a staple that is also served during grand celebrations such as weddings, ancestor worship rituals and Chinese New Year. This festive season, chefs at Hilton have prepared a hotpot-style poon choi in claypot, layered with sea cucumber, baked fish maw, golden wantons, dried scallops, roasted duck, premium mushrooms, radish and the crowning glory, abalone. The stew-like casserole that engenders togetherness takes on new significance in modern times — it is a shared experience we can all use to bond with our loved ones.
Minimum order for five people at RM1,288 nett. Order two hours in advance via eatdrinkhilton.com or call (03) 2264 2264. More info here.
Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur
The joy of hosting a get-together at home is often lost when you spend a vast majority of time slaving away in the kitchen. This year, hang up the apron and take advantage of a dining menu — Shangri-La has up to nine courses — that is pretty much tailored for you. Usher in a new beginning with sliced abalone and caviar yee sang before moving on to poached western grouper, pan-fried lamb rack, braised goose web with Kanto sea cucumber, and dried scallop fried rice imbued with wok hei. If your idea of dinner is not to undertake a culinary adventure but to relish the opportunity of indulging in reassuringly familiar dishes, the hotel’s Lemon Garden restaurant has a buffet alternative that will keep hunger pangs at bay.
The set menu starts from RM588 nett per person (minimum six people). Prosperity buffet with yee sang is from RM188 nett per person. Call (03) 2074 3900 for reservations or book here.
Inside Scoop
The homegrown ice cream stalwart has set a new bar for cold treats and it looks as good as gold. To design this edible slab, Inside Scoop collaborated with Malaysia’s largest jewellery chain Poh Kong. The result is an ice cream cake shaped like an ingot with a raspberry jelly centre, encased in delicate pistachio mousse and finished with sparkly gold dust. If tangy-sweet berries are not your jam, consider a zesty citrus filling, which can be found in their Mandarin Orange Cake made with valrhona chocolate ice cream that sits on a crumbly streusel.
Gold Bar Cake, RM163; Mandarin Orange Cake, RM143. Order here.
This article first appeared on Jan 9, 2023 in The Edge Malaysia.
