Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant @ Grand Millennium Hotel

Nestled within the heart of the Bukit Bintang district is the Grand Millennium Hotel. This august hotel is host to three well-known restaurants, in particular the Lai Ching Yuen Chinese restaurant. I have heard of it spoken well-of from many satisfied patrons, it was thus with high expectations that we visited them to try out their Chinese New Year dinner menu.

Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant @ Grand Millennium Hotel
160 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-2117 4180
Email: lcy@millenniumhotels.com
Website: http://www.grandmillenniumkl.com
FB Grand Millenium KL: https://www.facebook.com/grandmillenniumkl
FB Lai Ching Yuen: https://www.facebook.com/LaiChingYuen/
Dinner Hours starts at 6.30pm to 10.30pm daily.

The restaurant is located on the 1st floor of the Grand Millennium Hotel. Upon entering, patrons are greeted by the warm and comfortable ambience of the place, and the eyes wander over the rich furnishings of the place. Those who are observant will be impressed by the many awards of excellence and commemorative plaques that adorn the walls and shelves of the place. And for the uninitiated, Lai Ching Yuen is known among discerning Klang Valley diners as a pre-eminent restaurant specialising in Cantonese or Yuècài (粤菜) cuisine.

Mr. Frederik Wisselink, Executive Assistant Manager

DID YOU KNOW? There are Eight (8) Culinary Traditions when it comes to Chinese Cuisine. They are the Guangdong (Cantonese, 粤菜 Yuècài), Sichuan (川菜 Chuāncài), Hunan (湘菜 Xiāngcài), Anhui (徽菜 Huīcài), Fujian (闽菜 Mǐncài), Zhejiang (浙菜 Zhècài), Jiangsu(苏菜 Sūcài) and shandong (鲁菜 Lǔcài) cuisines. Each of these cuisines have their own unique flavours and strengths, and often makes use of unique ingredients found in their respective regions in China.
To start off the revelry, we were greeted and hosted by Mr. Frederik Wisselink, who is currently the Executive Assistant Manager of Lai Ching Yuen.

Cold-Infusion Tea 👍👍

Our host was very hospitable, and introduced us to the latest innovation of the restaurant; a cold tea brewed via cold infusion and mixed with 5 different liqueurs to give it a distinct taste slightly reminiscent of the Long Island Teas you would expect to swill on hot afternoons at your favourite Bodega. Seasoned drinkers will be delighted by this offering. We were not told exactly what was used, but it was very much to my taste and liking, so I rate this 2 thumbs up!

Head Chef Terrence Foong is proud to introduce to us this year’s Chinese New Year set menu themed “Active And vigorously”. The 9 course set is going for RM1888 nett for a table of ten persons and is available now until the 13th of February next month.

Special Yee Sang with Soba Noodle, Grilled Chicken and Smoked Duck 👍
This Yee Sang was fun to toss, and the ingredients chosen gave it a nice texture when mixed properly. Unlike other forgettable Yee Sang experiences, this one in particular stayed with me because of the sweet and savory tastes combined well with the meats and Soba noodle that made for tasty helpings. It should be noted that aside from the special Yee Sang featured here, the set menu allows you choose different Yee Sang selections. They have Green Apple, Pear and Mango Yee Sang; Crispy Fish Skin Yee Sang; Sliced Norwegian Salmon Yee Sang; Soft Shell Crab Yee Sang and Sliced Abalone Yee Sang.

 

 

Double-boiled Shark’s Fin Soup with Crabmeat and Assorted Seafood

Wok-fried Prawns “Bei Fong Tong” Style 👍

You cannot have a Chinese menu without prawns, for the chinese quintessentially linked it Happiness and Good Fortune. “Bei Fong Tong” prawns is a Cantonese style dish that features garlic and chilli as the prominent spices to enhance the flavour of the prawns. The prawns themselves were meticulously cleaned. As per my usual custom, I ate the prawns without shelling, they were succulently nice and crunchy!

 

Steamed White Cat Fish with Minced Ginger 👍👍

I am part Teochew, so am quite particular when it comes to fish. I believe that in some places, you can gauge the skill of the chef just with the fish dish alone. The fish can be overcooked to the point that the texture of the meat become rubbery and if the fish is not fresh, the meat disintegrates right before the chopsticks. And if it is catfish, many fear it to have a slight “muddy” taste. Well, have no fear! This fish is of such an extraordinary quality that it surpassed all my expectations! Not only was the fish fresh, but it was cooked with such exceptional skill that the flesh still quivered when each flake is held with chopsticks, but retained its succulent texture and sweet taste. It was combined with a savory light soy sauce and a liberal garnishing of ginger which further enhanced the dining experience.

Roasted Crispy Chicken “Pi Pa” Style with Prawn Crackers

This chicken dish uses a nice light soy sauce and the chicken is roasted to well to give the skin a nice crispy texture whilst preserving the succulence of the meat underneath. When the dish arrived, it was buried under a generous serving of prawn crackers, so we parted it aside to get a good look at the chicken underneath.

 

Stir-Fried Hong Kong Kailan Topped with Enoki Mushroom 👍

This dish was very good! We thoroughly enjoyed the HK Kailan as it had a nicely soft but chewy texture. When combined with the tasty Enoki Mushrooms, it was extremely pleasing to the palate.It was so good, we nearly ordered a second plate of this!

 

Fried Rice with Assorted Chinese Waxed Meat Wrapped in Lotus Leaf 👍👍

I cannot explain why the Fried Rice comes 5th or 6th place in a Chinese menu. Usually by the 5th or 6th dish, you would be nearly there in terms of palate satisfaction and capacity. But despite this limitation, I helped myself to more servings of this wonderfully fragrant and savory dish. The texture of the rice was perfect, well-cooked and not too soft or hard, and each mouthful was a delight of flavours.

 

Double Boiled White Fungus with Longan and Sea Coconut and New Year “Nian Gao” Dual Variation

To finish up our dining experience, we were treated to this Chinese dessert which was not too sweet and pleasing to the palate.

 

 

 

 

 

We take this opportunity to wish our readers a Very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year! Take care and have a safe hols everyone. ~ Marv.7

Everydayfoodilove.co/ angeline-ong-yoga.blogspot.com. Thank you for reading our posts. Our team media coverage touches mostly on lifestyle events and focuses on happening scenes in Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu. Invite us for food reviews, travel and hotel reviews, KL clubbing reviews and product launches. Our other interests include the movies, technology and photography. Subscribe to my facebook page. Contact us via my email at: angel_line78@hotmail.com or monicaong@hotmail.com