Chinese New Year Set Menu 2016 @ Pak Loh Chiu Chow, Starhill Gallery
Chinese New Year is here for less than a month. To usher the year of Red Fire Monkey year of 2016, I had my first toss at Pak Loh Chiu Chow, Starhill Gallery.
Be thrilled by some kitchen actions by the huge glass windows before entering the restaurant.
Dressed in very vibrant red & gold theme with oriental style furniture. The geometrical partition added hints of modernity to jazz up the overall ambiance.
Classic Chiu Chow Yee Sang with Grass Carp 喜气洋洋潮州鱼捞生
Celebrating the year of the Monkey, Pak Loh Chiu Chow is bringing back the Classic Chiu Chow Yee Sang with Grass Carp for the second year. Recently named one of Asia’s Top 20 Chefs, Executive Chef Alex Au hopes to make a difference in the local food scene by introducing this new type of Yee Sang, atypical of the usual ingredients commonly found during this auspicious time of the year.
The ingredients include coriander stalks, basil leaves, peanuts, julienned chilies, turnip, chives, jellyfish and fresh slices of grass carp which aren’t much resemblance to our classic Yee Sang ingredients. The special sauce concoction is a blend of Japanese sesame oil and galangal which is also much differed from the usual sweet base sauce. I can taste the distinctive flavors of each ingredients and the combination work harmoniously to bring out a balance of five tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter and spicy.
Deep Fried Prawn Ball with Pineapple 好运旺来笑哈哈
The prawn ball is brilliantly formed into a pineapple shape that bring a sign of good fortune (the Hokkien word for pineapple is Ong Lai which sounds like Ong (旺) – “luck” or “fortune”, lai (來) – “coming”). It had a compact yet springy texture with nice crunchy outer. The prawn ball was embodied in full prawn flavors, the accompanied sliced cucumber and pineapple sauce gave it a refreshing end note.
Honey Glazed Hong Kong Dried Oyster 金年大好市
Gleaming in a deep mahogany colour, the huge dried oyster imported from Hong Kong was braised till soft then glazed with glistening sweet honey concoction. The earthy and smoky flavors of the dried oyster was apparent, the sweet coating provide a multitude of flavors apart from the robust umami taste.
Double Boiled Shark Fin Soup with Dried Straw Mushroom 大展宏图
For the soup course, we enjoyed their Double Boiled Shark Fin Soup with Dried Straw Mushroom. The light sweetness of the broth with essence of chicken, lean meat, ham and pork bones is soothing and warming. The special ingredient of straw mushroom not only provide health benefits to body but also gave the broth a subtle earthy mushroom flavor.
Home Made Pumpkin Bean Curd Braised with Eel Maw 金银满屋
The home made bean curd with pumpkin, soy milk and egg white had a really unique silky smooth texture, swam in meticulously prepared abalone gravy. The gravy was fabulously flavorful, far from cloying or artificial-tasting. Other ingredients such as abalone, mushrooms, Australian asparagus and eel maw were equally tantalizing.
There was utter silence when everyone was savoring this dish as they were in their own heaven! This was almost perfect. Almost.
Braised Pork’s Trotter with Black Moss and Vegetables 发财鲍汁烩猪手
The huge pork trotter swam in deep brown abalone sauce. Well braised with layers of fats and lean meat, the melt-in-the-mouth hog had a good aroma of herbs and spices. It’s definitely a porky delight for swine fans!
Dried Oyster and Black Moss Fortune Parcel with Superior Stock 菊花石榴发菜蚝士
Our next course arrived in visually stunning manner, it looked like an artist’s masterpiece, seriously~ An beautifully folded parcel topped with fish roes and sprouts was sit gorgeously on bed of mushroom and black moss, placed on pool of superior stock.
We break open the paper thin dumpling skin made from egg white to reveal the generous filling of dried oyster, roasted pork (siew yoke), garlic cloves, water chestnut and mushroom.
Clay Pot Mixed Waxed Meat Rice 佳人相伴
Premium imported waxed meat of Chinese sausage, wine-infused liver sausage, waxed duck and waxed meat were steamed with the rice to let the flavors meld together before being presented separately. The fluffy rice tainted with luscious preserved meat essence and drizzle of superior soy sauce smelled heavenly. I enjoyed every spoonful and it’s an indulgence worthy of every calories it packs.
Deep Fried Chinese Glutinous Cake 甜甜蜜蜜步步高升
Putting a sweet note to our sumptuous dinner, we had deep fried rice cake encasing in crispy vermicelli served with white sesame ice cream.
Love the hot cold combination and the light nutty flavor of white sesame ice cream, very unique indeed.
Double Boiled Sea Bird’s Nest 姜薯桂花海燕窝
A soupy dessert with crunchy sea bird nest, fragrant Osmanthus flowers and ginger potato (姜薯). I adored the mild gingery note from the ginger potato, not too overpowering but enough to made this a truly soul and tummy warmer.
The Pak Loh Chiu Chow Chinese New Year Special is available from 9th January 2016 until 22nd February 2016. All prices are inclusive of 10% service charge and 6% GST.
The dry ice gives a very nice effect on presentation.
It is nice to have bird’s nest to end the delightful meal.
That was sea bird’s nest my dear 😛
最近的Close-up好吸引!! 看了流口水~~~~~
Close-up越拍越吸引, 看着口水直流~~~ >o<
哇，被高手称赞，要飞上天了~~
Very creative Lou Sang they have there!
Creative and special~
Wow you are fast! I have yet to have any yee sang~~
That soup looks the best to me!
Don’t worry, we have 15 days of CNY celebration and you can have your Yee Sang as much as possible, haha!
The food presentations are very beautiful and creative. I like.
Your CNY mood must be a the peak now as we have less than a month.
Indeed! I just love the celebratory mood around~~
yay, lap mei fan … my favourite CNY dish! 😀
I like Lap Mei Fan too, which waxed meat u like the most? I love waxed duck 🙂
The mixed waxed meat looks glorious! 😉
Those are imported waxed meat which tasted really great!
Those are imported waxed meat, tasted great!
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