Chinese New Year Dinner @ Toh Yuen Restaurant, PJ Hilton

Music: Swing- 让左脚先行一步 Mood: Relaxed

When all 11 heads decided not to go lunch and to save their appetites for the scrumptious dinner, then only I found out not everyone can do the ‘Kit Feat’.

Rule number 1 of ‘Kit Feat’: NEVER cry hunger. This was broken at 4 pm- people started rummaging for food, counting down the hours till dinner and not forgetting to complain how the hell did they got tugged in to do the ‘Kit Feat’.

“Can you serve at 6.30 pm?”
“Aiyo why you call so late? The chefs already got their orders ready la.”
“Just accommodate for one table laa, we are rushing, SERIOUSLY.”
“I’ll ask them whether can serve at 6.45 pm la,”
“OK better than nothing, please remember to serve at least 3 dishes at once!”
“OK OK, you want all to serve at once also can.”

Obviously, my negotiation skills were lousy yet enough to keep them busy earlier (They blocked the other patrons who came early but booked at 7 pm). The kitchen should have not been opened before 7 pm, they must have been trying to please the ‘very hungry like hungry ghost crew’ a.k.a us, therefore allowing us to sit ourselves before 7 pm. Nonetheless, 50% of the negotiation went down the drain, they still serve us after 7 pm and dishes came one by one until can zzzzz….

Salmon Yee Sang

Lou ah! Lou ah! Lou until everyone huat and no need to work ah!!

Happiness Shark’s Fin with Eight Treasure in Brown Sauce
The soup represents the ‘soul’ of the dinner, having good shark fin’s soup symbolizes good wealth- This is thick but not starchy, absolutely boneless and odourless.

Crispy Spring Chicken Served with Plum Sauce
The honey + sour plum powder were placed separately in two small bowls, it was completely overlooked until boss remarked why the chicken don’t have the slightest hint of plum taste. Well that happened when everyone almost finished their shares. Heh.

How do you enjoy good chicken in a posh restaurant?

Posh or not posh, use hand lah!

Home Style Steamed Cod Fish
Portuguese are long known for their love for cod fish, there is an exaggerated saying that they have a codfish recipe for every day of the year. The most famous ways to cook it are none other than bolinhos de bacalhau (salt cod fritters) and also the steaming method. This cod fish is thoroughly enjoyed by all- it was perfectly steamed where its meat flakes easily but not broken apart when served, whereas the light marinated sauce have brought out its mild taste.

Stir-fried Prawn in ‘Kam Heong Style’
At this point, I despised my prawn phobia. This dish smells terrific, Jess walloped the last few prawns, I think she scraped clean the dish too.

Braised Broccoli with Abalone Mushroom
I thought these were abalone at first, then only found out they are hugeass oyster mushrooms. It taste subtle, well done with the soft broccoli; I still think it will excel if they pair the mushrooms with scallops or meat.

Fried Noodle with Seafood
Luckily I didn’t ordered glutinous rice as I’m stuffed up till my throat already. The noodles were not oily and springy but I only had one spoonful. Kudos to the rest who are not wasteful like me!

Deep Fried New Year Cake
Looks like pisang goreng (Deep Fried Banana), they are corn flour with sticky new year cakes and sweet potatoes fillings.

Sweetened Sesame Dumpling Soup with Ginger
Ugh, should have requested them to drop the ‘sweetened’ part, the dumplings were quite rubbery too.

The bill came up to RM1212++, quite standard for a meal in a hotel restaurant. Lesson learned: NON-HALAL restaurants still win hands down, no wonder I think a CNY dinner is incomplete without any lap cheong (Chinese waxed sausages) or the secret ingredient- the lard which creates the smoky nutty taste.

Location: Toh Yuen Chinese Restaurant, PJ Hilton, No. 2, Jalan Barat, 46200 Petaling Jaya Selangor
Opening Hours:
12am – 10.30pm (Mon- Sat)
11am- 10.30pm (Sun)
Contact no.: 03-7955 9122 Ext 4073/4074
Map:

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