CHASING FOOD DREAMS: Grand Imperial Restaurant, Bangsar Shopping Centre: Auspicious CNY Menu!

February 17, 2013

Grand Imperial Restaurant, Bangsar Shopping Centre: Auspicious CNY Menu!

Still Looking for some Festive CNY Eats?

One of my last few stops for the festive Chinese New Year eats landed at Grand Imperial Restaurant at Bangsar Shopping Centre, a return since my last visit for the GAB Chinese New Year Media Gathering. This round, we had the honors of sampling more dishes from the CNY Menus by Chef Kenneth Chai . Grand Imperial offers fine Chinese cuisine with lavishness in mind. Daily offerings include Chinese dim sum, BBQ roasts, seafood steamboat, Hong Kong noodles and abundance of fresh seafood dishes.

Grand Imperial Restaurant in Bangsar offers wide CNY menu choices and we tasted dishes picked from the various menus that night.

Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab with Fresh Salmon Fish Yee Sang

When one is not enough, a duo of fresh salmon and crispy soft shell crab is called for! The oceanic combination is sumptuously laden with soft silky and crispy light textures among the usual ingredients. Flavors are fresh and juicy with lots of crispy fresh and pickled vegetables. What I adored was the leafy coriander perfuming the Yee Sang with much fresh aroma.

Boiled Lotus Root Soup with ‘Fa Cai’ and Dried Oysters

We praised the soup for its warmness and hearty sensations. Loaded up with chunky lotus root, dried oysters, pork, pork tongue, chicken and black moss, its no wonder the soup screamed comfort essence of soothing feeling. It’s really a good timing for such soup because of all the richness of festivity dishes.

Salted Baked Village Chicken

Our nostrils were hit by the gorgeous aromatic perfumed of Tong Kwai when this dish arrived. Due to its needed preparation, one needs to order this dish at least 3 days in advance. The chook has a beautiful deep yellow hue from the high heat of salt baked method in a claypot. The meaty chick is firm with a nice chicken essence and was also moist. Served with the chick’s gizzard, this dish was polished off easily that night!

Sauteed Fresh Prawns with Fresh Lily Bulbs, Shimeji Mushrooms and Shrimp Floss

Nothing but the best quality is offered at Grand Imperial as we were assured. Our prawn balls were great sizeable ones and we were definitely pampered with the fresh and bouncy crustaceans. Sidekicks like crunchy snow peas, carrots and medley of earthy mushrooms only enhanced the firm sweet prawns to let it shine. Flavors are light and delicate, using the natural elements of the ingredients. I also identified tiny flecks of shrimp floss or Har Chi in the dish to make it even richer in crustacean taste.

Braised Pig’s Trotter with Brown Sauce

The huge pork trotter swam in deep brown gravy. Well braised with layers of fats and lean meat, the melt-in-the-mouth hog had a good aroma of star anise among other Chinese spices. It’s definitely a porky delight for swine fans!

Mini Claypot Rice with Hong Kong Chinese Sausages

Served individually in black mini claypots, steamed fluffy rice is crowned with two Chinese sausages, waxed pork belly and waxed duck. I like the purity of the rice flavor enriched by the precious waxed meats and sausages. The rice is served with a dash of soy sauce for extra flavors.

Steamed Nian Gao with Pan Fried Water Chestnut Cake

I hereby declared that this is the best dessert I had for this CNY! The sheer simplicity and boldness to served traditional no frill desserts of duo Steamed Nian Gao covered in fresh coconut and Pan Fried Water Chestnut Cake is much respected. One bite of the thickly cut warm water chestnut cake was heavenly. From its crisp outer layer to the soft inside to the crunchy water chestnut slices and corn flavors, this dessert if perfection! I literally wanted to hog this whole dessert to myself for pure selfishness of enjoyment. The steamed Nian Gao also faired beautifully delicious with its soft caramelized flavors to the soft nuances of fresh aromatic coconut. Both desserts are not too sweet and the thickness of the cut allowed one to really savor the dessert in full effect. Kudos!

If you’re looking for fine Chinese cuisine with a grand ambience, Grand Imperial Restaurant definitely fits the bill. Chef Kenneth Chai may looked fairly young but one can be rest assured, his skill sets said otherwise in his repertoire of dishes. There 5 locations for the restaurants in Malaysia and there is even one Grand Imperial in London, UK located at Buckingham Palace Road.