Celestial Court Revisited

The name Celestial Court conjures up images of a Chinese Mt Olympus, where slitty eyed Zeuses and the oriental equivalent of Athena, Hermes, etc sit in a council, mulling over the folly of mankind. However, such loftiness aside, its actually the Chinese restaurant at Sheraton Imperial, and I have to say, despite it being a halal joint and all, I have always found the food here quite palatable. With the Starwood Card, I sometimes do come here for dinner, which is really good value.

Recently, we were invited to a Wine Pairing dinner at Celestial Court. I don't know why some people react with such incredulity at the idea of chinese food with wine pairing. Why not? In fact, if anything, I thought it only natural that chinese food be paired with booze of some sort. Okay, Chinese flers are well known for putting ice into beer, and red wine, etc... but of course, this was no such event. Dinner stated off with some lovely hors d'ovres, plump har mai with prawns on steroids, deep fried seafood balls with molten cheese in the centre, piping hot, and a robot of a waiter, who kept repeating what they were everytime he came around serving us. Incidentally, by us, I mean Aly of Red FM and AlilFatMonkey. The Nomad Gourmand was tasked with getting another 2 food bloggers.

The pre-dinner Taylor's Savignon Blanc 2009, a crisp, light wine perfect for chinese food, and actually remained my favourite through the night.





The Rabbit labels on the wine glasses exhort the drinker to multiply like rabbits.... and also to herald in the New Lunar Year which is the Year of the Rabbit.


I forget what exactly little Tiger here was doing in our goodie bags, but he proved a useful prop.


Duck & Bamboo Shoots Salad, Crispy Roasted Duck, and Steamed Fish Cake With Spicy Coconut Cream, which is basically otak otak. I love the crispy roasted duck. They also do a very nice Peking Duck here actually.





I personally favoured the Savignon Blanc, rather than the Chardonnay, and I would have been happy to pair the Sav Blanc with all my subsequent dishes. Someone on the table opined that more Malaysians should learn to drink red wines, due to its complexity bla bla bla. Well, I've been through my red wine phase in life, and have concluded that for our balmy Malaysian weather, nothing like a icy cold savignon blanc.


Pan Fried Scallop & Crab Dumpling. The scallops were juicy, fresh and plump, and cooked just right. The crab dumpling was alright. Not really a fan of fried dumplings.





Cod Fish With Miso. The fish was texturally flawless, and the flavour of the fish itself was good, none of that coddy smell that you sometimes get. But the sauce didn't do much for me. I prefer the drier ways of serving cod, like honey glazed.


Braised Oxtail Consomme La Mian with Taylor's Pinot Noir. My favourite dish of the night. A clear, wholesome broth, lovely la mian, and a fat wantan full of delicious oxtail. It redefines wantan mee! Such decadence.


Refreshing Passionfruit Sorbet to cleanse the palate. Now, I wouldn't have minded another scoop of this. Lovely smooth slush that has no hints of ice crystals.


One of the bloggers showing us how to get brain freeze.





Stewed Lamb Neck With Sticky Rice in Lotus Leaf. A great way to end the meal. If anyone was wondering if they'd be full after the first 3 courses, this definitely capped it. Tender pieces of lamb, with flavourful glutinous rice, much like the end of a wedding dinner.


Dessert was rather unique. Essentially kueh koci, with teh tarik ice cream. The teh tarik ice cream lacked the intensity of a strong teh tarik, but had a nice texture.

This entire set costs RM188++, with wine pairing, which compared with its "western food" counterparts, is a STEAL!!!





Cindy of Sheraton very kindly issues us our complimentary carpark.


Chef Ho Boon and his team for Celestial Court.

Dim sum here at Celestial Court is pretty good too, considering it lacks the requisite oink.

Thanks Cindy and Evelyn for the invite.

LUNCH : Celestial Court serves dim sum, a la carte and set menus for lunch daily from 12 noon til 2.30pm on Mondays – Saturdays, 10am – 2.30pm on Sundays and Public Holidays.

DINNER: Celestial Court opens from 6.30pm til 10.30pm, 7 days a week.

CONTACT

Celestial Court
Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur Hotel
Jalan Sultan Ismail
T: 03 27179900 ext 6988