Chinese New Year at The Shang Palace, Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur

It's always a treat to be invited to Shangri-La, regardless of the outlet, but the Shang Palace, despite its switch to pork free status a few years back, remains one of my favourites, and certainly a family favourite too.  So for the 2nd Yee Sang of 2018, to be having it in Shang Palace, come hell or highwater I made sure I was going to be there.

There's always a certain elegance associated with Shangri-La Hotel Kuala Lumpur, a classic but yet not ostentatious display of classiness, and this certainly permeates into their dishes.  We were privy to the Happy Reunion Set Menu, priced at RM2318 for a table of 10.  To start, we had this gorgeous Signature Yee Sang with Abalone with caviar and gold flakes, not part of the set.  The set comes with a Salmon Yee Sang. 

The tricky part about the after toss is to zero in to the good stuff, like the sliced abalone and the caviar and gold leaf.  That aside, the Yee Sang was totally as expected, a cacophony of textures and tastes, sweet, sour, salty, crunchy, chewy, soft....

I always enjoy the soups here too.  FYI, Shangri-La has a no sharksfin policy.  But you really wouldn't miss it, with this Braised Superior Seafood Soup, with fish maw and sun dried scallops.  In fact, this was my go to soup back in the day when I had the Shang Privilege Card.

Stir Fried Prawns and Scallops with Assorted Mushrooms...I'm glad this dish is kept "simple" to showcase the freshness and flavour of the scallops and prawns.  It would be travesty to drown this in sauces ...

Easily my favourite dish of the meal, Shang Palace Poached Chicken with Lemon Grass in Superior Soy Sauce.  I love "pak cham kai", and this dish was an upped ante of my favourite pak cham kai, so what's not to love.  A discussion ensued on the table on breast vs thigh.  God in His wisdom has made each palate different, so there was almost an equal number of thigh vs breast fans.  Loved the flavours, and the texture of the chicken.  Chicken in my opinion should have some bite, not too tender.

Steamed Long Fu Pan with black fungus Teo Chew Style.  I'm guessing Long Fu Pan is a kind of grouper.  The broth from the steaming is pretty sumptuous.

Stewed Sun Dried Oyster With Sea Cucumber and Sea Moss in oyster sauce, a must have for Chinese New Year meals, because of the Cantonese sounds associated with these ingredients, which inevitably relates to either prosperity or longevity which should presumably lead to happiness.  This is a very lux dish, not something you'd have regularly, ...at least I don't, so it's quite a treat.  Especially that large tuft of sea moss.

Braised Ee Fu noodles with Shredded Noodles and Crab Meat. I really liked this dish as well, being a hardcore noodle fan.  It's very difficult to describe, because on the one hand, it's wonderfully familiar, but on the other hand, it IS the Shang Palace ....but you know what I mean.  I'd order this from the ala carte any day.

Sweetened ginger soup with red dates, dried apricot and black sesame seed dumplings, with traditional pan fried Ninkou with walnut sesame ball. The perfect end for a lavish reunion dinner...


Six Varieties of Yee Sang
Six varieties of Yee Sang can also be ordered a-la-carte for dine-in or takeaway from 8 January to 2 March. Korean Snow Pear at RM99 nett (small) and RM198 (large)
Crispy Fish Skin and Jellyfish Flower at RM99 nett (small) and RM198 (large)
Salmon Fish at RM138 nett (small) and RM276 (large)
Crispy Mushroom and Gingko Nuts at RM99 nett (small) and RM198 nett (large)
Sliced Abalone with Caviar and Gold Flakes at RM248 nett (small) and RM496 nett (large) - the one we had
Tempura Lobster Meat with Soft Shell Crab at RM248 nett (small) and RM496 nett (large).

There are also five prosperity set menus:

8-course Great Prosperity Set Menu at RM239 nett per person
Rich Fortune Set Menu at RM339 nett per person (with minimum 4 persons)
9-course Happy Reunion Set Menu at RM2,318 nett per table of 10 persons - the one we had
9-course Wealth Treasures Set Menu at RM3,388 nett per table of 10 persons
9-course Immense Wealth Set Menu at RM4,998 nett per table of 10 persons.

Of course the Immense Wealth Set Menu, as the name implies, would come with super luxury items like Birds Nest soup with Lobster...(I can only imagine)

All the set menus begin with Yee Sang and end with pan-fried Ninko.

Early Bird Offer: 25% OFF on Set Menus for from 19 February till 2 March at Foyer Area for minimum booking of 10 persons and above with full payment by 5 February 2018.

Ninko Fortune
At Shang Palace, the fish-shaped Coconut Ninko makes an attractive and auspicious gift. It is available for takeaway from 8 January till 15 February at RM58 nett per box.

For reservations or more information, call (03) 2074 3904, email restaurantreservations.slkl@shangri-la.com or visit www.shangri-la-specials.com