MIGF in Chynna

THREE OUTLETS, THREE CHEFS, THREE FESTIVAL PROMOTIONS AND A MICHELIN STAR CHEF, cries the press release.



So when Aly of Red FM asked me if I would like to attend the MIGF thingie at Chynna, I replied, "Hmm, let me think long and hard about this. Great company, great venue, possibly great food"...think think think..."duhh, [slapping forehead], I think I have to say YES".


The very affable Chef HH Lam, who has been with the Hilton so long, he says his H H stands for Hilton Hilton. (His real name is Chef Lam Hock Hin).


Cold Black Ink Soba in Sesame Sauce and Smoked Seared Hokkaido Scallops. The soba was delightfully al dente. At first bite, I initially thought the sauce was too salty, but surprisingly, as I continued eating, it didn't seem so, and by the end of it, all of us wouldn't have minded wiping our plates clean with a slice of bread.


Picture of a Picture..the Canon people took this nice pic of us...our fellow diners for the night are Celebrity Penang blogger, CK Lam, (the definitive Penang Street Food Guide), Eric Yong, Aly of Red FM, and ...little old me.

Double Boiled Duck Broth With Good stuff, Radix and Yu Zhu. Since Chynna is pork free, duck actually makes a fabulous substitute, because its fattiness and red meatness imparts a distinct flavour to the broth. Since I am one of those who goes, "Give Us This Day our Daily Soup" I was delighted with this dish. Clear, but so tasty, and chock full of goodness.


Seafood Platter With Canadian Cod, Curry Dry Prawns and Salmon Tangy Mustard Sauce. I personally liked the Cod the best, despite not being a big fan of cod. The salmon was also very well cooked, not overdone, still moist in the centre. The interesting sauces that accompanied the trio really complemented each one.


The Salmon, and a crispy bit of deep fried salmon skin. Absolutely yummy.





Sous Vide Lamb Cutlet With Pepper Mint Sauce. Behold the lamb. Not something you'd make at home, coz you need to marinate, vacuum pack it, steam it, and pan sear it. Excellent dish this. In fact, Chynna is famous for its lamb. Their mint fried lamb is always a hit.


Wok Fried Somen Noodle With Shell Meat served in a Golden Katafi. You know, every last bit of this was good. Even the golden katafi nest. Finished every last strand. Truly inspired, this dish. The piece of shell meat gave that interesting chewy texture, the noodle the springy texture, the nest, the crispy texture. Can a tongue handle so many sensations I ask!


I love the setting of Chynna.... the hot steaming steamers... I am not sure what they were steaming at that hour of night.


Coconut Mousse Cake With Pumpkin Puree. More western than chinese, as pointed out by my fellow diners. But good, nonetheless. A bit like a panna cotta, but not as smooth.



The Hilton PR people were doing musical chairs, flitting between Iketeru, Senses and Chynna, and here we manage to capture the very belle Bel.

At RM168++ per head without wine pairing, I'd say this was pretty good value for money, as far as the MIGF selections are concerned. Wine pairing is RM 248++.

I'm putting this up in a hurry so ahem, it'll get longest and soonest possible exposure, since MIGF only lasts a month, and a week is already gone.

Thanks to Chef Lam, Bel, Jean for being such gracious hosts, and of course to Aly for inviting me.

Chynna, KL Hilton

Since the kids had to attend their cousin's birthday, and therefore had to skip Sunday School, the parents decided to do likewise......sssshhhhhhhh.........don't tell anyone. Have always wanted to bring the wife to try the dim sum at Chynna, not because I think it's outstanding, but just so she can say she's been la, being the dutiful and thoughtful caring spouse that I am.

Since it was still very early, ie, 11.15am, (the same time that Lemongrass was having her brunch at Fish and Chips place on changkat raja chulan), the place was quite empty. I still can't help feeling, that for the price we pay, the seating could be a bit spacious, ....as it is, the tables are so close to each other, especially tables for 2 and 4, you can hear every strain of conversation around you, AND stroke the thigh of the person on the table next to you should you so desire.

The dim sum menu actually seems even more limited than I remember it to be. No char siew sou, which is my favourite, instead, these little whatever you call them. Char siu buns. It had a crispy topping, that's quite nice, and a bunny (bun-like) texture at the bottom. But it wasn't warm enough. After a bite, we asked them to warm it up. They must have just chucked it in the microwave, coz after that, I scalded my lips. And these thick lips take a lot for it to be scalded.



The scallop cheong fun was good, but nothing particularly outstanding. Well, the scallops were plump and fresh though.


This is supposed to be their specialty, some prawn dumpling of sorts. Soaked in prawn oil, I found it a tad greasy, and the prawns within were overcooked. Nothing to shout about.


Scallop and prawn dumplings. Fresh, but not particularly tasty.


Char siew pao. To the credit of these chicken in place of pork substitutes, I can't really tell the difference, especially for char siew paos. The filling was nice, but I found the bun too bunny again. Too much bun. I like the jln ipoh ones, where there is a generous amount of filling. For an establishment like this, I'd have expected more than a heaped tablespoon of char siu, some more fake char siu....


Taking forever to arrive, was this prawn dumpling soup, in superior broth, something like a poontong gao.


Okay, in conclusion, I really don't think I'd bother going here again for dim sum. The alacarte food's not bad, but as I told Lemongrass, the photos of her post of this place were more delicious than the real stuff. Well, at least I have fulfilled my duty as husband and lover.

Sedate Weekend

I've always wanted to get into sugarpaste, as in, making sugarpaste models, like that wonderful works of Just Heavenly....but of course, those fellas are in a different league. If they are the phD of the baking frats, I am but the pre schooler.

Then I decided I probably do not have the patience, nor the light handedness of a neuro surgeon, to really do a good job. It's one thing rolling plasticine models for your kids, quite another to be rolling phalluses and boobs into realistic looking items from sugarpaste. Also, I think a comment from a certain person (she who must not be named) who specialises in sugarpaste, who made it a point to emphasise that due to her graphics background it was easy for her to visualise and create, (as opposed to us plebians with no graphics background) also kinda deterred me from attempting any creativity.

So, when I got an order for a cake with naked woman, I did soooo want to try making a sugarmommy, but alas, time was not on my side, having just returned from vacation, so I had no choice but to resort to those plastic dolls. I did however take some effort to embellish the anatomy, coz these dolls are SO unrepresentative of real life.


If it were not for discount cards offered by hotels, I doubt I'd ever go dating on a one on one with the bini. With the discount card, it only makes sense to do so, coz everything is 50%!!! Of course, we ignore the fact that we have to fork out like hundreds to get the card in the 1st place. However, I know for a fact that my Shangrila card is more than paid for, coz we regularly went to Zipangu, Shang Palace and occasionally Lemon Garden. (not into buffets, me).

My recent purchase, after EVERYONE raved about it, was the KL Hilton Card. Actually it's hilton card, can be used in PJ Hilton too, which I already used in Genji. Pretty cool, two people at lunchtime, only RM50.

Since we hadn't yet celebrated our aluminium anniversary, (10th), and the weekend became free coz original plans fell through, I thought it would be a good time to try Chynna.

Fancy plates, complemented with plastic chopsticks that you get at a tai chow. Seating, way too close, I could have easily stroked the thigh of the guy sitting on the next table. Not to mention having to hear every word spoken, without even trying to.


I had the abalone ginseng soup for starters, wife had a double scallop broth, (dried and fresh scallops), no pictures, for how does one photograph chinese soups. My soup was a nice clear consomme, with a STRAND of abalone, which I had to comb the bowl for. Wife's was a bit eggy, but tasted good.

For mains we had the deep fried cod fish in their special honey sauce. At RM60, it's actually not too bad, considering the slice of cod was huge.


I loved this version of cantonese crispy roast duck. The first few pieces I had tasted like suckling pig!!! However, as we got nearer the breast, the meat became drier. Also, as we were getting fuller on other stuff, the appeal of the duck diminished.


And last, we had the seafood fried noodles. There was of course a fancier name on the menu, but basically, it was seafood friend noodles. Again, at RM32, it's pretty decent value, coz it had nice plump prawns, scallops, fish (which I didn't care for), and the noodles itself was delicious. Lots of egg too, which of course makes any dish a winner for me.



I did have the aloe vera and lemon grass jelly with lime sorbet for dessert, similar to the one in Shang palace, which I absolutely love. Forgot to snap a picture, (I am so not used to this "Take picture of your food" business), but suffice to say, the tangy lime sorbet matched the lovely smooth lemon grass jelly to a T.

Verdict, will definitely come back, afterall, with the Hilton Card, it worked out to be the same price had we dined any other half decent Chinese restaurant, but will order one dish less, coz we had to go for a late night workout in Tesco after dinner, to work out some of the meal. It's AMAZING how packed Tesco (Mutiara) is at 11pm at night.....