Mid Autumn Festival Menu at Elegant Inn..and While We're At It, the 9 Emperor Gods Menu Too

True to their reputation, Malaysian Chinese ...and I suspect it's not confined to Malaysian...live to eat. The very festivals according to the lunar month almost always entails feasting of a certain kind, if it's not the excesses and yee sang of Chinese New Year, there's the dumpling festivals, the sweep the tomb festivals...hungry ghosts ...all of which see some form of communal feasting.

When Makan Fairy Godmother said that Jeanette of Elegant Inn has invited us to try the Mid Autumn Festival Set, I dropped all other plans, including an invite to tea with the Queen of England.  Okayla, maybe I didn't (drop all plans), but it is ALWAYS a pleasure to dine at Elegant Inn.  Previous posts would reveal that Jeanette is a REAALLLLY fussy eater, and by extension, restaurateur, and serves her customers only whatever passes her own stringent standards.  Suitcases of delicacies are lugged back from all over the world, to ensure a dining experience that is beyond complaint.

To start, Silky Egg White with Bird's Nest paired with Pan Seared Pork Tongue.  I had to think very hard if I have ever had pig's tongue... I think probably not.

Who knew egg white could be so tasty.  Now the tongue, from this angle perhaps looks like luncheon meat, but I have to say, I love the texture and flavour.  There's a certain bite to it, yet deliciously tender.

A luxurious double boiled soup, with deer tendon, dried conch, black chicken and Murrill Mushroom.   An amazingly sweet and delicate broth, the type that you know cannot have been made instantly, but only through hours of loving double boil.  There is an option to "upgrade" to fish maw replacing the deer tendon, at RM10.

Without a doubt, the piece de resistance for the night was the South African Ablone Treasure Bowl.
Who says that Poon Choi is only for Chinese New Year?  .....Well, no one actually....it's a communal dish that I reckon can be enjoyed all year long.  Of course, it's what goes into the pot that determines its treasure worthiness.

According to Jeanette, it's what's beneath the surface that is most important, and it's what imparts the flavour, not the stuff on the top.  And of course, the bottom of the barrel in this case is a superb stock made from Pork Cartilage, Chinese Cabbage, and Daikon.

Regardless of that lay beneath, the stuff on the top were well, top notch.  I loved every single item, from the coveted abalone to the pedestrian brocolli.  The roast duck was also totally delicious.  If I had ONE "complaint", it would be the prawns which I felt were a bit overcooked.

I really hate whoever coined the phrase, "the camera eats first", but sadly, it's true.

A cross section of the err...I can't remember how many lipped abalone.

Claypot rice with Garoupa Fillet, HK dried prawn, and Tung Choy.  This is the requisite carb dish I guess.  Flavour wise, of course was very tasty, but is really quite eclipsed by all the stuff from the poon choi.

Just look at the amazing stuff at the bottom of the treasure pot.  Indeed, what lies within is most important.

Now, as if we weren't already food comatosed, Jeanette insisted we try the 9 Emperor Gods Festival Vegetarian Cuisine.  This one is only available the first 9 days of the 9th Month of the Lunar Calendar, coinciding when the Nine Emperor Gods make their annual visit.

A happy start, a truffle radish puff with twin purple sweet potato. Everyone wanted to know if the purple sweet potato chips were for sale.

The fillings were almost like that of Pai Tee.

This was easily the most evocative dish, so very unique.  Tofu Blossom with Fresh Beet Root and Carrot, Double Boiled Soup.  It boggles the mind how a piece of tofu can be so intricately sliced by KNIFE.... It's of course purely for the visual, as to me it didn't really do much for the taste.

The main course of Trio Treasures Stuffed with Organic Beancurd and Quinoa. The quinoa gives it that body but of course being a  meatarian, (carnivore), I would prefer normal yong tau foo any day.  The gravy is noteworthy.

Off the menu, but their signature Fried Rice is SOOOOOOO good.  Crunchy bits of dried prawn, (not dried shrimp), with the most fluffy rice ever. And again, this is NOT in the vegetarian menu.

You think you've seen it all, but far from it.  This dish, groundnut sprouts wok fried with sweet pea and premium cordycep flower.  Say what?  Groundnut sprout?  It's like a bean sprout, but sprouted from groundnuts.  That sprout part is delicious, a cross between a chive and asparagus.

Premium wild porcini noodles.  The noodles are eggless, and are surprisingly springy.

A rather unique dessert , Teochew style "Tau Suan" with Crunchy Sea Cucumber, and black gold custard bun.  Now here's a chef willing to push the boundaries.  That sea cucumber is surprisingly crispy and delectable, and the slight saltiness neutralises the sweetness of the tau suan, and therefore should be eaten together.  However, one should daintily place a piece of sea cucumber with each spoonful, rather than tossing it as a crouton into a salad, into the bowl of tau suan. That ensures the crispiness of the sea cucumber.


The dessert from the Vegetarian Menu is double boiled snow pear with Chuanbei and citrus peel, "Yan xi" lotus bloom pastry.

The MidAutumn menu is available till end September, priced at
RM888 for 4
RM1288 for 6
RM2138 for 10 pax.

The Vegetarian menu, available only for the first 9 days of the 9th month, is RM138 per head for a minimum of two people.

Address: Menara Hap Seng, 19_07, Jalan P Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur, 50540 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur

Phone: 03-2070 9399

My First Lou Sang for 2012, At Elegant Inn, Menara Hap Seng

In a blink of an eye, almost exactly 2 years to the day, Providence smiled upon me again, when once again, Eu Hooi Khaw, that iconic food writer and makan fairy godmother, extended me an invite to once again dine at ELEGANT INN, in Menara Hap Seng. Checking out my previous post on Elegant Inn was very deja vu. Almost scary, to realise that two years had zipped by just like that.

Well, the main cast look no worse for wear, the proprietess, Jeannette Han, looks younger, and that handsome young chef, looks exactly the same. (if he looked any younger he'd have to don on a white shirt and olive green pants with a school badge). And of course, us, the guest, and Hooi Khaw, have been preserved in a time warp, and have not added a single wrinkle.


Jeannette had just gotten off the plane from an ingredient buying spree in Hong Kong, and regales us with culinary capers that make us salivate. I must have forgotten to take a picture of the peanuts, but she says there was once, the peanut supply was so inconsistent, her staff had to hand pick each nut, with a 60% rejection rate. Yes, she is THAT particular about the quality of food. So it is no surprise that our first Yee Sang of the year was perfect. No need to have the conundrum of jelly fish, abalone or ocean trout sashimi. She gives us all three, explaining that the jelly fish gives the crunch, the abalone gives that marine flavour, and the fish ...well, it isn't called YEE sang for nothing. No artificially colored artificial vegetables.


A high toss, encapsulating our dreams and aspirations for the coming year. Good health, good food, good fortune....good business.


Decadence takes on the form of pan seared foie gras with eggy goodness, a double dose of cholesterol, but so worth it.


Prawns signify the sound of laughter, Siew Ha Ha....gorgeous sea prawns fried "simply" in garlic, but SO good. Oh, the theme for the night according to Jeannette was "simple". I guess it's time to redefine words in my vocabulary, for nothing struck me as simple.





Chinese Sandwich. As opposed to a Gwai Lou sandwich I guess. Soft mantaus wrapping a piece of deep fried chicken skin, a piece of beancurd with prawn mash and hoi sin sauce. Lovely finger food.


My favourite for the night. Braised pork shoulder...actually it was a very unique cut, with bits of cartilage on, and utterly melt in the mouth, in a lovely gravy that has simmered with all the chinese new year good stuff, like oysters, etc.





See, I told you everyone still looks so good.


Traditional sweet and sour pork, but oh so good. I daresay this is the best non-iberico version I've ever tasted. The pork is crispy but moist, and Jeannette explains that she likes them in strips, not rolled, like some places.


The piece de resistance, the LAP MEI FAN, that pot of sheer utter goodness and decadence, the definite herald of Chinese new year. A hodge podge of waxed meats, with the juices melded into the fluffy rice. Anti Carbo Ciki abstained from the rice.




The token vegetable for the night, called Wa Wa choy.


To end the fabulous meal, nian gao, from Hong Kong. Different from ours, not so sticky, and this was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, almost dodol-ly, (which is a compliment).


Tong Yuen in red bean paste. I love red bean paste, and this one had hints of black glutinous rice, of course sourced from the very best source, ie, the black market.



And as a special treat, Malai kou, (Malay kueh).... soft, fluffy egg based steamed cake with egg custard. Yummy.

The good news is, Elegant Inn is opened throughout the Chinese New Year period. Do call them to check out the various set dinners available. A Warning though, the lap mei fan is NOT, I repeat, NOT available on New Year's Eve, ....I think that's what she said.

Thanks Jeannette once again for a fantastic meal! And of course to our Makan Fairy Godmother for the invite.

Elegant Inn
Second Floor
Podium Block
Menara Hap Seng
Jalan P Ramlee
Kuala Lumpur


Tel: 03-2070 9399

Elegant Inn Hong Kong Cuisine, Menara Hap Seng

Some invites are to be coveted while some invites make you be a bad christian and make up stories about how you have to attend your grandmother's 102nd birthday or your aunty's tupperware party. An invite from Hooi Khaw makes us disobey the 10th commandment. Thou shalt not covet. Because an invite from Hooi Khaw always rocks, and you can be SURE that the food will be par excellent! In fact, if I had another appointment, I'd probably have to come up with some white lie to get out of that other one.

I've always been meaning to try Elegant Inn, because of its Tmn Connaught reputation. You can imagine me doing cartwheels, or maybe not, .... so on a Tuesday night, dumping my usual family dinner (sister comes home to eat on Tuesdays, so the house is very festive), I head for Menara Hap Seng, and find all my FAVOURITTTE people there. Thamby and Bald Eagle, Cumi and Ciki, ALilFatMonkey, our dear Hooi Khaw, and our gracious host, Jeanette.

So classy, got personalised menu! We're mentioned in the menu! Friends ma.



Jeanette, I have so say upfront, is the Walking Wikipedia of food and food ingredients. Exceedingly particular about the items she serves, her cashew nuts are hand selected from the best. Malaysian cashews failed the test, Sri Lankan nuts are the best, Vietnamese are good, Chinese nuts are .... well, depends which part of China.


If you look carefully in the pile of nuts, there are one or two cashews left, coz I had picked out most of them. To eat.


Elegant people for Elegant Inn. Check out the perfectly manicured nails. Not on the menu though.


Monkey thinks there's food on the trees....





A rather lavish Yee Sang....and my first for the year. Now, let's see if I can remember this. The jelly fish for the texture, the abalone for the juicy spurt of marine goodness, and the salmon to wrap it all up. None of the fakely colored preserved questionable vegetables, only freshly grated pear, radish, etc etc....Really refreshing. RM88 for full mai, RM68 for half mai, RM48 for mini mai. Ours was the half mai, and very substantial. We tossed to various things...for the KLCI to hit 2000 points, for peace and harmony in the country, for more glorious food reviews.... etc etc






My two favourite Monkeys


Salt & Pepper HK silver fish and gloriously silken homemade tofu. The fish is battered just perfectly. Crispy on the inside, still chewy on the inside. It screamed for a glass of ice cold beer.


Japanese Kobe (yup, you read it right, JAPANESE KOBE) in E.I. Garlic Style, and special chilled spoon with fresh salmon and crabmeat. Eat the silverfish first, wash your palate with the chilled spoon, a tangy combination that refreshes your tongue, followed by the absolutely spine tingling melt in the mouth Kobe beef. Seriously, being spoilt like this, makes you think you must have done something right to deserve such blessings.


Our ever smiling Hooi Khaw. Alas, our host, Jeanette, warned us, NO PICS of her.


In case you missed it, check out the kobe close up. Okay, this dish is NOT cheap. It's RM108 for 100gm, and there's probably 50gm in each bowl.

Traditional Signature Pig Stomach With Peppercorn and Salted Vegetable Double Boiled Soup.


Look at the amount of ingredients that go into the soup. Kampung chicken, dried scallops, yunnan ham, pork ribs, pork stomach, abalone mushroom, salted vegetables, and because its double boiled, the carcasses still retain its flavour and can be a meal on its own.


Peppery without it assailing your palate. It should leave a subtle pepper afterburn AFTER you drink it, not while, according to Jeanette.




Golden Fried Estuary Garoupa Fillet with Chinese Leeks Topping. Excellent dish. The skin is crispy, and there's a light layer of potato starch to crisp it, without battering it. The fish was firm, and fresh. Excellent.

If one fish wasn't enough, Jeanette insisted we try the steamed tilapia with Ham Yue Fah Lam. (salted fish and belly pork). Alilfatmonkey very astutely observed, "it's very difficult to take pictures of fish, cos they look so ....dead".... to which Bald eagle chirped, "yeah as opposed to Kobe beef, that look like they're on a spa vacation".


Somewhere at this juncture, we find out Jeanette is actually A SINGAPOREAN!!!!!

She did endear herself to us by the fact she's lived here a long time, and also, she was saying, aiya, these singaporeans, to them, (in relation to crabs), its all about the size. Hence the sri lankan crabs are popular. Size, doused in sauce.

As opposed to us clever Malaysians who appreciate the subtle sweet flavours of our smaller mud crabs.





Someone quipped that it would be quite hard to ruin this photo, as the crabs looked soooo beautiful. Signature styled Egg Yolk Style. Rather than the usual deep fried murdered by salted egg yolk style you get, this one allows the flavour of the crab meat to be savoured. Delicious.


8 Vegetarian Treasures in Chef's Sauce. The wood ears ...or was it cloud ears, are from HARBIN, where apparently the best ones come. Wood or cloud, the texture is supposed to be somewhere in between. Not an ear connoiseur, even I could tell that this was really fine quality stuff.


Bitter gourd with Salted Vegetables. I love bitter gourd, so this is one of my favourite dishes. Bald Eagle and bittergourd are like PKR and Umno.



The amazing Claypot Rice with HK Waxed Meats. What can I say? I think a picture (even a not so terror one, unlike those from the Queen of the DSLR) speaks a thousand words. I can almost smell that intoxicating aroma....


Their signature fried rice, simple, but not so simple. Two types of rice, (thamby managed to sniff this out with her nose, the amazing chap), crab meat, enough wok hei....


The handsome young chef, and co-owner, who made it all happen.


Sweetened Japanese Pumpkin Sago Soup With Green Beans. Smooth and creamy, but not cloying, sago pearls to give it that contrasting texture, and green bean to give it that oomph.


Malai Gou. (Malay Kueh). Not a fan usually, but this was moist, spongy, and not too sweet.






Banana Chinese pancakes...(banana chinese are what ah? Yellow outside white inside?) and Nutty sesame rice ball. I like this take on the pancake, instead of the normal lotus or red bean.


Now, what were these people laughing at?

Check out this cute little bejeweled chandelier....



Did thamby steal some of the jewels and wear them like a queen?

No, apparently, they were laughing coz they saw her digging her nose. How very unqueenly. It's like imagining the Queen on the potty. Cis.

Thanks again Hooi Khaw for the invite, and to Jeanette for having us.

Elegant Inn also has some CNY set menus, very reasonably priced, from RM788++ per table for dinner, or from RM538++ for lunch. (thinking to self, when to go back there and eat).

On another unrelated note, erm, I was interviewed on BFM yesterday, so if you want to listen, check out the pocast HERE.