Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Five Sen5es, Westin KL

Formerly known as EEST, Five Sen5es is a non-halal Chinese Restaurant in the heart of Westin Hotel, Kuala Lumpur. This is my 2nd visit to Five Sen5es, the first for dinner to experience their “Five Sensory Rooms” and to sample their ala-carte menu . Tonight would be a preview of their upcoming Chinese New Year offerings.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL

Those who prefers a relaxing and intimate dining experience will definitely like this place, as the layout is definitely not your typical chinese restaurant.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-001

Alas, I wasn’t feeling well, so my appetite was affected. But then again, I was still curious as to what Five Sen5es has to offer this coming Lunar New Year.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-002

Just like the rest of the Yee Sang that I’ve sampled before, the Norwegian Fresh Salmon Yee Sang (not the salmon but the ingredients such as the plum sauce) is made in house. What initially stood out from the platter was the presentation for sure. The shape of the snake was definitely a nice touch!

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-003

After that was the taste of course. The platter was accompanied by generous fillets of thickly sliced salmon and canned abalones. Fabulous!
It’s the thickest salmon slices I have seen so far this year after 10 Chinese New Year’s Yee Sang reviews. Frankly speaking, I would prefer the bigger abalone anytime over these small canned ones, as these turned out quite fishy.

Now this is the soup that I remember clearly even after 14 CNY reviews – The Master Poached Sea Pearl Prawn Clam in Superior Broth.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-007

A most interesting creation – a amalgamation of spices and herbs that worked really well, refreshingly different, memorable yet doesn’t come across as weird. Chinese wine, tong guai, dates, lemongrass and lime juice helps to reduce the fishy-mess from the clams while the wolfberries gives the entire bowl a hint of natural sweetness. The double boiled soup warms the tummy, settles you down yet perks you up and stirs your palate for more at the same time. Heady from the wine, sour from the citrus, sweet from herbs, the soup was just lovely!

And that was just the soup. The content was just as tasty. A dumpling-like orb, made from prawn and fish paste with actual whole prawn inside, it’s almost like a dim sum in my soup.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-008

I had complacently thought that the fowl dish of the night would either be duck or chicken, but I got a baby pigeon on my plate instead. Obviously Five Sen5es Pigeon was a pleasant and welcoming change. The roasted pigeon was glazed with honey and the skin was fabulously crispy. The pigeon was served with crunchy crackers and a side of dips. The chilli dip is made up of fresh chillies that has been chopped and blended with lime juice for the sourish sensation and zesty lemon for tang while another accompanying dip was garlic vinegar dip, concocted from garlic, vinegar with a bit of sugar.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-009

I devoured the thigh and wings, but I gave it a pass when it comes to the body.  The breast meat was quite gamey and though the other members of the media at the table advised me to eat it with the  garlic and vinegar sauce, I didn’t find it helpful to offset the gaminess. Then again, I wasn’t really feeling so well that night, so the smell could have came across stronger for me. According to the rest, the dish was fine.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-010

Signature Steamed River King Fish with Supreme Soya Sauce was not something I would miss despite being unwell. The fish used in this dish was a Goby, or better known locally as ‘Soon Hock’. It’s quite an expensive fish as far as I know. The Soon Hock fish was prepared in the most basic and traditional manner, which was steamed with soya sauce to complement it’s natural flavour.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-011

I took a few bites of it and I can assure you that the meat was firm, succulent and naturally sweet.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-012

The plus factor of the next dish; the Signature Golden Sand Sea Prawn with Crispy Rice Cereal was that the prawns used for this dish are the ones caught from sea, and not your usual freshwater prawns that was harvested from farms.
It’s usually firmer, fleshier and much sweeter from the freshwater ones, and expectedly pricier. So if you’re a big fan of prawns, you wouldn’t want to miss this. My stomach was acting up by then, so I had to skip it. Everyone at the table ensured me that the prawns were fine so I trust their judgment is trustworthy.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-013

Mushrooms Fried with Garden Vegetables and Roasted Pine Nuts looks rather ordinary and unappealing to me. I did not have a bite of that either, as I couldn’t exactly stomach anything by the time it arrived anyway.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-014

Hong Kong Wax Meat Rice in Claypot was superbly fragrant. All that that porky fat slices , duck drumstick meat and liver sausages were specially imported from Macau.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-015

The sauce mixture was not cooked together with the rice but poured and mixed with the rice prior to serving. Under normal circumstances, I would have attacked this dish with fervor as I’m a huge fan of such porky goodness, but I was past feeling sick by the time it was served and getting terribly light-headed, so I couldn’t enjoy this either.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-016

Dessert was Steamed Silken Coconut Chinese New Year ‘Nian Gao’ and the customary ‘tong sui’. But as you know, I had skipped 3 dishes before this so you can imagine just how sick I was. Even the desserts couldn’t entice me for a bite.

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-017

Five Sen5es Chinese New Year Set Menu are as below:

Happiness Reunion Chinese New Year Set Menu 1 – there’s Korean chicken Gangnam style. I’m seriously curious! 😀

RM 880++ per table of 10 persons

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Propitious Reunion Chinese New Year Set Menu 2

RM 988++ per table of 10 persons

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Blessings Reunion Chinese New Year Set Menu 3

RM 1118++ per table of 10 persons

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Abundance Silver Dragon

RM 1388++ per table of 10 persons

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I apologise for the not much of a review this time around, as I had actually wanted to leave earlier, but I was already at the venue so I stayed on as it was the only proper thing for me to do. Generally, up to the vegetable dish,  the food was fabulous and beyond reproach. And surprisingly, the prices starts at only RM880++, which is pretty reasonable considering the produce used and the specials on the menu and also taking into consideration that this is Westin and a pork serving restaurant.

My next trip to 5enses will be for their dim sum as they have a new chef that had just started working there few days ago, so be sure to watch this space for my upcoming review. Trust me, my appetite is fully restored. :DD

Five Sen5es
Level 1, The Westin Kuala Lumpur, 199 Jalan Bukit Bintang,
55100 Malaysia.

Lunch: 11.30am to 2.30pm, Dinner: 5.30pm to 10.30pm
Phone: +603- 2731 8333
Website: http://www.thewestinkualalumpur.com/fivesen5es

To further impress your guests, you can request for the Chinese wine to be served. It was “decanted” in a superbly graceful decanter reminiscent of the snake (befitting of the year 2013 being the year of the Snake on the Chinese Zodiac).

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-004

A gorgeous piece isn’t it?

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-005

Yes, I do highly recommend that you order a bottle of this chinese wine to go with your meal! 🙂

CNY Menu 2013-Five Sen5es, The Westin KL-006

Here’s my round-up for 2013 Chinese New Year Menu in KL. I’ll include the links once I have published the posts this/next week. I’m trying to write as fast as I can!

1. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Ti Chen Chinese Restaurant, The Saujana Hotel
2. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Zuan Yuan Chinese Restaurant, One World Hotel
3. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Li Yen Chinese Restaurant, The Ritz Carlton Hotel
4. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Shanghai Restaurant, JW Marriott Hotel
5. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Cheng Ho Court Chinese Restaurant, Mines Wellness Hotel
6. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: West Lake Garden Chinese Restaurant, Sunway Resort Hotel & Spa
7. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Armada Hotel PJ
8. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Five Sen5es, Westin KL
9. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Celestial Court, Sheraton Imperial Hotel KL
10. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Latest Recipe, Le Meridien Hotel KL
11. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Di Wei Chinese Cuisine Restaurant, Empire Hotel Subang
12. Chinese New Year Menu 2013: Tai Ze Heen, Prince Hotel KL
13. Chinese New Year Menu 2013:  Xin Cuisine, Concorde Hotel KL
14. ..

….
and more!

This Post Has 5 Comments

  1. Sean

    wah, the prawn-clam soup does look like a really special creation that stands out. would be nice to have it a la carte without having to order the full set! 😀

  2. ulric

    Rats! I missed this! =(

  3. Camilla

    Ohh everything looks good! Just like you said, good food, fab ambiance and reasonably priced package!

  4. Daniel

    My favourite review of yours so far Rebecca. The food looks really delish. So sorry to hearthat you’re not able to enjoy it much cos you’re unwell. And can see from your FB you’re much better now. That’s good!

  5. Unggus

    Chinese New Year – I haven’t been to Asia during this period of time – Yee Sang looks like such an interesting dish!

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