Best Dim Sum in KL (pork free) – Celestial Court Sheraton Imperial

Dim sum at Celestial Court is, aptly, a celestial experience.
The purists would argue that dim sum without pork is not dim sum. Well, I strongly urge them to sample some of Chef Ken Liew’s offerings then.
Some of his creations mimics the texture and taste of pork so well, you won’t be able to tell! An example would be this Juicy Shanghainese dumpling with egg strips and Chinese spinach served in chicken broth – RM18/portion.

I ordered it again during the next few visits and both taste and portions remained reassuringly similar. It is now one of my staple orders.
It is pretty filling for a small eater; for the dumpling is fat and the soup is so savoury, soothing and wonderfully tummy warming.

Other key factors that makes dim sum meals here enjoyable?
Inventive dimsum with the likes of squid ink scallops dumplings, grilled stuffed honey glaze chicken meat served with steamed ‘man tou’, and seafood ball with century egg filling coated with almond flakes, all of which are both pleasing to the eye as it was satisfying to the stomach.

See the bulging dumplings? If it say scallops and prawns on the menu, you do get scallops and prawns as promised.

Prices ranges between RM18 – RM28 per serving and I assure you that you get what you’re paying for in terms of quality, taste and quantity. Each piece of dim sum here is 20% bigger than your average coffee shops serving.

Stuffed fish maw, with beancurd, squid mousse topped with crab roe sauce – RM18.
So good we drank even the gravy!

Cod fish dumpling with prawn served with spring onion and coriander puree topped with shredded crispy ginger – RM18.
This is another of my ‘must-order’ and I have not failed to repeatedly order this each time I visit Celestial Court.
It is just so good; you get very tasty cod fish and prawn paste plus coriander puree. The crispy ginger that gave an unexpected zing and spice with each bite. It is certainly not something you see on every dim sum restaurant’s menu.

No fillers – generous fish and prawn paste for each dumpling.

This is best eaten hot when the crispy Chinese crullers are crunchy. Each bite gave different textures; first the soft slippery rice rolls, then the crispy crullers and finally moist, savoury fish paste. RM20 for this serving

Funnily enough, there are no fish balls on the dim sum menu for Celestial Court. During dim sum sessions, fish balls are a must for me.
The closest I got here was a claypot of assorted yong tau foo; nice but nothing memorable. RM14 per pot.

Charcoal soft bun with salted egg yolk and custard filling – RM12.

This was a tad disappointing (not in taste but expectation) as I expected molten hot custard within each bun. It turned out to be a dry paste which was fairly tasty, nothing bad about it but well, we were all expecting the molten type so I guess it wasn’t exactly what we wanted.

This was ordered from the ala-carte menu. A fried prawn dish coated with some sauce of which I couldn’t remember. The owner of the dish enjoyed it but I didn’t eat any. No mayo or oily sauces for me please. 🙂

In fact that was precisely the reason why I love Celestial Court so much. Most, if not all of the dim sum items here are very soothingly light on the palate, hardly ever overly greasy (even for the fried items), tasty and not to mention very fresh. Thumbs up to Chef Ken and the kitchen team here at Celestial Court!

Crispy kataifi with scallop avocado served with fruit – RM18.

Glutinous rice dumpling “Ham Tsui Kok” with tom yam seafood filling. RM15.

Imperial style lamb pot sticker with bean paste. RM15.
Why not lamb for dim sum right? 😀

Brownie points for the presentation too!

 

Over the course of many trips I did sample the basics – siew mai and char siew pau, both highly recommended.

 

Since I’m usually here during lunchtime, I would order a plate of greens for fibres. Even a simple plate of vegetables here are satisfying good – fresh, crunchy and naturally sweet. So far none of my vegetables were overly oily or overcooked.

Do order a soup if you’re in need of some nourishment. Soups here are exactly how a good bowl of chinese soup should be.

Dessert are highly recommended as well; please do order the Yellow Pumpkin puree with black glutinous rice and coconut gelato (RM13) or the Chilled avocado puree with walnut ice cream (RM13).
The common mango puree, herbal jelly and glutinous rice balls are available as well.

 

Really superb pork free dim sum. I’m here almost every week. Do holla if you would like to join me! 🙂  

Celestial Court Chinese Restaurant,
3rd floor, Sheraton Imperial Kuala Lumpur, Jalan Sultan Ismail, KL.
For reservations, call 03 2717 9933 or email to [email protected] to book your seats today or log on to www.sheratonimperialkualalumpur.com to find out more.