FOOD: Chinese New Year Menu @ Dorsett Regency, Imbi KL

Happily I trotted into Checkers Cafe for their Chinese New Year set menu preview last week. I have an inclination where I based my anticipation of the next review from my previous experience and since I was suitable impressed with the ramadan buffet last year, I was naturally; of high expectations for their Chinese New Year menu.

Below: “Gong Xi Gong Xi!! ” greets Dorsett Regency’s signature giant muffins; all adorned in CNY prosperity hues of gold & red.

Dorsett Regency’s only F & B outlet; Checkers Café offers a slightly out of the norm option from the traditional 8 course set dinner for 2012.
Instead of a sit down, course by course Chinese cuisine, Checkers Café presents a series of value-added CNY themed buffets; both ideal for big groups and small, cosy gatherings.

Reunion Buffet Dinner22nd January 2012 Price:RM108.00++ per person	‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ New Year Brunch 23rd & 24thJanuary 2012. 12.00 noon to 4.00 pm Price: RM75.00++ per person
Joy & Luck Buffet LunchMonday to Friday 25th to 31stJanuary 2012 2nd to 5thFebruary 2012 Price: RM75.00++ per person	Prosperity Buffet DinnerMonday to Friday 23rd to 31stJanuary 2012 1st February to 6thFebruary 2012 Price:  RM85.00++ per person

Brush away all your anxieties of not having enough pax for a set course of 8-10, and no more pondering for hours picking the “best” set dinner for everyone.
Concerns such as “Does Andrew eat sea cucumber?” , “I think Jane is allergic to broccoli”, “Hmmm..I like this set but the fish is done sweet and sour instead of in soy sauce”  ceased to exist as buffets would offer something suitable for even the fussiest of eaters.

The best part of the buffet at  Checkers Café?

Traditional ubiquitous items such as Yee Sang, Braised Sea Cucumber and Mushroom, Chinese Fried Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaves and Stir Fried Dry Oyster with ‘Fatt Choy” shares the spread with popular favourites of smoked salmon, Japanese sushi and sashimi, cold station with fresh oysters and lastly; the fact that EVERYTHING comes in unlimited portions for ONE price!!

Below: Yup, you get to yee sangggggg too!! 🙂

A good deal? You bet.

 REUNION DINNER MENU @ CHECKERS CAFÉ

SALMON YEE SANG SALAD

Yee Sang with Crackers and Salmon Fillet
*The plum sauce was a specialty of the chef 

Roasted Duck Breast Glazed with Honey Dressing (cold)

Roasted Chinese-style Duck, Chicken and Chinese bun

CAESAR SALAD

Toss Romaine Lettuce with Caesar dressing with choice of

Crispy Beef Bacon, Shave Parmesan Cheese, Crouton, Garlic Confit, Anchovy and Lemon Wedge

BREAD

Assorted homemade breads

COLD PLATTER SELECTION

River Smoked Salmon with Lemon Dressing

Roasted Chicken and Gherkin

APPETIZER

Sweet Corn Salad, Mexican Corn Salad, Oyster Mushroom and Green

German Potato Salad, Green Bean, Nicoise Salad, Tomato, Yoghurt Cucumber, Hummus

Babaganoush, Tauboleh Salad, Garden Green, Asian Spicy Thai Beef Salad

DRESSING AND CONDIMENTS (COLD)

Thousand Island, French Dressing, Herb Vinaigrette, Balsamic Vinaigrette, Italian Dressing

DEEP BLUE SEAFOOD ON ICE WITH CONDIMENTS (COLD)

Oyster, Green Mussel, Tiger Prawn

Lemon Juice, Cocktail Sauce, Shallot Dressing and Lime Dressing

SOUP ON BUFFET

Hot & Sour Soup, Seafood and Shark’s Fin Soup

ACTION COUNTER

Chicken Rice – Roasted and steamed chicken

Waffle – Ala minute

maple syrup, Fruit Salad, Whipped Cream (topping)

Icing Sugar, Cinnamon Sugar

HOT DISHES

Roasted Lamb Leg,

Salmon Confit with Poached Egg

Kari Ayam Berkentang

Pan Fried Cod Fillet with Cod Caviar

Sautéed Vegetable with Fish Maw

Braised Sea Cucumber and Mushroom

Nian- nian You yu- Steamed Sea Bass

Buddha’s Delight – Braised Mixed Vegetables

Lucky Chicken – Golden Roasted Chicken

Deep Fried Prawn with Oats

 Chinese Fried Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leave

Stir Fried Dry Oyster with ‘Fatt Choy”

Braised Chinese cabbage with Dried Scallops and Fish Paste

Fried Wanton Mee with Shitake Mushroom & Seafood

Cantonese Fried Rice

Malaysian Hawkers fare

 

NOODLE SOUP OF THE DAY

Curry Mee

SATAY CORNER

Charcoal-grilled chicken, beef, lamb satay served with

rice cakes, cucumber, onions, pineapple & peanut sauce

Japanese Corner

SUSHI DELI CORNER

Maguro & salmon sushi, baby octopus & unagi sashimi,

Futomaki Rice Rolls with Prawns & Vegetables

California Rolls with Avocado & Cucumber

served with kikoman, wasabi & pickles radish

 

FRUITS

Watermelon, honeydew, papaya, pineapple

dragon fruit and jack fruit with asam powder

DESSERT

Orange Brulee Tartlet, Strawberry Fantasy, Ginger Cream Caramel,

Panna Cotta, Mango Smoothness, Profiterole, Chocolate Baked Cheese, Tutti fruity & Tiramisu

Assorted Malay Kuih, French Pastries, Chinese New Year Cookies

Fried “Nian Kao”, Golden Sesame Balls

ICE CREAM COUNTER

Macadamia, pistachio, almond, walnut, chocolate chips, peanut, apricot with

Chocolate, vanilla, raspberry & strawberry sauce served with waffle

Chocolate fountains

HOT DESSERT

Rice Pudding, Bread and Butter Pudding

HOT BEVERAGES

Coffee & tea

 ***********************************************

I didn’t sample the whole buffet that night but was pampered instead with selected dishes from the kitchen. The Yee Sang was lou-ed (the customary act of tossing contents of the yee sang dish high in the air) and dinner commenced shortly after.

Below: Shark Fin Soup. Dried scallops, crabmeat, and assorted seafood in a light, flavourful broth with generous amount of sharkfin.

For those who refrained from consuming shark fins, you can opt for it to be omitted as the prized fins were only added into the soup prior to serving.
Here, I must extend my praise to the Chef for a flavourful soup which was neither starchy nor too thin in consistency.

Sipping the soup, I eagerly scanned through the menu for the night, wondering what else is in store for my stomach. My eyes were immediately reverted on the keywords “lamb”, “cod” and an interesting “fried rice with ginger & salted egg yolk” dish.

Finally, I thought with a sigh of elation – there’s something out of ordinary tonight! Yup, I’m not a hardcore traditionalist and I prefer my “traditional” food with a twist where possible.

Pan Fried Lamb Rack with Chef Special Sauce.

Happily enough, the lamb was perfectly pink, charred nicely for a smoky flavour & well seasoned with the chef’s special sauce. One of the best dish I had in my series of CNY reviews this year for sure.

There were a few grumbles around that the Chicken in Herb wasn’t anything great.

I however, beg to differ as I’m of opinion that the Chef has shown considerable skill in poaching the chicken where the bird retained a firm yet tender bite. For me, the dish shone in its overall simplicity.
It could be that I’m partial to herb infused dishes and thus I appreciated the chicken which was infused right to the bone with flavours of the herbs.

Either that, or I had way too many mediocre chicken rice where the chicken is tasteless and rubbery hence this was like hitting the jackpot! LOL!

Surprisingly enough, I enjoyed the cod fish though it was fried. I have always thought a delicate and oily fish like cod should be steamed or at most pan fried; then lightly seasoned, allowing the natural flavours of the fish to take centrestage in the dish.

But Chef Lai did a superb job; the flaky fish was as fresh as it should be, lightly battered and fried prior to being doused in Chef’s superior soy sauce. The fish has not died in vain for sure. 🙂

Once the lamb and cod were served, my focus turned to The Fried Rice with Ginger and Egg Yolk. The Braised Sea Cucumber and Deep Fried Prawns came and went, of which I neither noticed nor heard any complains about it. I trust both were satisfactory.

30 minutes later the fried rice finally made its appearance. It’s pale and unadorned presentation elicited some remarks from the table. I, however, just wished they get their pictures taken quick and leave me to dig in.

Verdict?

My fellow diners said it was a bit of a let-down due to the lack of wok hei. The salted egg yolk flavour was a tad light and we certainly couldn’t detect any ginger. Personally I liked it but that’s not surprisingly since I prefer my fried carbs (noodles or rice) to be lightly fried, non-greasy and midly seasoned.

It’s ok Chef , the rest might not be in favour of your fried rice but I think a bit more time on the wok and additional egg yolks will do the trick! 🙂

Finally we got to dessert at 10pm. I was about to pass out from exhaustion but was given a much needed sugar boost from the sweet red bean sesame balls & homemade nian kao.
The latter was very homely and Ii deduced that it was not commercially produced from the first bite. The red bean paste had the perfect texture; not too coarse nor too smoothly pureed. All the desserts served was of acceptable sweetness levels.

All in all, I would confidently recommend the food here at Checkers Cafe. The ramadan buffet I had last year was good and pricing-wise much reasonable compared to the other hotels in the vicinity of KL. Likewise, the Chinese Chef Lai has shown much aptitude in his craft of Chinese cooking; apparent in his homemade nian kou, poached chicken, lamb rack and the red bean paste.

Though Dorsett Regency has only one F & B outlet, the kitchen team doesn’t cut corners and order their Malay kuih and desserts (in this case the nian kou as well) from a supplier. Instead, everything was painstakingly made in the kitchen.
I find little details like this important as it showcases the kitchen’s ability and pride in preparing the best food they could.
I have dined at many hotels, most with larger team of cooks and bigger names with numerous F & B outlets. Some have a dedicated Chinese restaurant and dedicated Chinese chefs. Yet I found out that most of their items are sourced from suppliers instead of being made fresh in-house.

So do head over to Dorsett Regency this Chinese New Year and sample their buffets. Prices are as follows:

Reunion Buffet Dinner22ndJanuary 2012 RM108.00++ per person 38% off for my readers = RM66.96++	‘Gong Xi Fa Cai’ New Year Brunch 23rd & 24thJanuary 2012. 12.00 noon to 4.00 pm Price: RM75.00++ per person 38% off for my readers = RM46.50++
Joy & Luck Buffet LunchMonday to Friday 25th to 31stJanuary 2012 2nd to 5thFebruary 2012 Price: RM75.00++ per person 38% off for my readers = RM46.50++	Prosperity Buffet DinnerMonday to Friday 23rd to 31stJanuary 2012 1st February to 6thFebruary 2012 Price:  RM85.00++ per person 38% off for my readers = RM52.70++

• 50% discount for children between the ages of 4 to 12 and senior citizens of 55 years old and above.
• Prices quoted are subject to 10% service charge and 6% government tax.

38% discount for RebeccaSaw’s blog readers (referral name must be quoted when making table reservation, so do say “Rebecca Saw” when you make your bookings!! 🙂 ).

Here’s the special link for you to make an online table reservation: http://dorsettregency.com/CNY-RebeccaSaw.

I assure you that I do not make any commission from this. LOL. I didn’t even know the hotel management was going to extend this offer till the next day when they emailed me about it.

So yea, either make an online book as per the link above or call:
+603 2716 1000 extension 188. 

Remember, “Say my name, say my name” ! *sings to Destinay Child’s song* ! LOL!

If you have any issues or queries, drop me a comment here and I’ll try sort it out for you. Gong Xi Gong Xi! 🙂 

All pictures taken with: