Cantonese Cuisine @ Lai Po Heen, Mandarin Oriental KL

Executive Chinese Chef, Ricky Thein of Lai Po Heen has once again revamped his a la carte menu with new dishes featuring distinctive classical Cantonese flavours to entice diners. A la carte appetizer and soup menu selections are priced from RM 36++ to RM108++ while main courses are from RM32++ to RM288++. Desserts are priced from RM16++ to RM 280++ per order.

To kick start the evening, Chef Ricky has put together an appetizer platter for us consisting of deep fried spring roll filled with smoked duck and mango (RM36), crispy fried prawns in kataifi roll (RM38), and steamed scallops filled with prawn mousse as a taster of some of the appetizers they have on offer here. Prices indicated are for full appetizer portions. The duck spring roll was flavorful and I liked the kataifi roll as well with the succulent prawn and appetizing mango salsa on top, albeit being a little messy to eat.

Chef Ricky is well-know for his soups, so it came as no surprise when he told us that one of his favorite dishes from the new menu is the braised seafood treasure broth with whole abalone. Chock full of delicious seafood, the broth was intense and velvety smooth. Topped with a large whole abalone and caviar, this was one of my favorite dishes for the evening too.

The braised cod fish with pumpkin and preserved vegetable (RM80) is one of the chef's speciality. This was served in a claypot and Chef Ricky tells us that he added the preserved vegetable some texture. The pumpkin lends sweetness to this dish.

The aromatic spring chicken is first marinated with preserved red beancurd (nam yue), steamed and then deep fried for some finger-licking goodness.

Aromatic spring chicken with preserved red beancurd (RM38)

You guys should know by now that I love scallops, and the scallops from this next dish were huge! These fresh scallops were wok fried with enoki mushrooms in a homemade spicy seafood sauce.  I wish I could have gotten more than one.

The next noodle dish had quite an ususual sauce - the egg noodles is fried until crispy and then topped with a large freshwater prawn and cheese broth. Yes, cheese broth made from Cheddar cheese. The cheese wasn't too prevalent though it does make the sauce rich and creamy. Some found it too rich, but for me, it was pretty good.

Crispy egg noodles with king prawn and cheese broth

Chef Ricky brought out a surprise for us - a beautiful dragon chocolate showpiece! We couldn't stop admiring it (and it became the most photographed item of the night!). ;) Served on a platter are some petit fours such as marshmallows, chocolate, praline and macarons.

Doesn't it look amazing!

For dessert, we were served a crispy Chinese herbal jelly with honey, avocado puree, and pumpkin cake (RM16). My favorite component is the pumpkin cake, smooth and not overly sweet.

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Pork-free.

Opening times: 12pm to 2.30pm for lunch (Mon-Sat), 11am-3pm (Sundays & public holidays), 7pm to 10.30 for dinner (Mon-Sun).

Location: Lai Po Heen, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Kuala Lumpur City Centre, 50088 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03-2179 8885

Website: http://www.mandarinoriental.com/kualalumpur/


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