Noble Mansion,
1st Floor, The Plaza@ Jaya 33,
1, Jalan Semangat,
Section 13, Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-7932 3288.
Business hours: 11.00am-3.00pm,
6.00pm-11.00pm
Mondays – Sundays and public holidays.
FROM hawker stalls in its busy streets to classy restaurants, Hong Kong presents a variety of delicacies that are mainly influenced by Cantonese cuisine.
Now, Klang Valley residents do not need to travel all the way there to sample some of its finest dishes as an elegantly-decorated restaurant in Jaya 33, Petaling Jaya, seeks to transport patrons to Hong Kong with every bite.
Noble Mansion by the Oriental Group of Restaurants, which opened its doors in January, showcases creations by executive chef Justin Hor that are inspired by delicacies from Shunde, the renowned food province of Guangzhou, China.
The decor at the restaurant is a modern interpretation of a Chinese traditional mansion and is divided into a few sections – The Lantern, The Bamboo Courtyard, The Terracotta Rooms and The Grand Hall – to enhance the dining experience.
Recently, the Oriental Group took it up a notch when it launched the 2013 Guest Chef Programme with the theme “30 Years of Hong Kong Cuisine Favourites”, continuing its yearly efforts to promote Hong Kong cuisine in Malaysia.
Hong Kong’s East Ocean and Victoria City Restaurant Group general manager and chief executive chef Jeffery Chan was brought in to help create a menu with emphasis on Hong Kong’s popular dishes.
Two other chefs – East Ocean Restaurant Hong Kong head chef, dim sum section, Hugo Tsoi and head chef, Chinese barbecue section, Chan Woon Moon – joined Jeffery on his trip here.
“The programme serves to let people experience the never-ending wonders of Chinese cuisine as well as to educate them on the culture behind the dishes,” said the Oriental Group chairman Datuk Philip Siew.
He added that a team from Malaysia had been travelling to Hong Kong over the past few months to experiment with and help perfect the dishes on the special menu.
After sampling and testing about 60 dishes, the team decided on the 14 dishes that are now featured in their special menu.
However, some changes have been made to several of the dishes to suit Malaysians’ taste buds.
The menu begins with six appetisers – Pork Ribs with Sweet and Sour Sauce; Zucchini topped with Black Truffle; King Prawns with Crystal Rice Noodles; Five Spices Beef Shin and Beef Tendon; Three Varieties Mushroom with Shrimp Roe and Golden Sand Beancurd.
Traditio-nally, the zucchini is cooked with ginger. Here, however, due to Western influences, black truffle is paired with the zucchini instead.
Something new to me were the King Prawns with Crystal Rice Noodles.
Presented with finely sliced king prawns, the noodles looked bland at first glance but when I tasted it, I found the flavours were well-balanced and needed no extra sauce.
The starters were followed by six main course dishes and two desserts.
Among the main course dishes is the must-have roast goose, which is famous for its fragrant crisp skin and juicy tender meat.
According to chef Hor, the geese cooked in the restaurant were flown in from Hong Kong.
“People here do not like to eat local goose as it is not as nice,” he said, adding that goose from Hong Kong had more fat than duck.
As a person who loves duck, I imagined goose meat to have the same texture and taste. However, the goose flown in from Shenzhen, China, was surprisingly juicy and tender and did not leave an aftertaste.
A 3.3kg to 3.6kg goose is used for each meal.
As the goose has a rich flavour, a citrus drink is served to cleanse the palate after the dish.
Other main dishes include Crispy Soft Shell Crab with Eight-year Rice Wine, Steamed Tiger Grouper with Preserved Sliced Lemons and Stir-fried Glutinous Rice with Whole Abalone in a Mini Pumpkin.
“We used preserved lemons instead of preserved vegetables as the grouper has its own aroma and a soft texture as opposed to the fish used in Hong Kong,” said Hor.
The main course ended with chilled Chinese herbal jelly, Kwai Lin Ko, with bird’s nest.
For dessert, we were served Hong Kong’s famous Po Lo Pao.
The top crust of the pao is influenced by the Western Polo bun. Inside, the bun is filled with char siew (roasted pork). To me, this dessert was a good finish to the eight-course meal.
Other than the Po Lo Pao, Noble Mansion also serves the Signature Yuen Long Lou Pou Peang (wife’s biscuit) for dessert.
The new eight-course menu will be available for a limited time in all participating outlets under the Oriental Group of Restaurants.
The set menu is priced at RM1,990++ per table of 10 (at all outlets except Maju Palace) and RM1,880++ per table of 10 at Maju Palace.
Ala carte dishes are also available during this period.
This is the writer’s personal observation and not an endorsement of Star Metro.
