Level 2, Highlands Hotel.
Tel: 03-6101 1118 ext. 7879
Business Hours: Lunch, noon-3.00pm,
Dinner, 6.00pm-10.00pm
Pork-free
Happy Valley Seafood Restaurant
Lobby Floor, Theme Park Hotel.
Tel: 03-6101 1118 ext.7740
Business Hours: lunch, noon-2.30pm, dinner,
5.30pm-9.30pm Pork-free
GETTING away from the city and the sweltering heat to celebrate Chinese New Year does not mean that you would be deprived of authentic Chinese dishes.
Genting Highlands is a perfect getaway as there are a host of restaurants offering Chinese delicacies this Dragon year.
Delicious duo: The warm Golden Garlic Prawns are matched with a cold selection of Fruit Salad Prawns at Happy Valley Seafood Restaurant.We made a trip up to the resort recently for lunch and stopped at Ming Ren Restaurant, which we were told was known for its lamb dishes.
Its resident chef Chew Hock Chai treated us to five of his special dishes for this Chinese New Year including a popular favourite on the menu — the Young Xin Jiang Lamb Chunks Braised with Radish and Bean Paste sauce.
The dish, served in a claypot, may not look appetising at first glance but don’t be deceived by its looks.
The mixed herb and peanut sauce was cooked perfectly with the slices of radish and lamb.
Tempting favourites at Ming Ren Restaurant: The well-known Young Xin Jiang Lamb Chunks Braised with Radish and Bean Paste sauce, and Braised Spring Chicken served with Chinese Wine (below).“We have many lamb choices on our menu, anything from stew, braised or spicy dishes,
“To maintain the authenticity of each dish, we use only the finest lamb from selected pastures in the Xinjiang Ba Er Lu Ke region which is some 3,000m above sea level,” said Chew, adding that the outlet only used lamb that was seven months old.
He went on to dish out two spicy choices of the Steamed Red Snapper in Indonesian Style and the Black Pepper Grass Prawns in Thai Style.
“Usually, restaurants serve boiled or steamed dishes but never spicy ones for Chinese New Year.
“However, many people like eating spicy food too. That is why these sauces were chosen,” he said.
The review continued with Braised Spring Chicken served with Chinese Wine which he said would appeal to the older crowd as they were always looking for a warm dish with soup in it.
His last dish was the Almond Flakes Bean Curd served with Fruit Sauce, an unusual dish especially in a Chinese restaurant.
The bean curd, he said, was stuffed with squid, fish and prawns before being deep-fried and served with a jam-like sauce made out of strawberry, apple and orange.
“When you eat something, you don’t need to assign a specific sauce to it.
“People like to pair bean curd and soy sauce but it actually goes well with a sweet sauce too,” he said, hoping that his guests would be able to try a wider range of cooking styles and not stick to one.
At Ming Ren, guests can opt for set menus or pick dishes they like through the ala-carte menu.
This festive period, the restaurant offers two sets menus priced at RM368++ (six persons) and RM688++ (10 persons).
Our next stop was the Happy Valley Seafood Restaurant located at the lobby level of the Theme Park Hotel. There, we tasted another three dishes prepared by chef Lai Kok Yew.
Keeping true to simplicity, Lai prepared a stir-fried mixed vegetable dish that included Shimeiji mushroom, scallop, celery and carrot.
“Nothing too difficult, all I did was fry all of the ingredients with garlic, chicken stock and oyster sauce,” he said.
He added that his guests preferred simple dishes.
Another dish was the twin combination prawn dish with a mixture of hot and cold prawn selection which he calls the Golden Garlic Prawns Salad.
“Half is fried with garlic and the other half boiled, chilled and topped with fruit salad,” he said.
He added that Chinese enjoyed having two different styles in a dish as it signified a pair in Chinese, which in turn means bringing good luck for the coming year.
Being an environmentalist himself, Lai opted to use Vegetarian Shark’s Fin instead of the real thing and paired it with Flower Crab Meat for his soup selection.
The seafood restaurant offers three different set menus with priced at RM588++, RM688++ and RM888++.
The Chinese New Year promotion at both outlets ends on Feb 6.
This is the writer’s observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.
