Mad Hatter’s Champagne Brunch @ Shook! Starhill Gallery

A Whimsical and Lavish Champagne Brunch in Feast Village

The famous Shook! Champagne Sunday Brunch is back and this time, the Mad Hatter and his team are joining in the fun. Shook! at Starhill Gallery remains as the host of the longest running brunch in town with its Masquerade Champagne Brunch last year and is making a comeback this year with a big bang!

Shook! is famous for its open-kitchen concept featuring four epicurean chefs with four distinct cuisines all congregated in one stylish establishment. Helmed by Executive Chef Mathew Ona, Shook! showcases seasonal trends of sumptuousness from all the four Chinese, Japanese, Western Grill and Italian kitchens. Located at the lower level of Starhill Gallery in Feast Village, Shook! is all about extravagant open-kitchen actions for an interactive sensory dining experience.

Taking on a brand new and exciting theme of Alice in Wonderland-inspired Mad Hatter’s Champagne Brunch, gourmands can now enjoy the whimsical and quirky Champagne Sunday Brunch every Sunday from 12 noon to 4pm.

The entire Shook! has been transformed into a capricious and quirky land of Mad Hatter’s land injected with an air of elegance. Catch the Mad Hatter himself there together with Alice and the gang the moment one walks pass the gorgeous green scrub time clock and steps through the giant clock archway into the restaurant. Lots of whimsical teapots, stacked cakes and books, a water fountain garden area with a giant storybook set lets everyone enjoying the fun and peculiar elements of the famous English novel.

We loved the extravagant sensation at the Mad Hatter’s Champagne Brunch for its luxurious option of Moet & Chandon Champagne! With this option, guests can enjoy a superb free-flowing Moet & Chandon Champagne to make your sunday brunch even more pampering.

Catch more entertainment at the brunch with a 7-piece live band or be entertained by Mad Hatter magician and balloon artist. Everyone’s a child at the Mad Hatter’s Sunday Brunch!

Though I normally am an orderly eater, I can’t help but to go out of the extraordinary to kick off the brunch with the Mad Hatter’s dream dessert table. What a delicious sight to behold as soon as one enters Shook! A huge selection of every possible whimsical and scrumptious desserts and sweets are gorgeously placed at the dessert bar completed with a Pink Chocolate Fountain.

If there is a sensory word to describe this dessert bar, it would have to be Va Va Voom…

The Mad Hatter’s Dessert Bar is majestic, is magnificent, is gorgeously beautiful and is utterly dreamy and delicious! The bar is laden with every possible dessert and sweets that is guaranteed to lure your sweet tooth into a delirious frenzy.

From Red Velvet Pillows to Rainbow Cake to Mousse, Chocolate, Gateau and Carrot Cake, there is plenty of cakes to keep everyone satisfied. Let’s not forget miniature Trifles, Mousse, Eclairs, Cup Cakes, Meringues, Tartlets, Jellies, Pot Au Chocolate, Crème Brulee, stained glass Cookies and more temptations. I spied super adorable Mushroom Meringues and mini Fruit Pavlova together with marshmallow and lots of candies and even Cake Pops.

Even the Italian Baba Au Rum and French Macaron made a debut here!

Go ahead… Life is Short, Eat Desserts First … just like me! Wink wink…

Other scrumptious line ups for the buffet from the four Chinese, Japanese, Western Grill and Italian kitchen will also have you in amazement of its selections.

A Whole Marinated Darling Lamb Carcass will tempt your senses as it slowly turns on the hot flames of the pit, gently roasting with lots of sizzle into a rich amber golden roast of lamb. Enjoy these with all the various sauces available from East to West sauces. There is also a beautiful Beef Brisket and Cumberland Sausage Rope at the carvery.

The Seafood on Ice Bar sat opulent with its tower of Prawn Cocktail, Mussels, Clams and Tiger Prawns. Salmon lovers are enticed at the choices of house smoked and cured salmons such as Smoked Salmon, House Cured Salmon, Beetroot Cured Salmon and Herb Cured Salmon.

If that seafood is not majestic enough, a huge whole Tuna sat gloriously at the Japanese Bar. It will be the temptation of all Sashimi lovers. The sashimi of Tuna, Salmon and White Tuna is part of the highlights together with all the other Japanese dishes of appetizers, Soba and Udon, Seafood Tempura and more.

The Chinese kitchen serves up one of my favorite dishes of the day, pots full of Hot and Sour Soup together with other Chinese dishes served with Corn Rice. An appetizer selection of Nam Yue Chicken Wings, Crab Balls, Five Spice Rolls, Dumplings and Fish Cakes together with Roasted Duck is perfect for snacking. Next to this station is also a classic Chinese favorite street food of Roasted Chicken Rice with all the condiments.

The Italian kitchen also vie for equal attention with its offerings of fresh baked Pizzas, Antipasti, Pasta, Cured Cold Cuts and Cheese. My family really enjoyed the Pizzas and Antipasti with the large selections of mind-boggling Cheese with Crackers, Grapes and Nuts!

We even got freshly baked servings of fluffy warm Cinnamon Buns served at our table…

Since it was the launch of the Shook! Mad Hatter’s Champagne Brunch, we were hosted by Linora Low from Mix FM. The bubbly emcee was clad in a fashionable black and white dress completed with her gorgeous locks of red and pretty black hair piece!

It was certainly an unforgettable Mad Hatter’s Champagne Brunch at Shook! Catch it every Sunday from 12pm to 4pm at Feast Village, Starhill Gallery together with family and friends for a scrumptious pampering Sunday feast.

The Mad Hatter’s Sunday Brunch is priced at RM168++ per person for food and RM268++ per person with free-flow of Moet & Chandon Champagne with food.

SHOOK!

Feast Village at Starhill Gallery

181 Jalan Bukit Bintang

55100 Kuala Lumpur

Contact: +603 2782 3875

Website: www.feastvillage.com

Facebook: www.facebook.com/feastvillage

Business Hours:

Open Daily 6.00am - 11.00pm

GUINNESS CNY Banquet Feast @ Grand Imperial Restaurant

Celebrate a Bold Start to a Prosperous New Year with GUINNESS®

It’s all about black gold with GUINNESS®! Festive cheers are made more luxurious and delicious with GUINNESS®, Malaysia’s favorite stout. Ushering in the Year of the Goat, GUINNESS® is the perfect stout to be paired in the festive Chinese banquet menus that many indulges for this festive season.

Going all out with a delicious gesture, GUINNESS® is teaming up with Grand Imperial Group of restaurants this festive year to create a special GUINNESS® Chinese New Year Banquet Menu available at all 6 Grand Imperial restaurants across Malaysia. Gourmands can now enjoy eight sumptuous courses paired with the rich and flavoursome black gold GUINNESS®. Each course is carefully matched with GUINNESS® to bring out the full flavours from both dish and stout.

Our preview of the evening took placed at the Grand Imperial Restaurant at Bangsar Shopping Centre with distinguished guests, members of the media and bloggers. Our emcee of the evening was Owen Yap and the evening took off with a special Chinese calligraphy presentation by Haze Long. She was really so good because her calligraphy really had a unique and artsy feel.

Hailing the collaboration, Bruce Dallas, Marketing Director of , GUINNESS® Anchor Berhad, said “ GUINNESS® is known the world over for its superb quality, rich taste, and proud traditions. It is a beer Made of More – more flavour, more boldness, and made with passion and dedication by our Master Brewers. As such, I can think of no better beer with which to usher in this auspicious time of the year, when we gather with friends and family to celebrate sau-kong and to look forward to beginning the New Year in the best way possible.

By pairing with the Grand Imperial Group of restaurants, renowned across Malaysia for its sumptuous food, GUINNESS® ensures that you can begin the New Year in a bold and prosperous way while out to celebrate, as well as in the comfort of your own home.”

Dinner commenced with the Yee Sang with Silver Fish, a unique take on the auspicious Yee Sang featuring crispy golden battered silver fish. The Yee Sang here looks normal but the flavours and textures are just so awesome! I have had many Yee Sangs and this one definitely is few on top of my list of Yee Sang.

As we Lou Hei with our usual foodies, it was the merriment of laughter and shouts of joy that made me feel that its great company with good food that makes life feels so blessed!

The combo of loads of fresh cut greens with cucumber, carrot, radish, pickled ginger, fresh sour mangoes, pickled onions, jellyfish, pomelo, chicken floss, peanuts and dressing is utterly tangy and so refreshing in each bite. Many of us raved about this Yee Sang for its flavours. We polished off this dish with much gusto!

The next course had everyone at Hello! Our table was silent, as everyone enjoyed the lavish bowl of Braised Bird’s Nest with Fresh Crab Meat. Going eco-friendly, the restaurant still manages to amp up the opulence of the feast with bird’s nest. Teaming up with fresh chunks of sweet crab meat and speckles of truffles, the soup tasted just as majestic as it sounds. The strong and earthy truffles worked well with the GUINNESS® if you asked me. It seemed to be the link between the stout and the soup. We loved this course dearly…

A traditional Chinese banquet meal cannot be completed without the ever popular and sought after Roasted Whole Suckling Pig! Ours was roasted to perfection, showing off super golden crackling with a luscious note. Our table left nothing on the plate as we literally devoured every single part of the suckling pig with loads of happiness. This course is pure 100% satisfaction and went so well with GUINNESS®.

Classic Steamed Pomfret Traditional Style will always be a favorite this time of the year. The highly prized pomfret is best savored steamed with superior soy sauce as usual.

Our prawn course was another luxurious pot of Fresh Water King Prawns in Casserole. The aroma was heavenly and the prawns looked all gloriously delicious coated in a sticky sweet and lightly spicy sauce. The robust sauce deserves a bowl of steamed rice. The prawns came in different sizes so some were cooked right and some were slightly over cooked. Other than that, there were no complaints as the flavours of the sauce were good and addictive while the prawns had a nice light note of sweetness.

Another highly sought after seafood took form in Braised Slice Abalone with Black Moss & Dried Oyster. This course is always a favorite with the older generation as abalone considered a precious ingredient that only the rich could afford. Slices of abalone together with braised dried oysters, black moss, mushrooms, bean curd sheets and greens are drenched in the classic brown abalone gravy. It’s prepared well but I happen to prefer other dishes compared to this one.

Claypot Rice with Chinese Sausage & Dried Meat Hong Kong Style is another popular dish that never fails to be ordered by many during the lunar festive season. The star of the pot is all the waxed and cured meat and sausages which basically lends the aroma and flavour to the rice with the helping of a flavoured soy sauce. It was certainly a generous helping of two types of Chinese sausages, waxed duck and cured bacon. While the meat and sausages were gorgeous, the rice fell short as it didn’t have enough flavours or crispy crusty bits that I would normally love in this dish.

Dessert ended with two types of Chilled Fresh Mango Puree with Sago & Pomelo and Deep Fried Nian Gao & Deep Fried Sweet Potato Pastries.

The Chilled Fresh Mango Puree with Sago and Pomelo is fresh and bursting of the sweetness of the mangoes. With bits of pomelo sacs and jellied sago, the chilled sweet dessert has always been a crowd pleaser.

Deep Fried Nian Gao & Deep Fried Sweet Potato Pastries completed the evening feast on a really wonderful sweet note. Both are pretty good and satisfied our sweet-tooth cravings well.

GUINNESS® New Year Banquet Menu priced at RM1888 nett, available from January 13^th until March 5^th, and includes two quarts of, GUINNESS® stout, as well as two sets of exclusive , GUINNESS® ang pow.

Additionally, between 5^th January 2015 and 28^th February 2015, consumers throughout Malaysia may be in the running to win one of the 100 pure gold bars, worth up to RM1 million, with any big bottle of GUINNESS®, Tiger, Heineken and Anchor by looking out for the winning bottle cap liners and answering a few questions! Good luck…

GRAND IMPERIAL RESTAURANT

3rd Floor, East Wing,

Bangsar Shopping Centre,

285 Jalan Maarof,

Bukit Bandaraya,

59000 Kuala Lumpur

Tel: 03-2283 1118

GPS: 3.142808, 101.667448

Website: www.grandimperial.com.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/GrandImperialGroup