Vegetarian Set Menu @ Elegant Inn Hong Kong Cuisine

Nine Emperor Gods Festival Vegetarian Cuisine

Nine Emperor Gods Festival, known as Kew Ong Yah (Hokkien) or Kau Wong Yeah (Cantonese), is said to originates from the Southern Province of China, specifically Fujian Province. The festival is honored by Taoism devotees and is a big occasion from my hometown in Penang. The festival commemorates with the reception of the Nine Emperor Gods and finishes with sending off the Gods on the ninth day. Devotees can opt to pay tribute for the full nine days of vegetarian meals or last three days of the festive lunar calendar. My mom goes through the nine days of abstaining from meat during this festive while I would opt for either three or one day depending on my schedule. Our household has a special set of utensils, cookware and dinnerware set aside purely for this festive.

In honors of the coming festival, Elegant Inn Hong Kong Cuisine has curated a sumptuous Nine Emperor Gods Festival Vegetarian Cuisine set menu available from 29 September to 7 October 2019. Renowned for their fine Hong Kong cuisine, Elegant Inn also serves a fine spread of dim sum along with other Chinese cuisine plus a sumptuous Treasure Bowl or Poon Choy.

The restaurant is located in Menara Hap Seng in the city and has a lovely view of our city’s skyscrapers. Diners can opt to diner in their elegant dining room or in one of their many private rooms. There is also an alfresco area which is perfect for private events or even romantic wedding banquet.

The menu of Nine Emperor Gods Festival Vegetarian Cuisine is a testament to the culinary skills of the main five chefs at Elegant Inn. Each course is exquisitely crafted with much skills and thoughts on the elements of the ingredients. Elegant Inn also highlights the beautiful texture and flavours of vegetables and does not uses gluten products so that diners can enjoy a healthy and delicious vegetarian meal set in a beautiful ambiance in the city.

The six-course menu starts with a pretty dish of Truffle Radish Puff with Twin Sweet Purple Potato. Flaky and buttery layers of pastry is filled with a sweet and juicy filling of shredded radish with carrot that is laced with the glorious truffle oil. The result is utterly delicious and aromatic. The pastry is crafted to perfection. It is also served on a bed of mashed sweet purple potato and crispy sweet purple potato chips.

Jaffna Cuisine @ Yarl Restaurant

Unforgetable Flavours of Jaffna Cuisine

Sharing similar flavours with South Indian cuisine, Jaffna cuisine is deliciously humble and tasty. Walking into Yarl Restaurant, discreetly hidden on a narrow bustling street in Brickfields, the restaurant has been serving Yarlpanam food from the capital city of Sri Lanka for more than a decade.

A recent refurbishment brought new life to the ambiance. The new ambiance is fairly modern and has lots of photos of Sri Lanka to add as a reminder of its origin. Standard wood and black steel furniture are spaciously well-spread in the restaurant. Diners get full view of the standard food station where the daily spread are on display. Despite the restaurant being non-air-conditioned, it was cool and airy with plenty of ceiling fans to keep diners like me pretty comfortable.

Yarl is no new kid on the block. The restaurant has been operation for more than 10 years and many locals make this their daily food hunts throughout the day. There’s plenty of staffs so service is fast and brisk.

The menu is also kept simple and short but there are enough daily specials to keep diners returning for Jaffna dishes. Open early at 7.00am, Yarl serves various dishes from breakfast to lunch, tea and dinner till 10.00pm daily.

Drinks to get us started, a fruity Mango Lassi (RM8) and Yarl Masala Tea (RM4)

Lunch is often the busiest time of the restaurant and many diners are seen tucking into their Thali Lunch Set that is available from 12noon to 3.00pm daily. There’s vegetarian and non-vegetarian options available and smallest set start with 3 vegetable dishes with rice priced at RM7 onwards. Manager Murali stated that there are at least 15 vegetarian and 8 non-vegetarian dishes available each day.

We savored several thali sets and perhaps the hardest part of the meal was selecting a main dish as there were so many enticing dishes to choose from. The Chicken Varai Thali Set featured a moreish spicy chicken fry served with hot and spicy eggplant tomato curry and some leafy greens cooked in coconut curry along with classic crispy pavakkai or fried bittergourd. The chicken is moist and tender while the eggplant curry was a heat bomb that sparkled fireworks in our mouth!

There is also another signature dish of Mutton Bone Varuval that one simply must order. Thick and rich with deep spiced notes from slow and long hours of cooking to render the mutton bone till oozing with soft gelatinous marrow richness, the varuval is marvelous with rice.

The Fish Curry or Fish Poriyal is equally yummy with a large thick piece of mackerel cooked in red curry. The thali sets are served with pappadums, rasam and chutney and diners can opt for regular or parboiled rice and red rice (available only on Friday).

Other good eats of meat and seafood curries include Chicken Varuval, Chicken Pirattal, Chicken Curry, Mutton Peratal, Fried Fish, Fish Cutlet, Fish Head Curry, Prawn Sambal and more.

The vegetable options will leave one speechless as there are Pavakkai, Pumpkin Varai, Beetroot Varai,  Brinjal-Tomato-Garlic Curry, Lentil Sothi and Vegetable Cutlet and more.

If there is one dish that tops my list of Jaffna cuisine, it would have to be the Sura Varai. Shredded shark flesh is cooked with lots of aromatic herbs and grated coconut is utterly divine in flavours and texture. The balance of heat with the herbs and spices is executed with perfection, so much so that I would gladly tuck into this dish alone with rice.

Besides rice and dishes, Yarl serves up other dishes such as dosai, puttu, appam and kothu from 4.00pm onwards. The Yarl Dosai (RM3) or Yarl Egg Dosai (RM4) is nicely tainted with yellow turmeric to give it this golden yellow hue on the fermented rice batter. Yarl also offers Plain Dosai (RM2), Ghee Dosai (RM3) and Masala Dosai (RM5) to go with curries and sambals.

The Atta Puttu (RM2.50) is freshly steamed and the cylindrical wheat puttu with grated coconut is served with lentil curry and sambol. This one makes a lovely and healthy vegetarian option for tea or even a light meal for dinner.

Kothu is a classic Sri Lankan street food of stir-fried chopped bread or roti with meat, seafood or vegetables. The chopping sound of the roti against the flat steel pan can usually be heard at any kothu stall or restaurant. Yarl serves several options of kothu and we tried the Chicken Kothu (RM10). The dish is best described as a stir-fried chopped up roti with spices and your choice of ingredients. There is also Mutton or Prawn Kothu available.

We saved the best for last and the Apam (RM2) and Egg Apam (RM3) at Yarl was simply delicious! The dish is so humble and simple, yet it tasted so yummy that one can surely enjoy quite a few of this Sri Lankan pancake with crispy edges and soft fluffy center. One can opt to savor this as a savory version with sambals and egg or sweet with caramelized sugar. Whichever one you choose, this apam will leave you with a delicious note that warrants a return to Yarl Restaurant alone for this dish!

Psst… I heard that Yarl serves a mean Jaffna Crab Curry… hope to be back soon to try this…

YARL RESTAURANT

50 Jalan Pedang Belia

Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur

Tel: +6010-360 6624

Opening Hours: Daily 7am to 10pm

Website: www.yarl.my

Facebook: www.facebook.com/YarlRestaurant/

Chinese New Year 2013: My First Meal of the Lunar Year of the Black Snake!

Ushering the new Chinese Lunar Year with Vegetarian!

Time flies and its Chinese New Year again with this time the Black Snake reigns supreme. Every new Lunar year, my family feast on vegetarian the first day in honor of family tradition. This is no difference but this year, instead of visiting the eldest family clan, we get to stay home ourselves since the eldest has moved on.

This year, mother-in-law whipped up our vegetarian feast while I contributed my favorite vegetarian mutton rendang. Maybe its just in my blood or maybe I simply adored spicy food but I just adored pieces of mushroom disguised mutton soaked in thick creamy and rich curry with fried potatoes to death! The luscious spiced laden gravy is redolent of lemongrass and spices with the aromatic coconut milk and kaffir lime leaves. For recipe of the vegetarian mutton rendang, click here.

Our family usually combines breakfast and lunch together and here I present my humble vegetarian feast for your eyes.

Chap Chye

A must-have in my in law’s family, it’s a vegetarian treasure pot consisting of cabbage, mushrooms, lily bulb, carrot, rice vermicelli, black fungus, bean curd, dried bean curd stick, gluten puffs and a little fermented bean curd. Despite its crowd, the flavors are light and delicate, making it easier to devour in quantities.

Vegetarian Roast Goose

Not the real McCoy but nevertheless delicious! A classic vegetarian dish, its available at almost every vegetarian place. Thin sheets of bean curd are smeared with a fermented red bean curd mixture with five spice powder and more, its neatly folded into layers before being sun-dried and fried. Crispy and a little sweet, its highly addictive!

Vegetarian Char Siew

It’s another crowd pleaser. Gluten bits glazed with a sweet char siew sauce, are just perfect for those who enjoy chewing dense and floury bits. I love them with white rice.

Corn and Wolfberry Soup

Its fairly simple, sweet corn kernels, wolfberries, button mushroom and vegetarian spare ribs. Wholesome and hearty, the natural sweetness of the corn is clean and delicious. Polishing off a few bowls of this broth is easy.

Vegetarian Mutton Rendang

This year, I sort off did a double batch of this. My first batch failed because it turn sour due to the coconut milk. I had to run off to buy a new batch at the very last minute and restart all over again. Lady luck was on my side as the second batch turns out very well except for a slight overdose of lemongrass. Spicy, creamy and aromatic, the rendang is pungent and heavy with flavors. Nevertheless, I love it with loads of white rice.

Sautéed Kai Lan with Crispy Bits

The crispy bits were supposed to replicate cubes of cholesterol laden lardons but of course it did no justice to the real one. It does give a crunchy texture to the greens.

And that is the episode of the 1^st feast of my CNY. We continue to honor vegetarian the whole day and the next day, we will kick off another feast where this round, we will go full speed on a carnivorous feast in every dish! So how was your first feast of this New Year? J

Gong Hei Fatt Choy!

Chef Lim Organic Kitchen, Old Klang Road: Let’s Get Healthy Together!

Modern Healthy Organic Vegetarian Dishes with a Twist!

My family and I often feast on vegetarian at least twice a month for religious purposes and frankly, we do enjoy going meatless at times like this. We are also on the constant look out for new vegetarian places to dine just to be adventurous. A recent invitation led me to Chef Lim Organic Kitchen located in Scott Garden, Old Klang Road. Easily located on the main road of Old Klang Road, the fairly new restaurant stood out nicely with a big bright sign on the building of Scott Garden.

A fairly huge restaurant, the whole place is mostly white to feature a clean and crisp ambience! Simple and spacious, the whole restaurant has a comfortable ambience as soon as one enters. A whole wall of shelves are dedicated to selling organic food products while another wall features a Love Charity Corner where the restaurant donates a percentage of their sales to charities. Mirrors are also everywhere to reflect an even bigger space for diners to enjoy their meal in comfort. The restaurant is big enough to even have private function rooms!

Check out Organic Noodles in various vegetable flavors…

Fresh Coconut is also available to cool off body heat or simply for thirst quenching benefits!

I spied Nyonya Vegetarian Dumplings on sale! J

Here are the Fundamentals of Chef Lim Organic Kitchen!

We started off our meal with a beautiful Fruit Tea. A refreshing and delicious tea base perked up with loads of fruits like apples, orange, and passion fruit and sweetened with honey! Everyone enjoyed this tremendously as the fruit tea was just fruity and sweet with a hint of citrus.

After the lovely fruit tea, we were served the Feel Good Tea during our meals. The tea has a cleansing benefit with ingredients like chrysanthemum, Ting Fa Chou, Yong Sam Chou and Xiong Chi. Its cooling for the body and aids in digestion of our meals.

First up was Crystal Jade Roll, a beancurd sheet rolled up, wrapped with seaweed, deep fried and served with a fruity sauce. Sounds complicated but flavors are quite basic with a good balance of sweetness from the mango fruity sauce. Crispy and light, this was easy to eat and since there were young children, they seem to like it too as it only has a hint of spiciness to it.

Yam Ring Basket was a classic with this version filled with stir-fried vegetables and cashew nuts. Flavors were light and clean with wholesome goodness from the creamy yam contrasting with the crunchy vegetables.

An unusual curry, I do admit to loving the Kapitan Fish very much! The curry was lighten up with yoghurt instead of the usual coconut milk and the tangy gravy is loaded with eggplants, lady fingers and beancurd products. Spicy and creamy, I flooded my rice with the gravy!!

Another worth the order is their Coconut Tom Yam. The tom yam broth is laden with loads of broccoli, cauliflower, baby corn, mushrooms, beancurd puff and fresh coconut flesh. Spicy, sour and savory, the broth whets my appetite for more… J

Basil Leaf Mushroom had everyone commenting how aromatic the dish was due to the basil herb. Baby corn, fresh shimeji mushrooms, black wood ear fungus, carrots and bell peppers were lightly stir-fried with an earthy flavor. I like how the vegetables retained their crunch.

A baked dish covered in cheese arrived and we were told that this is a popular dish mimicking the Hong Kong Chan Char Teng of cheese baked rice. Mushroom Cheese Baked Rice has aromatic mushroom fried rice embedded beneath the crusty creamy cheese. It is fairly simple and flavors are well balanced with everyone heading straight for the melted cheese…including me!

Lo Han Chai shouted homemade from the get go! A medley of broccoli, cauliflower, shitake mushroom, straw mushroom, carrot and fried Tau Kan is light and flavorful. The brown sauce has a slightly sweet taste and proved that a good dish doesn’t necessarily have to be heavy in flavors. Again, kudos to the chef for retaining the crunch in the vegetables!

If you like mushrooms, you would definitely enjoy Shitake Mushroom Herbal Stew. An array of fresh mushrooms takes the cake here with a light herbal stew cooked with goji berry and red kurma dates. A new one for me, I like the herbal flavors in the dish with a refreshing aftertaste.

The last dish was a dark horse! Fruit Pizza was something new since it is hardly ever heard in Chinese or Italian restaurants. I detected green apple slices and strawberries among the ooey gooey cheese and pizza base. Sweet, tangy and savory from the combination of the fruit and cheese, the pizza was fabulous!! Everyone kept raving on how scrumptious the pizza tasted and how well the flavors and textures are in the baked bread. It is also surprisingly light and quite refreshing despite the oodles of cheese. A Must Order at Chef Lim Organic Kitchen!!

Chef Lim Organic Kitchen uses Vegetarian Cheese without animal rennet and is imported from Australia. A taste of this cheese and I found it creamy and nutty with a buttery flavor. Too bad this is not available here as I would have loved to purchase this for my cheese dishes.

Brown Rice is served for a healthier option!

The meal ended with a refreshing chilled Mango Pudding and Coconut Pudding. I prefer the latter for its refreshing taste of coconut which makes a good palate cleanser.

The man responsible for the restaurant is Mr. Koo, General Manager of The Jas Sdn. Bhd. who was also available that night to explain his concept of providing customers with a healthy vegetarian restaurant for a healthier lifestyle!

Since we had a big group that night, we decided to take a Happy Family Photo for memories… J

Plus points for Chef Lim Organic Kitchen showed in their well balance flavors, good crunch factor in their vegetables and creative dishes with a healthier option of using olive oil and fresh organic vegetables rather than processed vegetarian products. The restaurant is suitable for serious vegetarians as it does not contain eggs, garlic, onion, chives, spring onions and leeks. Prices may be slightly higher but then again this is organic ingredients so I personally thought that the price is decent. The restaurant also caters for private and celebration functions for families and business. All that said, this is one restaurant that I will return for vegetarian fare with my family! J

Chef Lim Organic Kitchen
Lot 2-47, 2-48 & 2-49,
The Scott Garden, 4 1/2 Miles,
Jalan Klang Lama,
58100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: +603-7982 3395 / +6017-6534565

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/#!/cheflimorganic

Website: http://www.cheflim.com.my

Business Hours: 10am - 10pm Daily

*Thanks to the team at Chef Lim for the invite!