Starz Kitchen @ Pavilion

If you like Hong Kong food, the newly opened Starz Kitchen @ Pavilion may be just the place for you.  Commencing business last month (on a trial run), this restaurant founded by Hong Kong singing stars, Alan Tam and Hacken Lee, had its official opening last week (20 March 2015).

These best friends now have 3 outlets in Hong Kong and expanded overseas last year, one in Shanghai and one in Macau...and now they've made their way to our shores.

The restaurant looks classy from the plush ambience to the elegant table setting.  It's divided into 2 parts with the back portion separated by a passageway that is the kitchen (on your right) and a wall adorned by framed pictures of the two Hong Kong superstars (on the left).  The back portion looks a bit more swanky (and is colder) than the front. 

It offers Cantonese delicacies like dim sum, congee, noodles, BBQ meats and dishes you can eat with rice.  I went with the house speciality of shrimp wonton noodles in soup @ RM12.80 (for small) which comes with 4 wontons (RM16.80 for large with 6 wontons).

The texture of the noodles was excellent...very thin and perfectly cooked!  Only drawback was I detected a strong taste of "kansui" (alkaline solution typically used in noodles preparation to change the colour and texture of the noodles).  Now, I know why the noodles were firmer and chewier...but the kansui taste obviously wasn't to my liking! :'(  I could even smell it when I brought it close to my nose.  The kansui taste was so strong that I could even taste it in the steaming hot soup.  I'm not sure if the flavour of the soup wasn't that great to begin with or because the kansui taste made it worse. 

Luckily, the shrimp wontons were very good...you get a sizeable prawn with a small amount of minced pork wrapped in a thin skin.  I enjoyed these very much ;)

But the overall dish was very small in terms of portion size (even a small eater can easily finish 2 small bowls).

My son had the Roast Pork Belly (Siew Yoke) Rice @ RM16.80 and he wasn't exactly jumping for joy.  At almost similar prices, I can get a way better siew yoke at Wong Kee.

The siew yoke version here is more on the lean side with a slightly crispy skin but sodium-lacking in taste.  Let's just say the flavour is 'cleaner' (or bland to some).  We won't be singing praises about it as there are a lot better ones than this.  Plus, you won't be very happy when you see that the prices for an individual order of siew yoke or char siew is RM25 (and RM40 for a combo of 2 meats).

You'll find these condiments of soy sauce, vinegar, pepper and a fresh chilli paste on the table.

The fresh chilli paste is not the usual tasting chilli-garlic sauce that we're accustomed to with our barbecued meats.  This one I didn't like at all...it tasted one-dimensional....seriously spicy!

I love century eggs and wanted to try the preserved egg in jelly (RM15) but the waiter came back to inform me that they had run out for the day.  So, I replaced it with another starter of Fried Wontons in Sweet & Sour Sauce @ RM16.80.

Again, the wontons saved the day...it was fresh and crispy....but there were only 8 pcs!

You can see that the wonton was filled with a whole prawn (of decent size) and a tiny bit of minced pork underneath.

I've had Hong Kong-type milk tea before but didn't enjoy it but this Hot Milk Tea @ RM5.90, surprisingly I liked.

Although it was dinner on a weekend night, service was attentive but slow even when the restaurant was like half full.  The wait staff kept coming back to check our order chit but yet my noodles took a long time to arrive.

#A Side Story:
And the funny thing was, I saw the waitress clearing the sugar sticks from our table (my milk tea came with 3 sticks and I used just one).  Although I didn't physically see her put the sugar sticks back but, when I turned around, it wasn't in her hands anymore.  I suspect she did salvage the sugar sticks, otherwise why clear just that and not our empty plates?  This act made them look a bit cheapskate to me...I hope it was worth it for just 2 sticks of raw sugar!!  Even if they had wanted to do that, they should have been more discreet (like let the customer leave first before clearing everything from the table).

After spending close to RM70 (though I wouldn't say that the amount was alarmingly high but it kind of is for just 3 small portions of food), we still left with half empty (or half full) stomachs (we could have easily eaten another 3 portions and still be not full).  We got ourselves a pretzel, 3 curry puffs and a packet of nasi lemak on our way home...that was how hungry we still were! T_T

My Personal Opinion

Most of the single orders of noodles, congee and rice are priced around RM13 - RM18...on hindsight, these may seem even reasonable (taking into consideration the 'upmarket' look of the place).  But, I think the prices will still be a talking point for many...because of the small portion sizes.  I'm ok with the prices being slightly on the upper end (because of the dining comfort and environment)....but the food has got to be able to entice us to begin with...and the few that I've tasted sadly didn't :'(

My initial assessment is that the flavours are not bold and punchy enough and (so) the place would probably appeal to those who prefer their food to be more subtle in flavour...or those who are 'die-hard' fans of Alan Tam and Hacken Lee, perhaps.

However, I shall refrain from passing judgement (for now) since I've not tasted their other well known specialities...and that's their congee and dim sum.

Let's just say we weren't off to a great start....with the noodles and BBQ meat...ouch!!  But, at such prices and portion sizes, I'm not sure if I'll want to come back! :p

Starz Kitchen
Lot 7.01.02 Level 7 Pavilion KL
168 Jalan Bukit Bintang
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2110 6383