Hee Lai Ton @ Shaw Parade

We were invited to a celebration of some sort by a cousin (on my husband's side) which fell during Chinese New Year (CNY), so it was a double celebration or, more specifically, a 2-in-1 kind of makan.

I've been to Hee Lai Ton @ Shaw Parade before but it has been for dim sum in the mornings only...and I remember it to be good.  So, this was the first time I'm trying their CNY set meals.  Since this was an invite, I may not have gotten the names of the dishes 100% right though I did see a leaflet showing the various CNY set meals at their front desk (but our host did chop and change some of the dishes in the menu).

As with any CNY meal, it always starts with...what else.....but a Yee Sang dish, of course....and this was a Salmon Yee Sang.

I noticed a pair of extra long chopsticks on the table for the tossing ritual....oh, how nice.  I've never been presented with exceptionally long chopsticks just for tossing yee sang, so it was extra useful for that purpose.

Toss, toss, toss.....to wealth and prosperity for the coming year :)

The next two dishes arrived simultaneously right after we were done with the yee sang....a soup and a plate of Spanish Iberico pork chops with a side dish of ice plant.

The soup (which was apportioned for us) I believe was the Four Treasures Soup since it contained at least four treasures...of silkie (or black) chicken, mini abalone, dried scallops and Chinese mushrooms together with dried Chinese cabbage.  This soup was excellent...I absolutely loved the depth of flavour + it didn't have those herbal undertones that you'd associate with most silkie chicken soups.  It was one of the better soups I've had in a long time.  I had my husband's portion too since he doesn't like soups and maybe even an extra bowl...who's counting? ^o^  I didn't care if I'd be too full for the other dishes.

The Spanish Iberico Pork Chop were mostly tender slices of pork with a peppery hint in its seasoning.  It was topped with some kind of sauce that looked like gremolata.  Some of the fatty parts were slightly chewy though.  There's also a special house-made chilli sauce if you wish to dip your pork in for a bit of spice and tang.

The pork chop was served with a salad of (Crystalline) Ice Plant along with fresh cherry tomatoes in roasted sesame dressing.  It's probably so named because of its frosted look...especially the ice crystals on the stems.  I've heard of this ice vegetable before (which is quite the rage now) but this was my first time having it.  It was served chilled and had a crunchy and juicy bite to it.  So refreshing....loved it to bits!  And the bowl looked like it was made from some kind of dough...and can be eaten.  Not that anyone tried. :D

Next up was the fish dish.  I'm not sure exactly what fish it was as the waitress uttered it in Chinese...but I only managed to 'catch' two of the three words...loong and pan, so I assumed it was dragon tiger grouper. But the name on the menu was Steamed Brown Marbled Grouper with Black Fungus & Beancurd Sheet in Superior Soy Sauce.  I read somewhere that the dragon tiger grouper is a cross between the giant grouper and the brown marbled grouper.  Groupers are one of the most difficult to differentiate as there are so many hybrids being farmed in Malaysia.  Like any grouper, it has sweet, firm flesh with a delicate texture. The collagen-rich skin though was a tad too thick for my liking (even if it's supposed to do wonders for my skin)! ;D  And, surprise, surprise, the fish was served already cut up too (just like in phonghong's reunion dinner)...maybe because the skin may be difficult to get at.

I believe this was their Signature Prawn with Garlic (since the only other prawn dish on the menus was Ying Yang Prawns which would be prawns done two ways).  The sauce coating the pan-fried prawns was very tasty...lightly creamy, mildly sweet, slightly garlicky and tangy which made sucking the prawn heads that much more moreish.  It was a bit unusual to find the prawns served on a bed of fries though for a Chinese-style dish.  I suppose it's better to have prawns sitting on something you can eat other than something decorative in nature.

The vegetable component of our meal was a simple stir-fry of Baby Bok Choy Stir-Fry in Superior Stock. What elevated this simple bok choy dish, with garlic slices, dried prawns and dried wolfberries, was the accompanying stock that came with the vegetable.  The flavourful stock was delicious enough for you to want to drink it like soup.

As with any Chinese meal, it usually ends with rice and I was glad our host replaced it with something other than waxed meat rice (which was on all the set menus).  I will call this Seafood Fried Rice with Ebiko since the fried rice had prawns and crab meat in it.  This was an excellent fried rice because the rice was well fried and then there was the burst of crunch provided by the ebiko but as I took more spoonfuls of the rice, I realised the crunch came from something more.  Initially, I thought it was those tiny fried silver fish but it didn't have that saltish aftertaste.  It was only when writing this (and taking a closer look at the photo I took, the lights were too dim at the restaurant) that I realised they were some kind of crispy puffed rice. That crunchy texture made the fried rice so much more scrumptious.  I'd usually be full by the time the rice dish emerges but I wasn't going to give up on this delicious fried rice...I had seconds...hee..hee. ^.^

A sweet ending of Chilled Sea Coconut with Longan & Peach Gum ended our meal on a high.  I'm usually not a fan of a chilled sea coconut dessert but I did enjoy the inclusion of peach gum (with a jelly-like consistency that's actually the resin secreted from the bark of the Chinese peach tree) in this tong sui.

Of course, let's not forget a little one's first birthday, we had a chocolaty cake...what else but a Mickey Mouse cake in the Year of the Rat.

My Personal Opinion

Hee Lai Ton is a long established name that's probably more well-known to the older generation before us. Judging from the crowd, it's obvious their reputation (and taste) has not faded over the years (though, at times, their service may be slightly wanting).  We occupied a private room with two tables and we didn't experience any lack of service that day.

There wasn't a dish I didn't like...but my favourite dish had to be the Four Treasures Soup (I've not had soup that good for a long time) followed by the fried rice and steamed fish...and the ice plant too.

The place may be an old classic (so look beyond the old-fashioned decor and ambience) but they still dish out good food.  Certainly wouldn't mind returning for more meals! ^.^

Hee Lai Ton Restaurant (Pudu)
3rd Floor Shaw Parade
Jalan Changkat Thambi Dollah
Off Jalan Pudu
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2148 8666