Toh Yuen Restaurant, Hilton Petaling Jaya, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia

Toh Yuen Restaurant, serving delicious, pork-free Cantonese fare, is the perfect place to welcome in the Year of the Horse. Head Chef Tham Pui Keat has created delectable dishes that will undoubtedly put a smile on your face. Start your meal with fun-filled Yee Sang. There are several varieties to choose from, including Salmon and Baby Abalone or Japanese Clams with Jellyfish. I enjoyed the Chinese Pear with Jellyfish Yee Sang. The carefully selected pear, imported from South Korea, adds a slightly fermented, sweetness to the dish, along with extra juiciness and crunch. It’s a real treat.

Dianne and I sampled a selection of CNY dishes, and we can recommend every single one. We began with the Braised Eight Treasure Soup. Thick, rich and comforting there’s goodness in every spoonful, with texture and additional flavour from shredded scallop, crabmeat, sliced sea cucumber, mushrooms, white fungus and water chestnut.

The Deep-Fried Pomfret with Fried Ginger was served Szechuan-style. The fish was coated with Szechuan pepper and the outside was fried to crispy perfection while the inner flesh remained soft and tender. The ginger topping and wonderfully savoury sauce complimented the fish perfectly, another winner from Chef Tham.

More comfort food came next, Braised Chinese Long Cabbage with Dried Scallop Sauce. To extract maximum flavour, the scallops are double-boiled for two hours, first in chicken stock and then in the dish itself. The cabbage was silky and sweet while the plump scallops maintained their shape and flavour. This dish was prettily garnished with Goji Berries for colour and a little extra nutrition.

Just as we were starting to feel replete, along came Seafood Fried Rice with XO Sauce. I discovered from Chef that he makes his own sauce using a variety of seafood, chillies and spices. I wish I knew the secret to making this dish – the rice was perfectly cooked – chewy but not too dry, a little crisp and just slightly spicy. It was absolutely yummy.

The same can be said for the Duo of Deep-fried New Year Cake with Yam and Golden Fish with Red Bean Paste. The “fish” were tasty and soft, but the star was the Nian Gao. It was sandwiched between two slices of yam and fried in a light batter. The Nian Gao was soft and gooey, the yam added a little bite and the crispy outer shell was divine.

Valentine’s Day is doubly blessed this year, as it coincides with Chap Goh Mei, the fifteenth and final day of the  Chinese New Year celebrations to create an outstanding day of love.  If you are single, and hope to find that special someone, this is the day to throw oranges into the nearest river. You can always write your phone number on the orange for extra luck, but don’t forget to use an indelible pen! To celebrate this extra special event, Toh Yuen is offering a special East Meets West Tale of Love promotion on February 14th. Diners will recieve a special complimentary dessert – heart-shaped Red Bean Dumplings and Love Letters. Catch it while you can, as this will mark the end of the CNY menus for another year.

Reason to Visit: For carefully prepared Cantonese dishes that are sure to be enjoyed with relish.

Toh Yuen is offering several set menus, ranging in price from RM1088++ to RM1688++ for 10 diners. The restaurant will be open throughout the 15-day CNY celebration. On February 5, 2014, there will be
a Lion Dance performance at the hotel to celebrate the auspicious occasion.