Elegant Inn — A time for celebration

It was a dinner savouring several dishes celebrating Christmas, New Year 2025 and Chinese New Year. On top of that Elegant Inn had just made the Michelin selected list for 2025 for the third year running. So nothing but the best would suffice that evening.

Outstanding at the dinner was the floppy and fluid giant dumpling in the Premium Seafood Dumpling Soup at dinner in Elegant Inn recently. The fish bone broth it floated in was gummy good, On bursting the thin, smooth skin of the dumpling, out tumbled fish maw, Hokkaido scallop and mushroom. Just savour the sweetness, its mouthfeel.

This dumpling or Koon Tong Kow is one of the dishes in two Celebration Sets at the restaurant. It’s December after all, with much to celebrate till Chinese New Year in January.

In our starter platter were Crunchy Prawns & Meat Fortune Pouch, Organic Spinach Tofu, with HK dried prawn and tung choy, and the E.I. Crispy Vegetarian Roll. The pouch was delicious, so was the Organic Spinach Tofu with crispy shreds of har kon (whole dried prawn) and tung choy on it. The Crispy Vegetarian Roll is always a favourite with everyone.

Abalones have the mark of prosperity in a Chinese New Year meal and the South African one is in the Special Celebration set here. We got acquainted with two types of abalone – the Japanese and South African ones. They had been braised for eight to 15 hours with pork, pork skin and old chicken. The pure essence of the abalones is in the super delicious sauce. We slurp it up with a teaspoon, leaving not a trace of it on our plate.

Another auspicious CNY dish would be the Eight Treasure Stuffed Wings. The plump, golden fried chicken wings are filled with eight ingredients, among them,  pork, prawn and waterchestnut. They make juicy, luscious and tasty bites.

I like how the different components of the dish come together so well in the Sea Crystal Prawn in Chef’s Sauce with Organic Fresh Termite Mushroom and Fresh Pear. It’s a little spicy, fruity, with the mushroom and cherry tomatoes brushed with the chef sauce, and the springy prawn and almond flakes topping it all. Again on a CNY note of joy.

I enjoyed the Handmade Noodles with Fried Fish Maw & Chicken Fillet in Chef’s Sauce. The texture of the noodles jells with the strips of fried fish maw, all brought together with the lightly spiced chef’s sauce that spills over the crunchy dried scallop threads. Prawns, chicken, chives and ham also add flavours to  this not very “noodle” dish.

It’s never too early to have Lap Mei Fan where Elegant Inn is concerned. The wonderful aromas when the claypot lid is lifted, rice stirred up and it’s time to savour the gooseliver sausage, olive pork sausage, waxed meats and waxed duck meat. The rice is sticky and good, the crust is simply lovely with the sauce trickling down to it.

Dessert highlights for me at this dinner are the delightfully crispy Sesame Balls and Golden Custard Cake. But sweet endings in the Celebration menus include the exquisite Bird’s Nest Tartlets, Double-boiled Fuji Red Apple with Org Apricot, Chinese Almonds and Snow Fungus, Golden Bird’s Nest Champagne Toast, etc

Off the set menus the Taro pouch we had was super delicious – light and crispy, touching liquid taro and its meat filling at the bite. These would be on your regular dim sum menu.

It was still not too late for a hairy crab dish – the scrumptious Golden Fish Maw & Organic Spinach with Hairy Crab Roe

Call for reservations at 03-2070 9399, 012-722 3518. Elegant Inn HK Cuisine is at 2^nd floor, Menara Hap Seng, Podium Block, 2.01 Jalan P. Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur.