Usher in Chinese New Year at Tai Zi Heen, Prince Hotel KL

It’s time to lou yee sang !

My first yee sang of the year was also my first vegetarian yee sang. More later.

A few of us were at Tai Zi Heen, the contemporary Chinese restaurant in Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur to sample their Chinese New Year menu, created by resident Chinese Head Chef, Chef Michael Wong.

Chef Wong had made one of the most impressionable Chinese desserts I’ve had during an earlier visit (purple sweet potato with mango ice-cream and lotus paste Chinese pancake served in dry ice, omg??) so I was really looking forward to what he’d bring to the table this time round.

We were ushered into a private dining room, one of Tai Zi Heen’s 5 such rooms for additional privacy and comfort. Think the one we were in is the loveliest as it overlooks the Prince Hotel lobby.

Our first dish arrived, their signature Vegetarian Snow Pear Yee Sang.

Vegetarian Snow Pear Yee Sang from RM30++ onwards

Traditionally yee sang consists of raw fish as per the dish’s namesake. After years of eating yee sang, I must say that I prefer this lighter version with strips of fresh snow pear, very refreshing and tasty.

While putting our yee sang together, the Tai Zi Heen staff would utter beautiful auspicious greetings in Chinese. Needless to say they are all related to obtaining prosperity, abundance, good health, eternal youth and so on.

Here comes the fun part: tossing the yee sang! At this point, you could wield the power of your imagination and insert some corny lines about tossing Chinese salad.

Now for the rest of dinner!

Stewed Dried Oysters with Fatt Choy and Lettuce

A dish marked with Chinese signs of prosperity, this is all about familiar tastes. I was a bit surprised that lettuce was used in this version and not Chinese mustard. I suppose the lettuce was meant to be on the lighter side when the other ingredients are so ‘strong’ and the sauce heavy.

Braised traditional Chinese soup with diced prawns, scallops and grouper

I’m making a concentrated effort to avoid eating shark’s fin, thus I requested for my portion to be without. If you’d prefer, there are non-shark’s fin soups available. The rich soup containing seafood and vinegar with (LOTS of) Chinese black vinegar is more than enough for my palate.

Roasted Chicken with crispy garlic and 5-spice salt

Very crispy skin, really juicy and moist meat. Exactly how every Chinese roast chicken should taste like! This was one of our favourites (and a lot of customers, apparently), served with both sweet plum sauce and 5-spice salt.

Chef’s special baked cod fish

A fusion twist to cod – baked with a crispy batter of mushrooms, onions, turkey bacon and cheese powder… quite addictive. The cod itself was fresh, meat flaky and tender. I could see myself downing a couple pints of premium beer with this dish.

Stir-fried Glutinous Rice with Chinese-style Preserved Duck

Fragrant and I enjoyed the glutinous rice more than the meat as I’m not used to eating preserved duck. Also I suspect that I enjoy the original non-halal version with proper lap cheong more, heh ;)

Warm Almond Puree with Glutinous Rice Dumplings

Loved the rice dumplings with black sesame paste, so fragrant!

Deep-fried Chinese New Year Cake with Thousand Layer Puff Pastry

I don’t usually eat nian gao as I find most of them too sweet for my liking. This homemade (or Tai Zi Heen kitchen-made ;) ) version was perfect for me as it wasn’t overly sickening sweet, yet tasty to eat. The thousand layer puff pastry was another favourite with a filling of corn and salted egg yolk.

Happy diners

Tai Zi Heen’s Chinese New Year menu is priced from RM1,188++ to RM1,888++ for a table of 10. Set menus and ala carte items are available until 24th February 2013. Tai Zi Heen is a pork-free Chinese restaurant.

Tai Zi Heen
Prince Hotel & Residence Kuala Lumpur
No. 4, Jalan Conlay,
50450 Kuala Lumpur,
Tel: +603-2170 8888
Click for their website and Facebook

Heads up!
Currently Prince Hotel is running a CNY FB contest. It’s easy to join with fabulous prizes such as 3D2N stays + dining vouchers at Prince Hotel KL up for grabs! Just like the Prince Hotel’s Facebook page, share a photo + caption of what CNY (happiness, togetherness and prosperity) means to you and you stand to win! Contest ends 31st January 2013, 5pm.