Shang Palace

This article is part of my Chinese New Year 2020 compilation.

Special thanks to Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur for extending this food review invitation.

Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur is one of the most prominent hotels in the capital city. Arriving guests are greeted by a large lobby, where a grand staircase leads to the mezzanine floor. As the yuletide season is fast approaching, Christmas trees and ornaments fill the air with festive spirit.

My visit to the 5-star hotel today is to dine at Shang Palace (香宫), an award-winning Chinese restaurant which is present in several Shangri-La properties. The restaurant has a magnificent facade reminiscent of an imperial palace.

Shang Palace specializes in authentic Cantonese cuisine. The pork-free restaurant is also renowned for its exquisite range of dim sum.

As for customers who prefer private dining, Shang Palace has 6 rooms of various sizes. The largest private room seats 15 diners in total. It is decorated with imperial dragon robes, Chinese couplets and fancy red lanterns.

For the first time, Shang Palace is offering Premium Abalone Poon Choi (丰盛团聚鲍鱼盆菜). The Cantonese dish is meant for take-away but customers may dine in if they choose to. The meal serves up to 10 people and is priced at RM1,988.00 net. This includes the cost of ceramic pot.

Shang Palace's Premium Abalone Poon Choi comprises of 18 ingredients: abalones (鲍鱼), Japanese dried scallops (日本干贝), dried oysters (蚝豉), sea cucumbers (海参), king prawns (大明虾), goose web (鹅掌), roasted duck (烧鸭), steamed chicken (白切鸡), sea moss fish balls (发菜鱼圆), fish maw (鱼鳔), yuba sticks (枝竹), gluten (豆根), sea moss (发菜), shiitake mushrooms (冬菇), oyster mushrooms (杏鲍菇), baby cabbage (娃娃菜), daikon (白萝卜) and taro (芋头).

For the upcoming Chinese New Year, Shang Palace is rolling out 4 sets of course meals. The menus are specially curated by Executive Chinese Chef John Chu, who has nearly 2 decades of culinary experience. For today's preview, Chef John is combining his signature dishes across different menus in order to highlight his specialties.

A reunion dinner almost always begins with the tossing of yee sang (鱼生). Shown here is Platinum Smoked Salmon Fish Yee Sang (熏三文鱼捞生). Salmon is considered auspicious because the Chinese name for "fish" (鱼) is a homonym for "prosperity" (余). It is believed that the higher one tosses, the greater heights one achieves in the upcoming year.

The next dish is Braised Sea Treasure Soup With Fresh Scallops (干贝鱼鳔带子羹), which is palatable to the last drop. Other marine delicacies included in the rich broth are dried scallops and fish maw. Since 2012, Shangri-La Group has pledged to stop serving shark fin soup.

The Combination Of Crispy Chicken & Chicken Rolls (怀旧杏香百花鸡拼凤凰卷) is prepared in bite-size morsels for easy consumption. The former contains water chestnuts and almond flakes, while the latter is stuffed with salted egg yolks.

Next, Stewed Omega Rich Grouper Fish (老干妈豆酱焖龙虎斑) is served with onion sauce and douchi (fermented black beans) so as to accentuate the fish's natural sweetness. The choice of fish is giant pearl grouper (龙虎斑), a hybrid between giant grouper (龙胆斑) and tiger grouper (老虎斑). Giant pearl grouper is prized for its refined texture.

Moving on, Steamed Rice With Assorted Meat & Chestnut (荷香板栗什锦炒饭) uses glutinous rice, which becomes quite sticky when cooked. The sweetness of Chinese chestnuts complements the savoriness of meats. Individual servings of rice are wrapped in lotus leaves, and then garnished with omelette strips.

Our meal moves on to an Assiette Of Chinese Pastries (美点映双辉), which comprises of steamed niangao (年糕) and a piece of sweet dim sum. The pastries are paired with ginger soup that contains red dates and glutinous rice balls. The latter is filled with black sesame paste.

Shang Palace's Lunar New Year promotions are available between 2 January 2020 and 8 February 2020. Poon Choi, in particular, must be ordered in advance since Shang Palace only prepares a limited number of pots each day.

Name: Shang Palace (香宫)
Address: 11, Jalan Sultan Ismail, 50250 Kuala Lumpur
Contact: 03-2074-3900
Business hours: 10:30am-2:30pm, 6:30pm-10:30pm (Sunday), 12:00pm-2:30pm, 6:30pm-10:30pm (Monday-Saturday)
Website: http://www.shangri-la.com/kualalumpur/shangrila/dining/restaurants/shang-palace
Coordinates: 3.15366 N, 101.70634 E
Directions: Shangri-La Kuala Lumpur is situated at the intersection of Jalan Sultan Ismail and Jalan P. Ramlee. Shang Palace is located at the Mezzanine Floor of the hotel. Shangri-La Hotel has parking spaces in its basement levels.