KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 3 — At least 10 days before the announcement yesterday that the movement control order (MCO) will be extended, many Chinese restaurants — both standalone ones as well as those in hotels — have been advertising their Chinese New Year meals. For takeaway.
It was clear from the rising Covid-19 caseloads that this was not going to be a normal Chinese New Year so the restaurants just pivoted.
With so many takeaway offerings available, you can still celebrate with an "ox-picious" feast and here are our picks from the Klang Valley and Penang:
KLANG VALLEY
Elegant Inn HK Cuisine
Their curated takeaway menu features premium ingredients to celebrate the Year of the Ox. Expect the ultimate poon choy laden with ingredients such as whole 9 head South African abalone, stuffed sea cucumber from South Africa, Japanese dried scallops, etc. Prices range from RM688 to RM1,588, depending on the number of diners. You also have the option to swap to 7 head abalones.
If you're looking for flexibility to suit your taste buds, go for their special combination meal. There's their signature bountiful harvest salmon yee sang, a main course (your selection) and lotus leaf rice with dried prawns and twin waxed sausages.
You can select the main course from choices such as Pipa duck, steamed dragon grouper fish or their signature EI golden boneless stuffed chicken with chicken tomato salad. Prices range from RM388 to RM688, depending on which main course you pick. The lotus leaf rice can also be swapped for noodles or fried rice, with additional costs. This combination meal should be enough for three to five people.
If you're looking to feed up to seven people, add on a vegetable dish like stir fried organic spinach with cordyceps flowers, black fungus and amber wood fungus or simmered Chinese cabbage with Japanese dried scallops and fatt choy for an extra RM88.
There is also an option to add desserts like their signature pan fried traditional rice cakes and hazelnut cookies or double boiled pineapple with lily flower and snow fungus. A minimum order of four persons is applicable for the dessert orders. The price for the vegetables and desserts are discounted as compared to their a la carte menu.
Second Floor, Menara Hap Seng, Jalan Sultan Ismail, Kuala Lumpur. Tel: 03-20709399. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ElegantInnhongkongcuisine
lvshi.urbanomad
On a plant based diet or just watching your waistline? Don't fret as you can still feast away with Ivshi.urbanomad's home cooked, plant based festive eats. All their dishes are prepared with fresh seasonal organic produce.
Their organic poon choy is filled with good-for-you ingredients like their own-made veggie roll made with Chinese cabbage and spinach, dumplings and various vegetables from carrots, pumpkin to broccoli. There's also three types of mushrooms, goji berries, wakame and two types of beancurd.
Heat up their kombu and vegetable-based soup and pour it over the pot. Just drop off your own pot and thermo pot for the broth at their place.
You can return to take away the poon choy once it is ready. Prices range from RM168 to RM388, depending on the number of diners.
Toss your way to prosperity with their organic vegan yee sang that is served with their homemade passion fruit dressing. It's a refreshing mix of organic vegetables such as cherry tomatoes, pea sprouts, carrots, pumpkins and fruits like mandarin orange, guava, and their home grown mango.
The yee sang is decorated with their own grown edible flowers like hibiscus and blue pea flowers. Sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds are added for a nice crunch together with dried fruits. The yee sang is RM88 for seven to eight people. They encourage customers to drop off their plates to cut down on packaging.
You can also order their organic steamed lotus leaf multi grain rice using a mix of black and white rice. The rice is cooked with rolled oats, pearl barley, buckwheat, millet, black eyed beans, shiitake mushrooms and seaweed.
Pre-booking is required for collection of the poon choy on February 11 and 12. The booking will close on February 8. For the other items, please message them for more information.
Taman Maluri, Cheras, Kuala Lumpur. You can pick up or send your own delivery service to pick up the food. For orders, you can WhatsApp 016-2031296 or message them on their social media platforms. Instagram: @lvshi.urbanomad Facebook: LV-SHI.urbanomad
Oriental Group of Restaurants
Since it's the Year of the Ox, the group has come up with a Japanese Miyazaki Wagyu yee sang for the festivities. The pricing starts from RM188 for the medium portion.
The group also offers three types of yee sang: traditional, modern vegetables or one anointed with truffle oil. You can also opt for other toppings like golden crispy enoki mushrooms, salmon and prawns, or even grilled pork neck for your yee sang.
At Ruyi, you can also indulge in yee sang paired with a bottle of Moet & Chandon or Dom Perignon champagne. Prices start from RM538 for the large portion.
Do check with each of their 13 restaurants as they will feature their own signature set menus for takeaway. For instance, Noble Mansion is offering various sets for four, six or 10 people. Their five course menu for four people (RM398 nett) will feature a golden crispy enoki mushroom yee sang, braised sea garoupa, steamed chicken with cordyceps flower, stir fried kailan with apricot mushrooms and steamed rice with freshwater prawns.
The 10 people eight course set for RM1,088 nett, will have dishes such their roast London duck, steamed Soon Hock fish Hakka style, braised stuffed abalone, lap mei fan Hakka style and two desserts.
For their Muslim friendly Ruyi, they offer the same sets and prices like Noble Mansion, except their dishes are different with items like dancing star garoupa fish with patong assam fish or sauteed chicken with basil Taiwanese style.
There are also three versions of poon choy for takeaway. Their Shunde Poon Choy is RM750 nett with the pot. It's a six person portion which needs a day in advance order. Indulge in 10 head whole abalone, sea cucumber, goose web, fish maw, dried oysters and dried scallops. You get a mix of smoked farm chicken, roast pork, BBQ baby duck and salt and pepper king prawns inside. There is an offer for free delivery within the Klang Valley and a cooler bag.
If you want a complete meal, Noble Mansion offers a six person set that pairs the Shunde poon choy with an assortment of appetisers, steamed ocean garoupa, fried glass noodles and vermicelli, and two desserts for RM1,288 nett.
There are also two Muslim-friendly poon choy offered by the group's pork free restaurants Ruyi & YU. Expect to tuck in the RM748 nett poon choy for six persons from Ruyi that has an eight treasure duck, 8 head abalone, sea cucumber, king prawns, fish maw and much more. It comes with a warmer bag and needs one day advance order.
There is also an option to purchase a portable stove to warm up your poon choy. Similarly, there is a RM1,288 nett set with their poon choy, appetisers, steamed fish, fried noodles and desserts that you can take away.
For special deals, follow their Facebook Live sessions.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/orientalgroupmy You can place your orders or ask for more information via WhatsApp at 012-7544796 or their website https://www.orientaltoyu.com
Overseas Restaurant
For the Year of the Ox, the restaurant group is offering yee sang, poon choy and an a la carte menu of their signature dishes. You can also order their lap mei fan sets that are served with various dishes.
Indulge in abalone and truffle yee sang (RM130+ for half, RM170+ for full portion) or a refreshing fruity version for RM88+ for half, RM108+ for full portion. There are other varieties with shredded duck meat and crystal prawns with pear too.
Their poon choy requires two days in advance notice. You will get goodies such as abalone, sea cucumber, crystal prawns, roast duck, BBQ pork belly and dried oysters. It is priced at RM438 for six persons and RM588 for 10 people.
Pre-booking is required for collection of the poon choy on February 11 and 12. The booking will close on February 8. For the other items, please message them for more information.
The restaurant also offers various set menus with their waxed meat rice in a claypot or lap mei fan. Choose from a five course meal for RM380 nett for four people or a six course meal for RM568 nett for six people. The set menu has double boiled village chicken soup, crystal prawns, steamed or braised fish and a vegetable dish. The six course meal features additional dishes such as braised sea cucumber and braised mixed vegetables with fatt choy.
There are restaurants at Jalan Imbi, Kuala Lumpur, Sri Petaling and Ipoh. Look up Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/overseamalaysia for the individual restaurant's contact details to order. You can also order their prosperity abalone treasure pot and yee sang on Gemspot, Hungry2U and Grab's food delivery platforms
PENANG
Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery
Started in 2013, the restaurant is run by Adrian Tan and his mother Beh Gaik Lean who picked up her Nyonya cooking skills from the late Datuk Lim Bian Yam who was renowned for his cooking classes.
Their multi-course set will have their Prosperity yee sang that is a combination of fresh fruits, vegetables and salmon. Start with their platter of lorbak, pie tee and acar awak. A must for the festivities is ju hu char. You also have kiam cai arp, Nyonya chap chai char, curry tumis fish, assam prawns, curry chicken kapitan and egg belanda. For desserts, you can dine on traditional pengat.
If you order their takeaway reunion set, this will come with a four-tier traditional tiffin carrier. The sets are available on February 9, 10 and 11 but only while stock lasts. For six people, the set is RM468 while it is RM688 for 10 people.
No. 1, Bishop Street, George Town, Penang. Tel: 04-2638121. To place an order for the Chinese New Year sets, call Adrian at 017-4344398. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Auntie-Gaik-Leans-Old-School-Eatery-564865433555884
Hai Nan Town Restaurant
This restaurant at Weld Quay is offering various packages for the festivities. There's a Chinese New Year salmon yee sang package which is priced at RM138.
For dinner, there is a full course meal package. Choose between package A or B, depending on the amount of people dining. Dine on six Nyonya dishes such as grouper fish otak otak, ayam goreng serai, perut ikan paired with steamed rice. You will also get a complimentary sago gula Melaka dessert. Package A is RM333 for four to six persons while package B for eight to 10 people is RM668 that also comes with complimentary Nyonya pai tee for starters.
8A, Pengkalan Weld, George Town, Penang. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hainantownpenang To order, call 04-2638633, Bok at 012-4283423 or Lim at 016-4712662.
Half Acre Restaurant
The restaurant is well known for their traditional Taiwanese urn baked chicken. For Chinese New Year, you can dine on eight courses with your family at home, by ordering their full course dinners. There are four choices of sets to select. Prices range from RM388 to RM1,288 for six people.
Dine on dishes like braised sea cucumber, steamed rice with waxed sausage and steamed garoupa. Their yee sang is served with a tangy passion fruit sauce. For the RM1,288 set, it includes roasted crispy suckling pig and steamed abalone served with shark's fin and fish maw.
They also offer poon choy with various braised seafood like prawns, abalone and vegetables for take away. There are two choices of poon choy, one for RM388 and another for RM588, for up to 8 people.
All the sets and poon choy must be pre-ordered for takeaway.
3E-G-3, Ground Floor, Straits Quay, Jalan Seri Tanjung Pinang, Tanjung Tokong, Penang. To order, call 04-8931617 or 016-4750195. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/halfacre.restaurant
Starview Restaurant
With a history going back to 1979, this restaurant is popular with Penangnites to dine or hold wedding events. They also have an outlet at Seberang Perai. Their steamboat offerings are also highly sought after.
The restaurant is now accepting orders for Chinese New Year steamboat and seafood bowl packages. Their abalone and seafood steamboat is priced at RM688 where you can enjoy an assortment of 10 head abalone, sea cucumber, fish maw and handmade fish balls.
There is also prawns, garoupa fish head and fillet, vegetables and vermicelli. Extra soup will also be provided. In addition, you get crispy Chinese prawn balls and rice served with waxed meat. For dessert, there's deep fried glutinous rice dumplings crusted with sesame seeds.
For their abalone assorted seafood bowls which is essentially poon choy, it is priced at RM588 for 6 people or RM868 for 10 people. The seafood bowl is also served with crispy Chinese prawn balls, rice with waxed meat and deep fried glutinous rice dumplings with sesame seeds.
All packages will be ready for pick-up on the eve and the first day of Chinese New Year.
341, Jalan Dato Keramat, Penang. For orders, contact 010-9004268 / 04-2266544 / 04-2265213. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/starviewrestaurant
