Mid-Autumn Festival @ Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant, Concorde Hotel KL

Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant @ Concorde Hotel KL

The new Xin Cuisine proudly reflects the ancient Chinese proverb, “Preserve the old but know the new”.

Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant opened its doors to the public in 1991 when Concorde Hotel KL came into existence.

The word ‘Xin’ signifies ‘new’ and this idea is exemplified in the restaurant’s modern design,  even more so after its recent RM1.8 mln renovation.

Back in the day before Concorde KL was Concorde KL, a pair of ornate dragons already existed within the building. The two pillars are carved out of a single tree trunk from Taiwan, by and expert Taiwanese craftsman.

Xin Cuisine embraces an edgy, retro modern concept, with high ceilings, a spacious feel, under the watchful eyes of the two restored, golden dragons.

Xin Cuisine’s A la Carte menu is extensive, and you can indulge in Appetizers like Yellow Chives Spring roll, Almond and Tofu Pearl, and Shredded Roast Duck Meat with Szechuan Sauce.

Soups include traditional favourites like Double Boiled Four Treasure soup in Old Cucumber and Double-boiled Pork Rib Soup with Sundried Scallop and Chinese Cabbage.

There’s a huge selection of Shark’s fin dishes, including the house specialty Braised Shark’s fin soup with Fresh Crabmeat and Crab Roe.

You’ll be spoilt for choice from the selection of Dried Seafood & Abalone, and Xin’s Meat section extends from Stewed Pig Tendon in Claypot to Qing Yuen Herbal Chicken.

I was tempted by the Seafood selection, with dishes like Stir Fried Scallop in XO sauce and Wok-roasted Prawns with Garlic.

With all that to choose from Xin’s regular menu, it’s no wonder that the special Mid-Autum menu we were about to taste sounded even more enticing.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is upon us, and is also known as the Moon Festival, or in Chinese, Zhongqiujie. The Mid-Autumn Festival is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese Calender, which is usually around late September or early October in the Gregorian Calender.

At Xin Cuisine, you can celebrate the season with a special set Mid-Autumn dinner, perfect for those all important family gatherings. Guestblogger Fatboybakes, Alvin  and Yy (damienphotography.com) and I sat down at a beautifully set round table.

Our delightful hosts for the evening were Lee Kean Tee & Janet Leong (Assistant F&B Managers), and we were briefly graced with the company of Julini Mohd. Yusof (Marketing Communications Manager).

The menu is specially designed by Xin’s Master Chef, Chef Foong Ah Wai.

He brings with him 30 years of experience in Chinese cuisine, and has tailor made the Mid-Autum Menu with flavours to freshen you up after the long, hot summer.

XIN CUISINE’S MID AUTUMN MENU

Double Boiled Shark’s Fin Soup with Chicken Drumstick

This was a flavourful, clear broth, bursting with goodness. Slivers of shark’s fin caress your tongue and the meat on the chicken drumstick falls off the bone and melts in your mouth.

Pomfret Cooked 3 Varieties

I must say, this dish was excellent and far surpassed my expectations. You can taste the amount of care and preciseness that goes into getting each style of cooking the fish close to perfect. On the bottom, the whole fish is steamed in a light, ginger and soya sauce. Sitting gently on top of that is the flesh of the upper half of the fish, pan fried with vegetables. On top of that is gloriously perched the skin of the fish, deep fried.

It was all so fresh, so scrumptious, and the velvety steam fish, the bouncy consistency of the pan fired flesh, and the crispy, crackly skin meshed together to create a perfect marriage of textures. Chef Foong handpicks the seafood he serves from Selayang market, which he visits 3 times a week.

Pan Fried King Prawn with Chef’s Specialty Sauce

Ah, any prawn dish is a winner in my book! Here, Chef Foong has produced a superb dish with simple flavours that enhance the natural taste of the large freshwater prawn. The meat is juicy and succulent, coated in a soft, not-too-creamy sauce made from curry powder, milk and ingredients that shall remain secret. The taste of the wok is evident, and provides a lovely charred flavour.

It was my favourite dish of the evening!

Braised Chinese Cabbage with Dried Seafood

Every meal has to be complemented by vegetables , and the Braised Chinese Cabbage with Dried Seafood is an exceptional addition to the meal. The plate overflows with tender slices of cabbage, cooked soft and moist, with mushrooms, dried scallops and fish stomach smothered in a cloudy, rich gravy.

Slow Cook Claypot Chicken Rice

What a delight it was to dig into this. Scrumptious grains of rice, fat and fluffy from being slow cooked in a rich stock until all the liquid is absorbed. The rice itself is bursting with flavour, with juicy chunks of chicken, mushroom and vegetables.

Homemade Sweetened Almond Beancurd

From my understanding, this traditional Chinese dessert looks like bean curd is, but is in fact, not bean curd at all! It’s actually a combination of sugar, agar-agar, evaporated milk and the all important almond essence. At Xin, Chef Foong does it the old school way, and makes the almond essence from scratch so the result is a milder, sweeter flavour in the jelly.

We finished off with a taste of the rich and creamy Lotus Seed and Sweet Potato Mooncake.

This year, Concord’s mooncake celebrations lure you with “Memorable Treasures”. familiar favourites like Red Bean, Green Tea, German Black Forest,  Chocolate Omochi, Mixed Nuts, WHite Lotus with single/double egg yolk. One of a kind creations like Red Yeast Japanese Sweet Potato, Espresso Chestnut and Charcoal Baked Yam are also available. Prices range from RM62- RM92 (4 piece box with tea), and RM 48 – RM66 (6 piece box).

*ALL MOONCAKES ARE CERTIFIED HALAL.

It was a thoroughly satisfying meal. Quality, creativity, a blend of the traditional with a contemporary feel.

Chef Yoong truly is a master of Chinese Cuisine, and his Mid-Autumn menu is an delight, and a perfect way to celebrate the festival.

Thank you Kean Tee, Janet, Julini and Chef Foong for a delightful meal!

The Mid Autumn Menu is available Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant, Concorde Hotel KL, from 1^st September – 22^nd September. Tables of 10 pax are priced at RM 888++, and for every table booked you will receive a complimentary Concorde Mooncake gift box.

STARTING MONDAY 30 SEPTEMBER, TUNE IN FROM ELEVEN2THREE TO WIN RM15O DINING VOUCHERS TO XIN CUISINE.

THE BIG RED FOOD REVIEW WITH ME, ALY. ONLY ON RED FM, TODAY’S BEST MUSIC!

Special thanks to Alvin & Yy of www.damienphotography.com for the beautiful photos.

CONTACT

Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant

(NON-HALAL)

Concorde Hotel Kuala Lumpur
2 Jalan Sultan Ismail,
50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Tel: 03 21448750/21442200 extn 2616