Celebrating the Extravagant 8 at Gu Yue Tien

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The number ’8′ is synonymous with prosperity and fortune in the Chinese culture.  This number is so auspicious that it’s becoming a common figure in the Chinese community – phone numbers, addresses or even car number plates are preferred to have the number ’8′. Riding in the wave of ’8′s is the Standard Chartered Extravagant 8 Menu for this Chinese New Year, whereby the campaign is participated by a total of 8 restaurants, with 8 dishes per menu, costing RM888 per table. So many ’8′s! One of such restaurants is Gu Yue Tien at Chulan Square. It was my first time going to Chulan Square and certainly my first time stepping into this classy Chinese restaurant.

Comfortable dining environment at Gu Yue Tien

The interior of the restaurant was elegantly furnished, with gold-coloured chairs, white table clothes and dark blue carpet.

Appetizers

The first dish to start off the menu was the Norwegian Salmon ‘Yee Sang’. The first thing I noticed with this Yee Sang was the absence of shredded vegetables! Instead of the common shredded vegetables, carrots, ginger, etc used in a plate of Yee Sang, I saw lettuce and radish instead. And so the story went that the chef is not a fan of processed or preserved food, hence the ingredients used were fresh vegetables. I was game!

Norwegian Salmon ‘Yee Sang’

The sauce had a tangy and fruity sweet finish to it, which was later discovered to be strawberry sauce. Lovely.

Lou Sang or Lou Hei

The appetizer came in a delicate egg shell with its top removed. Upon further exploration, we found a half-boiled egg yolk submerged within the foie gras gravy. This dish of Gu Yue Tien Soft Boiled Egg with Foie Gras was prepared by removing the egg white first and pouring hot foie gras sauce onto it, making the yolk to be half-boiled, while maintaining the warmth of the egg during serving time.

Gu Yue Tien Soft Boiled Egg with Foie Gras

This was decadent to say the least! Glorious, smooth and delicious without overly rich. What a smart idea from the chef.

Gloriously sinful

For those who are anti-shark’s fin, this dish of Thick Assorted Seafood Soup with Crab Roe is perfect. Served with a golden hue from the crab roe, it was aromatic, flavourful and hearty.

A Thick Assorted Seafood Soup with Crab Roe

The star of the night was undoubtedly and unanimously, the Salt Baked Spanish Iberico Pork Ribs! Its entrance alone was eye-catching and attention-seeking, stopping people in the midst of conversations, and screaming for cameras. We all loved the Iberico pork ribs! The aroma was distinctive, tantalizing and mouth-watering. I swear, I was this close to drooling while taking pictures of this lovely slab of pork ribs.

Salt Baked Spanish Iberico Pork Ribs

Watching the staff cut the ribs was another sight to behold – the cracking of skin, the oozing of juice and the whiff of the spices were almost too hard to handle.

Cutting up the pork ribs

And finally, when the ribs were on my plate, could I scream ‘heavenly!’. The ribs indeed, brought me to heaven and back. The first bite of the skin was crispy, while the meat inside was juicy and tender, with minimal fat and oil. Just the way I liked it! In fact, this could easily be the best pork ribs that I’ve ever tasted! These were so good I shamelessly had multiple helpings.

Best ribs ever

Next up was the Steamed Giant Garoupa with Minced Ginger and Yellow Bean Paste. This giant garoupa was a whopping 36kg piece of fish – with the capacity to feed over 250 people! Now I’ve had my taste of huge fish before and the meat is usually firm and tough, but this was fresh, smooth and flaky. The minced ginger took away what fishy smell it would have, and the yellow bean paste made it very moreish and delicious.

Steamed Giant Garoupa with Minced Ginger and Yellow Bean Paste

Smooth and flaky texture

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Fresh Water Prawn and Wax Meat arrived when I was already full, but the sight of the huge fresh water prawns was enough to entice my palate. Everyone was busy ‘booking’ the prawn with the most roe, while I was secretly feasting my eyes on the waxed meat instead.

Steamed Glutinous Rice with Fresh Water Prawn and Wax Meat

While I enjoyed the fresh and succulent prawn, I found the glutinous rice to be a tad oily. Still, the waxed meat was good!

Fresh water prawn

Pan Fried ‘Nian Gao’ was done differently in Gu Yue Tien. Instead of deep-frying it with flour like it’s commonly done, this was coated with black and white sesame seeds, giving it a very aromatic flavour, minus the guilt from deep-frying!

Pan Fried ‘Nian Gao’

‘Nian Gao’ coated with sesame seeds

Last but not least, something sweet to end our wholesome meal – Chilled Mango Cream with Pomelo or commonly known as “Yeung Ji Kam Lo” in Cantonese. A mixture of mango cream with morsels of pomelo, topped with a scoop of ice-cream. I can never say no to that!

Chilled Mango Cream with Pomelo

Dinner was amazing, but it was made more awesome with the company of new friends and the animated Chef Frankie Woo!

Tim and Chef Frankie Woo

KY, Haze and witch

Meena, witch and Aly

Gu Yue Tien dining environment

Gu Yue Tien Restaurant

Are you a Standard Chartered credit card holder? In conjunction with the Chinese New Year celebration, the best chefs from the Top 8 Chinese restaurants in the Klang Valley will cook up a storm to prepare customized Extravagant 8 menus to satiate the palate and tantalize the taste buds between 20th January and 17th February 2011, exclusively for Standard Chartered credit card holders.

Restoran Gu Yue Tien Sdn. Bhd. (Non Halal)
Chulan Square
92, Jalan Raja Chulan,
50200 Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia
Tel no.:+603-2148-0808
GPS Coordinates: 3.149521,101.715842