CHECKER’S CAFÉ @ Dorsett Kuala Lumpur

Taste of tradition

January 10, 2019

While most restaurant chefs are busy creating new dishes for the Chinese New Year Of The Earth Boar, Chef Meng of Dorsett Kuala Lumpur has decided to go with tradition instead. 

While Checker’s Café is not exactly a traditional Chinese restaurant, it offers a sit-down halal CNY menu which is popular, not just for celebrating the Lunar New Year but also for sau gong (year-end) and annual dinners.
This year, there are 3 set menus of 8 courses each to choose from. All start with Yee Sang, which is also available a la carte and for takeaways. There’s Jellyfish, Snow Pear, Thai-style Tiger Prawn and of course, the ever-popular Salmon. Priced from RM108 nett for 10 pax.

At the media preview, we are sampling selected items from all the three menus. To start, we toss up an auspicious 2019 with Snow Pear & Jellyfish Yee Sang. The dressing is traditional plum sauce and I am happy to revisit this original flavour that evokes memories of a happy youth.

Traditional Yee Sang with Jellyfish & Snow Pear

When soup is served, I’m pleased to note it’s not shark’s fin. Instead, the Braised Superior Seafood Soup With Crabmeat has plenty of crabmeat, fish, prawn and enoki mushroom. Add a dash of vinegar for extra oomph.

Seafood Soup with mushroom

We literally cleaned the plate of Roasted Pei Pa Duck With Sweet Sauce. The tender duck meat is well marinated and the skin so crisp.

Juicy Roasted Pei Pa Duck with crispy skin and sweet sauce

Fried Butter Prawn With Oatmeal is always a popular dish and here, the fragrance proves very tantalising. The prawn is fresh and sweet, with the butter oatmeal coating bringing out its best side.

By popular demand, Butter Prawn With Oatmeal

With the next dish, our tastebuds are again beguiled by the pungent aroma of the Deepfried Seabass With Sichuan Sauce. The fish is well fried and the skin stays crispy even when coated with the ma lat bean sauce. But the flesh is soft and juicy, its sweetness enhanced by the hot sauce.

Deepfried Seabass with ma lat Sichuan sauce

Happily, the next dish of traditional Braised Mushrooms With Seasonal Vegetables helps calm our over-excited palates. It looks simple enough, just shitake mushrooms corralled by a moat of broccoli florets. What I like is that the mushrooms are fat, thick and succulent, absorbing all the flavours of the oyster-based sauce.

Simple but yummy dish of shitake mushrooms and broccoli 

We move on to Fried Rice With Seafood & Silver Anchovies. Again, fragrance is the keyword and there’s plenty of wok hei. The rice is fried with prawn, fish, peas, carrot and corn. Deepfried ikan bilis is scattered over and provides a lovely crunch to the dish.

Crunchy ikan bilis enhances the flavour of fried rice with seafood 

Dessert is Chilled Sea Coconut With Longan. Thin slices of lemon add a citrusy scent and a touch of zest.

Cool off with iced sea coconut and longan

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CHECKERS CAFÉ (halal)

Dorsett Kuala Lumpur

172 Jalan Imbi, KL, Malaysia

Telephone

+603-2716 1010

Email

Info.kualalumpur@dorsetthotels.com

Opening Hours

Daily, 6am to 11pm

Promotion

CNY Set Menus for 10 pax at RM1,288, RM1,388 and RM1,488. All prices nett. Yee Sang takeaway from RM108 nett. Available January 22 to February 19, 2019