It's getting closer to that special time of the year where we unite to celebrate prosperity – Chinese New Year. Plenty of places have started selling their red-colored wares and décor, and most Chinese restaurants have prepared for a grueling night of serving reunions dinners and signature courses all through the 15 days of celebration. Things are no different for China Treasures Restaurant.

Nestled within the wide expanse of greenery in the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC), China Treasures is one of the few pork-free Chinese restaurants in KL. It is with great pleasure that I attended this food tasting with my forever-hungry boyfriend in tow.







The restaurant is located within the East Wing of the main building, and vibrantly decorated in rich hues of red, gold and black, accented with clean white walls and mirrored pillars. The décor of the places gives a palpable feeling of indulgence, one which my tummy cannot wait to get into. We will be tasting a few selected dishes from their five menu sets, aptly named: Happiness, Abundance, Fortune, Prosperity and Wealth Prosperity. The creation of these menus are helmed by Chef Eddie, a chef with 18 years of culinary experience in various countries (oh the stories he told about living in Beirut and Kempinski – this is his first year back for Chinese New year after missing it for 8 years in a row) and various awards under his belt. I am truly excited to let him take my tastebuds on a ride.

As tradition goes, we start off with the yee sang, a dish that consists of various colored and textured food – which are tossed together with chopsticks to bring about luck and prosperity. We were the abalone and Norwegian salmon yee sang, which we then proceeded to toss with really long chopsticks, screaming out wishes of luck and prosperity. The yee sang itself is very delicious – set apart from the others because of its plum sauce that isn't too tangy (which usually makes it hard to eat a lot of). The freshness of the salmon and abalone definitely brought this dish up a notch.

Check out that packet of crispy goodness – it is the best part of yee sang! For me, at least.

For my international readers – the craziness of the tossing, is absolutely normal.

This was immediately followed by a crab meat soup and braised seafood. I'm so glad (and proud) of this restaurant for not serving shark's fin soup! It's great to see Chinese restaurants who are this brave to take a stand against the cruelty of shark's fin soups. The soup has bits of crab meat and scallops, I detected some shrimps as well and mushrooms. It was delicious, and we were given quite a large serving each – I had to stop myself from finishing the bowl because I was already half full from it, and we were not even halfway through!





As I reluctantly watched the waitress take away the half-finished bowl of soup, a delicious platter of crispy roast chicken that is prepared two ways were set down before us. It looked absolutely delicious – just sitting there waiting to be eaten. I was dying in the suspense of tasting these as the other bloggers took their food shots. When it was on my plate and I dug in – boy, that crunch of the crispy chicken skin! But then I was shocked to find out that the filling was not chicken, it was fish cake! And it is absolutely delicious. To top it off, the bottom was encrusted with sliced and seared almonds. It was an absolute sensation for the tastebuds!

In the basket, was the second preparation for this dish – actual chicken meat cooked with grilled vegetables in a black, peppery sauce. Not as 'wow-some' as the first one, but it is just as good. Love, love, love this dish! Chef Eddie later revealed that this whole dish was made by first skinning the chicken meticulously, and hanging the skin up to dry before placing the fish cake against it (with cornstarch to hold it) and a sprinkle of sliced almonds on the other side. The meat of the chicken was then perused to make the black peppery dish in the middle.






Next up, came another favorite of mine – cod fish! This is a home style steamed white cod, a dish i am very familiar with as my boyfriend's dad is very good at making this dish, for when he have his cod fish cravings. It is a delight to have, no fishy taste and a smooth texture of fish salted slightly by the sauce, gliding across my palate. I believe this is one dish enjoyed by many, especially when it is so well done.





I was already quite full by then, but trudged on as a plate of braised sea moss oyster rolls, with sliced abalone and wheat gluten arrived. I have to admit, of all the dishes, this was the one that I remembered the least – I found the pairing a little bit odd and the oyster was cooked through within the roll. It was innovative, but I usually like my oysters raw or half-cooked, so I didn't particularly enjoy my oyster but enjoyed the broccoli more. My boyfriend loved it though, he went for seconds.





Then came a plate of sauteéd crystal prawns with hot and sour sauce, arranged on a cave of cabbage leaves, framing the prawns to look like kings. And kings they were, for they were HUGE! And yummy. the prawns are nicely cleaned and well-cooked, loved the sauce that coated it so generously which had bits of chilli and onions – a combination made in gastronomic heaven. As much as I loved it though, I was stuffed, and could not bear to go on for seconds. No surprise, my boyfriend went for about 4 helpings of prawns. There were a lot to spare after all, as he was seated on a table full of ladies.




The finisher for all main dishes came at long last – the XO fried rice with seafood. I love fried rice and I love anything that has XO sauce in it. This is simple and yet so comforting and divine. It is as perfectly made as any good fried rice can be made. Not too dry, not too wet either and a lovely balance of sauce and bits of seafood within, and I loved how it came with julienned cucumber and onions, which makes the pairing with the rice all the more fabulous. Not many people can make such a simple dish so stunning, you know.




After a short break of mingling and more photo taking, dessert arrived. Away from the usual sweet pastries, we have a warm bowl of soy bean with white fungus, lotus seed and ginkgo nuts. I love this, the soy bean is so smooth and to think it is homemade too! Chef Eddie mentioned that he only buys the freshest beans, and makes these with no sugar additives. The only thing that was added in later on before serving, was a bit of black sugar (sugar that is made with very little processing, and has a lot of health benefits). Whatever it is, this is a must try – it gives a very nice closing to the extravagant meal, and a nice warmth to the belly.




Later on, we burned off about 20 calories each with a Q&A session with Chef eddie and a quick photo op with everyone who came. There were a lot of shuffling around and cooing at the baby, as everyone were reeling in the post-food-coma-bliss. This is the result of a good meal.

Bloggers, friendly KLGCC hosts, baby and Chef.

That concludes the food tasting. There is a lot of different varieties of Chinese food that are popular in China Treasures, but there are also the little niche types of food (which are the real treasures of this restaurant) that you cannot find elsewhere as it is specially crafted by Chef Eddie and team. Everything is very well-made, taste and quality wise, you can expect no better from any stellar Chinese restaurant. Why not make this your (and your family's) gastronomic destination for the Lunar Year this 2015?

China Treasures
Location: East Wing, KLGCC
Operating Hours: Mondays-Sundays, 11.30am-2.30pm and 6.30pm-10.30pm
For reservations, call: 03-2011 9288