Lai Ching Yuen @ Grand Millenium Hotel KL: Tapas the Oriental Way

Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant at Grand Millenium Hotel Kuala Lumpur proudly presents XiaoShi Ba, a special menu that showcases a series of tapas delight Chinese style. The name, Xiaoshi Ba or 小食吧, lives up to its meaning of “bar snack” in Chinese. Therefore most items come in small portion, with reasonable price below RM18 for the 12 selections available.

Man Tao with Chili Crab Sauce 辣椒蟹醬拼饅頭 RM12

No Chili Crab, but sauce of it, plus half a dozen of deep fried man tao to douse with. Glad that the thick, creamy sauce still manages to shine even without sweetness of crabs. It is thick, creamy, tomato-ish, mildly spicy with smooth egg drop swirled in.

Salt & Pepper Tofu Squares 椒鹽豆腐 RM12

Mini cubic tofu coated with salt and pepper. We popped it into our mouth one after another so we couldn’t say it wasn’t addictive.

Crispy Bean Curd with Chef Yu’s Special Powder 香辣脆豆腐 RM12

This snack shares some similarity with Salt & Pepper Tofu, but more texture, less salty and enhanced with spiciness from chilli.

Fried US Fresh Oyster with Tangy Sauce 酸甜炸生蠔 RM12/pcs

Another deep fried item – US Fresh Oyster. Topped with tangy sweet sauce to please. Decent but better if Lai Ching Yuen Xiaoshi Ba menu can have a choice of raw oyster.

Soft Shell Crab & Vegetables Fritters 香炸軟殼蟹菜餅 RM28

This dish reminds us about Japanese Kakiage when serve Looks alike physically, vary in taste of course as soft shell crab denotes meatiness, adding texture to the already crispy fritters.

Salted Egg Yolk Crispy Fish Skin 金沙脆魚皮 RM18

 Fish skin incorporated with one of the most-talked about sauce in town recently – salted egg yolk. It doesn’t disappoint, crunchy crackling, fulled with salted egg yolk and aroma of curry leave. Undoubtedly our top pick in Grand Millennium KL Xiaoshi Ba menu.

Lotus Root Chips 脆炸蓮藕片 RM12

Something good to munch on while having a drink and chatting with friends.

Chinese Black Pepper Snails 黑椒法國螺 RM18

Black Pepper Snails, an idea that calls for a difference with French version escargot which is normally loaded with herbs, garlic and butter. Interesting sauce to pair with snails, but we still prefer having black pepper sauce to stir fried with Australian beef slices, or chicken chunks.

Australian Scallop Wrapped in Bacon 帶子金錢肉 RM18/ pcs

We will have few plates of this Australian Scallop if budget allowed. Really delicious – compliments for both the seafood and sauce. Big and juicy scallop, rolled with bacon and dressed in thick brown colour sauce. Besides serving as tapas, we personally felt that it deserves a place in Lai Ching Yuen dim sum menu too. LOL

Pumpkin Fritters 香脆金瓜 RM12

Soft, creamy pumpkin with contrasting texture jacketed with a layer of batter, deep fried for crunchy.

Braised Pork Belly Mini Sandwich 迷你虎咬豬 RM12

Now who says you can’t have Braised Pork Belly Pau as tapas? It’s all available now at Lai Ching Yuen, one of the KL most popular Chinese restaurants! A slice of braised till melt-in-mouth fat layer and fork tender meat, beautifully sandwiched within chef’s handmade bun. It is definitely less greasy having in mini sandwich style, but the braised pork belly was so good that we greedily hope to have it “bun-less”!

Chinese Pork Sausage Corn Dogs  特色炸豬腸 RM18

 Our Xiaoshi Ba review ended with something more basic – Chinese Pork Sausage Corn Dogs. Basically meaty sausage, wrapped in bread and deep fried to golden brown. Crispy, chewy at the outside, helmed with smoky flavour of pork sausage.

In short, besides dim sum in the morning, Chinese ala-carte dishes for lunch and dinner, now you have more reason to visit Lai Ching Yuen at night with the launch of all these mini dishes which are great to go with drinks. Salted Egg Yolk Crispy Fish Skin and Man Tao with Chili Crab Sauce are our favourite.

Photohrapher: Summerkid
Write-up: Summergirl

Address:
Lai Ching Yuen Chinese Restaurant
Grand Millennium Hotel (Opposite Pavilion KL)
160, Jalan Bukit Bintang,
Bukit Bintang, 55100
Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia.
Contact:+603 – 2117 4888
Opening Hours: 12pm – 2:30pm; 6:30pm – 10pm