Review: Auspicious Beginnings at the Utara Coffee House, Armada Hotel PJ

"Auspicious Beginnings" is the theme for Armada Hotel Petaling Jaya's Chinese New Year menu! With CNY less than a month away, I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss out on starting the new year with greater successes, favors, & prosperities.

With an array of decadent CNY dishes in the buffet line, specially thought through & whipped up by Chef Chew & his team, you can be sure to find yourself enjoying a wide variety of "auspicious" dishes this CNY at the Utara Coffee House. Among the many dishes available are the Treasure Hot Pot/"Poon Choy" (both non-vegetarian & vegetarian versions are available), Braised Seafood Soup, Deep-Fried Whole Fish with 'Cheong Cheng' Sauce, Wok-Fried Lamb Steak with Honey Perrin Sauce, Glutinous Rice with Smoked Chicken & 'Kam Heong' Crabs to name a few!

The CNY spread is available from 4th January - 20th February 2016 as part of the Reunion Buffet Dinner at RM78.00++/adult, RM55.00++/senior citizen & RM39.00++/child.

More often than not, celebrating CNY without the presence of "yee sang" seems somewhat unusual, so, of course you'll find a good variety of "yee sang" available at the Utara Coffee House for you to toss to a better year ahead with your family & friends :) You can opt for their Fruitti Veggie Yee Sang (vegetarian), Salmon, Hokkaido Scallops, Soft-Shell Crabs, or Butterfish Yee Sang with prices starting from RM65.00++/portion.

Condiments for the 'yee sang', which includes pistachios *yums*

Prosperity Yee Sang with Butterfish

We had this for our review & I thought the team were quite creative to serve the 'yee sang' in the shape of a tortoise, which symbolizes longevity/long life.

Toss higher! 'Lou hei'!

Diners who would prefer to indulge in set menus won't be disappointed as well as Chef Chew & his team have specially prepared 4 spectacular Prosperity Set Menus (minimum 10 persons to a table) for your enjoyment:

Blissful Longevity Set Menu - RM 978.00+
Everlasting Success Set Menu - RM 1,088.00+
Bountiful Treasures Set Menu - RM 1,198.00+
Golden Health & Prosperity Set Menu - RM 1,308.00+

Below are some highlights of the buffet spread. Have an auspicious new year ahead!

Chinese New Year Cold Cuts

Fresh prawns with orange segments & sesame mayo - LOVE the artsy display!

Feels like a wedding dinner :D

Treasure Hot Pot/"Poon Choy"

A variety of seafood, meat & vegetables, all cooked in 1 pot, layer by layer - the end result/broth tastes fantastic!

Vegetarian "Poon Choy"

This was my 1st time trying the vegetarian version. I'm not a great fan of vegetarian dishes, but this was quite interesting for a change ;)

Braised Seafood Soup

You'll like fish, crab meat, crabsticks, scallops & shrimps/prawns in the same pot of goodness. I found it not thick enough, but those who prefer a soup that has less 'starch' will enjoy this.

Steamed Lotus Glutinous Rice with Smoked Chicken

It lacks the aroma of pork lard, but it's not too bad for a halal version that even Muslim friends can enjoy it together with their Chinese friends.

Chinese Longevity Noodles

This is my 1st time tasting such different type of noodle for a longevity noodles dish. It's more soya-based & tastes like ramen/thinner udon - very smooth but bland on its own, so you really need to rely on the gravy for the flavor.

  

Stir-Fried Cauliflower with Lotus Root & Brocolli 

"Kam Heong" Crabs

A buffet that serves you fragrant, wok-fried "Kam Heong" crabs for CNY? You must not miss this!

Roasted Chicken with Sesame Sauce *yums*

Fried Prawns with Coconut Butter Flakes

It's a spin-off from the usual butter prawns with another layer of texture & fragrance of the grated coconut. I didn't fancy this compared to the other dishes, but those who love prawns + coconut can load-up on these at the buffet line.

Deep-Fried Fish with 'Cheong Cheng' Sauce

Flavorful, but it didn't feel very CNY to me somehow...haha...I'm very picky, I know :P My family has spoilt me with the annual home-cooked CNY dishes...

Wok-Fried Lamb Steak

Which CNY buffet line serves lamb? You can count on the Utara Coffee House to surprise you ;)

Dessert: Rainbow Tong Yuen

I was quite surprised to find 'tong yuen' for CNY, but the kitchen team wanted something symbolic yet different for CNY, so they placed this on the menu as it signifies unity, togetherness & harmony. It's quite an interesting dessert, I've to say. Being a 'tong yuen' fan, I'm very particular with the texture of my 'tong yuen' as it has to be chewy yet soft & not slimy. Chew Chef & his team nailed it! I LOVED the 'tong yuen' here!

Somewhat too 'rainbow' for me, but the texture is too hard to resist!

The only thing that I found over-powering was the ginger soup; there was WAY too much 'heat'!

Dessert: "Nian Gao" - a typical CNY dessert

Dessert: Shanghai Pancakes

A very Chinese dessert where you'll find mostly at wedding dinners, but hey, you can enjoy it this CNY at the Utara Coffee House!

For reservations or queries on their CNY specials, please contact:
Utara Coffee House
Hotel Armada Petaling Jaya
Lot 6, Lorong Utara C, Section 52
46200 Petaling Jaya
Selangor.
Tel: (+603) 7954 6888, ext 4557
Email: armada@armada.com.my
FB: http://www.facebook.com/HotelArmadaPJ
URL: http://www.armada.com.my/


Looking forward to CNY,