First Yee Sang @ Golden Phoenix, Hotel Equatorial, KL

Chinese New Year is coming and "Yee Sang" is being served at most restaurants around Malaysia! For people who don't know Yee Sang (Yu Sheng), it is a raw fish salad that is served during Chinese New Year as an appetizer symbolizing prosperity and good health in Malaysia and Singapore.



It is also one of my favorite dishes and I had my first Yee Sang this year in Golden Phoenix Restaurant at Hotel Equatorial. Every restaurant tends to have their own version of Yee Sang comprising a home made plum sauce dressing and an assortment of shredded pickled and non-pickled vegetables. Despite all the different versions, for me a good Yee Sang must always have extra nuts, crackers and sesame seeds which was what we requested at Golden Phoenix.



We ordered the Salmon Yee Shang came beautifully decorated with the vegetables and is finished off at the table where our waiter would marinade the raw salmon with lime, pepper and five spice powder, pour the plum dressing and oil and finally all the crispy crackers!




Next we used our huge chopsticks and tossed our Yee Sang ushering in the New Year and wishing for Prosperity and Good Heath!



The Yee Sang at Golden Phoenix was pretty good! It wasn't too sweet nor sour and the different ingredients gave it a really aromatic flavor not to mention the extra crunch from the crispy crackers!




Our main courses soon followed with the silky smooth Braised Tofu. The oyster sauce was light and was nice with the tofu.




We also ordered their Crispy Chicken with Onion Sauce. I really liked the onion sauce which tasted like a combination of black vinegar, fried onions and sugar. The chicken was very moist but it definitely wasn't crispy.




Our waitress recommended the Spare Ribs in a Chef Special Sauce which was a little disappointing. The ribs tasted a little like Char Siew but without the charred caramelized flavor which I would have preferred.




Preserved Meat with Rice came and it wasn't as good as before. The preserved meat particularly Lap Cheong was good but the rice was disappointing. It was way too soggy for my liking.




We were stuffed by the end of our meal but were given a fruit platter. Overall the food was not bad but it wasn't as good as last year especially the Preserved Meat with Rice. The entire meal cost around RM450 including tips and taxes.



Food: 3.5/5
Service: 4/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Price: $$ (Approx USD $19 per person)


Contact Information
Address: Jalan Sultan Ismail 50250 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Tel: +60 3 2161 7777
Fax: +60 3 2161 9020
Email: info@kul.equatorial.com
Web: www.equatorial.com/kul/