I know Chinese New Year isn't over yet, but I can't wait to share how the celebrations were! There's still plenty coming up, with the family reunion and mini gambling sessions with friends – but now, here's one CNY Luncheon that began the lunar new year with a big bang!

I was invited to Visiber's Chinese New Year Luncheon last Saturday and it was impressive how big a scale that luncheon was! Now, this was one event that anyone could spot from a mile away. Visiber and its surrounding vicinity was very well decorated and the amount of guests wearing bright & striking red? Innumerable.

With the creative web team 😀

who were in red as well!

What I liked most about it was although they did it in an elaborate manner -with tables and tables of delectable buffet food varieties, lion & tiger dances ON 12FEET HIGH STILTS, God of Prosperity mascots giving away AngPow packets, impeccable decorations and so on – they never steered one bit away from the gung ho festive spirit of Chinese New Year.

The bosses generously giving out AngPows to the guests 🙂

GONG XI FA CHAI!

HUATTT AHH!! 😀

Lots of merry making were seen at all corners and we could all feel the warmth and unity of the people in the house!

I initially wanted to wear my Cheongsam (Qipao) to the event – but unfortunately, the one I own was black! Not exactly appropriate to don black on a Chinese New Year celebration. It's a taboo apparently! So I settled with a red checkered blouse with a matching hair bow instead ! 😀

Brought my date along to the event as well – he came back to Malaysia for CNY 🙂

I was astonished when I caught sight of a few huge pieces of lamb being grilled by a fully uniformed Chef live before us all. Certainly did not expect to see that! Also, the chef was such a jolly good fellow!

When I 1st spotted him grilling the huge slab of something that resembled an animal, I asked,

"Is that pork? Or is that beef?"

"NO! IT'S A MEKK MEKK!"

he chuckled loudly with a twinkle in his eye.

From there, I instantly gathered that he meant mutton 🙂

There were lotsa satay too! Two lovely Malay ladies were busy behind the BBQ pit and the marinating bowls. Well, they're the ones behind the succulent and tasty satay. Glad that Visiber so smartly included these live grilling stations!

What year is this again according to the Chinese zodiac? If you didn't know then you must be living under a shell! Why, it's the Year of the Tiger of  course! And we significantly have a new member to the Lion Dance.

Oh hello, stripey one 🙂

Soon after, the Lion + Tiger Dance was at it – complete in choreography too! The year of the Tiger has it all 😀 It was really a combo performance, bursting with zest but not until they leaped to the sky high stilts to work their magic!

I reckon these peeps have been training all year to perform marvelous (not to mention, dangerous too!) acrobatic stunts.

As Visiber is very well known for their repertoire in numbers & numerology, how can they not have numerical cakes present for this CNY luncheon? I spotted lotsa adorable fluffy cakes with brightly colored numbers on top!

So cute 😀

Then it was time to do the Chinese New Year traditional rituals of prayers and burning notes in a large ceramic cauldron. Was pretty cool that the board of Directors and Department Heads were leading the other staff in doing this practice.

 I watched silently, but with keen interest from the sidelines as they read out vows and other mantras 🙂

It ended approximately at 3pm. Humid as the weather was, it didn't seem to scorch away the spirit of festivity. Happy Chinese New Year again to all my readers and do enjoy the remaining days of CNY! There's 15 days altogether, if you didn't already know

ROARR!

How didja spend yer Valentines Day dearies? In my entire life, this is the 1st time Val's Day clashes with the Lunar New Year. As expected, I spent my Vals-cum-CNY with the fockerfamily back in my hometown 😀 😀

Ya know the whole Vals Day thing where all the florists in town will be sold out of their best flowers n swanky restaurants with romantic atmosphere gets crowded like sardines in a can? Huge life-sized teddies will be seen everywhere and suddenly your man gets all sappy like never before.

Have u actually tried something new this Valentines? Prince Hotel & Residences had their version of Vals Day and I must say, I found it to be a very ingenious idea indeed! Their Valentines menu this time round, originated from the New Orleans. Head Chef DJ Pezar carefully planned and crafted out the recipes, and with his team, they managed to execute a really interesting menu and a themed concept!

But the star attraction wasnt only the fabulous menu, it was their whole Mardi Gras themed Valentines too! It certainly spiced up the evening of love, instead of just a boring sit-down dinner. How ingenious 🙂 The couples could have fun fooling around with the masks like we did too!

The tables and chairs were all well decorated with colorful beads, masks ala masquerades, cocktail feathers and all things Mardi Gras. Love the music being played too! They certainly know how to set the mood very very well, no?

TOP : Happy masquerade face!

BOTTOM : Sad masquerade face!

Eccucino in Prince Hotel & Residence never fails to keep me intrigued with their ice sculptures 🙂

Just fer extra info, the New Orleans cuisine is a style of cooking originating in the State of Louisiana (centered on New Orleans), U.S.A. which is a melting pot cuisine that blends French, Spanish, Caribbean, Mediterranean, Southern American, American Indian, and African influences. New Orleans cuisine can be divided into two types: Creole and Cajun. What is the difference between Creole and Cajun cooking? The easiest way is to think of them as city and country cooking.

Some of the signature dishes of New Orleans were featured at Eccucino and they were Seafood Jambalaya, Shrimp Creole, Baked Oysters, Seafood Bar,Bread Pudding, Boiled Crawfish, Pumpkin Soup, Gumbo, a Carving Station with Blackened Roast Beef, Action stalls, Icebars, an amazing host of desserts… and so much more I wouldn't be able to finish telling you in one blogpost! :D

Hmm… now what is everyone looking at? 😀

CHECK OUT THE GUMBO! Fresh, tasty and bursting with flavour is this sinful bowl of hot stew. Gumbo gumbo gumbo! It's a really thick soup also originating from Louisana and very popular in the US South. When I took a sip, the meaty aftertaste really lingers and leaves you wanting your 2nd spoonful!

Picture credits to bigboysoven

I especially liked the Seafood Jambalaya. Nice name too, huh? 🙂

Take a look.

That huge bowl contains so much yum! Looks like normal rice but hell it's NOT .
below is a close up version of it

SEAFOOOOOOOD JAMBALAYA!

Picture credits to bigboysoven

Just look at the huge and shrimps below! Pictures never do things justice but take my word for it 🙂

Picture Credits to bigboysoven 🙂

The Poached Sole Paupletted on Spicy Lemon Sage was so good that it was one of the quickest to be finished!

But fear not, the staff of Eccucino restocked the dishes soon enough 🙂

And while you're at it, perhaps you could bring a bottle of your fave booze 😀

Eccucino wasn't the only restaurant having great Valentines Menu. Enju Japanese Restaurant located on their 1st floor was also in heat of their love celebrations. Their dinner set menu of Seared Scallops, Bonito Sakae Soup, Beef Teppanyaki and more will leave every couple walking out with well satisfied appetites!

Creative Japanese origami were placed on the tables for decor as well.

I found a pair of swans on my table!

The Ahi Tuna Duo was a big hit. I bet you're wondering what that is. It's a combination of nori-crusted ahi with spicy tobiko aioli and freshly prepared ahi poke. Still can't imagine what they are? Well… if it helps, Ahi in the Hawaiian language means 'fire' whereas aioli means a mixture of garlic and oils.

There was a live demonstration of the Chef himself preparing it too!

Just like all fine dining would offer you, the portion was really small. Bite sized yo! Seriously, it's an effective way to train you up, gearing your appetite for more awesome bites throughout then night! Like they all say, good things comes in small portions 🙂 🙂

NOM NOM NOM.

oh wait. In this case, it's just – NOM. 😀 and you're done!

I just love such novel celebrations. Especially themed ones! It's so fun to doll up and look the part, all the the spirit of the occasion! And I'm glad this Valentines extravaganza did a good job at hyping the spirit of Vals Day… even if it clashes with Chinese New Year, there's nothing stopping a good event 😀

One thing's fer sure, I definitely enjoyed the whole Mardi Gras Masquerade thing going on

and the food? Perfect as always. What dya expect? It's Prince Hotel & Residences after all 🙂

How was yer Valentines? 😀

It’s only a few days to Chinese New Year! That being said, our gang of foodies were lucky enough to be sponsored for a Chinese New Year Cover Shot session, which was our very 1st Cheongsam photoshoot! It is safe to say this is something novel which no other team of food bloggers have done, a very creative brainchild by Sidney of BigBoysOven 🙂

Saucer, MeiYee, ME, Bok, Coco, Sunny and Xin

as models of the day

First and foremost, I would like to thank our venue & meal sponsor, House of Tangs in Bangsar, Carven Ong Couture as our wardrobe sponsor and BigBoysOven as our dessert & cupcakes sponsor. Without them, today wouldn’t have been made possible anyway!

Master Chef Koh then joined us right after he whipped out his Yee Sang specialty served especially for us by House of Tangs. Yee Sangs are a total must have during this Chinese New Year festive season. It’s a trademark yo!

Remember I mentioned to yall previously that the method of eating a Yee Sang isn’t exactly very dainty nor adhering to any table etiquette? Well.. this is it. Look at all the hungry tiger plushies! I guess their appetites ain’t as ravenous as ours. After a long day of shooting, we were certainly famished

Ladies gossiping and table chatting ala Hong Kong-Shanghai drama series

And the insanity streak in us begins! The higher the better! Prosperity, success, wealth and health will be roaring ahead for the year of the Tiger! Hit ’em up to the ceiling if you may! 😛

I swear if we were any stronger, bits and pieces of Yee Sang

would be flying all over the room

Check out what pastry chef Sunny Yaw cooked up this time! I don’t read Chinese characters but my two cents tells me it should be Gong Xi Fatt Chai (Happy Chinese New Year). The mini tiger cub heads popping outta the pink icing were such a squeeze! Such meticulously decorated cupcakes, very detailed indeed 😀

A very adorable set of brightly colored cupcakes!

His lovely creations are of course to commemorate the year of the Tiger.

After a while, we took our seats for the food shots and nomnom shots. Yes nomnom shots (as deemed by me) are shots that are taken while someone else is eating. Here’s a fine example of nomnoms at its finest 😛 😛

OMMMM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM

Remember my previous food review about the House of Tangs CNY menu? Yup, it IS that delicious. But ya know what the best part is? They allowed us to share with our readers some recipes of 3 out of their many signature dishes. Did you hear right? Of course, you did – because sharing is caring!

So as promised, here the recipes are. You could make mom or granny cook this at home for your reunion dinner! Pork Ribs – every non-muslim’s favorite! Tender and succulent, it’s impossible not to sink your teeth in it

Ingredients:
– Pork ribs 1kg
– Ginger in fine slices 20gm

Marinade:
– Garlic 1 spoon
– Oyster sauce 1 spoon
– Sugar 1/2 tea spoon
– Tapioca flour 1 tea spoon
– 1 egg

Sauce:
– Water 1 spoon
– Black vinegar 1 spoon
– Sugar 1 spoon
– Dark soy sauce a little bit
– Sesame oil a little bit

Steps:
1. Cut the pork ribs into square for about 2 inches, marinate with the ingredients above for 3 hours.
2. Place the pork ribs into pre-heated oven at 180c to bake for 15 mins till golden brown and cooked.
3. Deep dry the fine ginger slices in hot oil till crispy and place on top of the pork ribs, and pour the sauce over, and serve.

The next one imma share with yall is the prawn dish. Served in a small portion, it will leave you wanting for more! I certainly did, as it was only a mouthful 😀 can’t have enough? Nevermindddd… let’s get your folks at home to cook this too ey?

Ingredients A:
– 2 large prawns
– Huge cabbage 2 pcs
Note: Slice the prawns into half to butterfly shape, add a little salt and pepper to marinate for about 5 mins. Then fry the prawn till cooked.

Ingredients B:
– Carrot 20gm
– Enoki mushroom 20gm
– Mushroom 2 pcs
– Celery 20gm

Ingredients C:
– Chick peas 20gm
– Green peas 20gm
– Corn 20gm

Marinade:
– Garlic 1 tea spoon
– Oyster sauce 1 spoon
– Sugar 1/2 tea spoon

Steps:
1. Boil the cabbage till soft, sift and let dry.
2. Slice Ingredients B thinly, boil, and sift dry.
3. Sauteed the garlic and pour in the Ingredients B and stir fry.
4. Wrap the ingredients with cooked cabbage into roll, and cut half.
5. Sauteed Ingredients C with butter and add sugar 1/2 teaspoon and salt 1/2 teaspoon. Cook with medium fire for 3 mins and pour onto the plate.
6. Serve the prawn on top of the cabbage roll on the plate with Ingredients C.

It’s time for dessert! The famous Chinese traditional dessert comes in many varieties, among the notable ones are of course the Chrysanthemum Rice Cake.

Ingredients A:
– Boiled water 1.3kg
– Chrysanthemum 10gm
– Vietnamese Rice Net Wrappers 10 pcs

Ingredients B:
– Glutinous flour 1.2kg
– Tang flour 240gm
– Santan flour 1 pack
– Corn flour 240gm
– Cooking oil 120gm
– Sugar 600gm

Steps:
1. Boil the water, put in Chrysanthemum and let it soak for about 20 mins. Sift the Chrysanthemum and keep the water for use.
2. Mix Ingredients B then mix the Ingredients A evenly. Pour onto a plate and steam for 2 hours. Let it cool.
3. When it is cool, cut it into pieces and wrap with Vietnamese rice net wrappers. Deep fry till golden brown and serve.

Good luck cooking those at home!

Let’s hope your version is just as nice as the ones we had 🙂

By the end of the evening, we were more or less done. Thanks to the awesome team of photographers of the day. Ken, Andrew, Alex and Chai! Gracias to the 4 of you for being so patient with us and lugging your gear and lighting equipment, withstanding hours and hours of shooting us! Trust me, I know exactly how that feels 😉

AND ONCE AGAIN, THEJESSICAT.COM AND THE REST OF THE FOODIES

(my 1st time wearing a cheongsam wtf!)

WISHES ALL YOU DEARIES A SAFE TRIP BACK TO YER FAMILY THIS CHINESE NEW YEAR!

_{GONG XI FATT CHAI!}

_xoxo

Upon receiving an email from one of my foodie friends, I got to know that Kenny Rogers was going to hold a Red Day promotion for ONE DAY ONLY! Aptly called the Roasters Eating Day, any customer who walks in wearing red clothing/footwear/accessories will be entitled for a 'Buy One, Free One' deal.

Yup that's right! So if you come in with ANYTHING red, you'll be getting an extra Kenny's Quarter Meal Chicken set for your date. Sounds pretty simple actually, as they did not limit us to Red CLOTHES only. It's not difficult to have at least one item red on you, even if you happen to walk in by chance.

It can even be your fingernails or your (!!) underwear.

But the question is,

WILL IT BE AS INSANE AS SUSHI KING'S RM2 SUSHI BONANZA?

We're about to find out.

I headed down to the nearest Kenny Rogers outlet at 11.30 in the morning to people watch. The crowd slowly builds up as more and more red colored people came pouring in.

So smart! There were peeps with red belts, red earrings, red heels, red skirts & tops, red bags and RED TUDUNGS! For the gentlemen, I spotted a red tie, a red hanky (who carries hanky's anymore in the 21st Century!?), a red pen, a red shirt and so on.

The queue became massive as early as 12.15pm where large groups of people decked in red started storming in demanding the poor Kenny Rogers staff to seat their incomplete party. So unfair! Some of the patrons were even raising their voices at each other for not wearing red thus being NOT entitled for this promotion.

Well, all because they want to kick off the group in front of them so that they get their chance to eat first. I even observed a few patrons explaining to the staff that a certain weird shade of color was actually red IF YOU LOOK AT IT FROM THEIR POINT OF VIEW, or IF YOU LOOK AT IT UNDER THE SUN or IF YOU TURN IT THIS WAY AND THAT WAY.

*rolls eyes*

Yadda yadda yadda.

But lucky for me, I didn't have anything to worry about.

😛 😛 😛 Say what ya wanna say! But I'm still entitled! 😛

But anyway, is it so difficult to come with a red top? Heck, Chinese New Year is approaching and you didn't have A SINGLE RED ITEM in your closet, I've nothing to say 😛 but being a red fanatic, I have something to say – OHHHHMYYYYGODDD YOU MUST BE KIDDING MEEE!! -____-

While most people were already happily seated down enjoying their free extra lunch, the queue began to build enormously long. Even stretching out the the next outlet! The insane crowd at Kenny Rogers drew stares from all the shoppers of The Curve. There were even peeps asking around about what the entire commotion was about.

By 1pm, the staff had to prepare extra tables and chairs to extend the seatings! There was completely no more room for any more dine-in customers. FULL HOUSE YO!  Check out the security guards on standby to supervise the situation

See? All those were extra tables and chairs so everyone is happy!

 I applaud Kenny Rogers for having a good contingency plan for back up

Okay, now that you've seen how competitive, eager or kiasu Malaysians can be, Imma let you in on a little secret. Are you ready?

Promise not to laugh.

😀

😀

hush hush, kay? 😀

😀

😀

OKAY, HERE GOES!

The reason I was there at 11.30am wasn't entirely to people watch nor to tweet live from there. It was for a faaarr more kiasu reason that I was actually right there to witness everything.

I was there to have my lunch 😛

Some time back, a group of friends decided to check out a newly opened restaurant called the Kitchen Creatures… and I was one of them to storm the place for the 1st time! Such a perky name, methinks. It was opened approximately 2 months ago – fairly new 🙂

Loved how notepaper-ish their menu resembled

Heck, it was really catchy too! Try reading it when you get there

I took a liking to their concept of a No Frills Dining. Nothing too fancy-pancy, yet delivers the bare necessities every hungry person yearns for. Food at no extra cost. This means, you’re only paying for your meals – NO GOVERNMENT TAXES, NO SERVICE CHARGES AND ETCETERA.

But tipping is certainly welcome! 🙂

The restaurant owner explaining to us what we’re in for

And his brother, looking very vexed as he tries to avoid any camera that points his way

😛 😛

We mingled around for a bit and took pretty pictures of the cosy and home-like outlet. Heck, there was even a Spiderman poster all framed up against the brick wall! And a chalkboard hung from the top.. pretty old skool ey!

The first appetizer came – it was Stuffed Mushrooms on the house specially for us! Such sweethearts, no? 🙂 Perhaps it’s their method of a warm welcome. We were given plenty of these.

Was warm and juicy!

After skimming through all the food in the menu, I placed my dime upon the Carbonara Spaghetti. A personal favorite since childhood. And lookie here! A reasonably portioned plate of pasta of my choice arrived quite quickly with a couple of mussels and fresh shrimps too!

Certainly exceeding my expectations for the price that comes with it!

Apart from the Carbonara Spaghetti, there were many variants of our favorite pasta. Someone else at the table ordered Oglio Olio, which came with succulent shrimps as well.

Pretty soon, more yummy delights came a-knocking at our gastronomic gates! Similarly, the pizza was also specially made by Kitchen Creatures just for us. Soft melted cheese baked with a crunchy base no one could resist! They had a few toppings that came along with it too.

The other main courses that the rest ordered came in a jiffy too. The Monster Platter consisting of fried shrimp, calamari rings, mushrooms, fried chicken wings and nachos was a real combo! You certainly will not expect this for the price you’re forking out… more than what you bargained for!

Clockwise : Sirloin Steak, Monsterized Burger, Monster Platter and Bolognese Spaghetti

Here’s a clearer photograph of the Monsterized Burger. It sure looked good but unfortunately I didn’t take a bite then. Now, this comes next on my list the next time I patronize Kitchen Creatures!

I liked how the Chicken and Mushroom Pie came in such bite-sized pieces! There was mash potatoes accompanying it too. Being a huge fan of pastries, I must say that these babies were relatively fulfilling 😀 Kudos!

All carnivores, raise yer hands!

Can’t exactly remember what this was or who ordered it… but it looks pretty satisfying to me!

A good mixture of meat, veggies and pasta 🙂

After all that warm good meaty aftertaste, it’s good to flush them all down with some ice-cold drinks. Check out the Slimey George! It’s a mixture of  Sprite + Ribena + Lemon. Mocktail much? 😀 The color that accompanied that concoction was really interesting too

On my end, I ordered a real fizzy float with ice-cream!

Loved it <3

And that’s not all! Someone else ordered soup, and it arrived in due time as well. What a huge plate! It looks thick and rich, reminds me of beef stew! The noms 😀

Soup’s never complete without a couple of garlic bread aye?

Simple but sinfully good as all toasted garlic breads are 😀

We’re doing good so far! No complaints at all. Very good and quick service, witty staff, reasonably delicious food but most importantly, WORTH EVERY PENNY YOU’RE PAYING FOR!

Happy faces signifies a happy meal 😀

Check out Rames’ face in the photo below! Imagine the glimmer in his eyes when more pizza came our way 😛 Whooops! Gotcha right there! 🙂 Or… were u looking at something else? *wiggles eyebrow*

Was nice of Ellie to ask me out for this too! 🙂

Check out Jason’s face as he munches through his Monsterized Burger!

All in all, it was a very pleasant dining experience! I would certainly recommend this to anyone planning to indulge in good food without having to make your wallets echo the next day. Perfect for a simple meal and even more perfect for that huge gathering of friends!

Come grab some cheeeeze yo 😀

Regrettably I have to inform you since mid-2015, Kitchen’s Creatures in Centrepoint, Bandar Utama has permanently shut down 🙁