WE are celebrating Mid-Autumn Bliss not with mooncakes, but the South African Abalone Treasure Bowl at Elegant Inn Hong Kong Cuisine in Kuala Lumpur.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for get-togethers with family and friends. The feasting has begun at this restaurant, which is offering a five-course menu that teases and pleases with every dish.

We got off to a happy start with the Silky Egg White with Bird’s Nest, paired with Pan-Seared Pork Tongue, and Marinated Black Ear Fungus and Snow Fungus.

The egg white is soft and velvety, full of umami from being gently cooked with superior stock and powdered Chinese ham. The cloud of bird’s nest on top adds to its sumptuousness.

The pork tongue looks like dark chocolate on a skewer. The cubes of tongue are soaked in a dark, subtly spiced marinade before being seared. The tongue has a meaty, almost liver-like texture, and boasts a rich, complex flavour.

The two types of marinated fungus, served in a glass, offer a pleasant diversion.

Double-boiled soups are Elegant Inn’s forte. No one does it quite like this place. The soups are double-boiled for four to six hours, fully drawing out the flavours of their abundant ingredients, and making there no need for additional seasonings.

The Double-Boiled Soup with Deer Tendon, Dried Conch, Dried Scallops, Black Chicken and Murrill Mushrooms is soul-satisfying. The fine balance of ingredients results in a sweet aftertaste. The soup is made complete with spongy fish maw.

Poon Choy, a celebratory dish, is usually served during Chinese New Year, but we had it for this dinner, in the South African Abalone Treasure Bowl. It is lavishly layered: on top are South African abalones, roast duck, sea prawns, mushrooms and broccoli. Beneath are pork trotter and cartilage, radish and white cabbage, sitting in a delicious stock.

We enjoyed the abalones, which have a fuller lip and more bite. When sliced, they reveal a tong sum, or caramel, centre.

The roast duck is excellent, with a smoky skin and tender, succulent meat. We savoured the large sea prawns, mushrooms and broccoli before uncovering more treasures.

The pork cartilage practically melts in the mouth. I loved the juicy radish and white cabbage, plumped up with the scrumptious stock.

The Claypot Rice with Garoupa Fillet, HK Dried Prawns and Tung Choy is another main course.

Stir up the hot rice with the moist fish slices fried with tung choy, or preserved vegetables, and har kon, or whole dried prawns, and lovely aromas waft up. The rice bursts with flavour from the fish and dried prawns. We couldn’t resist scraping up the crust at the bottom of the pot.

For dessert, we had the Teochew-Style Tau Suan with Crunchy Sea Cucumber and Black Gold Custard Bun.

Tau suan is a sweet broth with split peas, usually served with yu tiao, or Chinese cruellers. The crunch in this tau suan comes from small pieces of deep-fried, lightly battered sea cucumber. Make sure to have the sea cucumber with each spoonful.

The Mid-Autumn Bliss menu is available until September 30. It is priced at RM888 for four people, RM1,288 for six and RM2,138 for 10.

Elegant Inn also serves choice Hong Kong dim sum and a la carte dishes daily.

The restaurant is located on the second floor of Menara Hap Seng in Jalan P. Ramlee, Kuala Lumpur. It can be reached at 03-2070-9399. – September 7, 2019.

* Eu Hooi-Khaw has been writing about food for the longest time, covering all aspects, from restaurant reviews to cooking and recipes, as well as the healthy side of it. She has written for major newspapers and magazines, published the cookbook Fresh Ingredients, and also writes for her website hooikhawandsu.com.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.