A JAPANESE dinner of a Hokkaido snow crab nabe hot pot with good company would be just the thing for me on Christmas Eve.

That was what I made a beeline for when Kampachi in EQ Kuala Lumpu laid out a Christmas spread, featuring signature festive specials from every outlet.

It was a cool evening, and this lovely hot clear soup with meaty snow crab leg, clam, leek, and a plump shiitake mushroom made me feel warm inside.

The snow crab hot pot is on the premium a la carte dinner menu for Christmas Eve at Kampachi. There is also premium a la carte sukiyaki courses, a beefy kind of “hot pot”.

Then there was the raclette cheese melted under a salamander and scraped onto my plate as an appetiser, complete with onion and gherkin pickles and a new potato.

I added to this rosti, a crusty Swiss potato pancake and creamy mushrooms usually served with veal.

You will encounter these at the Swiss-themed Chalet Christmas Day buffet lunch at Sabayon, at RM305 per person.

Roast turkey, roast prime rib with Yorkshire pudding, and beef Wellington were irresistible at this festive spread.

I had a slice of the roast Brazilian turkey, which was nice and juicy. I also had a slice of meat from the slow-roasted beef prime rib and dredged the soft Yorkshire pudding in the sauce. That was good.

There was the excellent beef tenderloin Wellington with morel sauce and mixed vegetables that would do well as takeaway for a Christmas dinner or lunch.

Etoile presented a festive platter of tomahawk steak, lobster, chicken wings, and Yorkshire pudding.

The baked dill-crusted barramundi from Nipah with a salt crust served with a tangy chimichurri sauce and tomato salsa was a welcome break from meat. 

A smoked Norwegian salmon platter and chicken terrine made for cold nibbles at Bottega, together with the intriguing crabmeat thimble in black cone and duck breast focaccia.

Sweetly pleasing were the apple cinnamon chill cheesecake and dark chocolate cranberry salted caramel encased in red gift boxes.

For me, a must for Christmas is the panettone, a buttery, pillowy Italian sweet bread studded with dried fruits. I enjoyed a slice of it.

This, together with gingerbread, stollen, and other desserts, had us asking for coffee. Eggnog and sweet, mulled wine had been passed around at the start in the spirit of the season.

The Christmas goodies all through December will spill over into the New Year. For information, visit www.eqkualalumpur.equatorial.com. – December 16, 2023.

* 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.