IT may not be Chinese New Year, but there’s still a reason to toss a salad of soft-shell crabs, crispy enoki mushrooms, fruits, and vegetables, all beautifully arranged like yee sang.

A sesame sauce with wasabi is drizzled over, and we dig in with our chopsticks, stirring everything together.

This grand starter dish is part of a special set menu curated by six master chefs from the Oriental Group of restaurants to celebrate its 25th anniversary.

We were at Noble Mansion in Petaling Jaya, where this dish was presented to garner good vibes for the rest of the year.

The sesame dressing had the zing of wasabi, and besides the soft-shell crabs and enoki, there were jellyfish, pear, ice plants, rose apple, cucumber, and peanuts. It was delightful.

An incredible aroma accompanied the double-boiled soup, with superior bird’s nest stuffed in chicken, as it was brought to the table. The chicken was plumped up with the bird’s nest, or “kam see yin,” inside. Each of us had a good portion of the bird’s nest in the soup, together with bamboo pith and ginkgo nuts. The soup left a gummy feel on the lips, and the combination of the bird’s nest with the chicken was a luxurious treat.

The deluxe roast suckling pig platter featured Iberico pork wrapped around goose liver sausage and spring onion, covered with sauce, and sitting on a mantou. It was completed with a crispy roast pork skin on top. I crunched on the skin, savouring the yummy meat with the aromatic goose liver sausage, with the mantou serving as a wrap.

The braised whole five-head abalones with dried seafood in whole lotus root was a culinary masterpiece. It featured two lotus root “boats” that had been braised for about five hours overnight, then stuffed with goodies like grilled octopus, Japanese dried scallops, chicken meat, and diced mushrooms that had been pre-cooked. The dish was given a final braising in the boat, with abalones on the side. I enjoyed the crunchy bite of the lotus root, the dried seafood, the abalones, and the flavourful braising sauce that brought everything together.

The next savoury dish – taro pears with kurobuta pork – could have been mistaken for dessert in its lavish presentation. The deep-fried taro pears sat on a “tree” with red spoons of pickles of radish, leek heads, and cherry tomatoes beneath. The crispy taro pears gave way to creamy yam with a tasty Kurobuta pork filling. The pickles served as a balance to the richness of the “pears.”

Braised ramen with king prawn was served in an orangey winey broth tinged with prawn oil. The broth had a slight bitter edge from the chiu hing chow in it but tasted good with the ramen.

Almond cream with egg white, jade corn dessert, and green tea mochi were the sweet endings to this meal. I loved the almond cream. The green tea mochi was delicate and good. The skin of the Jade corn dessert with pandan lotus filling was a little thick.

This eight-course grand dinner menu for 10 costs RM3888++. It is available at Ruyi on August 20, Tang Room on August 21, Oriental Star on August 27, and The Han Room on  August 28.

The dishes will also be available al la carte in all the restaurants in the Oriental Group.

Noble Mansion is at Plaza 33, Jalan Professor Khoo Kay Kim, Seksyen 13, Petaling Jaya. Call 03 7032 3288, for enquiries. – August 17, 2024.

* 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.