Since the opening of the DoubleTree by Hilton Shah Alam i-City in July last year, I’d been waiting for an opportunity to visit this brand-new hotel. I was therefore over the moon to receive an invite to come and join a festive meal for Chinese New Year at their restaurant Makan Kitchen!
The road to Shah Alam seems long, coming from the vicinity of KLCC, but we avoided all major traffic jams by taking the DASH. Parking at the hotel is super easy; the car park is well-lit and not steaming hot like some other parking areas. After taking the lift up to the first floor, we entered the stylish and cozy Makan Kitchen. An energetic and pleasant vibe immediately caught our attention, and we were looking forward to spending a few lovely hours at this place.
A vibrant yee sang celebration
While admiring the stunning dishes at the buffet, we were offered a nice sparkling wine-based cocktail. Not bad for starters! Soon after, we attended a very lively and cheerful yee sang celebration. One of the F&B managers read out the different well-wishing messages with each ingredient that was added to the large yee sang plates. In we went with our chop sticks; I simply can never get enough of throwing all this deliciousness high up in the air!
We sampled a bit of the lovely yee sang – fresh and crisp – and continued to the buffet, after an enthusiastic explanation from one of the chefs about the several dishes available that evening. One of the tables displayed a few amazing looking salads and I was told that the greens for these come from a farm nearby in Shah Alam where they grown organic vegetables. Spendid!
Superb with a capital ‘S’
The passion for hospitality and pleasant vibes that we already felt at the start of the night, seemed to transmit into the food. ‘Superb’ is an adjective that still doesn’t cover the quality of the food we tried this evening.
Indian corner first, and I covered my plate with chicken biryani, chicken tikka, butter mutton and a few condiments, as well as papadum. Magnificent and hats off to the chef flown in from Sabah, who created this part of the feast.
Next up was the Chinese corner and to say I was overwhelmed by the choices available there, is an understatement. Peking duck, roasted chicken, vegetables, dim sum, all was freshly cooked and a delight to look at, let alone to eat!
Mains, desserts, and back to mains
Did I hear angels sing when I tried the poached grouper? Simply delicious, with four different kinds of sauces to accompany, the tasty fish was one of my favourite dishes that night.
My plus-one wholeheartedly agreed with me; however, he also was a big fan of the fresh seafood counter. He reckoned the prawns were super fresh and sweet to the taste. No wonder he didn’t have much space left for dessert.
Me on the other hand went for the sweets corner as soon as possible – nothing wrong with an in-between piece of cake, right? I tried the mini chocolate treats as well as the pink strawberry cake. It was hard not to come back for seconds…
If anything puts DoubleTree by Hilton Shah Alam i-City (even more so) on the map, it’s Makan Kitchen. The quality of the food, the attention of the staff and the atmosphere are second to none. A bit far out? You’ll regret not going there!
Useful info
Chinese New Year buffets at Makan Kitchen:
- CNY Eve Dinner from 21 – 23 January, priced at RM188 nett
- CNY High-Tea | 21 – 23 January, priced at RM148 nett
- Chap Goh Mei Dinner on 5 February, priced at RM168 nett
For bookings and more information, call 03 5650 0200 or head over to the hotel’s website here.
Looking for more exciting meals to celebrate Chinese New Year? Have a look at our listicle here!
We were invited by DoubleTree by Hilton Shah Alam i-City. As always, our opinion is honest and our own.
