I have been looking for a Halal dim sum in Johor Bahru and finally made it to Kai Xuan restaurant at Hotel Puteri Pacific today. Kai Xuan is a good Chinese restaurant to bring and to recommend to my Muslim friends. Puteri Pacific hotel is just 10 minutes' walk from City Square shopping centre.
The decor, ambiance and cleanliness were excellent as befitting a restaurant in a Five Star hotel. The service was attentive, though I must say that this was a relatively quiet Monday noon.
This is the whole dim sum list. We just tick what we want, and it will be prepared and served steaming hot. The dim sum at Kai Xuan is served a la carte buffet style. For RM36++ for adults and RM18++ for children, we can enjoy "all you can eat" Halal dim sum.
While waiting for our orders to arrive, we were served this little dish of fried and diced tofu appetiser. I picked a little piece to nibble, out of curiosity. It was good! Tangy and savoury, just perfect to "open the stomach" as they say in Chinese.
Here are what we had today.
Chee cheong fun with prawn fillings. The prawns were bouncy and fresh, and the "fun" skin was soft and thin.
Shark fin siew mai dumpling. No real shark fin, of course - which is a good thing :)
Crystal prawn dumpling. I like plump, juicy fresh prawns.
Though not very photogenic, the Mango Seafood Roll was my favourite. Fresh mango and fresh shrimps wrapped and fried in savoury skin are a great combination.
Deep fried prawn bean curd rolls.
Deep fried prawn bean curd rolls come with nice mayonnaise dip.
Crab Roe Siew Mai. Meaty and solid, but I am not really a fan of the filling type of dim sum.
Dim sum uses a lot of prawns and Kai Xuan had taken a lot of care to ensure that this key ingredient is done well. The prawns in Kai Xuan's dim sum had that bounciness and taste that come with fresh plump prawns that are prepared skilfully. Order all their prawn items, they're done right.
As I was keen to know the people behind all these delicious dim sum, I asked restaurant manager Joanne for permission to photograph the dim sum Chef at work. Joanne graciously gave me the green light. (Thanks! Joanne.) Mdm Wong had been the dim sum Chef at Kai Xuan for over 20 years. Mdm Wong shared that she learnt her craft from the Hong Kong sifu (master) when Kai Xuan first started serving dim sum 20 years ago.
While enjoying Kai Xuan's dim sum, I actually wondered for a moment, what took me so long before I tried this? No kidding.
For another take and more on Kai Xuan's dim sum, here is the interesting post from Harris Chai of The Simplest Aphrodisiac blog.
For good quality dim sum in a Five Star hotel and "all you can eat" at RM36++ for adults and RM18++ for children, I believe that this is the best dim sum deal in Johor Bahru.
Restaurant name: Kai Xuan Chinese Restaurant (in The Puteri Pacific Hotel)
Address: Level B1, The Puteri Pacific Hotel, Jalan Abdullah Ibrahim, Johor Bahru
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/4xcgl
GPS: 1.460787,103.762097
Hours: a la carte Dim Sum buffet is served 11:30am to 2:15pm on Mon to Sat, 8:30am to 2:15pm on Sunday
Certified Halal
Date visited: 28 Jan 2013
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