Dinner at Lai Po Heen @ Mandarin Oriental

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Said to be one of the places that serves the finest Cantonese Chinese dishes, Lai Po Heen at Mandarin Oriental, a 5-star hotel that needs no introduction was our choice of restaurant for that night's family reunion dinner. Easily one of the most elegant and luxurious Chinese restaurant that I've dine in.
As you walk in, you'll see an open kitchen where chefs can be seen showcasing their skills.
We started off with one of their highlighted dish, Peking Duck. The duck skin was almost perfect but somehow, I like it crispier and it's meat are tender. A good kick off to wet my appetite.
Their Deep Fried Boneless Chicken with Lemon Sauce (RM43) was everyone's favourite that we even ordered another one. This classic Chinese dish that was given a tweak or two had definitely brought my bar for lemon chickens up to the peak!

The sauce was the most memorable and had Wow-ed me for a few good seconds.  It has this mixture of mild and robust flavour, hitting all the right spots that are hard to describe. You can tell by the colour of it that it's not your ordinary artificial tasting lemon chicken sauce. Every piece of chicken is perfectly fried till crunchy. However, I think I'm used to having a 2:1 ratio of meat to skin when it comes to fried chicken that I find their chicken the "less meaty" side.
The Bean Curd, braised in Seafood and Oyster sauce in claypot (RM53) was also quite good. A comfort food to go with your rice or noodle. 
Another favourite was the fried rice with duck which apparently wasn't on the menu. Full with wok hei and easily one of the better fried rice I've tasted.
Sliced Beef Tenderloin, wok fried with fried garlic, wild fungus and SzeChuan chilli oil (RM115). I don't eat beef so I can't give my comment on it. Dad said that the meat is really tender, not as spicy as it looks and all in all a great dish!
You know how some dishes can be so simple yet you can't seem to stop eating it? Their Hong Kong Style E Fu Noodles that are braised with crab meat, yellow chive, bean sprouts and straw mushrooms (RM60) is definitely one of them! Noodles were tangy, cooked al dente and silky smooth but the taste was quite rather insipid. They were really generous with the crab meats. Just look at my tiny bowl! It is full with chunky crab meats that are really fresh and tender. I don't normally eat seafood but I could tell that fine crab meats were used.
Their seafoods are claim to be live and fresh and are all priced based on the daily market. We had the steamed fish with candied garlic and ginger in soy sauce. I find it alright but dad kept commenting on how good the sauce is. 
Another dish that made it's appearance twice on the table was the Causeway Bay Style String Beans, wok fried with minced chicken, dried shrimps and garlic hot bean paste (RM43).
Their Mango Puree with palm seed, pomelo and vanilla ice-cream (RM19) was however a disappointment. It's watery and tastes insipid. 
Lai Po Heen is also known for their durian pancakes (RM41). We could already smell it from far when the waiter was bringging it out. Fresh durians and whipped cream wrapped in thin crepes. I love the ratio of the crepes to the fillings. Cooling, fresh, satisfactions. All in all, the best (local) dessert to wrap up a wonderful dinner. 

OVERALL VERDICT:

FOOD: 8/10 Fine quality food although there are a few misses

PRICE: 5/10 

AMBIENCE: 9/10 

Would I Return?: Yes to try other dishes/upcoming new menus and the durian pancakes!

[disclaimer: all opinions are my own and may differ from others]

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