Gu Yue Tien @ Chulan Square, Kuala Lumpur

As the faint sound of a sizzle of meat made it’s way to our ears, the air smelled of smoke, garlic and pork fat.

Pork is a beautiful thing.. in a sweet succulent brined pork chop way, or in a smoky, falling off the cracker, dry-cured parma ham way. It’s delicious as a rillette with a crusty toasted slice of rustic bread and tangy crispy cornichons.. and even as grilled pork bulgogi with cloves of garlic and slices of bright green jalapeno.., Oh, not forgetting juicy sausages and smoky bacon either.

But it goes beyond all that even, when it is served up as juicy salt baked Spanish Iberico pork ribs.

Ah yes.. these Iberico pork ribs can only be described as crisp, succulent, luxurious.

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salt baked Spanish Iberico pork ribs

I love eating at Gu Yue Tien. The food is fantastic and always unexpectedly innovative. The restaurant Gu Yue Tien, helmed by Owner/Chef Frankie Woo, deserves a Michelin star for the extreme creativity it brings to the ritual of Chinese fine dining, if you ask me. The Chef himself, truly has a flair for marrying tastes and textures to perfection. That and the fact that he has a great palate!

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Dragon Fish Yee Sang (RM98++ for 10 persons)

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Take for example the Yee Sang here at Gu Yue Tien. Chef Frankie created the perfect balance in taste and textures, when he brought together in harmonious synchronicity the green coral lettuce, golden raisins, pear, pomelo sacs, salmon sashimi, sesame seed, strawberry sauce, and crackers.

The creation of new cuisine just flows so effortlessly with him.

The Dragon fish (Pipe fish) that looked like long slivers of ikan bilis (anchovy) added an unusual dimension to the traditional yee sang that not many would have thought of. It all worked together in the favour of the dish.

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Chef Frankie and M

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thick seafood broth filled with crab roe, crab meat, prawn, scallop, squid and tofu cubes

I loved this seafood soup that was bursting with crab meat and tofu! Much better than any sharks-fin soup. (SAY NO TO SHARKSFIN!)

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Sichuan style steamed halibut fish with a spicy chillies and garlic topping.

The old Sichuanese standards are marvelous, here at this restaurant, because Chef Frankie has long been an expert on preparing these sort of dishes. The star tonight, though, was a dish that even every respectable Chengdu restaurant should know.. A gorgeous steamed fish in sichuan style chillies and garlic sauce. The Halibut is a cold water, oily fish and it’s texture was firm and it’s flesh sweet. Totally to die for!

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Szechuan/Sichuan Ma Po Tofu and Smooth Noodles.

The heat of Sichuanese food is well known. But Sichuan’s is a peculiar spiciness, in part thanks to the native peppercorns, famous for their vaguely anesthetic power. Here at Gu Yue Tien, Chef Frankie does a milder version of this cathartic dish. I like it this way. It allows me to taste the flavours a lot better, when I am not nursing a burning mouth. The smooth noodles went down in one silky string of a slurp. Nice!

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steamed nian gao, that is then rolled around in salted fresh coconut shavings

Finally, a steamed version of the fried nian-gao that we are so used to for Chinese New Year. This one was soft and light and completely melted in my mouth. The salty coconut shavings enhanced the tastiness of the nian gao. Superb and highly recommended!

Add:
Gu Yue Tien
Lot B5-A, Chulan Square
92 Jalan Raja Chulan
Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2148 0808

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