SHANG PALACE Shangri-La Dubai Presents 2021 OXpicious Chinese New Year Menu

Celebrating Lunar Chinese New Year in Dubai may not be as extravagant as many other major festive celebrations in this region yet the tradition is not forgotten, Shang Palace culinary team in Shangri-La Dubai continues the legacy by bringing back the ancient tradition with a special crafted OXpicious menu that prospers and brings good luck especially for those who celebrate this most likable Spring Festival by enjoying the reunion feast by sharing and spreading the blessing to others simultaneously. mylifestylenews writes.

Chinese New Year dishes are always signified with good wishes, every ingredient used in cooking shall offer an auspicious sign of luck, prosperity, good wealth and health and so forth. It is not only delicious but also to warm your heart by enjoying such a lavish feast during this annual anticipated occasion. 2021 marks the Year of the Ox in Chinese lunar calendar and ox symbolize hardworking, strong faith with physical strength, have ideals and ambitions for life and attach importance to family and achieving their goals by consistent effort. A traditional Chinese New Year reunion dinner is held on the Lunar New Year’s Eve where every member of the family will travel back to their family home or hometown to get together not only to get the latest hot “gossip” update from among the family members or relatives through a great feast over the round dining table.  Hence, over a good meal and good laughter with the closest company means the most to every Chinese by gathering together to celebrate such an auspicious occasion. Shang Palace at Shangri-La Dubai presents their 2021 OXpicious Chinese new year’s 金牛賀春 – The Golden Ox Celebrates Spring Festival menu with 10 traditional Chinese dishes for your to savour the OXpicious lunar new year with the extension till 26^th February 2021 which is the 15^th day (last day) of the Chinese new year lunar calendar with an additional value add-ons (serving for 4 people) with a choice of the abundance Seafood Pot or/and the OXpicious Wagyu Pot to indulge yourself in this festive spring with prosperity.

 

<七彩撈魚生 Chinese Rainbow Combo Fish Plate>
The Chinese New Year Dinner begins with “Lo Hei” or “Yu Sheng” – a tossing salad with raw fish to be reminiscent as the wishes for a better achievement for your work as well as better wealth and prospect. The condiments are just as important as the main dish ingredients and the combination of ingredients has to be raw for its activeness, alive and better achievement in work and life, ranging from a combination of julienned greens and salads such as carrot, chili, turnip, cucumber, pickle, pomelo, onion, parsley,  deep fried potatoes and sweet potatoes, capsicum, spring onion, ginger, sesame, crushed peanut, crunchy crackers, seaweed, salt & pepper, plum sauce and special sauce and etc to get the colorful rainbow effect and with a bed of sliced salmon. This is the most important start to the celebration and the salad is to be tossed together by everyone on the same table as high as possible with good thoughts and wishes that must be spoken out aloud. Every toss spells out with good wishes and blessing in bustling noise to share such a jolly time. This is a very tasty dish with some delicious fresh salmon. The variety of ingredients certainly was heading towards a traditional ‘mix’, although in some Asian countries there is a lot more complexity due to double the number of ingredients, but this was more than satisfactory. Even though this ‘salad’ is well mixed, each mouthful imparts more of some ingredients than others, so it is always surprising and pleasant each time you take a bite. The intention by making this festive dish and present it onto the table especially in this region counts, as there were lots of mise-en-place involved to make this a truly memorable dish to celebrate in such festivities. In fact, the fun of tossing together with good blessing for this dish counts, OXpiciously delicious!
 

<Seafood Pot>
This additional bonus add-on is on top of the Chinese New Year menu and was beautifully presentated in a Staub rectangular casserole dish and it was packed with flower crabs,scallops, mussels, fish, prawn and squids. Enjoying this dish is like a treasure hunt, the more you enjoy eating from what was displayed on top on the serving dish, the more you will discover for more treasure hidden beneath. This generous portion of seafood is served with spicy water based soup stock that is superb and sensational. You definitely need to have a big appetite to enjoy all of this and Chinese New Year is all about over indulging with many dishes. Do not hesitate to ask for a bowl of fragrant steamed jasmine rice which is the best compliment to enjoy such a felicitous Seafood Pot dish.
 

<經典點心拼盤 Trio Dim Sum>
While steamed Dim Sum dishes are not exactly for Chinese New Year, restaurants these days would do it as an extra value and for the courtesy by popular demand. The vegetable dumpling’s wrapping paste was a little thick, but still a successful rendition and enjoyable in flavour on the palate. The deep fried prawn spring rolls with cheese and mushroom was a surprise hit, being absolutely perfect in every way and just the right crispiness and a winning combination that was so delicious! The fish dumpling paste was rather too thick that affect the delicate dim sum savoring palate, but this was all about presentation and that “WOW” moment and at least the culinary team was willing to go extra the miles to please.
 

<濃湯鮑魚羹 Emperor Steamed Abalone Soup>
While soup dishes are an essential must-have when it comes to Chinese dinner, the ancient Chinese knew how to make good clear soup for its wellbeing intention in the past and old and traditional recipes are being shared among good chefs and many others till present. This particular soup is meant to be served thick with a silky smooth texture but not overly starchy. Emperor signifies supreme stock where premium composition of ingredients such as abalone, chicken dried scallops and so forth are used to create the stock base with refined julienned shitake mushroom and other assorted variety of mushrooms simmered for hours to extract its natural aroma, accompanied by a mini whole steamed abalone served on an abstract designed soup plate.
 

<茶香熏雞 Smoked Chicken>
The presentation was pleasant, but while it was meant to be served warm, it was on the tepid side and the texture of the chicken meat that was smoked with black tea was for its fragrant was a little mushy and yet didn’t bring out the best of the chicken taste of itself as a compliment. Serving with the factory produced red sweet chili sauce is rather touristy and lazy yet not quite the best match for such a renowned Chinese dish. This was the most underwhelming dish of the evening to our dismay.
 

<紅燒鯛魚 Braised Local Sea Bream>
For a classic and traditional Chinese New year’s fish dish, an entire whole fish has to be served together with the head and tail, bones included as it expresses a sign of accomplishment and fulfillment. Fish dishes are also signifying a prosperous life and with abundant years of brimful happiness to come. The sea bream was lightly fried to get its crispiness on the outside and then braised in a very delectable sauce from the Chef’s secret recipe. It was not overly cooked and was the most enjoyable dish of the evening. It may seem a lot for two persons, but we made short work of it and so good that before you knew it, it was all gone!
 

<脆皮燒汁雪花牛 Crispy Wagyu Beef〉
You can’t go without a beef dish especially for the year of the Ox. The premium cut of the Wagyu beef was lightly battered and deep fried to get its crispiness. Five thick slices of tender and juicy Wagyu beef came with a delicious flavour, topped with asparagus and button mushroom on the overpowering hoisin sauce which was quite unnecessary as the beef itself is already a winner.  So less is more!
 

<濃湯芝士龍蝦 Braised Lobster with Cheese in Seafood Sauce>
Lobster was halved and well placed on a large serving ceramic plate with a delightful red orangey color topped with cut spring onion and cherry tomatoes. The presentation looked appetizing and the lobster may seem big in size but there wasn’t much flesh on its body. The meat was also a little mushy and the cheese was a tad overpowering, Supposed a highlight of the entire menu yet not at its peak.
 

<薑汁芥蘭 Sauteed Kai-lan with Ginger Sauce> & <牛肉水餃 Beef Dumpling>

The Chef combined the last two savories on the menu onto one serving plate. This is a winning combination of a dish. Dumpling is another essential Chinese New Year dish especially for the Northern Chinese. Minced beef was well marinated and wrapped over a thick flour paste and sent to boil in hot water. By dipping in black vinegar is a usual practice to enjoy this savory but over here, the culinary team came out with a delicious homemade chili sauce that elevates the palate for the dumpling. The kai-lan (green mustard leaf) was well stir-fried in ginger sauce in high heat in the shortest time to remain the crunchiness on the stem and soft and green on the leaves. Simplicity at its best and utterly delicious!
 

<年糕 Chinese Rice Cake>
Sticky rice cake is a very traditional Chinese dessert that comes in many forms and styles of serving. Superb in presentation with an entire ‘Koi Fish’ came to life signifying unity and sticking together as a family. It makes a prosperous fitting end to our Chinese New Year celebration of culinary delights.
 
 Memorable dining experience always come with a discreet and attentive service and they don’t rush you in between courses either. Simon, our server of the evening was so personable and friendly and took the time to ensure that we understood each dish and the tradition behind it. Each dish presentation was delightful, with different plating, a mix of different ceramics, etc and well thought through to provide an attractive culinary journey that elevated the evening to that special moment for the OXpicious Chinese New Year.

Tried & Tested:

Location: 4/5

Design & Decor: 4/5

Food & Beverage: 4/5

Service: 4.5/5

Value For Money: 4/5

Experience: 4/5

Highlights:

Braised Local Sea Bream

Seafood Pot

Shang Palace - Shangri-la Dubai

Sheikh Zayed Road,

P.O.Box 75880

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

Tel: +971 4 405 2703

Reviews are based on actual day of visit and experience. mylifestylenews reserves the right of final decision in case of any disputes. All images are photographed by mylifestylenews team without any photoshop enhancement and are the property owned by mylifestylenews unless otherwise stated.