GRAND IMPERIAL RESTAURANT,
Suite 1.01, First Floor,
Pinnacle Annexe,
Persiaran Lagoon,
Bandar Sunway,
Petaling Jaya.
Tel: 03-58887222/7221
Business Hours : 11.30am to 2.30pm
and 6pm to 10.30pm on weekdays,
10am to 2.30pm
and 6pm to 10.30pm on weekends.
Non-Halal.
ONE can only expect the best from Grand Imperial Restaurant’s Beijing-style London roast duck (top pic) after knowing the lengthy process and detailed preparation involved.
Restaurant chef Chen Zhi Gang, 37, who specialises only in roast duck, said the custom-made oven was modified so that the duck could be roasted evenly.
“The modifications were made according to the oven used in a famous shop in Beijing that specialises in roast duck.
“It took us a long time to get the oven made.
“The duck itself has to go through more than 10 processes including marinating it for eight to 10 hours, air-drying and refrigerating it before putting it into the oven,” he said at the restaurant in Sunway Pinnacle Annexe, Petaling Jaya.
The duck itself is from a farm in Scotland.
“Due to the duck being fed good quality food, it is lauded as the world’s leading lean-type duck that provides tender and high-quality meat.
“The marinade includes ingredients such as salt, sugar, five spice powder, shallots, ginger and garlic,” he said.
The Beijing-style London roast duck is only available at the Sunway Pinnacle Annexe’s branch.
Chen carved different parts of the roast duck, plated them separately and served them with three different sauces, offering diners very distinct flavours and texture.
The thick and crispy skin on the duck breast was fragrant and dipping it slightly with fine sugar only accentuated the taste further.
Next, the duck breast meat with a thin layer of fat attached between the skin and the meat was my favourite, especially when it is complemented by the homemade salt.
The juicy meat does not taste gamey and it was succulent.
For the duck’s thigh, the meat was lean and it was served with a special duck sauce to go with it.
The Beijing-style London roast duck comes in original and vegetable flavours, the latter uses five-spice powder, celery, carrot, parsley, onion and other ingredients as a marinade.
The Australian Abalone with brown sauce is served at RM88++ per piece.
The duck is only available at Grand Imperial Restaurant Sunway Pinnacle Annexe branch and is priced at RM168++ for a whole duck while stocks last.
Those who want to try the roast duck are advised to make reservations two days in advance as it requires 30 hours of preparation.
The restaurant will also kick start a two-month promotion from November for braised whole Australian abalone with brown sauce (RM88++per piece), deep-fried soft shell crab with vegetables and homemade sauce (RM17.80++ per piece), sautéed live Canadian lobster with Black Truffle (RM24.80++ per 100g) and roast spring chicken with fermented beancurd (RM20.80++ per chicken).
Slicing through the Australian-imported abalone was effortless as its soft and tender texture was the result of it being braised to perfection.
Meanwhile, the deep-fried soft shell crab that was served on a pool of red cabbage and sliced capsicum, was crunchy.
“The crab we use is slightly bigger so there is still meat in the crab compared to the conventional ones, where diners can only taste the flour,” said the restaurant’s deputy executive chef Kenneth Chai.
The crunchy deep-fried soft shell crab was served on a pool of red cabbage and sliced capsicum.
Next, I tucked into the roast spring chicken with fermented beancurd and it was full of flavours.
“The chicken was marinated with fermented beancurd as well as Marmite and vinegar so that the skin would be crispy and have a dark brownish colour,” Chai said.
The skin had fantastic flavour with a hint of sweetness but what surprised me was the taste of the marinade that actually sinks into the meat, making it not only delicious but also appetising.
Fusing Western and Asian cuisines, the sautéed live Canadian lobster with wide Sang Mee (similar to wantan noodles) and Black Truffle is not to be missed and pork lovers can also try the Spanish Iberico Spare Ribs baked in Western style.
We were also introduced to two unique beverages.
The chocolate and peanut butter ice blended drink is a sweet and savoury concoction to quench your thirst.
The chocolate and peanut butter Ice Blended drink (RM18++ per glass) consist of fresh milk, chocolate wafer, vanilla ice cream, hazelnut syrup, and is served with two bars of chocolate.
Another drink, the pineapple and Rosella juice (RM15++ per glass) is said to reduce blood pressure and is rich in vitamin C.
Diners can also try the Hong Kong-style London roast duck for RM138++ for a whole duck, only available at Grand Imperial restaurant Bangsar and Hartamas branch.
This is the writer’s personal observation and is not an endorsement by StarMetro.