In the Chinese cuisine fraternity here, Master Chef Justin Hor needs no introduction and commands great respect among peers and gourmets alike. As one of the founding partners of the Oriental Group of Restaurants and overseeing the kitchens within the Group, this celebrated chef’s reputation precedes him at every turn. With a long list of awards under his trim waist, Chef Justin’s culinary creations are impressive and delicious, to say the least.
Noble House is where Chef Justin showcases his fine Cantonese gourmet dishes. The clientele here tends to be his regular diners, from corporate bigwigs to family gatherings, often dining in discreet comfort in the many private rooms of the restaurant. Noble House thus is the best option to savour Chef Justin’s beautifully created traditional dishes which are often given classy modern touches.
With the Chinese New Year dawning in less than 2 weeks, Noble House’s festive menu lists an impressive selection of specialties. We were there recently to sample some of the new special dishes picked from the festive sets. These new culinary creations are available as à la carte orders as well as included in the set menus (RM1,768++ & RM2,288++ for 10 pax).
At Noble House, you get to customise your Yee Sang dish. First, choose the type of yee sang: traditional, modern vegetables or white truffle. Then choose the main ingredient accompaniment from 8 items, ranging from enoki mushrooms to Boston lobsters! We tried the Traditional Yee Sang with Yellowfin Tuna Akami. The thick slices of glistening tuna were a sight to behold – I knew it would be a memorable yee sang just looking at that! I was right of course – it’s one of the best yee sang I’ve had so far.
Yee Sang with Yellowfin Tuna Akami
To tease our palettes, we had Chef Justin’s Pan-fried Hokkaido Scallop with Black Truffle. Perching delicately on a black truffle-scented sauce, the sweet bouncy scallop was carved in perfection.
Pan-fried Hokkaido Scallop with Black Truffle (RM33/pax)
Like all great chefs, Chef Justin believes in respecting the ingredients for their natural goodness. Thus, quality is topmost in his consideration for any dish he creates and this cannot be compromised. The next dish featured a plump super-fresh ocean garoupa steamed with fresh abalones and dried shrimps on a bed of soft silky glass noodles. The natural sweetness from the seafood was just sublime and we picked the fish clean and savoured every drop of the divine sauce.
Steamed Ocean Garoupa with Fresh Abalones, Glass Noodles & Dried Shrimps Taishan-style (RM488/8pax)
The luscious fresh abalone steamed together with the ocean garoupa!
From the oceans, we moved to the land where oxtails and lamb took centre-stage. Instead of the usual braised dried seafood, Chef Justin used only dried oysters in his claypot of braised oxtail. A unique combo for sure – very daring to marry two very different ingredients with strong natural aromas and coming out with a winning combination! For a good measure of prosperity, “fatt choy” was also added into the pot.
Braised Oxtail with Dried Oysters & Fatt Choy in Clay Pot (RM118)
In the past few years, black garlic has become immensely popular, not only for its intense flavour but also for its health benefits. The sweet smoky taste of the fermented garlic was a perfect foil for the slightly gamey lamb cubes served on a piece of hoba leaf in Chef Justin’s next dish. We called for some plain rice to fully enjoy the robust flavours of this dish.
Pan-fried Lamb Cubes with Black Garlic Sauce on Hoba Leaf (RM30/pax)
The Roast Baby Duck was a great hit with us. Choosing only ducks which were just over a kilogram in weight to ensure tender meat textures which were not too gamey, Chef Justin explained the importance of high heat in controlled measures for the perfect roast. As a result, our baby duck came with the most splendid glistening crispy skin with a very thin layer of fat beneath and the most flavoursome meat. To enhance this already-perfect roast, there’s a generous portion of the sweetest French corn served together.
Roast Baby Duck with Sweet Corn (RM50 each)
I have tasted some very unique vegetable dishes in Noble House and this year, the Stir-fried Celery & Baby Black Fungus with Waxed Meat & Fresh Huai Shan proved to be another winner. Just look at the mixture of ingredients…
Stir-fried Celery & Baby Black Fungus with Waxed Meat & Fresh Huai Shan
The cute baby pumpkin with its even golden yellow hues is a favourite with Chef Justin – he loves using this to serve some of his signature dishes. The size is just perfect to hold an individual portion and it’s certainly very pleasing to the eye. This time we were served fried glutinous rice with a whole abalone in the cute little pumpkin!
Fried Glutinous Rice with Whole Abalone in Baby Pumpkin
Do you know that the Oriental Group of Restaurants use up about 50,000 pieces of these cute pumpkins every festive season?
To round up our meal on a sweet note, we tried the fried nian gao in two ways and to wash all that down, we had the most refreshing birds’ nests served in fresh whole oranges complete with the natural citrus juices!
Fried Nian Gao in 2 styles
Birds Nest in Fresh Orange
The above were just some of the specialties for Chinese New Year available at Noble House. For more information on the rest of their special new dishes, check out their website. And make your reservations early!
NOBLE HOUSE
19 Jalan Delima
Off Jalan Tun Razak
55100 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03-2145-8822