As the latest addition to the Oriental Restaurants Group, Yuan Room has certainly made its presence felt at this popular shopping mall in Bandar Utama. Occupying a prime lot facing the main entrance to the mall, you can’t miss it. Unlike most of the other Oriental restaurants, Yuan Room’s dining space is not all that big but they do have an al fresco terrace and a couple of private rooms as well.
Browsing through the menu, we spotted many Oriental signature modern Cantonese dishes. Besides the a la carte menu, Yuan Room also serves a selection of dim sum. As it was lunch time, we decided to focus on this.
Kicking off our lunch was a steaming-hot appetizer of Cuttlefish Thai-style (RM28). The piquant tangy and spicy flavours certainly woke our tastebuds up. The cuttlefish was chewy in a nice not-tough way but the sauce was a bit “sandy” – maybe the spices should be blended more finely.
We love the Chef’s selection of Lychee Balls (RM28). Really great handiwork here as those balls really looked like lychees! The soft chewy skin revealed some tasty umami filling of minced seafood – a must-order item here.
We could not resist ordering the visually-pleasing Golden Fish Dumplings (RM18), Assorted Vegetables & Fruits Sweet Dumplings (RM16) and Dang Ying Redbean Pumpkin Balls with Banana (RM10.80). Just look at the colours and intricate handwork at play in executing these delightful bites! Although initially a bit hesitant about biting into these artworks, we thoroughly enjoyed them as everything was freshly made.
The Caviar, Scallop & Shrimp Dumpling (RM14/each), despite its “premium” name did nothing much for us. It tasted pretty much like a regular dumpling – we couldn’t quite discern the caviar and scallop in it. We actually preferred the good old Siew Mai (RM11), a much better value item!
Crispy Mini Char Siew Bao (RM9.80) were something different from the usual steamed baos.
As carbs go, the Stir-fried Buckwheat Noodles with Pork, Mushrooms & Anchovies (RM38) was really good. We love the tender-yet-QQ noodles which were richly topped with sinfully-delicious lard croutons and crunchy anchovies. This is something worth indulging in!
YUAN ROOM | Lot G309A, Ground Floor, 1Utama Shopping Centre | Lebuh Bandar Utama | 47800 Petaling Jaya |Tel: 03-7731-8331
Open: 10.00am-3.30pm; 5.30pm-10.00pm