14 February 2014

It's 14 February 2014! This date marks the end of the 15 days of Chinese New Year celebration as the 15th day of the first month of the Lunar Calendar, which is also known as Lantern Festival (元宵节). This night (Chap Goh Mei), many Chinese families would gather together to have a reunion dinner. Such an coincidence, Valentines' Day falls on this special day. Double Happiness!! My family did not have any plans on this night, so George dated me for Valentines' dinner. I initially thought that he is taking me for Pullman's Western Set Dinner, but he surprised me by taking me to Hilton's Steakhouse instead. :D

Having the booking and payment made earlier, we were taken to our seats which was just beside the window, having the chance to enjoy the waterfront scenery whilest having dinner. Our table was nicely set up with petals of roses.. 

Our Valentines' Menu

5-Course Dinner

A complimentary door gift to every dining couple - Love Shape Strawberyy Cream Filled Chocolate

We were also served with a glass of red wine each.

Snapshot before meal

Served with Bread and Butter first. The bread is the best bread tasted. Very soft and fluffy bread of cos. Most important of all, they incorporated herbs into the bread, giving it a very distinct yet delicious taste.

Here comes our 1st dish in our menu. Marinated Tuna with Daikon Salad with Basil Oil & Lemon. As you can see, it's very beautifully served. Smartly served along with fruits on top of the tuna, the fishy smell of tuna was covered.

Goat's Cheese & Cauliflower Soup with Caviar & Fish Oil. WOW! A very impressing dish. Our usual soup were mushroom soup or pumpkin soup. This soup is a wonder. The goat's cheese used gave the creamy soup a cheesy sensation. Melting in the soup, the thin bread crumbs soak up the delicious fragrance of the soup, and with bits of caviar inside, it doesn't make the dish soupy and dull.

Third came our main course **the star of the menu**. We were given beef and fish to choose from, but both of us wanted beef and requested for medium rare. Hickory Smoked Fillet Mignon with Mushroom Ragout and Beef Jus. Mignon is the end part of tenderloin, the part with the least connective tissue, so it should be very soft and tender. Served on a hot plate, the mignon fillet was topped with mushroom and covered in beef jus. Some side veges were served along too. We were very excited to try out the dish as Hilton's Steakhouse was well-known for its steak and claimed to be the best Western fine dining restaurant in Kuching.

Look at the fisrt cut of my mignon!! Looks and tastes extremely delicious! Best beef steak I had before. I was having chewing difficulty lately cos of my front tooth. It always take me a very long time to bite chewy stuffs. But this fillet was so great that the texture was damn soft at each bite. I did not experience any problems in chewing at all. As requested, the steak was done perfectly to our "medium rare" standard! 

Strawberry Sorbet. Sorbet in chilled glass to maintain the texture and preventing the sorbet from melting. Kinda appetizing as it had a sourish taste. We both felt that it tasted like "San Cha". Hehe~

Finally, the last dish - Strawberry Stuffed Nougat Chocolate Mousse Terrine with Raspberry Sherbet. Delicious dessert! Exquisite display of the dessert as well. I usually don't like mousse as it normally gives a smooth irritating texture, but I loved this! The chocolate mousse was very pleasant to taste and was complemented well by the strawberry stuffed nougat which was soft and not too sweet. Going along with the sweet Raspberry Sherbet on top of the crunchy buttery biscuit, the dessert ended our dinner awesomely!

Although the dinner was priced expensively, it was definitely worth the value for the awesome food and unforgettable experience! :D 

After dinner, we met up with our friends and thanks to them, we finally got our full-body couple shot! <3

With them :)

The ladies of the night

:)



Valentine's Day Celebration ❤ ♡ ❤ ღ

Where would be the best dining place during Valentine's? It is a norm for many couples to dine out in a romantic environment, enjoying their 3- or 4-course meals. You must book early to get you and your partner a place. If not, you would end up being "halau" as the place is full and in the end, you would have to "enjoy" your Valentine's at hawker centers. To avoid being "slaughtered" by these restaurants in this very special occasion, I decided to cook ourselves a 4-course dinner. :D 

I planned our dinner a week ahead, having appetizer, starter, main dish and also dessert. 

Tadaa~~ Prepared Valentine's Menu of my own! :D

I had started preparing a day earlier with my coleslaw and also marinating the beef. On the day itself, it took me 3 hours to prepare all the dishes including Mushroom and Peppercorn sauces, and also some side dishes to accompany the main dishes. Additional 1/2 hour was required for the dessert which I left it in the oven while we were having dinner.

Cheese Mayo Mussels. YUMMY!!

Jalapeno Beef with side dishes of roasted broccoli and carrots, and also mashed potatoes.

Crispy Skin Salmon.. Sedap.. :)

Forgotten to take photos of the Coleslaw, and Mac and Cheese. All the dishes tasted not too bad except the Mac and Cheese. It's not as creamy as I wanted it to be and lack of flavor. Hmm.. Needs to be improved!

Finally, my hot Chocolate Lava Cake topped with cold Vanilla Ice Cream. The cake had a crispy outer skin, but it did not have the overflowing chocolate as I wanted it to be when we cut it open. Sad.. :( Overcooked I guessed.

VERY FULL!!! :p