Imperial Rama & Strawberry Park @ Genting Highlands

 

If you're looking for a twist of Chinese cuisine indulgence, then head over to Imperial Rama Restaurant located at Highlands Hotel, Genting. This is a fine dining restaurant specialising in Thai-Chinese cuisine. Quite a unique food genre, don't you think so?

The interior of Imperial Rama is elegant, contemporary and luxurious. There were fine ornaments, beautiful wall paintings and intricately carved Chinese and Thai partitions for more privacy during dining. The place is spacious and it offers a very comfortable dining ambiance.

 

 

"Shaggy" Mushroom with Truffle Oil Salad

 Interesting to see salad being introduced to the menu of this restaurant. Very delicious and the truffle oil is subtle.

 

Lily Bulbs with Emperor Sprout Orange Salad

There's something enchanting about this salad. No, it's not the pretty flowers that adorned the dish, it's the ingredients. Who would have thought that the Emperor Sprout can create such an appetising salad? I love the crunchy sprouts and that little orange zest that gives the salad a lift in taste. It's citrusy and refreshing. A good start to what followed.

Thai Fish Crackers

The Thai Fish Crackers is not like the prawn crackers that you see in your rojak platter. This Thai Fish crackers are imported and they are so fluffy and crispy. The sauce is like a rojak based sauce with some spiciness and sesame seeds with roughly grounded peanuts. I wished I had some beer to go with these addictive crackers.

Twin Flavour King Prawns

There's two different ways being used to prepared this dish. One side of the king prawn has been fried and coated with Salted Egg Yolk and the other side was baked in Cheese. The dilemma I faced is which to eat first? I ate the cheese first as I think that the salted egg yolk will have a heavier taste and thus should be taken last. I really enjoyed the salted egg yolk prawn as it is crispy on the outside and full of flavour while taken together with the succulent tiger prawn flesh.

Stewed Chicken Essence Soup

Perhaps one of the best dish that I had that afternoon was this humble bowl of chicken soup. Yes, it's just a bowl of chicken soup but the work that goes into making this is no less than ordinary. The chicken meat is blended into fine paste and then steamed and cooked together with the chicken essence. All the goodness in a bowl. The piece of mashed chicken meat is a pleasure to the palate too. One more bowl please?!!

Australian Abalone braised in Curry Sauce

When I saw the Abalone covered with curry sauce, I asked myself - "Are you kidding me?" Curry with Abalone? Really? To my surprise, it turned out pretty well. The curry is not too spicy but more like a tomato based puree with some spices. The taste blends very well with the abalone and on the sides, you'll get the pickled cucumbers and carrots. Very creative indeed.

Steamed Marble Goby Fish with Crispy Ginger and Garlic

This is one of the dish that is a favourite among the Chinese diners. The Marble Goby Fish is known for its smooth flesh and it's luxurious price. The best way to fully savour this fish is by steaming it and maintaining it's natural tastes. The chef uses crispy ginger and garlic in this dish to get rid of the fishy scent and it's indeed a very wonderful piece of fish.

Pork Ribs topped with Blackcurrant Sauce

I believe every 8-10 course Chinsese dinner will not end until you get a dose of carbo. In this case, the carbo is very minimal. The highlight was the pork ribs that was cooked with blackcurrant sauce that makes it sweet and honeyed-like. Too bad I was offered a small piece because it's really delicious. I love that tenderness of the meat coupled with the sweet sauce. On the side, there's a bit of rice cooked with crabmeat and topped with dry scallop flakes.

Durian Tempura with Lemongrass Jelly

If you don't take Durians for whatever reasons, you'll have to take this dessert. There were a few of us who doesn't consume durians for its not-so-pleasant-smell reasons but ended up giving this dessert a try. It's really delicious and the smell wasn't too pungent as well. I think this is worth trying and the lemongrass jelly will help you to digest better after all the food.

Must Eat @ Imperial Rama

That's why it isn't a surprise to see  Imperial Rama bagging so many awards at the MIGF 2011. Some of these awards include Most Outstanding Cuisine, Most Outstanding Appetiser and Most Outstanding Dessert!

Imperial Rama's culinary masterpiece combines the delicate finesse of Chinese creations with the flamboyant, appetising flavours of Thai cuisine to create that distinctive dining experience. Their secret to such dazzling cuisine is its balance of two cultures that inspire the dishes. The chef himself is a very friendly guy whom is not afraid to share his experiences with us. It was indeed a very fun afternoon at the restaurant.

Imperial Rama

Level 2, Highlands Hotel

Website

Lunch (Daily)
12.00 noon - 2.30pm

Dinner (Daily)
6.00pm - 9.30pm

We had so much to eat during lunch that we really need some exercise!

  

 We took the Genting Skyway and headed down to Goh Tong Jaya to visit the Strawberry Park!

  

It's our first time visiting the Strawberry Park at Genting as we all didn't know that this place existed. Well, I'm glad that now I do. All you need to do is to wait for the shuttle of this Strawberry Park at the entrance of the Genting Skyway and it'll take you to the park directly.

Huai Bin had a good time snacking on the strawberries at the farm. I think he easily gobbled 4 or 5 of them?!! At the same time, you can also buy some fresh produce there such as mushrooms, vegetables and fruit jams.

  

 If you like flowers, there's flowers to pose with such as roses and morning glory.

They make beautiful background don't they?

At last, one picture to show how happy we were!

The Olive @ Maxims Genting

Looking for something lavish to pamper yourself and your loved ones? There's plenty of choices at Maxims Genting and one such restaurant would be The Olive. This green facade Fine-Dining restaurant that serves continental cuisine stands out among the rest due to the accolades that they have garnered last year at the MIGF (Malaysia International Gourmet Festival) 2011.


 

 

I was mesmerized with their wines that lined the walls from floor to ceiling. It looked so beautiful from the entrance as you can see the lighted shelves changing their colours from blue to green and red. I don't mind having these as walls in my house. I'll love to be surrounded with wines.

There are 2 private rooms available - 1 with enclaved in wine bottles and the other which is bigger and has more seating capacity and is surrounded with colourful bottle of preserved spices. Both rooms have its own cosy and lavish ambiance. The main dining area of the restaurant overlooks the open kitchen where you can catch a glimpse of the chef at work.

This is the man who helms the kitchen at The Olive. Chef Daniel Sheen would be there to ensure that you have the ultimate dining experience with the dishes that he will whip up for you. Born in Australia, Chef Daniel has been working in Asia for more than 5 years and he has brought many creative dishes to The Olive which led to the accolades and awards won at the MIGF 2011.

Their bread basket starts the ball rolling. I've always stressed the importance of having a good bread basket which includes the quality and its variety to start my meal at any fine dining restaurant and I'm glad The Olive did not disappoint. Squid ink breads are not uncommon now but I do like their sun-dried tomatoes bun. It has a very interesting sweet, sour and savoury taste which goes so well with a generous spread of rich and creamy butter.

 

Amuse Bouche

Rock Melon with air dried cured beef

 Caesar Salad

There's baby romaine heart, foccacia croute, beef proscuitto, parmesan crisp, quail eggs that are halved and topped with anchovies dressing. I love the light salad that is not too creamy but the crisp romaine lettuce pairs very well with the savoury beef proscuitto.

 

 Portobello Carpaccio

This is one of their signature dishes that has won an award too. The portobello mushroom is sliced razor thin and marinated with truffle oil and garlic, and then topped with shaved pecorino cheese, grissini, and a soft turn of micro salad. When you digged further, you'll discover shavings of tartufo nero or commonly known as black truffle! The secret to this wonderful dish is the balsamic vinegar from Italy that was aged 25 years in a barrel I love the creativity of this dish and the taste itself was surprisingly so good that I wanted to lick the plate clean. It makes my tastebuds go wild! Eee-haw....

 

Wagyu Sirloin Marble 8

When you felt that you're pushed to the edge from digesting too many entrees, they slapped you with a plate of Wagyu Sirloin which has a marbling grade of 8 and you couldn't resist. I had mine medium rare but I had my hats off for Shah as he had his steak blue! How often do you have friends calling a blue steak? Even Chef Daniel was surprised with his request. The wagyu has a wonderful marbling and it paired very well with the caramelised shallots and it's definitely the chef's recommendation.

 

 Hot Chocolate Ravioli

Another dish that will send you on an adventurous dining experience is their ravioli that is made from chocolate. In other words, let's have pasta with chocolate as dessert! Served with freshly made pistashio ice-cream, this dish will make you look at pasta in a different light.

 

 The Durian

The King of fruit dessert is a permanent feature here. In fact, durian desserts are really popular up here and each chef has their way of making anyone who has phobia for durian to try this wonderful fruit. In fact I must say that the durian puree was cooked in a way that it makes the durian more refined, elegant and smooth like ice-cream! Very impressive and worth trying.

We thanked Chef Daniel for the wonderful dining experience!

 

 

 Must Eat @ The Olive

The restaurant has a seating capacity of 75 guests while the lounge seats 64. After the meal, all of us adjourned to the lounge, which is part of the restaurant as well that overlooks the frontage of the hotel.

Huai Bin had a cigar and I indulged in wines!

*likeaboss*

Vivens 2006, 2nd wine of Ch Dufort Vivens

I was given the task to order the last bottle of the wine that we would be drinking that night. The restaurant has a very good list of wines and especially fine wines. Don't be surprised to see the Chateau Lafite Rothschild 1982 or even a bottle of Domaine Romanee Conti costing RM70k in the list! But of course those wines are way out of my range. Even this Vivens 2006 priced at RM400+ is already a luxury to me.

There's a live band and it's really a nice place to relax and have a night cap after a dinner. There's whisky, cocktails and cigars to be enjoyed here right up to 12am except Friday, Sat & eve of Public Holidays where this place opens until 2am.

 

All the happy faces!

 Photo from Tian Chad. From Left: Me, Huai Bin, Tian Chad, Shah and Ming.

The Olive Restaurant

Lobby Floor, Maxims Genting

+603 6101 1118

Website

Lunch (Sunday Only) 12 noon to 2.30pm

Dinner 6pm to 11pm (last order at 10.30pm)

P/S: Invited review.

Maxims - crème de la crème of Genting Highlands

Ever wonder what's inside under this circular structure on top of this building, right under the gigantic Genting Highlands logo? I've been wondering about this since young and I can't believe that I finally know what it is and the best part is, I've even gone up there to have a look.

This is the picture that answers my curiosity. At 6,118 feet, under this circular structure is the ultimate room in Genting Highlands - the Maxims Royal Suite. The Royal suite comes with a big balcony that overlooks the other hotels and also the highest view of the surroundings of Genting Highlands. The balcony is so big that you can easily throw a BBQ party for 60-80 people here. How cool is that?



When we walked into the Royal Suite, everyone went "ooohh-aahhh" over the size of this place. At 20,000 sqf I'm sure we can play a little game of hide & seek in here. There's a big living room that is separated into 2 sections, high ceilings, big windows with a view and many rooms to explore. If I could still remember, there should be 3 king sized bed rooms and 2 twin rooms that comes with their own washroom with bathtub and shower, TV, working desk and your very own safe box and mini bar. These 5 rooms are just like their Maxims suite but in addition to that, this Royal suite has a Karaoke/AV room, a smoking room and a chef's room for personal chefs.

The sauna, gym and jacuzzi room overlooks The First World Plaza and I really don't mind working out with a view like that! Now, for the million-dollar-question: How much is it to stay in this Royal Suite? For this question, I've received a million-dollar-answer too. "It's not sold to the public". The stay at Maxims Royal Suite is at the discretion of the Casino de Genting where only certain members are allowed to make reservation for the room!

Don't be despair because Maxims has other rooms that we all normal people can afford. Let's start with something luxurious (I might not be able to afford but some will). The Maxims Signature Suite has 2 rooms where one is a king-sized bed and the other room will have a twin bed. According to our guide, usually celebrities will stay in these rooms as there is a small kitchen, dining area and a small living area.



There's a choice between a swanky modern interior or an Arabian themed-suite. All rooms also come with a cosy TV corner. These rooms have their own washrooms with bathtubs and shower. Yours only for RM4,125++ a night (low season).

If you're looking for suite with only a room, then you can book the Maxims Suite. The standard suite comes with a King size bed with soft feather pillows, 42-inch Plasma TV, a mini bar, spacious washroom with bathtub and shower and spacious walk-in wardrobe. Laptop on loan is complimentary upon request.



This room is priced at RM1320++ during the low season. The room is quite spacious and everything is in good condition.



I love the spacious hallways near the lifts where you can also have a sit while waiting for your friends or family members from other rooms. The interior is posh and the yellow lighting gives it a very luxurious feel to the whole hotel.

The most affordable rates were for the Maxims Premier Rooms where Ming and I were staying for the night. Our rooms are around RM550++ for a night. It's much smaller than the suites but it does come equipped with a nice minibar, bathtub and shower together with some premium toiletries.



Most of the time, I would bring my own toiletries even if I'm staying at the hotels where these amenities are provided. I am very fussy about the quality of the soap and shampoo as well as the toothbrush and thus I prefer to use my own. However, I find that there isn't a need to pack all these if you're staying in Maxims. Soaps and shampoo are all from Aigner and I loved the fragrance from the soap. It's quite manly but at the sametime I don't mind using it because it smells really good! The toothbrushes are of good quality and there's even a nail file and razor kit provided.



The rooms come with complimentary breakfast at the Coffee Terrace. Huai Bin and Tian Chad were there even earlier than me (at 7am!!) and there is indeed a variety of food to choose from. There's Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Nyonya, and also western breakfast. This place is spacious and comfortable. I think I easily ate 3 rounds of food over there!



This is the lobby to the Maxims hotel, which is just located beside the Highlands Hotel. The location is really wonderful as the same building houses some of the best restaurants in Genting Highlands which I would be writing about them soon. Casino de Genting is also in the same building and since I was already staying in the same building, why not go in and play a game or two right?

I truly enjoyed my stay at The Maxims Genting thanks to the invitation from Genting and Nuffang. For more info on the rates, you can check it out here and for Maxims Club, you can read about it here.