KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 17 — The name Da Fu Di is new; after all we were expecting The Chairman Group Malaysia.

Last year, Arthur Chan who is also a shareholder of the famed The Chairman in Hong Kong explained that this Malaysia venture has no affiliation with the Hong Kong restaurant.

The people behind Da Fu Di which is located in Pavilion Damansara Heights Mall are Hong Kong native Chan and his local partners namely Halice Lim, Ken Leong and Stanley Gan.

Chan decided to change its name to Da Fu Di, which means "big mansion" in Chinese, as befits the Damansara Heights surroundings.

He elaborated that when The Chairman's name was selected, it was a nod towards the financial district nearby, where the owners of companies opened there would dine in the restaurant.

On January 15, the restaurant did their soft launch with a lion and dragon dance. That date was chosen for feng shui purposes.

Officially, the restaurant opens its doors to the public on January 20. Reservations are required to dine in.

Some of the dishes presented in this restaurant showcase flavours that stay true to their traditional Chinese roots. Chan had collected the recipes throughout the years when he was feted with feas

For the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations, the restaurant has unveiled their set menus. There are four menus with 10 courses to select from, depending on your preferences.

The sets require at least four people. Prices start from RM898+ for four persons. The lavish menus can go up to RM1,888+ for four persons.

The menus feature dishes with auspicious names to bring you good luck. It's a mix of shared dishes and some items served individually.

We sampled the Harmony Extravaganza menu where it starts from RM1,188+ for four persons. For a table of 10, it will be RM2,588+.

Your feast starts off with The Imperial Harvest Yee Sang. Boisterous wishes accompany the tossing of the yee sang.

The colourful yee sang is a rainbow of hues, thanks to the use of fresh vegetables and fruits like ice vegetables, grapes and mandarin orange segments. Its vibe is modern and fresh. Nevertheless tradition is not forgotten, as you will spot familiar ingredients like pickles and even candied mandarin oranges. Here a honey sauce lightly coats the melange of ingredients, giving it a touch of sweetness.

After the prosperity toss, it's a platter of Harmony Trio Supreme. The fun is figuring out each of the small bites. On paper, the Scallop with Lettuce and Tuna sounded outlandish but when you dip the toothpick with the juicy scallop encased inside its deep fried shell into the tuna, the combination works since it tastes like a creamy sauce with a hint of the fish.

With the Crispy Lychee Shrimp Balls, the coating over the prawns which looks like the dimpled skin of the fruit, gives a crunchy bite. Inside, there's chunky prawn paste with a bouncy texture and a surprise centre of a mild tasting cheese.

The gleaming brown sauce beckons you to dig into the Black Truffle Shrimp Paste to discover treasures. Under that silky sauce with deep flavours, you get a silky smooth egg custard so eat it together with the bouncy nugget of shrimp paste.

Soup is, of course, the test of every Chinese chef's expertise. Here It's a Morchella Mushroom Abalone Elixir, where each spoonful of that golden broth infuses you with its goodness. Inside the bowl, discover a morel mushroom, chicken, fish maw and abalone.

The Signature Braised Duck Elegance is a poster child for slow food. Apparently, it takes a whopping two days of preparation work.

This uses one of Chan's recipes, where the braising technique is different from, say, the usual Teochew braised duck we are more familiar with. The sauce needs one day to cook and another day is needed to slowly cook the duck in the sauce for the flavours of the sauce to seep into the meat.

Try a piece of deboned duck and you will discover that the meat is deeply infused with the sauce that is composed of seven herbs and spices. It's a much more complex taste than the Teochew braised duck, where the dominant flavour is five spice powder.

Experiment by tasting the different parts of the duck and you will find the best pieces with layers of fat and meat, rich with the flavours of the sauce. For those who prefer stronger flavours, they do give you extra sauce to add accordingly. Jellyfish is also given on the side, but I find it best to enjoy the braised duck just on its own.

We're pulled back to traditional territory with the Good Fortune Treasures, a braised dish that usually graces every Chinese New Year feast since it's brimming with good luck, which we sorely need to tackle the uncertain 2024. In this case, it's a fat mushroom with a smooth bite and a large dried oyster filled with umaminess, braised in a luxurious abalone sauce.

With such an amazing name like Conqueror Meets Beauty Grouper, I was keenly looking forward to this dish. It's an interesting combination of steamed dragon grouper topped with a cloud-like egg white with crab meat. The flavours are delicate with a sweetness from the seafood.

Simplicity rules with the Oceanic Bliss Broth. At one glance, you wouldn't have labeled those crunchy slices as pork skin, but probably some kind of fungi instead. But the show stealer in this dish is that cream coloured fish broth. It's sweet and luxuriously decadent, making you want to slurp down every drop of it. Turns out that broth is crafted from silver anchovies and it's given a touch of 18-year-old fa tiu chow which gives it a touch of sweetness.

The rollercoaster of flavours reached the pinnacle with the Claypot Symphony with Chinese Sausage.

As the server lifts the lid, you catch the intoxicating smell of the waxed meats on top of the fluffy rice. Patience is needed as they mix the rice, cooked using two types of Thai rice. Beautifully fanned out, you can spy there's lap cheong, yuen cheong, lap yoke and lap arp, sourced from Hong Kong.

What impressed everyone on the table was the lap arp or waxed duck. Usually it's hard and incredibly salty. Not here. You get tender slices that you won't leave at the bottom of your bowl.

The yuen cheong or liver sausage is redolent of the wine, with a soft, luscious bite. Even the lap cheong has the distinct flavour of mei kuei lu chiew or rose wine. The slices of lap yoke were also good with a tender bite. Usually the ones served tend to have a much harder bite.

As the meal winds down, the palate is refreshed with a teacup of chilled mango cream. The texture reminds me of a smoother granita which cleansed the palate well. What's impressive is, the mango taste makes its presence felt but it isn't cloyingly sweet.

The feast ended with cool osmanthus flower jelly. As you bite into the wobbly jelly, you get engulfed with the alluring taste and flavour of the yellow flowers. Everyone on the table was impressed since versions of this jelly are often lacking.

Da Fu Di Restaurant, Lot 5.26.00 & E5.26.00, Level 5, Pavilion Damansara Heights, Jalan Damanlela, Damansara Heights, Kuala Lumpur. Open: 11am to 3pm, 6pm to 10pm. Bookings can be made through WhatsApp at +6012-3427028 or at their website www.dafudi.com.my. Facebook: @dafudimy Instagram: @dafudirestaurant

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