Food Review - Zuan Yuan @ 1 World Hotel

Name
Zuan Yuan - 1 World

Address & Location
1 World Hotel, PJ (right next to the 1-Utama Shopping Mall)

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Food
Fine Chinese Dining

Getting there
The restaurant is located at the 1st floor of 1 World Hotel. The 1 World Hotel is right next to the 1-Utama Shopping Mall or Sri Pentas.

Parking
There are ample parking spaces within the Hotel. Alternatively, you may opt to park in the 1-Utama shopping mall and just walk over as the 2 buildings are connected.

Service
Service was great. The 6-course meal just kept on coming. We didn’t have to wait for the subsequent dish to arrive. They just come immediately after the last dishes are cleared away. My hats off to the kitchen staff for their ability to time the cooking so well. However, not all dining guests may like this style of food presentation. Some may feel like they are being rushed and may not be able to fully savor the meal in its entirety.
Ambience
The restaurant’s lobby/waiting area has a vast collection of Chinese wine bottles and other artifacts like intricate vases on display.It is very refreshing to see the interior design incorporated the windows to the kitchen so that diners can actually see what the kitchen staff members are actually doing. It also allows you the see how clean they keep the kitchen.
Taste & Variety
Well, it is Fine Chinese Dining. Thus, the taste is different from the kind of food we usually partake of.
We opted for the Jade Set Dinner which included:
- Cold Sliced Seared Tuna with Homemade Mustard Sauce
- Braised Shark’s Fin Soup with Crab Meat & Shredded Chicken
- Braised Sea Cucumber & Goose Web with Garden Greens
- Wok-Fried Ostrich Meat with Fresh Mango Sauce
- Fried Rice with Kai Lan, Preserved Palm & Minced Chicken
- Chilled Honeydew Melon with Sago & Ice Cream

The 1st dish was not one of my favorites as I had never much liked cold dishes (unless it was dessert! =))

The Shark’s Fin soup (served in an intricate clay-pot), I have to admit, was not the best I have had but it was served with authentic shark fins that were still whole and intact (ie: you can see whole un-broken fin pieces).
I have also never eaten chicken feet (or feet of any kind for the matter). However, I steeled my nerves for the Goose webbed-feet. Surprisingly, it was pretty good!
The Ostrich meat was also very good. I have tried ostrich meat before and I recall it to be similar to beef, where the texture could be tough if overdone. This one was perfect. Glazed with the slightly tangy mango sauce, it was a tiny piece of undiscovered gourmet heaven on earth.

Unfortunately, the fried rice was unspectacularly plain. No denying it was done very well by a skilled chef. The texture of the rice and ingredients are not clumped together while it was still not too oily.

The dessert was also quite plain but nevertheless delicious. This dessert, along with the Chinese Pancake, is very popular and is usually the dessert for many Chinese dinners.
A really enjoyable and memorable experience.

Presentation
The presentation is impeccable, as is expected of a 5-star hotel.

Value for MoneyThese are dining experiences and hence, should be treated as such when determining the value. I think for the pomp & pageantry provided, this is considered to be not too dear for a special occasion.

OverallI was fortunate enough that my wife brought me here as a treat for my birthday. I have to say that it was a most excellent choice as I was most pleasantly impressed with the place and the food.

It is someplace to take that special someone for that special occasion. Great ambience & service. The food is very good. Worth going and giving a try.