time flies. It was workplace's belated Chinese Lunar New Year annual dinner last night. Last year, we had the dinner at Starhills Golf Resort. This time... we made it at the Grand Paragon Hotel, which is a newly opened hotel in Johor Bahru.
everything is so new. The whole building is covered with a fresh coat of paint. You could even smell the odour of paint. In spite of that, the environment was comfortable, or more comfortable than the other hotels. There are many entrances to the ballroom. It made me feel like I had entering a labyrinth. Still, it was such a glamorous building to me.
well, talk 'bout the food. Generally the food are all delicious and tasty. RM550 per table is considered worthy.
based on the menu, the first dish was Grand Paragon Combination Platter. It comprised of 4-6 snacks. And only the so-called Modern Pisang Goreng left me with an impression. The snack was poh piah-alike. You would never know that is actually a Pisang Goreng until you have a bite of it. And the taste was slighly in kiwi-flavor, but I could not find any slices of kiwi inside the poh piah-alike-Pisang Goreng. It tasted good indeed. Just that the banana was slightly over-cooked and melt in my mouth right after I put it inside. I wondered if it is the purpose of cooking the banana until like that. Anyway, it is recommended to give it a try.
then we were served with second dish, i.e. Individual Double Boiled Dried Scallop and Chicken Soup. Hmmm... the soup is cooked with types of ingredients such as mushroom, scallop, chicken meat, chinese yam 山药, chinese matrimony-vine 枸杞, and razor clam 鲍贝. Taste of sweetness.
the third dish is Steamed Red Snapper with Dried Golden Mushroom and Brown Fungus. Not to forget, the red jujube 红枣 is added too. The way of steaming a fish is kinda unique. However, the fish lost its origin flavor since all the added ingredient had surpassed the taste of fish. What a pity.
as the fourth dish, I did not see Crispy Roasted Chicken served with Minced Ginger, Garlic and Vinegar, but only the Crispy Roasted Chicken ++". However, I suggest not to eat with the minced ginger, garlic and vinegar if it is available. You would not want to miss the origin taste of Crispy Roasted Chicken. The meat is just well-cooked, soft and tender. Point to note, the chicken, unlike other roasted chickens, is juicy. And the skin is truly crispy. It is definitely not enough if you have only eat one piece of it. I wondered if they use the same method of roasting a pig, i.e. Xiu Zhu, as roasting the chicken.
the taste wise of Pan Fried Prawns with Oats in French Style is so-so to me. Kinda common, nothing special. Next, the Braised Long Cabbage with Dried Scallop and Chinese Mushroom was served on the table. Somehow, the spinach was substituted for dried scallop. Also, the dish is so-so to me. Perhaps it was due to the reason of I do not like to eat long cabbage.
before the dessert, we were served with the last dish, i.e. Fried Rice with Assorted Meat Wrapped with Lotus Leaf. Normally, people would like to skip this dish for certain reasons. Me too. However, I had eaten 2 bowls of the fried rice. Though it is just a common dish which is always serve in a banquet like this, nevertheless it is really appetizing. The banquet was officially came to the end after the serve of dessert.
hmmm.. in such of annual dinner, both lucky draw and karaoke are the MUST activities.
this year, I did go back home with a lucky draw present. Though I did not win the first prize, i.e. microwave oven, the present I wanted the most, but I should be satisfied for at least have won a Philips hair dryer. Considered lucky enough, ain't it? hohoho...
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there are 4 colors of sparking juice. Blue, red, orange, and purple. And 'course the purplish sparking juice looked the nicest. hohoho...
sometimes people feel curious why am I be enthused by things in color of purple, however I have to declare that I am not an enthusiastic supporter of purple. At least not the Ribenna =P.
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