Wanna make dinner plans, but not sure where to find a good – and halal – Chinese restaurant in the heart of KL? In that case, we cordially invite you to stop by In Colonial at Intermark Mall – where you can relax while taking in an incredible dining experience in a tranquil, incredibly cozy, and picturesque setting, decorated in a colonial style.
The trademark of outstanding modern Chinese cuisine is artfully combined with the cultural nuances of an English colonial setting, as the name ‘In Colonial’ obliquely suggests. As a result, long-forgotten customs from earlier times are revived, and are now used to complement a cutting-edge menu of modern culinary inventions. As a 100% Muslim-owned establishment, In-Colonial can guarantee that it serves no pork, no lard, and no alcohol.
In-Colonial is a cozy and memorable place to dine in. When you first walk into this restaurant, you will notice the decor, which is rich with elements of the colonial era, when workers and merchants from China first came to Malaya. Even though there are a few modern components, the accessories, table seats, and ambiance are all traditional. But for those who have lived in the past, coming to this restaurant will surely bring back fond memories.
In Colonial opened its doors in 2014, and has since become a popular destination for the finest selections of Malaysian Chinese Cuisine. Since 2019, the new management, headed by Captain Jaffar Hassan, has made In Colonial the premier Malaysian Chinese Cuisine Restaurant, serving dishes with 100% Halal-sourced ingredients, promising a Muslim friendly dining experience.
In-Colonial used to only make Malaysian Chinese food, like Kueh Teow and Butter Milk Chicken, among other things. This time around, they want to debut a new dim sum menu and other specialty dishes, which they manufactured themselves from scratch, using only fresh ingredients. So let’s dig in!
Since we were invited for a food tasting session, the menu was specially curated, consisting of some of their new and signature dishes.
Upon arrival, we were served with a welcome drink called 1000 Punch Mocktail. This mocktail consists of blended orange, watermelon and pineapple, laced with passion fruit syrup, and topped with sprite and a zest of lemon in crushed ice. It’s no wonder it has that name, because there’s literally lots of stuff in this one drink. It surely is a fruity drink, and a zesty one too. It really complimented the entire course.
Appetizers
To begin our meal, we were first served with assorted steamed and fried dim sum. There was Prawn Siumai, Steamed Chicken Wings, BBQ Chicken Bao, Prawn Rolled in Bean with Curd Skin, Fried Prawn Dumplings, Cheezy Spring Roll, BBQ Chicken Pastry and Crispy Duck with Pancake. If there’s dim sum, of course, there’s bao. There’s a wide assortment of flavoured pau at In Colonial. We sampled the BBQ Chicken Bao at the event. They came in tiny, yet satisfying, form. When taken out of the Bamboo Steamer, the food is best enjoyed while it is still hot. This will keep the bao’s unique flavour. The pao was soft and really moist. The filling was flavourful and warm too. You could have this bao for almost any time of the day.
Next up – a stack of dumplings and pastry. We went for the BBQ Chicken Pastry. Turns out, this was In-Colonial’s own creation. This simple pastry is really delicate. From the crust and flakes of the pastry you could tell it was perfectly made. I really loved the filling. It was something like our local pastry, karipap, but the filling was unique.
Then we had the Cheezy Spring Roll, Fried Prawn Dumplings and Prawn Rolled in Bean with Curd Skin. They were all super crispy and delicious. We were also given two dipping sauces: sweet soy sauce and chilly. There was definitely a lot to eat, but it was an enjoyable treat. There was also the Prawn Siumai. Before digging in, the chef demonstrated to the guests how to make dumplings. The prawn siumai was one of it. It looked simple – but we’re pretty sure there’s plenty of hard work behind it. Each siumai had a shrimp and crab roe on top. They were delicious and perfectly steamed.
We’re still on the appetizer page, so hang on. The last two appetizers were the Steamed Chicken Wing and Crispy Duck with Pancake. Of all the dishes I had, I think my favourite was the Steamed Chicken Wing. The chicken was moist, tender and juicy. The broth was super delicious. You don’t even need anything to compliment it. It’s perfect all by itself. As for the Crispy Duck with Pancake, you had to DIY. You start by taking a pancake sheet, spread the sweet sauce, add some veggies, put in the roasted duck and roll to enjoy. I was too lazy (plus almost full) so I just tasted the crispy duck. It was slightly sweet and a little salty, but perfectly balanced without dipping it into any sauce.
Main Course
Boy, that was a lot of snacks. Wait till you hear about the main course! There were six types of main: Signature Fish Fillet Pot, Prawn In Buttermilk Sauce, Hong Kong Beef Noodle, Cantonese Yee Mee Seafood, Kam Heong Fried Rice and Steamed Scallop.
I’ll start off with the Signature Fish Fillet Pot cause’ that’s my favourite out of all the mains. This dish is basically fish soup. It’s just like those regular soups you can find at any Chinese restaurant. It had veggies, fried chopped garlic and fish fillet. Taking one sip, I swear, it tasted like tom yum, minus the spicy flavour. It’s just clear soup, but the flavour just bursts in your mouth. You don’t need to add anything at all, as it already tastes great by itself. The fish fillet were tender and really soaked up all the flavour from the soup.
My next favourite was the Prawn In Buttermilk Sauce. Look at those gorgeous, juicy and fat prawns! I loved the plating and presentation, but is it good as it looks? I had a hard time peeling them decently, because they were absolutely huge. Nonetheless, those prawns were absolutely fresh, no doubt. Not only were they fresh, but juicy with every bite. My only concern was the buttermilk sauce. Now, I love Chinese style buttemilk stuff. It gives you this creamy, buttery and slightly spicy taste. The one served at In Colonial was average. It was buttery, but I felt like it should have been creamier, with a hint of spiciness. Also, they should have been slightly more generous with the sauce.
Another pretty dish was the Steamed Scallop. The shells were huge! On the shell, they had the steamed scallop, glass noodles and some broth. I loved the broth. Simple, yet full of flavour. The glass noodles were cooked perfectly, and as you slurped it, you could taste more of the yummy broth. The scallops were perfectly steamed and juicy.
The Cantonese Yee Mee Seafood, or what we know of as ‘Kung Fu Chow’, was a pretty basic dish. Same went for the Hong Kong Beef Noodle. The kuey teow was perfectly looked and yummy, but the beef was slightly hard and needed more flavour. Moving on to the Kam Heong Fried Rice. Now, this is an interesting dish. Kam Heong is a spice that is added to chicken, prawn and other side dishes. But to fried rice? That’s a first for me. The Kam Heong Fried Rice looked a little bit like an Indian dish. Maybe it was because of the colour and the amount of curry leaf garnish. And it tasted like Nasi Kandar! I know – but to ME, that’s how it tasted. The salt and spices were balanced and it was a surprising yummy dish indeed.
Desserts
To finish off, we were served with, not one, but two, types of dessert. The first one was Lotus Pancake. These crispy deep-fried pancakes – stuffed with red bean or lotus seed paste – are available at practically any Chinese restaurant. The pastry skin has the same layered appearance as puff pastry, because it is constructed from water dough and oil dough. This pancakes goes by another name: ‘obeng’.
The next dessert was Mango Cincau with Osmanthus flower. This dessert consisted of mango cubes mixed with cincau jelly and topped with Osmanthus dried flowers. I’ve had Osmanthus before and their flavour is extremely strong. Surprisingly, in this dessert, the flavour isn’t overwhelming. You can still taste the sweetness from the mango and a hint of grassy taste from the cincau. I loved the smoky presentation.
Dining at In Colonial was great. Apart from the food and drinks, I really enjoyed the ambience of the restaurant. Not to mention that there was a group of musicians playing golden hits. The pricing from their actual menu looks slightly steep – but still affordable. I’d love to head back and try some of their other dishes.
For more on In Colonial, visit their website and Facebook and Instagram pages.
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