During our stay in Shangri-La Rasa Ria in Sabah, we were elated upon learning there is a Chinese restaurant specialises on seafood in the resort - The Eighth. Not many hotels we came across has restaurant serving authentic Chinese dishes, as it was mainly offered as a la carte disehs, banquet or wedding dinner. Furthermore, the close proximity of the resort to South China Sea suggests we will be getting really fresh seafood in The Eighth. Indeed, the Chinese food here is very palatable and seasoning is on point.
Sabah Tiger Grouper Pot |
If you just wish to order a single item on the menu, then you ought to order Sabah Tiger Grouper Pot. Fresh grouper is used to prepare the soup, along with fish maws, yams, mushrooms, red dates, wolfberry and ginseng, resulting superior broth which is extremely appeasing to taste buds. Even though herbs were being used in preparation but the soup did not express pungent herby that tasted acrid, instead it was very sleek.
Even our little daughter who is close to 2 years old had fun savouring the soup. If it rains during your visit, I reckon this soup even taste better! Apparently we learnt that Sabah Tiger Grouper Pot is the restaurant hot selling items after we had a chat with the hotel's staff.
Chili Lobster |
Another highlight worth trying here is the Chili Lobster. It is served along with a bowl of golden friend mantou, so you can enjoy the chili sauce with the mantou after having the fresh lobsters. I thought the chili would be fiery hot but it was finely tuned so it does not mask the natural sweetness of the lobster meats.
Roasted Duck is one of the signature dish by Chef Ng, the Executive Chef in The Eighth. It was roasted to perfection and the duck meat is still a mixture of moist and tender. Dip it along with the starchy sauce to introduce a bolder flavour to the duck meat. It is notable that the duck meat is lightly seasoned and still kept its originality.
Another signature dish by Chef Ng is Dang Gui Salted Chicken.
A more simpler dish here would be their Yam Basket with Kung Pao Chicken, which has stir fried chicken in soy sauce in a yam. I like the yam was cooked to the nice texture - just soft but did not rupture when I poke my spoon onto it, which completed the crispy Kung Pao Chicken.
The Double Boiled Chicken Soup in Coconut is a lighter and less luxury version of the signature Sabah Tiger Grouper Pot. Inside the coconut there are fish maws, dried scallops, chicken, abalone and prawns. The resultant soup is nice, and milder in taste if compared to the grouper pot. Somehow there is an elusive sweetness which is hard to tell, perhaps due to the infusion of the coconut flavour to the soup.
The Eighth also features some cocktails and mocktails, and some are available exclusively in the resort so you should give it a try.
Overall it was a nice dining experience in The Eighth. The dishes served were superior and quality in taste, especially the Sabah Tiger Grouper Pot. If you ask whether it is worth the effort to travel to Kota Kinabalu to Shangri-La Rasa Ria just to savour the Chinese style seafood here, we would totally say yes!
On top of that, the Eighth only opens on specific hour of the day, so remember to give a call before coming to avoid disappointment.
The Eighth @ Shangri-La Rasa Ria
Operation hours: 12pm - 2.30pm (Tues, Thurs, Saturday and Sunday), 6pm - 10pm (Saturday and Sunday)
+6088 797 888
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Check out Shirleen & Ee Pin's Instagram for more beautiful photos we have taken.
Check out Shirleen & Ee Pin's Instagram for more beautiful photos we have taken.
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