Elegant, it definitely is, inside but not as appeared outside. Like being in a mini 5-star hotel restaurant where service is superb and ambiance great too. As its name suggest, it is elegant dining alright, but be prepared to be hit with an Iraqi bomb - hehe...a hefty food bill at the end of it all!
Five of us just wanted to try out this eatery one Sunday afternoon about a month ago. Restaurant Elegant Inn Hong Kong Cuisine is located at:
No. 16, Jalan Waras 1,
Taman Connaught, Cheras
56100 Kuala Lumpur. (Tel: (603) 9130 2626)
Outside appearance is nothing to shout about, a very ordinary corner lot of a seemingly old shop-house block.
As I mentioned earlier, elegance is of the essence for that lunch. Table napkins and towels were provided. Plates were changed ever so often, after every serving, and carried out by uniformed waitresses. The lady proprietress was friendly and even taught us how to enjoy their food...she seemed very proud of their Hong Kong cuisine food creations, sharing with us some of the unique ingredients that were included.
On the whole, food was good and delicious, but in such small servings that we think 2 persons could have easily polished them all. Definitely inadequate to fill 5 tummies full...maybe just enough to tickle our stomachs.
We ordered 4 dishes as recommended by the lady proprietress.
First serving was a plate of homemade tow foo, topped with salted and peppered Hong Kong boneless silver fish.
This was lovely but pricey and strangely itemized on the bill. One single dish but bore two charges, that is, RM16 for 8 small cubes of tow foo and another RM16 for the silver fish.
Strange, huh?
A plate of Golden Fried Pork Rib was then served individually to each person.
She told us that the meat is slightly tough as no unhealthy tenderizer had been indiscriminately added. Also, advised us to slice off the meat following the length of the bone...humph, did we look so ignorant that she had to teach us how to eat?
Whatever, this pork rib was tasty with just the right seasoning. But, there again, was it worth paying RM13 per piece?
Subsequent serving was a small plate of Bitter Gourd with Salted Vegetables (RM18) and ended with a plate of Fried Rice (RM22), another small serving.
The former is just so ordinary and even though the Fried Rice is one of their specialities, fried with diced dried shrimps from Hong Kong, and crabment, egg and garnished with spring onions, they were definitely exorbitantly priced too!
Anyway, I liked the fried rice as it wasn't oily at all and the rice grains perfectly cooked and fried.
Tea was RM2 per head which is normal and another RM9.50 for peanuts/towels. Total bill came up to RM164.35, inclusive of 5% service charge. Well, that's what you pay for elegant dining! Think, we retirees can do without that for ordinary lunches and dinners. Once bitten twice shy...we won't be 'hoodwinked' a second time for sure!!
Frankly, food business, like other businesses is sluggish during these times of economic downturn...there was only another table with diners besides us on a Sunday afternoon! That speaks volume, doesn't it? And, we were told that the Elegant Inn at this branch is only open for 3 days a week, that is, from Friday to Sunday. Hope, business picks up for them.
