Noble House 2025 Reunion Dinner

Established in January 2003, Noble House serves fine Cantonese gourmet and has the reputation of being one of the top fine dining Chinese restaurants in Kuala Lumpur - and it seems for the past few years, it’s become a CNY staple. Their private rooms are a respite for family gatherings - devoid of the loud KTV blarings elsewhere. Here, it’s the epitome of luxe, as ChiefEater VK would put it - perhaps analogous to the Rolex and/or Mercedes of Benz Chinese fine dining in KL.

Like all Chinese eateries during the CNY season - they do brisk business, so be prepared for massive traffic, even if you decide to valet. The food as expected, is predictably good. We went for a medley of CNY goodies such as waxed meat and braised (brown sauce) sea treasures such as abalone, sea cucumber and fish maw. The abalones were the size of my face! They’re all single-head abalones, and legend goes, the number of heads is inversely proportional to price. But Chiefeater Susan Heng wanted abalones - so we got the best. And best they were. The abalone was a 8/10.

The sea cucumber and fish maw was equally good to me - albeit the fandom for these alternatives were noticeably far fewer amongst us. This dish I wanted - and it was superb. These braised brown sauce dishes weigh in at 8/10 and 7.5/10 respectively. I shan’t mention the prices here. Let’s just say price vs value is subjective.

The steamed Soon Hock was pure pukka. It was portentous, a putative fish choice for us. Noble Mansion’s fish is as good as any I’ve had - and I eat alot of fish - comes in at 7.5/10 effortlessly. Regaling stories how I've actually caught some of these desiderata of our fresh water rivers in my childhood years - that’s makes it 8/10.

The waxed meat selection was excellent and the claypot rice condiment was executed masterfully. The waxed duck in particular was a rarity but alas, an acquired taste for some. I’ve had better in Hong Kong but this is very, very good by any means. 7.5/10

I prefer meat done by Western chefs (meat done this way - but yes, a very good offering from Noble House through the years. I think I’ve had this dish every single visit over the years. The Spanish Iberico pork has become somewhat of a Noble House prerequisite over the years - we ordered a slab and it was good at 7/10.

The pleasant surprise for me was the Hokkien mee. It came with a serving of fried pork lard - exclamation mark! Easily one of the best I’ve had in KL for years. For a non specialist, Noble House does a fantastic rendition of this timeless KL favourite. I give this 7.5/10.

Special mention of the lousang - we opted against any salmon or seafood, and went for a full fruit salad nicoise version. Good choice as it was light and springy, opening up our tastebuds and palate for the onslaught of decadence ensuing.

The nian gao dessert was done as a samgyeopsal sandwich of Sweet potato, yam and the rice cake in the middle. Not much fanfare but it caught my attention. Again, stories of old, how my grandma got me stirring this sticky brown, gooey concoction for hours (under the hot sun!)- made it all the more sweeter. I guess this is what festivities are all about - sharing fruits of love with family and friends. That’s how we bind generations today, and generations to come. Wishing all Chiefeaters in advance, a very happy Chinese New Year.