Cooking from the heart

The regent

The Regent delivers authentic Cantonese cuisine using top quality ingredients sourced from Hong Kong.

Every restaurant begins with someone who loves to eat.

Frankie Tan, 59, used to be a distributor for industrial and motorcycle batteries. He also owned a travel agency and would organise gourmet tours for guests.

It was through these gastronomic excursions that he gained some insight into the food industry and decided that he wanted to be part of it.

His first foray (with wife Kim), The Regent Chinese Cuisine in Mont Kiara, Kuala Lumpur, is an impressive endeavour for a first-timer, showcasing the best of Cantonese cuisine using top notch quality ingredients, many of which are specially brought in from Hong Kong.

The regent
From left: Kim and Frankie Tan

“One of my chefs sat me down one day and suggested that I could probably half my cost if I used similar ingredients sourced locally. But I said no, as I want to maintain the quality of the food so only the best ingredients are used,” said Tan.

Dry scallops, lap cheong (Chinese sausages), lap mei (waxed duck), and even dried shrimps from Hong Kong, are much better in quality and have a different flavour about them, he insisted.

“Local ingredients just don’t match up,” he said.

The Regent opened its doors in February 2018, and the kitchen is helmed by chef William Kwok, originally from Hong Kong, together with local chef K.K. Lee. Through careful hours of planning and preparation, their well-managed kitchen churn out authentic Cantonese food that’s cooked from the heart.

The interior reminds one of old style Chinese restaurants, replete with red lanterns and fancy chandeliers. At the side, you can handpick your fish from the catch of the day – that’s how fresh the seafood is. Keeping it cozy, the restaurant has less than 15 tables, with an option for private dining for another 20 people.

“Initially, I wanted to name the restaurant The Michelin, but this was rejected. So, it became The Regent,” he said with a laugh.

“Chef Hugo Leung Man-To (dubbed Hong Kong’s Gourmet God), a personal friend, taught me how to focus on the restaurant properly when I was learning the ropes, as did William who helped me set up the kitchen. I was inspired by the restaurants I saw in China and wanted to have the same kind of open kitchen concept at Regent.

“We distinguish ourselves from others in terms of our food quality and no MSG is used at all. Instead, William chooses to let the natural sweetness of the ingredients flavour the food,” he explained.

The conversation was interrupted by lunch, starting with fish skin, a popular food trending as a snack. At The Regent, it was presented as Typhoon Shelter Style Deep Fried Fish Skin, obtained from wild unagi eel skin, together with large luscious pieces of squid.

Crispy, crunchy and salty, this addictive cracker was triple fried and seasoned with salt, pepper and chili. So simple, yet most home cooks probably won’t be able to achieve the same amazing results at home. Another simple dish, Crystal Chicken is also a favourite here. Broiled in stock and then poached, the tender golden coloured chicken had a good bite and texture. Paired with the fragrant and flavourful stock cooked chicken rice, this can be a complete meal by itself.

As an extra condiment, there was homemade soy sauce made by Tan’s father-in-law to go with the chicken. Unlike commercial blends, this has a sweetish taste with no added flavouring such as MSG or additives. Don’t leave without giving this a try as all other soy sauces pale in comparison.

We also had Iberico Pork Ribs, which chiefly had two main ingredients – black pepper and rosemary. The herb was not overpowering, nicely balanced by the savoury pepper. Literally falling off the bone, the meat was a bit on the salty side though.

We were further tempted by a plate of Stir Fried Australian Angus Beef with Black Pepper, as Tan insisted we had to try the tender beef. Indeed, never have I tasted such juicy, succulent beef cooked in this conventional Chinese manner. More commonly presented as a grilled steak, the chefs proved the beef fitted right at home in Chinese style cooking too, nestled amongst fresh crunchy vegetables.

Noodle fans must indulge in the delightful Braised Hong Kong Yee Mee with Black Truffle and Mushroom, liberally sprinkled with truffle specially imported from Italy. There is no way you can replicate this dish without the yifu noodle specially sourced from Hong Kong.

I was told one of the best ways to judge if a restaurant is any good is to check out its Sweet Sour Pork dish. The Regent passed with flying colours, with the meat still crispy, despite being coated with sauce. Rather than being thickly encrusted with batter, the generous pork belly pieces had a lot more meat than flour, and despite being stuffed, we couldn’t resist making a serious dent in this perennial favourite. Even Tan, who claimed to be watching his waistline, nipped a few pieces!

Among Tan’s other favourites are Pork Stomach Soup and Deep Fried Soon Hock
that is lightly fried with just salt and pepper to bring out its flavour.

“One of our signature dishes is the Lobster cooked with salt and pepper. Usually, the Western style comes with cheese and cream but here, William wants to highlight the succulent yet briny character of the lobster without overshadowing its original flavour.”

We opted for a simple refreshing guilinggao with honey for dessert, but the chilled Thai coconut with sago cream and avocado is the bestseller.

“I started from ground zero so running a restaurant is a new learning curve for me. The biggest challenge in the F&B industry is the people factor. It’s not easy to get staff, especially locals, so I try to incentivise them in different ways,” shared Tan.

Whenever Tan is at the restaurant, he makes a point to personally greet his guests, and so do the chefs.

“We have our regulars now, and a number Of prominent high society customers who keep coming back as well. That’s a good sign; a lot of the customers have become friends along the way.”

So can we expect The Regent to be expanding in the near future?

“Not at least not for the next three years. For now, we would like to expand the current menu and perhaps include more seafood dishes and dim sum.

“I’m still new at this and there is room for improvement. More importantly – and this is the hardest part – we must sustain the quality of the food,” Tan concluded.

  • For reservations, call 03-6211 3331.

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