Chinese Restaurant Sepang – Hai Sang Lou

Chinese Restaurant Sepang

Words: Claire Matheson
Photos: Monica Tindall

Lying at the centre of the Avani Sepang Goldcoast Resort’s palm tree shape, the Hai Sang Lou serves tasty dim sum with a view. Perched on the upper tier of the central pavilion, guests at this Chinese restaurant in Sepang can enjoy the vista out over the array of palm-frond situated water villas. The coastline provides a pleasant backdrop to our meal. 

Chinese Restaurant Sepang

Furnished with a smaller availability of seating compared to Avani’s other dining establishments, Hai Sang Lou is both welcoming and cosy. The decor is old-school, with dark wood carved doors and wall inserts and plush red seating. Floor-to-ceiling windows fill the private room where we’re dining with natural light. Private rooms are available for bookings and can accommodate medium-sized parties, perfect for family and group gatherings. 

We visit twice during our stay at Avani Sepang Goldcoast resort. We want to take advantage of the chance to try both their Dim Sum Menu, as well as their À La Carte Menu. During both lunch and dinner, we are well looked after by Sook Chan, who takes the time to explain each and every dish to us, offering suggestions for what we should order and attentively refilling our drinks when needed. With exceptional, warm service, she expertly guides us through each of our visits. 

Dim Sum Sepang

As soon as we are seated, Sook Chan brings us glasses of the Flower Art Tea (RM16). Miniature posies of herbal flowers are served in glass tea mugs, opening gently during our meal. The flowers soak and steep slowly, revealing their restorative aromatics in a complex floral tea. It tastes as pretty as it looks. 

Each day, the staff at Hai Sang Lou develop a new daily signature drink. Today’s is a super-sweet passionfruit concoction containing lemon, lime and honey, further enhanced with rock sugar. The glass is full of zingy passionfruit pulp and softened chunks of rind-on citrus. So flavour-packed, we can’t help but gasp after each sip. It is the ultimate coastal refresher. 

We are quickly served a charming array of dishes containing an aesthetic mix of artistic dim sum. Plates can be ordered individually off menu, a la carte style, or you can treat yourself with All You Can Eat Dim Sum for a mere RM49.90 per person, with a minimum seating of two people. Take care to ensure your eyes don’t get too big for your stomach, as any uneaten food will be charged at a la carte prices with the aim of reducing food wastage. We applaud Hai Sang Lou for thinking sustainably. The temptation to over-order dim sum is already strong; the addition of an all-you-can-eat offer to the dining experience makes for a peak challenge! The deterrent is welcome, though I’m not sure we will be able to stop ourselves.

With prawn and chicken topped with scallion mushrooms, the Siew Mai (RM15) is rustically folded in its yellow dumpling wrapper. On the top, a heaped tier of tiny fish roe pop in the mouth. 

Inside each Har Kao dumpling (RM18) is a juicy, fat prawn enveloped inside a pristinely folded, clear rice dumpling casing. Thick and fresh, the prawns are bursting with flavour. 

The Spicy Chicken Dumplings (RM15) with a Sichuan pepper sauce each contain a treasure of marinated, darker chicken meat with a spiced chilli oil sauce. Topped with spring onions for a little extra bite, these morsels have just the right amount of fragrant spice. The juicy parcels of succulent chicken are one of our top picks.

Filled with a treasure trove of dried shrimp, chicken, scallion mushrooms and spring onions in a clear, salty gravy, the Deep-fried Scallion Dumplings (RM15) are both meaty and thick with vegetables. Topped with salty chicken floss, they give a satisfying crunch, their flaky pastry breaking apart to reveal their gooey goodness.

Not satisfied with serving only traditional dim sum, Dim Sum Chef Lam Chee Siong kicks it up a gear. Sook Chan brings out a number of off-menu specialty plates serving bite-sized food sculptures. These miniature artworks are beautifully presented, with deftly crafted details. It seems a shame to take a bite, but we know the insides are going to be just as good, perhaps even better, than their adorable exteriors. First up, a trio of little pumpkins comes served on an allspice biscuit sand. A bite into their perfectly moulded pumpkin shell reveals chunks of plump chicken with a thick onion sauce. 

Made from a delicate, crisp charcoal lace pastry, similar to a wu gok taro puff, a trio of black swans glide across their gleaming plate. Their gracefully arched necks end in little painted eyes and red beaks. Their back feathers are made up of additional layers of fine lace pastry, each wing crumbling at a mere touch. The level of detail is really quite delightful. Inside, their plump bodies is a thick gravy with flavoursome chicken pieces. 

We have just enough space to fit in a last savoury dish. Lusciously fresh prawns peak out the ends of a buttery, layered pastry. Delectably crunchy and falling apart, the pastry captures the swirls of sweet and sour chilli mayonnaise between its grooves, adding a creamy, smooth texture to the golden crust.

Ending on a sweet note, we finish our meal with some classic Steamed Golden Lava Buns (RM15). Filled with an oozing custard of salted egg, these pillows spurt their delicious innards across the plate in unexpected directions when prized apart with a fork. Why is this sensation always so satisfying? Forgetting our manners for a moment, we swipe up any errant dollops of custard and lick our fingers. 

Dinner À La Carte Menu

As we take our seats for the evening sitting, Sook Chan once again immediately provides us with a hot tea and cold refreshing mocktail. Comforting and warm, the Pearl Jasmine tea has a soothing aroma without any bitterness. The Red Touch Mocktail combines dragon fruit with Sprite and passionfruit Monin syrup. Sweet and fizzy, the vibrant pop of colour adds a fun touch to our dinner.

At any Chinese-Malaysian restaurant, reputations are staked on the worthiness of a fried rice. Hai Sang Lou’s Signature Seafood Fried Rice with Salted Egg Yolk and XO Sauce (RM40 for 2 people, and RM60 for 4 people) does the restaurant proud. Packed with plump prawns and finely diced fish, the lashings of chilli give a punchy layer of spice and salt. Elevated with salted egg flavours, the umami XO sauce is a clear level up. Even at the end of the meal, we can’t help having another spoonful, and then another.

The Deep-fried Eggplant Fries (RM18 for 2 people, or RM28 for 4 people) is one of the standout dishes of the evening and dubbed “Chinese fries” by regulars. Finely sliced and marinated in salt, garlic and Chinese five-spice powder, with red and green birdseye chillies for warmth, these are infinitely better than standard Western french fries. 

Considering our seaside location, fish and seafood are must-orders. We choose the Steamed Cod Fish in Premium Soy Sauce (RM118 per piece of 200g). Positively fluffy in texture, the steaming process draws out and intensifies the flavour of the cod. The light, emulsified soy sauce carries hints of ginger and coriander.

In need of more crustaceans, the Deep-fried Soft-shell Crab with Salted Egg Yolk (RM40 for 2 people, or RM60 for 4 people) is impressive. Served with deep-fried curry leaves, it’s not just the shell that is perfectly softened but the pillowy crab meat inside. Cutting into the crispy battered fellows, their juice seeps out, like a delicious, savoury, self-saucing pudding.

Finally, the Wok-fried Diced Chicken in Sweet and Sour Sauce (RM30 for 2 people, or RM45 for 4 people) comes in bite-sized mouthfuls of happiness. The syrupy sourness of this dish is enhanced by the crunch of rainbow vegetables: onion and capsicum, with saccharine pineapple, as well as some chilli heat.

Thank goodness for Avani Sepang Gold Coast’s collection of vintage cruiser bicycles and their beep-beep electric golf buggies, ready and waiting to carry us and our rotund stomachs back to the secluded comfort of our private over-water villas. We are not sure our legs would have been able to carry the additional weight all the way to the end of the palm frond we have been calling home during our stay. Despite our fullness, we regret nothing. Every mouthful was worth it! 

Chinese Restaurant Sepang

When staying at a secluded beachside resort, far away from the bright lights of the city, it is normal to have some apprehension over the availability of restaurants or dining choices. Hai Sang Lou’s extensive menu covers so many options, there is something to suit every mood, to stave off every craving. Best yet, the service is outstanding, making each guest feel spoiled with attention and authentic hospitality. 

Reasons to visit this Chinese restaurant in Sepang: an unbeatable all-you-can-eat dim sum deal, both the Floral Tea and the Signature Passionfruit Drinks were excellent, our favourite dumplings were the Spicy Chicken Dumplings, the Deep-Fried Scallion Dumplings, and the Chef’s Special Charcoal and Chicken Swans. From the à la carte menu, we enjoyed the Deep Fried Eggplant Fries, the Deep Fried Soft-Shell Crab with Salted Egg Yolk, and the Signature Seafood Fried Rice with Salted Egg Yolk and XO Sauce. 

Hai Sang Lou – Chinese Restaurant in Sepang
Avani Sepang Goldcoast Resort
67 Jalan Pantai Bagan Lalang
Kg Bagan Lalang 43950 Sungai Pelek
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
www.avanihotels.com
[email protected]
+6 03 3182 3600
*Pork-free

Hai Sang Lou Opening Hours
Daily 12 noon – 2:30 pm & 6 pm – 10 pm

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