Wrap Up 2020 With a Christmas Celebration to Remember

Last week, I was chatting with a friend about how 2020 is cancelled and that I wasn’t sure that we get to celebrate Chinese New Year this coming February based on the high number of infections that are reported on a daily basis.

While I was pessimistic and woeful that I have spent a good ten months at home, my friend insisted that no matter the circumstances, we need to end the year on a sweet note and welcome the New Year in a cheerful mood. Oh well, when it was put in that perspective, I have to agree. 2020 is bad, but let it be the past and not be carried forward.

While flipping through Facebook in boredom, I came across this Christmas promotion at Star Mansion. I follow the restaurant’s Facebook page as I have always enjoyed its ambience and the variety of menus/cuisines and themed meals.

This Christmas week, from 21st until 27th December, Star Mansion is offering a 5-course set and 7-course set dinner, from RM69.90 nett and RM149.90 nett per pax, totally worth considering for Christmas celebrants. No SST, no service charge and perhaps most important of all, no MSG.

For the 7-course dinner, we kickstart with a grilled half-shell scallop with bonita flakes topping and teriyaki dressing, presented on top of a bed of sauteed purple cabbage.

This is followed by an appetiser of smoked duck bruschetta. Happy to note that this slice of smoked duck is prepared in classic Italian-syle, so it doesn’t have its usual duck gamey taste.

For soup, it is cream of wild mushroom soup, prepared from a mixture of mushrooms, in a soup of silky rich texture.

Then there’s pasta with pan-seared oysters and shrimps, in homemade sauce that carries a slight tinge of spiciness, something different from the common classic pasta sauces.

As for the main course, for the price of RM149.90 nett, what you will be served with is Braised Australian Lamb Shank, sauteed with heady spices, in a garden of vegetables that includes broccoli, cauliflower and carrot, plus mashed potatoes and shiitake mushroom.

If you would rather have seafood, you may opt for the seafood trio of pan-seared salmon fillet with spicy lemongrass dressing, plus olive garlic butter herbs shrimp scampi, along with pan-seared foie gras, served with sesame dressing. To select A Seafood Trio would mean one has to top up RM90, from RM149.90.

Another alternative main course option would be the marinated Australian beef tenderloin, with scampi and pan-seared foie gras, topping up only RM120, from RM149.90. Recommended preparation is medium or medium rare for the beef, which is grilled to perfection with Italian-style dressing, accompanied by portions of broccoli, cauliflower, mashed potatoes, carrot, corn and shiitake mushroom. This item is known as the Surf & Turf, totally worth opting for if you were a red meat enthusiast.

As this is a Christmas meal, there is no better way than to wrap it up with something sweet, lending a festive air with a glass of English trifles prepared in the traditional colours of the season in green, white and pink. I was surprised that this dessert requires hours to prepare, as it has five layers to it, including a combo of savoiardi with strawberry cream, mint chocolate chips flavour, mixed gelatin and decorated with a thick layer of freshly whipped cream.

Oh yes, I almost forgot! Each set comes with a choice of beverage, either pink mojito or kiwi mojito. Both drinks are alcohol-free.

Diners who celebrate their birthdays with either the 7-course or 5-course menu will enjoy a complimentary personal ice cream cake to make a wish upon during the celebration. Ah, how thoughtful of Star Mansion! Despite having dined on such a scrumptious meal of generous proportions, nobody can say ‘no’ to ice cream right?

And if you still have space in your tummy, the cheese cut platter with three varieties of cheese, comes highly recommended. Priced at RM99.90 nett, it is actually good for 3 – 4 pax.

Seriously, with all that had happened during the past ten months, a celebration at the end of this year, whether one is Christian or not, is just the right remedy to keep our spirits up.

And for anyone who continues to worry about COVID-19, like yours truly, rest assured that Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) is followed to the T. Also, this mansion restaurant is spacious enough to adhere to the stipulated physical distancing, so that’s a relief.

Therefore, make your reservation to dine at Star Mansion by contacting the restaurant directly. Details are appended below.

Star Mansion
Add:161, Jalan Sultan Abdul Jalil, Greentown, 30450 Ipoh, Perak.
Facebook: Star Mansion
Tel: +6018-358 1168
Business hours: 11.30am – 10.30pm daily