Impressive menu at Imperial Paragon

 

When I received the exclusive invitation from Chef Benson Chia to the grand opening of Imperial Paragon Chinese Cuisine at the Grand Paragon Hotel Johor Baru, I was delighted to see that he was working in partnership with the hotel.

 

Chef Benson Chia [Right] with guest-of-honour 
and VIP guests at the ribbon-cutting ceremony

As I congratulated Chef Benson on his new venture, he was pleased to tell me that he would be doing something different in a Muslim-friendly menu to meet the discerning tastes of diners and hotel guests at the Grand Paragon Johor Baru.

 

Since 2018, I had the pleasure to enjoy the elegant Chinese cuisine created by Chef Benson at KS Treasures, a Non-Halal restaurant, in both dine-in and takeaway meals.

 

I was more than pleased to learn that he was also Executive Chef and co-owner of the Imperial Paragon Chinese Cuisine, opened at the Grand Paragon Hotel, Johor Baru.

 

Oval shaped dining tables in the main dining
hall at Imperial Paragon Chinese Cuisine

Chef Benson, a Johorean from Segamat, is applying the culinary skills he acquired from an illustrious career with international brand Chinese restaurants in locations from Singapore and Shanghai to Miami, USA.

 

This included his stints with Tung Lok Singapore, the Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, and the award-winning Michelin Star Cantonese restaurant, Hakkasan in Miami.

 

It was good to see Chef Benson again, smiling widely as he welcomed me into the Imperial Paragon Chinese Cuisine restaurant and escorted me around to show me the main dining hall and private dining rooms.

 

The table-settling in the Grand VIP room

There are a total of seven private dining rooms in various configurations to fit two or more banquet tables including a luxurious VIP room dubbed Grand that features an exceptionally large table that should comfortably seat 18 diners.

 

The other rooms aptly named in Chinese that translates to Fortune, Healthy, Lucky, Blessing, Rich and Wishes, provides diners with a private dining space and are equipped with karaoke systems for their singing pleasure.

 

Sauce dispensers are clearly labelled in English
for the convenience of diners
who don't read Chinese

In our conversation, Chef Benson shared with me about the struggles he experienced over the past few years of the global pandemic but was grateful for the support of regular diners who appreciated his cuisine.

 

During the lockdown periods when his restaurant ceased operations, he continued to serve his brand of modern Chinese culinary delights as a home-chef at private dining events.

 

By the time the economy reopened, Chef Benson had established a reputation for fine food and soon regulars who dined at his restaurant, often trusted him to serve a menu in an omakase-style dining experience.

 

A serving of Organic Iceplant Salad
with Crab Meat and Mixed Fruit

This new venture in partnership with the Grand Paragon Hotel Johor Baru is an opportunity for Chef Benson to share his food culture by presenting delightful dishes that feature natural flavours derived from quality ingredients in a Muslim-friendly menu.

 

Just before the ribbon-cutting ceremony to officially declare the restaurant open, I had the pleasure to meet with Managing Director of Joland Group and Director of the Grand Paragon Hotel, Dato’ Sri Edwin Tan Pei Seng.

 

Then along with guest-of-honour, Tuan Mohd Hairi Mad Shah, Johor Youth, Sports, Entrepreneur Development, Cooperatives, and Human Resources Committee Chairman, and other VIP guests, Dato’ Sri Edwin and Chef Benson, participated in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

 

To celebrate its grand opening, the restaurant launched a special promotion menu that showcases seven signature dishes where diners can enjoy a 50% discount on any two dishes from this menu, valid from now till September 22.

 

Chef Benson carving the Tiger
Grouper in Chilli Tempeh sauce

I was pleased to join other guests at the table, all of us eagerly anticipating the pleasure to enjoy the impressive dishes created by Chef Benson that feature familiar flavours presented in a fresh, new taste that will appeal to the Asian palate.

 

While waiting for the food to be served, I observed that the condiments served at the banquet table included chopped fresh garlic, chopped red chillies and pickled green chillies while the two dispensers for soya sauce and vinegar were clearly labelled in English for the convenience of diners who do not read Chinese.

 

The first dish in our food-tasting meal was a platter of glistening Organic Iceplant Salad tossed with Crab Meat and Mixed Fruit, topped with a sprinkle of toasted cashew nuts.

 

The crunchy bite of the Iceplant sprigs and cashew nuts struck a pleasant contrast to the wedges of tangy Mandarin oranges and slices of sweet red grapes, in a very refreshing and satisfying salad.

 

Crispy Farm Chicken in Satay Sauce

I don’t know about the others but with our appetites whet from this appealing appetizer, I was ready to savour the next dishes Chef Benson had created for the opening promotion menu.

 

All eyes were on Chef Benson when he personally served the next dish to our table. It was a whole deep-fried Tiger Grouper drizzled in Chilli Tempeh sauce. This fish was followed by the next dish, a whole Crispy Farm Chicken in Satay Sauce.

 

The clever use of Chilli Tempeh with the fish and Satay Sauce with the chicken, simply elevated the taste of these already delicious dishes so it was no surprise that we, quite shamelessly, polished off these dishes to the last crumb of meat and final drop of gravy.

 

Coconut Milk Crab with Otah

For the Passion Fruit Salad Prawns, the prawns were served de-shelled to resembled curled up balls of deep-fried prawns coated in an appetising tangy sauce made from fresh passion fruit.

 

The meat dish was Australian Wagyu Beef Loin wok-fried in Blackpepper sauce while the piping hot soup was a Thai-style braised Shark Fins Soup served with a side of spicy green chilli sauce, raw bean sprouts and fresh coriander leaves.

 

The piece de resistance dish of this meal must be the Coconut Milk Crab with Otah, a serving of two mud crabs in a rich Otah sauce that Chef Benson created from using Muar otak-otak.

 

Otah sauce to enjoy with crab meat!

This crab dish came with pairs of plastic gloves for diners to wear because they know that only way to enjoy fleshy crabs was to hold the crabs in our hands to wrestle every morsel of the tasty flesh out from its shell.

 

Once again, there was no shame in licking up the rich otah gravy as we savoured the crab meat and polished off this platter quite easily.

 

When fresh fruit was served as dessert, Chef Benson joined us at the table for a chat and to hear our comments about the dishes we tasted.

 

Encouraged by the positive feedback, Chef Benson assured us that these impressive dishes were the highlights featured in the opening menu and more of such interesting dishes will be added to the menu to meet the discerning tastes of diners.

 

Parking is Free when validated with
this laminated Complimentary
parking card from the restaurant

When I was ready to leave, the restaurant staff passed me a laminated card that entitled diners to the Free Parking facility when they dined at Imperial Paragon Chinese Cuisine restaurant.

 

All I had to do was to present my Touch & Go cash card used for entry into the hotel carpark along with this laminated card for validation at the hotel reception in the ground floor lobby. It was a plus point that parking in the hotel carpark was Free.

 

Imperial Paragon Chinese Cuisine is owned and managed by Mandarin Empire Sdn Bhd, a company under the Joland Group of companies.

 

Imperial Paragon Chinese Cuisine is a Muslim-friendly restaurant on Level One of the Grand Paragon Hotel Johor Baru located at No. 18, Jalan Harimau, Century Garden, 80250 Johor Baru, Johor.

 

Open daily from 11am to 3pm for lunch and from 5.30pm to 10.30pm for dinner. Reservations are recommended, so please call Tel: +607 – 338 3588, +6010 293 8588 and +6010 820 7588.