A ride of reunion at Hop Sing

 

If you are curious about this phrase, ride of reunion, adopted by Hop Sing Chinese Restaurant to describe their Chinese New Year banquet promotions, it can be easily explained.

 

A section of the recently refurbished
ballroom, Trading Post, at Ponderosa
Golf & Country Club

In the Chinese tradition, Spring is celebrated with family reunions over sumptuous food and according to the Lunar calendar, the next lunar year will be the Year of the Horse. So Hop Sing invites diners to a ride of reunion at their restaurant.

 

Located on level one of the clubhouse at Ponderosa Golf & Country Club, Hop Sing Chinese Restaurant is a popular dining destination for golfers and regulars in this neighbourhood who enjoy their home kitchen-styled dishes.

 

I was privileged to be among their guests at the annual preview of their banquet menu at Hop Sing for the Chinese New Year and I was delighted to be invited again this year as a media partner of Ponderosa along with teams from their partner companies.

 

Slices of fresh mango adds a refreshing
tang to the Yee Sang salad dish

Ahead of this event, I received a gentle reminder of that date and was told that this lunch preview would be hosted in the recently refurbished, adjacent ballroom dubbed, Trading Post.

 

From the entrance of the ballroom, the pre-Chinese New Year vibe was apparent from the brightly dressed team members as well guests who sported the season’s favoured colours of Red, Orange and Gold.

 

The ballroom was equipped with a wide LED screen that displayed Chinese New Year greetings that included an outline of a horse while guests were invited to try their hand at painting well-wishes using Black ink by traditional calligraphy on strips of Red paper, in any language.

 

Delicate morsels to savour in
this Yee Sang mixture

Of course, a Chinese couplet to ring in good fortune at Spring would be the preferred choice but guests were not limited by language as they boldly penned wishes in English, Malay and even Tamil, and hung up their calligraphic art as part of the event décor.

 

A few years ago, Hop Sing started a tradition of their own – serving Yee Sang or raw fish salad – not topped with slivers of raw fish but with slices of fresh mango.

 

Their Mango Yee Sang have since become a firm favourite as diners who may have an aversion to raw fish, can enjoy eating this version of Yee Sang served by Hop Sing, with comfort and confidence.

 

For the coming Chinese New Year festive season, the culinary team at Hop Sing has curated banquet set menus that are both attractive and affordable, and which features their popular Mango Yee Sang as the first dish served on the menu.

 

Comforting hot herbal
stewed chicken soup

The Chinese New Year set menus are presented in three menu options – Menu A, B or C – in the Dynamic theme at RM988+ for eight to 10 persons, available from February 9 to March 3, while the set menus in the Success theme at RM538+ that serves four to six persons, are only available from February 9 to February 19.

 

From the menu provided on the table, I saw that set Menu A in the Dynamic theme will be served for the preview. In the tradition of Chinese New Year banquets, the first auspicious dish served was the Yee Sang prosperity toss.

 

The presentation of the Mango Yee Sang came with traditional auspicious phrases for each item that was added to the colourful salad before diners tossed it together with shouts of well wishes – tossing the higher, the better – for good fortune.

 

Tasty Jixiang Roasted Chicken

This has become such a well-accepted tradition that (I observed!) non-Chinese guests happily participated in the prosperity toss, adding their voices to the shouts of well wishes as their chopsticks flicked the salad higher and higher.

 

When I tasted the familiar flavour of crunchy goodness mixed with slices of fresh mango in sweet and tangy plum sauce, I must commend the culinary team at Hop Sing for consistently maintaining the recipe for their Yee Sang salad, an excellent appetizer that whet my appetite for more.

 

Braised broccoli with Black Mushrooms,
Fish Maw and Seafood

Keeping with the tradition of Chinese festive banquets, the auspicious menu comprised a brewed soup, a whole fish, a whole chicken, whole prawns with a vegetable dish and a rice dish before ending sweetly with a dessert.

 

The serving of Fugui Herbal Stewed Chicken Soup tasted of herbal and dried scallop flavours that was pleasantly agreeable and even the chicken pieces in the soup were smooth and tender.

 

When the Steamed Grouper topped with Minced Chilli was served, I saw that a knife and serving spoon were placed under the fish. Looking closer, I observed that the fish was served, ready cut into portions for diners to serve themselves more conveniently.

 

Similarly, the whole Jixiang Roasted Chicken was also ready cut into portions for diners to pick the part they most enjoyed eating.

Fried Rice with Diced Chicken and 
Chestnuts served on a Lotus Leaf

To strike a balance with the meat dishes, a vegetable dish was mandatory. And for the festive season, it was florets of Braised Broccoli topped with high-value items like Black Mushrooms, Fish Maw and Seafood.

 

Traditionaly, whole prawns augur well for the season so this set menu included a platter of Golden Prawns in Cream Sauce that hinted of a salted-egg flavour.

 

The meal also traditionally ends with either rice or noodles and this menu served a platter of Fried Rice with Diced Chicken and Chestnuts wrapped in a Lotus Leaf.

 

Made with glutinous rice, Chinese New Year sticky rice cake or Nian Gao, was served as dessert, steamed and coated with grated coconut.

 

Hop Sing also offers an Auspicious Three + One, Mix & Match deal for home kitchen-styled dishes available from February 20 to March 3, 2026.

 

Dessert of Nian Gao coated in grated coconut

This is a flexible, off-peak Chinese New Year reunion menu for smaller groups, at an affordable price of RM180+ per set, that includes Mango Yee Sang, one soup and three dishes for four to five persons, for a meaningful festive get-together.

 

Hop Sing’s popular Yee Sang platters are available for dine-in and takeaway: Mango Yee Sang at RM28+ (Small) and RM38+ (Large); Salmon Yee Sang at RM48+ (Small) and RM78+ (Large).

 

Take advantage of the Advance Saver by securing your dining reservation with payment for the Dynamic set menus before January 15 and receive a Fortune Pack.

 

Hop Sing Chinese Restaurant is on level one of the clubhouse at Ponderosa Golf & Country Club, located at No. 3 Jalan Ponderosa 1, Taman Ponderosa, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor. For enquiries and reservations, send WhatsApp messages to Tel: +6019 779 9841.