We’ve seen plenty of ancient China-themed banquet experiences online, where guests dress up, dine in a grand hall, and watch live performances unfold around them like scenes from a period drama.
It always looked fun and interesting, but also like something we would have to travel overseas to try.
So when we found out that Malaysia has its own version of this immersive dining experience, we decided to give it a go.
Getting into the character first
Before the meal began, we were guided through the preparation process, which included makeup and costume styling.
The service staff were friendly and polite throughout the experience, which helped set a good first impression.
During the makeup session, they also asked for our opinions beforehand, so it did not feel like they were just applying a fixed look without checking in.
The final makeup was simple and clean, nothing too dramatic, but decent enough for photos.
One thing to note is that eyelashes are not included, so those who prefer a more complete look may want to bring their own.
As for the costumes, the idea was fun, but the selection was quite limited, especially for males. Since dressing up is a big part of the whole immersive experience, having more options in terms of colour, design, and style would have made it even better.
Still, once everyone was dressed up and seated, the whole setting started to make sense.
The setup did the talking
One of the strongest parts of the experience was definitely the venue.
The dining area was nicely decorated, with a setup that gave off a theatrical, ancient Chinese banquet feel.
From the lighting to the table arrangement and overall ambience, it did help us feel like we had stepped into a different era.
The concept was also quite interesting. Instead of just serving random Chinese dishes, the meal was tied to the story of Zheng He’s voyages, with food and performances woven into the theme.
This made the dinner feel more like an experience with chapters, rather than a regular multi-course meal.
Performances made the banquet feel alive
The live performances were easily one of the most memorable parts of the night.
Instead of watching everything from afar, the performers moved around the space and even came close to the tables.
This made the whole thing feel more immersive, as though guests were part of the scene rather than just spectators.
For people who enjoy interactive dining experiences, this is probably where the place shines the most.
It was not just “eat and watch”. It was more like eating while the story slowly unfolded around you.
Besides traditional Chinese cultural performances like dances and face-changing, they also included local traditional dances as the story went on.
Food looked grand, but not every dish landed
Food-wise, the experience was a mixed bag.
There were dishes we enjoyed, especially when the flavours worked well with the theme. For example, the lamb dish turned out to be one of the better ones.
While the video showed a lamb rack, the actual dish served was rendang lamb. Even though it was different from what we expected, the sauce was fragrant, and the meat was soft and tender.
The steamed fish also had a pretty nice sauce. It was savoury with a slight spicy kick, and the konjac noodles underneath gave the dish a refreshing texture. However, the fish itself had a slight fishy taste, which affected the overall enjoyment.
Another dish that caught our attention was the prawn dish. At first glance, the red sauce looked like it would be sweet and sour, but it actually had a light Sichuan pepper aroma.
The prawns were soft and tender, but they were medium to small grass prawns, which felt a little different from the broiled huge sea shrimps that were shown in the video.
The soup came with quite a number of ingredients, including chicken, bamboo fungus, dried scallop, morel mushroom, cordyceps flower and king oyster mushroom. It sounded nourishing and premium, but the chicken had a slight smell, which was noticeable.
There were also dishes that did not quite meet expectations.
The chicken wing shown in the video appeared to come with an abalone glaze, but what we had was a braised chicken wing stuffed with shrimp paste.
Another stir-fried chicken dish, which tasted like it had pre-made seasoning in it, was fried before being cooked, so the texture turned out rather hard.
For the abalone rice, the flavour was okay and not overly salty, but the rice texture was quite hard, making it less enjoyable than it could have been.
On the lighter side, the poached broccolini was cooked well and still had a nice bite. The dessert, a white fungus sweet soup with a slightly minty taste and water droplet cake, was not too sweet and ended the meal on a refreshing note.
Another thing to take note of is that some of the dishes served were different from what was shown in the video.
For example, the video showed steamed pomfret, poached peony prawns, lamb rack, chicken wing with abalone glaze, stir-fried greens, and abalone rice.
However, during our visit, some of the actual dishes were changed, such as grass prawns instead of the prawns shown, rendang lamb instead of lamb rack, braised stuffed chicken wing instead of abalone glazed chicken wing, and poached broccolini instead of the stir-fried greens shown.
Of course, menus may change depending on the season or availability, but for guests who come after watching the videos, the difference may affect expectations.
Having a menu explanation would be better
While the whole “surprise” element can be fun, we felt that the experience would have been much better if guests were told more clearly what they were eating.
Some dishes were introduced, but not all of them came with a proper explanation. Since the entire concept is built around storytelling, it would have been nice to know how each dish connects to the journey.
Even if the restaurant wants to keep the menu a surprise at the start, telling guests after each dish is served would already make a big difference.
At some points, we found ourselves trying to figure out what exactly was on the plate, which slightly pulled us out of the experience.
So, does it worth the money and time?
Overall, this was an experience that stood out more for its concept, ambience, service, and performances than for the food alone.
As a themed lifestyle experience, it definitely gives you something different from the usual restaurant outing.
For our visit, we went for the lunch session with the full costume, makeup, and styling experience, which came up to around RM550 per person.
However, you can also choose to skip the dress-up portion and just enjoy the banquet with live performances, which would bring the price lower.
Time-wise, the whole thing took us around 4 hours, including changing, makeup, styling, photo taking, and the meal itself.
But if we are talking about the actual banquet and performance, that lasted around one and a half hours.
So whether it feels worth it really depends on what you are going for.
If you are expecting the food to be the main highlight, then you may need to manage your expectations.
Some dishes were enjoyable, but there were also parts that could have been better in terms of freshness, texture, and taste.
But if you are going for the atmosphere, costumes, performances, photos, and the novelty of trying a Chinese-style immersive banquet experience in Malaysia, then it is worth trying at least once.
The staff were warm, the venue looked beautiful, and the performances helped bring the theme to life. As a lifestyle experience, it did feel different from the usual food spots we normally visit.
For us, it was not a flawless banquet, but it was still an interesting meal. It gave us something different to experience, and for a few hours, it really did feel like we had stepped out of our usual dinner routine and into another era.
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