Malaysia welcomes a West Lake icon: LONGJING brings Zhejiang cuisine's poetic poise to Pavilion KL

China's standard-bearer for Zhejiang cuisine makes a marvellous debut in Malaysia: LONGJING has launched in Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, its flagship for a three-restaurant rollout that spans Sunway Pyramid and Sunway Velocity this month, following triumphant forays into Singapore and Bangkok.

Founded amid the Longjing tea fields beside Hangzhou city's West Lake, LONGJING champions Zhejiang province's culinary artistry, celebrated for its calibrated flavours, fresh rather than forceful, light and refined instead of heavy or heated.

This Pavilion locale is LONGJING's largest overseas restaurant, its design drawing eloquently from Ten Scenes of West Lake, a canon of classical landscape vistas. The space is structured like a lakeside promenade, with vignettes that reveal themselves poetically, like a stroll on the water's edge.

Black-awning seating evokes boats that traverse West Lake, while hand-painted murals and oil-paper umbrellas sketch out the Jiangnan region’s visual vernacular with motifs like Three Pools Mirroring the Moon.

LONGJING's gastronomy mirrors that geography, built on the soulful clarity of broths, the sweetness of the fisherman's catch and the succulence of slow braises, in collaboration with Chinese Gold Chef Award recipient Chef Yu Bin.

From Emperor Qianlong Fish Head to Dongpo Pork Ribs, LONGJING raises Zhejiang cooking traditions to the esteem long held by Cantonese, Sichuan and Shanghainese food, widening Malaysia's map of Chinese culinary expression.

Start with two LONGJING signatures.

Sister Song’s Fish Broth is a Hangzhou heirloom with centuries of cultural resonance, channelling the silken softness of slow-simmered freshwater fish, elegant but not extravagant, collagen-rich with a sweet-savoury, soothing finish. A beautifully balanced broth.

Pork Belly Wraps bundle braised belly in hand-rolled scrolls of indulgence, conveying caramelisation with a snappy cucumber bite and succulent, meaty chew. Irresistibly addictive.

The harvest of the land is colourfully composed in the Wild Greens with Dried Tofu Buns (gracefully parcelled like dumplings for an invigorating interplay of vegetal sharpness) and Eggplant with Sweet Peppers (lyrically layered with red, green and yellow peppers that sink smokily into lush aubergine allure).

LONGJING’s Roast Chicken transforms the familiar fowl into lacquered lusciousness, its skin rendered to taut translucence, its flesh featuring the subtle fragrance of Chinese-cultivated tea, marinated with measured restraint for clarity over complication.

Craftsmanship and comfort come together for the Signature Roast Pork, complete with crackling that fractures into tender, thin-sliced temptations, channelling a confident command of textures and technique.

Perhaps Hangzhou's most recognisable recipe, LONGJING's Dongpo Pork trembles thickly and triumphantly, patiently braised for pure pleasure, steeped in soy-slicked aromatics for a sleek sheen that melts into velvety vibrance.

Crab Meat Mapo Tofu favours finesse instead of fieriness, spotlighting saucy, custardy tofu with threads of moist, mighty crab that lend luxury to exquisite equilibrium.

Vermicelli-Wrapped Shrimp showcase skilled seasoning, swaddling steamy crustaceans in strands of lattice-like noodles for a playfully full-bodied pairing, flame-cooked at the table for a precisely timed finish.

Rice in Shrimp Soup feels robustly restorative, delightful with the deep essence of an orange-hued broth built on shrimp shells, each spoonful brimming with beautiful brininess.

Desserts and drinks prove distinctive too.

The Leifeng Pagoda pays playful homage to Hangzhou’s most storied silhouette, translating the tiered landmark into a wobbly-wonder miniature, firmly creamy like a poised pudding, while the Chocolate Mushroom is a whimsically shaped confection, partnered perfectly with lemony refreshments that hark to Hangzhou's Dragon Well green tea with its gentle umami.

LONGJING Pavilion Kuala Lumpur

Lot 6.01.06, Level 6, Pavilion KL, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

Daily, 11am–10pm (last orders at 9:15pm)