Wanhuixuan 万荟轩 @ Luoyang

After a day of sightseeing around Luoyang, we were too tired to find a place to eat and went back to the Courtyard by Marriott. Luckily they do have a proper Chinese restaurant in the property.

Wanhuixuan 万荟轩 is operated by an external contractor but offered all the benefits of the Marriott Bonvoy membership. The food served is a mix of Cantonese, Sichuan and local Luoyang classics. We focused on ordering the local stuff.

First we got ourselves the local peony tea 牡丹茶. Luoyang is famous as the capital of the peony flowers, with the most varieties of peonies grown and cultivated here. We were too early for the world renowned peony festival (this year, its 21 Mar to 5 May), so we have to settle for the tea.

牡丹燕菜 Mudan Yancai

This is the first course of the famous Luoyang Water Banquet 洛阳水席. Resembling the much loved peony blossom, the soup dish consists of steamed radish threads that’s mixed with shredded ham, shredded crab stick, sea cucumber and julienne omelette.

It was an imperial dish first served to Empress Wu Zetian, the first Chinese empress who ruled during the Tang Dynasty from Luoyang. It was created as a mock bird’s nest soup by the Royal cooks using the huge radish presented by the local farmers. It was called Luoyang Yancai, until Premier Zhou Enlai came with President Trudeau of Canada (yes, the father of the current President Trudeau) and commented that it looked like a peony floating on the soup.

Not exactly the delicacy I was expecting, the Mudan Yancai is very popular among tourists for its cultural significance than its taste.

手撕麻鸡 Hand Shredded Chicken

This appetiser tasted like your supermarket roast chicken hand shredded with some peppercorn oil added. Nothing surprising.

每日例汤 Daily Soups

Like all good Cantonese restaurants, there’s always a daily soup. And these are usually simple double boiled soup of whatever ingredients they can muster.

红烧甲鱼 Braised Turtle in Red Sauce

There was a 1.7kg turtle cooked in the pot. And it only cost around SGD 90 for the whole thing. The style of cooking was more Cantonese than Yu cuisine.

My partner was not keen on the turtle, so I had to finish the entire reptile myself. Luckily it was very delicious and I love turtle. I even ate a whole bowl of rice because of the delightful sauce.

干煎带鱼 Pan Fried Hairtail Fish

OK, Luoyang is totally landlocked. So all the seafood must have been frozen or processed. So this hairtail fish was a safe bet.

荷塘秋月 Sautéed Lotus Roots and Snap Peas with Black Fungus

A simple sautéed vegetables using perennials like snap peas and lotus roots.

干煸花生芽 Sautéed Peanut Sprouts

You would have eaten bean sprouts, pea sprouts and even alfalfa sprouts. This was something special, peanut sprouts. It was purportedly the most nutritious among the sprouts. And because of its size and crunch, it was a really good eat.

韭菜猪肉馄饨 Chives and Pork Wontons

OK, it was like the Hong Kong wontons, very fluffy and quite small. The soup tasted like ajinomoto water.

羊肉馅饼 Lamb Puffs

The lamb puffs were like very hard pastry puff with a heavily seasoned minced lamb filling. Not used to the excessive amount of cumin. We left almost the whole plate.

I wasn’t accustomed to the Luoyang Water Banquet or local cuisine. The Cantonese food was OK. But generally Luoyang was much more fun in terms of sightseeing than a culinary destination.

Wanhuixuan 万荟轩
Courtyard by Marriott Luoyang
288 Kaiyuan Avenue, Luolong District Luoyang, Henan 471023
Tel : +86 379 6217 7777

Visited Mar 2024