The Delicatessen Bake Shop at the Hyatt Hotel in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, has been around as long as the hotel itself (In other words, decades). My mum used to buy me treats here when I was really young and as far as I can remember, I was never disappointed with the goodies that came out of this bake shop.

Only recently a friend of mine told me about their famous Asam Pedas or Hot and Sour Oxtail Puff. To combine french puff pastry with a local delicacy, how could I possibly NOT sample this? I made a quick dash to the Hyatt to investigate this for myself. Upon entering the shop, I asked the lady and she directed me to a glass display cabinet and lo-behold! There they were… At RM7.90 a pop, they had to be good!

I purchased one Oxtail puff and took it home for some serious analysing… And yes I measured it with a ruler, and it was a good 20cm in length! Don’t mind the lack of presentation, but the oxtail puff was bulging with a delicious meaty content waiting to be consumed!

I proceeded to slice the Oxtail puff in half and thanks to a good macro lens, I was able to capture a steaming close-up of the hot and sour Oxtail goodness inside the puff pastry.

The verdict? Everything I expected and more. The puff pastry was flaky on the outside yet was soft and buttery when bitten into. The pastry contrasted well with the sour and spicy flavours the Oxtail was cooked in. As for the Oxtail, it was cooked to perfection. Extremely tender but with a bit of bite, the meat itself wasn’t too chopped-up and minced. There were generous large chunks of delicious Oxtail in the puff.

I’m definitely going back for more. I reckon the Oxtail Puff would be great for tea-parties – you can pre-order in advance from The Delicatessen and they can bake them fresh for any function. Totally scrumptious!