Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Xin Dau Ji

This Cantonese restaurant chain has now got several outlets, but after having tried at a few of them I would say the Jordan one is best in terms of food quality and comfort. With a number of floors, tonight we were seated on the third floor, having to go up from the lift of the commercial building entrance.

We had ordered the Blanched Squid, Dried Seafood and Mixed Vegetable Pot, Royal Chicken, plus the Slimy Spinefoot Porridge. The Blanched Squid is good, with the marinated sauce not too salty and adding the right flavors to the bean sprout and squid. The squid is also blanched beautifully so it is not rubbery in texture. A good appetizer to begin with.

The Dried Seafood and Mixed Vegetable Pot is a common dish found in many Cantonese restaurant. This one has also a nice taste with the vegetable absorbed the essence of the dried seafood and stock, at the same time well-boiled to completely break down the fiber to allow an easy bite. Another good dish, tasty and simple.

The Royal Chicken is quite tender and marinated well, full of flavors and yet not salty. The ginger and spring onion dipping sauce adds further to the overall enjoyment of the dish, The chicken is not too fat too, which is important as I cannot accept those you would find having a layer of fat under the skin.

However, the porridge is quite a disappointment. The amount of spinefoot is decent and there is also some dried mandarin peel to add the fragrances to the porridge, but it is simply too salty, with a high dose of MSG one can feel. Though strong in taste, for someone who is sensitive to MSG like myself it brought headache and thirsty sensation which is not pleasant. I even had to drink a bottle of coke to lessen the effects.

The service is quite good with attentive and friendly staff responsible for serving our table. He also offered to provide a dessert free when we finished our dinner. But the price is a bit higher than normal, with the four dishes costing a total of $597. In fact we did not order their signature dishes on the night.

My overall rating is 50/100.