Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Jinjuu

With the name meaning pearl in Korean, this contemporary  restaurant is located in Lan Kwai Fong, with half being a bar and the other half dining area. Originating from London, it has modern decor, a dimly lit environment, with fairly small tables which are more suitable for serving only one dish at a time.

Ordering the tasting menu ($595 each) the first course served is Beetroot-Cured Salmon Tartare. The salmon has an interested reddish color from the beetroot, seasoned well and paired with shallots, capers, crispy barley and chive. Mixed with yuja vinaigrette, with frisee salad and perilla oil, the dish has finesse and is a good start for the meal.

The second course is Mandoo Trio, including steamed pork dumpling, crispy Philly cheesesteak & kimchi dumpling, as well as steamed wild mushroom dumpling. With soy dipping sauce, the dumplings are delicious with different styles, from the original to more modern versions, offering a good contrast on the texture. Another good dish I would recommend.

The third course is Char-Grilled Chicken Stewers, which are from Australian free-range chicken, with a sweet soy ginger glaze, and paired with shallots, pea shoot salad and black garlic aioli. The chicken is juicy, grilled perfectly. The sauce is rich and full of flavor, and surprisingly reminded me of the Malaysian satay dipping sauce. So far all the appetizers are really good and delivering the high expectation.

The fourth course is Banchan Plates, which might not be counted as a course as they are standard Korean side dishes. But there is a twist. While the bean sprout and mushroom are nothing extraordinary, the spinach is prepared hot, with steam still coming up, unlike the common side dishes which are served cold. It has a spicy kick as well, and even though it is not the usual flavor you would expect, still it is a nice attempt in my opinion.

The fifth course is Basirak Kalguksu Hand-Cut Noodles, the spicy Korean clam soup noodle, with crispy barley puffs and ginger, in a piping hot stone bowl. The taste of the soup is nice with the right balance of spicy from the chili paste and the umami from the clams. The noodles are also great in texture, chewy with the bite. However personally I would prefer the spiciness to dial up a notch and the soup served searing hot in temperature, essentially steaming. A good one nevertheless.

The sixth course is one of the two main dishes, with us sharing so able to have both tonight. The Baked Sustainable British Cod has Doenjang herb crusts, on top of a gochujang pancake, along with sauteed silver skin onions, balsamic thyme jus. The fish itself is a bit under-seasoned for me, but fortunately the crust is nicely done. The pancake has a chewy bite, quite nice and filling so if finishing the whole piece it could be a bit too much.

The other main dish is Slow-Braised USDA Prime Beef Short Rib, served with straw potatoes, grilled vegetables and carrots, soy glaze and garlic chips. The meat is nicely done with the flesh soft and tender, but by now we were so full that we could not eat much more. The veggie are good but it is a bit too oily for me. There are some kimchi and pickled radish accompanying which can give a bit of crunchy contrast to the bite. It is a pity that we have to leave half of it behind.

The seventh course is also not in theory a separate dish. The Ssam Plates are fresh red and green lettuce, along with roasted seaweed and ssamjang sauce. A nice way to clear our palate and also to cleanse the oily mouthfeel, the vegetables are fresh, and adding the ssamjang sauce made them even more appealing.

Last is the dessert, which is Gochugaru Chocolate Brownie, infused with Korean chili flakes, peanut praline, cookie and cream ice-cream. The brownie are good in taste, sweet yet not overly so, with the berries providing some tartness to balance. The ice-cream has a rich vanilla and creamy profile, and pairing with the brownie is a signature way to eat. Though it is good but again it is beyond us now to finish them because of our full stomach.

The service is also good with the staff coming to introduce every course, checking in with us on how everything goes and our feedback on the dishes. I also like the way she explained each dish with sufficient details so I know what exactly we were having, along with how some of the dishes were prepared.

With a bottle of water ($70) also, the bill was $1386, quite reasonable considering the environment and setting, and my main criticism is that the environment was too noisy. Seated just behind a curtain to the bar the loud laughter and conversations are constantly affecting our dinner. That might be something the restaurant wants to think long and hard to create the right atmosphere. But still so far it has done a great job in combining Korean dishes with  a modern twist. 

Fish Maw and Corn Soup 粟米魚肚羹

Ingredients (for 4):

• Fish maw - 50 g
• Creamy corn - 1 pack
• Pork - 150 g
• Egg - 2
• Ginger - 3 slices
• Spring onion - 2 sprigs
• Chicken broth - 1.5 cups
• Water - 0.5 cup
• Salt - 1 tsp
• Corn starch - 1/2 tsp + 1 tsp
• White pepper powder - 1/4 tsp
• Sesame oil - 1/2 tsp

Procedures:

1. Boil ginger and spring onion in a pot of water for 5 minutes.

2. Add fish maw after washing, bring to a boil, then cover and turn off the heat. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Rinse fish maw with cold water, squeeze out excess water and cut into bite size.

4. Mince the pork.

5. Marinate the pork with salt, corn starch and white pepper powder.

6. Beat the eggs thoroughly.

7. Boil chicken broth in a pot.

8. Add the minced pork, separate the meat with chopsticks to prevent forming into lumps.

9. Add creamy corn and water to the broth, bringing it to a boil. 

10. Add fish maw and cook for about 3 minute.

11. Flavor with salt, and then mix a teaspoon of corn starch with some water to thicken the soup.

12. Add the beaten eggs slowly into the pot and stir gently with chopsticks in one direction.

Minced Pork with Salted Duck Eggs 鹹蛋蒸肉餅

Ingredients (for 4):

• Lean pork - 280 g
• Salted duck eggs - 2
• Egg - 1
• Oat meal - 3 tbsp
• Salt- 1/2 tsp
• Sugar - 1 tsp
• Corn starch - 2 tsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Water - 4 tbsp
• Spring onion - 1 sprig

Procedures:

1. Mince the pork finely.

2. Marinate the minced pork with salt, sugar and water for 15 minutes. 

3. Stir meat with chopsticks in one direction a number of times.

4. Crush oat meal by hand.

5. Mix oat meal with meat together with corn starch, then add oil to mix again.

6. Beat egg together with egg whites from the salted duck eggs.

7. Wash and cut up salted duck egg yokes, mix with minced meat and then form into a patty.

8. Steam over high heat for about 10 minutes and then sparkle with some chopped spring onion.

Coconut Flan

Ingredients (for 4):

• Water - 2 tsp
• Sugar - 40 g
• Egg - 2
• Coconut milk - 250 g
• Desiccated coconut - 15 g
• Sugar - 25 g

Procedures:

1. Put the water and sugar into a saucepan over a low heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Turn up the heat and boil to make the caramel.

2. Pour the caramel into the mould and set aside to cool.

3. Break the eggs into a large bowl, then whisk until frothy.

4. Put the coconut milk, desiccated coconut and sugar into another large bowl and whisk until the sugar dissolved. 

5. Add the eggs and whisk until even.

6. Pour the mixture into the caramel-filled mould.

7. Cover the top of the mould with foil, then transfer to a roasting tin.

8. Pour enough cold water into the roasting tin to come half-way up the side of the mould. Bake for 45 minutes under 180 deg Celsius.

9. Once the creme caramel is cooked and just firm to the touch, leave to cool in the water. Remove from the water and chill in the fridge.

10. When ready to serve, loosen the flan with a round-bladed knife.

11. Carefully turn the creme caramel out of the mould.

12. Slice into 2cm slices and serve with a few spoons of coconut milk.

Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Jardin de Jade

This restaurant is started in Shanghai, and since moving to HK has consistently won high acclaim. Currently a Michelin 1-star, it is located in Wanchai, right downstairs from my office so I sometimes come here for lunch with guests. The decor is nice, contemporary and high-end, no wonder it is a good choice for many business functions.

We ordered two cold dishes to start. The first is Smoked Eggs with Black Caviar ($38). There are two eggs divided in halves, with some black caviar on top of the yolk. It has a nice smoky aroma and taste, with the egg yolk running down, with the caviar providing some saltiness to the egg to season it beautifully. A good appetizer.

The other cold dish is another signature of the restaurant, Jardin de Jade Vegetarian Abalone ($88). Although not the real abalone, it has similar taste, marinated and cooked with the premium oyster sauce. At the same time the chewing texture is pretty alike too. Already cut into slices, the restaurant provided a wasabi soy sauce which I found highly complementary to the taste of the vegetarian abalone. The two appetizers certainly deliver to the reputation of the restaurant.

Then we each had a bowl of soup, with my wife going for the Stewed Chicken Soup with Matsutake ($88) while I chose the Hot and Soup Soup with Seafood ($78). The hot and sour soup certainly is spicy, but I would prefer more vinegar to balance the flavors. There are lots of ingredients like bamboo shoot, wooden ear mushroom, shrimp, fish meat and many others. Not sure whether the normal hot and sour soup would taste better...

For the main dish the first one we had was Jardin de Jade Jasmine Tea Smoked Duck ($148 for half). The skin of the duck was deep-fried first to give a crisp texture, while the meat was smoked with jasmine tea leaves, infusing a nice aroma. Paired with a number of rice buns, the both my wife and me thought the duck was a bit too salty, though if eating together with the buns it would give a better balance.

The other main dish was Stir-Fried Fillets with Fungus and Luffa ($158). The fish fillet was first quickly cooked with hot oil, tender and moist, and the luffa and fungus giving an interesting contrast on the texture through the crunchiness of the vegetable. A nice combination of the three as all are delicate in taste so nothing would dominate the others, the flavors are quite good but again we think the dish is a bit too salty overall.

The service is efficient but very superficial. There are quite a number of frequent customers on the night and from the interactions between the staff with these customers apparently there is a big difference how we are treated. But generally it is not bad just I would expect more check-in and interactions, apart from the one and only occasion on the night when we were asked whether we want any dessert.

The price is however very reasonable, with the total bill on the night totaling $697. Good deal, yet if you ask me whether it justified the Michelin 1-star, I am afraid I might not completely agree...

Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Lung King Heen

Located inside Four Seasons Hotel, this Michelin 3-star restaurant is one of the most famous Chinese restaurant in town, specializing in Cantonese cuisine. In fact, it was so popular that I had to book close to two months in advance for today's visit. Seated at a table facing the window, before the meal we already had a wonderful feast of the gorgeous harbour view. The decor is contemporary, comfortable and warm, and the setting certainly wins us over from the beginning.

We ordered the menu 'A Taste of Traditional Canton' ($2,980 each), with a total of eight courses, and the first serving was Crispy Suckling Pig with Chinese Pancake. As an appetizer, it is of bite size, with the suckling pig amazingly crispy, and underneath was the pancake with the Chinese BBQ sauce and the meat on the bottom. The overall impression was freshly out of the roasting oven, with a nice plating to give a new look to this traditional dish. It was so good that I could easily have a few more immediately.

The second course was Deep-Fried Crab Shell Stuffed with Onions and Fresh Crab Meat. The crust was a beautiful golden brown in colour, with a generous filling. The crab meat was seasoned perfectly with the delicate taste highlighted, supplemented by the thinly shredded onion. On the side was a piece of parsley with some edible flowers and gold flake. Another combining an authentic Cantonese dish with a modern twist, it is one of my favorites for this dinner.

The third course was Superior Pottage with Shredded Chicken and Fish Maw. The thick soup was highly fragrant, reminding me of my family's signature chicken pottage. Swallowing one would feel the syrupy body, full of flavors. There were also plenty of shredded chicken meat, fish maw, shiitake mushroom, bamboo shoot, wood-ear and hotbed chives, providing an interesting array of textures. The aftertaste had a special glutinous sensation. Somehow my wife thought the pottage was oily but I did not think so.

The fourth course was Sauteed Superior Australian Wagyu Beef with Fresh Lily Bulbs and Lotus Seeds. Upon the first bite I could detect the vegetables were cooked under the traditional high-heat stir-frying technique, well-cooked while retaining the moisture inside. The beef cubes were seared before mixing with the vegetable, having a crisp surface and juicy interior. However I found the seasoning of the beef was a bit salty and because the veggie were all light in flavors it was even more pronounced.

The fifth course was Braised Whole Oma Abalone (30-heads) with Chinese Mushrooms and Sea Cucumber in Supreme Oyster Sauce. The sea cucumber was fully soaked with supreme stock and infuse with flavors, but for sure the spotlight was on the abalone, which was perfectly braised and could be cut easily with the knife. And putting it in the mouth it created an explosion of intense flavors. Honestly it was a while since I had tasted such nice abalone and it was a testament to the quality of the ingredient here.

The sixth course was Braised Seasonal Vegetables with Bamboo Piths and Maitake Mushrooms. It was again nicely done, with the mushroom and bamboo piths braised with the supreme stock to infuse with great flavors. The Australian baby spinach was tender and bright green in colour, cooked just right and performing a seamless transition for the dishes to the final two courses.

The seventh course was Lung King Heen Fried Rice with Assorted Seafood. Already quite full by now, the fried rice must be good for me to finish all, and in the end there was nothing left behind. There was lobster, prawn, crab meat, scallops in the fried rice, and I also added a bit of the XO sauce which provided a spicy kick to the fried rice, making it even more delicious.

The last course was Sweetened Almond Cream with Glutinous Rice Dumplings. The almond cream was delicate, not too sweet. But I also think it was a bit weak and I also preferred the dessert to be served hot instead of lukewarm. The rice dumplings were very soft but the amount of fillings were just inadequate. There was also a Fermented Red Bean Curd Pastry as well as a Custard Pastry to accompany, and they were equally good and tasty.

The service was good, with the staff friendly and showing a lot of warm smiles, though I would like them to do a deeper introduction on the dishes instead of just saying what was written on the menu. At the end of the meal they came to ask for our feedback but honestly it should be done earlier and throughout the meal. Nevertheless the services did live up to the high reputation.

Yes, it is pricey but the food is good. But when I thought about it did this create the excitement and positive surprises for a Michelin 3-star? Maybe not.