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...
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