Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Aberdeen Fish Market Canteen

This canteen is located inside the Aberdeen Wholesale Fish Market, a market that is only for wholesales and not open to general public. However, the canteen has a special 'flexibility' and so we can still get in and try what many of the workers in the fish market would be eating daily. At the same time, being of such close proximity, the canteen obviously also provides other restaurant-style seafood dishes.

Today we have a group of eight coming to try it out, as it would be difficult to order any varieties just having me and my wife. We gave the operator a budget ($380) to prepare the dishes. But while waiting, we ordered also a Salt and Pepper Fried Squid ($128) to start. It is nicely done, crispy with the light batter coating, the right seasoning of salt and pepper which is not overly done on either salty or spiciness. The squid itself is also fresh and of good bite though in no way rubbery. A great dish to pair with the icy-cold beer.

As we have a few kids and they would not eat some of the seafood, we asked that the Yangzhou Fried Rice to come first so the children can have the rice and not starving all the while till the end. The rice was quite decently done, not sticking together but I would say the ingredients added were just too few. More BBQ pork, or ham, with some spring onion and peas or other vegetable would make it better in both taste and appearance.

Next came the Seafood Soup. A nice surprise as we were each having individual serving instead of the expected one big bowl coming and then we need to divide among ourselves. The soup is good and sweet, creamy in colour and we can taste the abundant fresh seafood flavors. I don't feel there is MSG added which is also my big complimentary. And at the same time it was not fishy which might sometimes turn away customers. A nice soup indeed.

Then it was one of the most common, though also the one that can most easily tell the quality of the ingredients, the Poached Sea Shrimps. The size of the shrimps is in my opinion optimal, poached to the perfect right timing, showcasing really how good the shrimps are right now in the season. Dipping into the chili soy sauce further enhances and brought forward the sweet and true taste of the fresh sea shrimps, which you would never find in those that were farmed or frozen.

What followed was Deep Fried Abalone with Garlic Salt. The abalone are of good size, deep fried with batter and then sprinkled with garlic salt. The texture of the abalone is always one of the deciding factor of such dish for me, and overall the restaurant did a nice job of not making it rubbery and you can easily bite it through. However I would still prefer the steamed version with some nice dried mandarin peel than this one.

Next is what I would say unfortunately the least I like on the day, the Steamed Giant Surf Clam with Vermicelli. Like the shrimps this dish is very common on the menu in all restaurants, and while might not be difficult in terms of cooking, it is a true test to the quality of the big clam. The clams that I had was not properly cleaned and still got some sand, and the texture is too rubbery. It is sadly a bit disappointing.

Then it was the Steamed Grouper. And the size of the fish is really big. Despite that it was steamed to precise timing, with the meat fully cooked and able to detach from the bones. The soy sauce used poured on the fish is of the right salty level, able to highlight the delicate fish flavors without dominating, and the amount of spring onion is also the perfect match with soy sauce. We basically cleaned the bones and didn't leave a scrap of meat behind to show how good it is.

The last of the seafood was the Stir-fried Crab with Ginger and Spring Onion. Again the size of the two crabs are big, and they are nicely done with the ginger and spring onion fragrant and appetizing. The crab is meaty too. Served correctly at the end of the meal because of its much stronger taste, it has also the disadvantage that by then we were quite full and so was not that easy to finish all the crab.

The last dish in our menu was Stir-Fried Small Pak Choi. This is decently prepared, but not having any particular point for me to comment about.

As we heard the French Toast ($68) is famous here, we also ordered one as our dessert. The toast is certainly thick, with a layer of peanut butter in between. It is good but I heard that the surface used to be even more crispy. With the butter and condensed milk, it might not be very healthy, but as my motto goes, we should enjoy while we can, so why bother and asking all that question about calories?

The total bill was $3407, so for each person it is $430. As the canteen did not take credit card so it is important to bring sufficient cash to pay. And they only would serve lunch but not dinner. The service is decent with the staff quite friendly but you would have to be prepared to sit with others who might be smoking in the restaurant. Just remember this is the workers' canteen and adjust yourself, since we are the 'outsiders' which are not supposed to be here...