Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Carrianna Chiu Chow Restaurant 佳寧娜潮州菜

This Chiu Chow restaurant is located very near my office, but frankly I have seldom come here for lunch. Today we chose here for our weekly family dinner, to experience some of the more traditional Chiu Chow dishes. The decor of the restaurant is pretty traditional in style, with a fairly large table which the five of us could sit comfortably for our meal.

To start we had the White Pepper Pig Stomach Pickles Soup ($128). This standard portion is good for five of us, with each having a full bowl. The white pepper note is not as strong as what I would prefer, but at least it was served steaming hot. The pickles are decent in taste, with the pig stomach quite tender on the texture.

Next we had the other traditional dish: Deep-fried Shrimp and Crab Ball ($128). There are four pieces each, and both tasted good. There were plenty of shrimp and crab meat in the ball so you would not feel you were just eating the starch. Seasoned well too. I personally like the crab ball more but my parents prefer the shrimp ones.

Then we had another traditional and commonly seen dish: Assorted Marinated Delicacies ($160), which included goose, pig ear, egg and tofu. The marinated sauce is decent and of proper saltiness. I just think there were not sufficient choices in this dish, and if you would like to have more goose or other things like pork or squid it might be better to order the specific ones.

My mother had particularly requested for two dishes. The first one was Deep-fried Boneless Duck with Taro ($138). Beautifully made, the 'skin' was a deep-fried taro which you found in Cantonese style deep-fried taro dumpling. Underneath is a piece of boneless duck, and in between a paste of taro with some spring onion. It was really tasty and was my favorite in the evening.

The other dish my mother ordered was Chiu Chow Style Sponge Gourd Pancake ($118). This one was also good in taste, with the pastry thin and crispy on the side. The sponge gourd was cut into thin strips and did not have the vegetal notes. On top there was some peanuts scattered which gave extra bite. Adding a bit of fish sauce really brought the dish to another level. Another dish I would recommend.

We also had the Mixed Vegetable in Fish Broth ($108). Nothing fancy, the broth was certainly rich in taste, and the mixed vegetable had absorbed the flavors.

Then we had the Pan-fried Noodle with Sugar and Vinegar ($128), another Chiu Chow specialty. The surface of the noodle was crispy, while the noodle was quite moist. Adding the vinegar and sugar brought a nice combination of flavors which is the signature of this dish. Another of my favorites.

Finally we had some dessert, with me going for Coconut Milk Sago ($42), while my wife and mother decided to have the Green Beans with Ginkgo ($45) and Green Beans with Water Chestnut Cubes ($45). Not too sweet, the dessert had a good bite and it was a nice conclusion to our dinner.

The service overall was decent, and we could see the restaurant is very popular, as essentially all the tables and private rooms were occupied. Considering the location of this restaurant is not exactly 'convenient' and connected to the main shopping or residential area, it had a good patronage. The bill on the night was $1249, which was very reasonable and good value.