Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Dragon Seal 龍璽

This Cantonese restaurant is the flagship of the Dragon King Group, owned by the celebrity chef and Wong Wing Chee. Located on the top of ICC, the restaurant enjoys a great panoramic view of the Victoria Harbour and the HK Island. 

Arriving early in the Sat evening, we were seated at a table on the window side, and I like the lighting set to a softer level so that we can enjoy the great views while dining. The decor is nice, comfortable and offering a sense of luxury ambience. 

Decided to go for a la carte instead of the set menu, and for starter we ordered the Lotus Root Slices ($70). The lotus root is very crunchy, marinated well with a sweetened rice vinegar sauce, further adding garlic to enhance the taste. Quite a good appetizer. 

Then we had the soup, with me going for a Hot and Sour Soup ($180) while my wife had the Double-boiled Conch and Chicken Feet Soup ($190). Served in a square-shaped bowl and keeping warm by tealight candle, the hot and sour soup is very good, with the spiciness and sourness balanced well, intense yet not overpowering. The ingredients are not the traditional ones too, using more premium bamboo pith, to add to cordyceps flower and black ear fungus. Apparently the double-boiled conch soup is very nice too. The only suggestion is that the square-shaped bowl makes it difficult to spoon the remaining soup near the end. 

We also ordered a signature dish, Steamed Lobster Ball with Egg White ($380 per person). This was my favorite in the evening, with the egg white mixed with a nice chicken broth to steam, rich in flavors. The lobster meat had a great umami sweetness that was in harmony with the egg white, delicate yet full of taste, and I highly recommend this dish. 

Next we had the seasonal Braised Mutton in Clay Pot ($498). While this dish is pretty common in most Cantonese restaurants, doing it good is not a given. This one is not bad, with big chunks of mutton fairly tender, and the sauce is fairly good in taste, with the chef adding some turnip. But I found the dish lacked the key essence in my opinion - bean curd sheet. So overall it was decent but not great for me.

In addition we have the Pea Sprout in Supreme Broth ($150). The pea sprout is young and tender, and the supreme broth has a good taste and adding the flavors to the vegetable, which I found to also exhibit some hints of ginger. Apparently it was cooked with ginger wine beforehand to remove the green note. Quite nice.

Wrapping up we also ordered the Cured Meat with Rice in Clay Pot ($100 for each). When opening the lid the aromas are really good, with the Chinese cured sausages, cured meat, cured duck all permeating a great savory note, and the oil seeping into the rice to make the rice even more tasty. Another dish I highly recommend.

The service is generally good, and while the food quality is nice, I would not say it is anything superior than other high-end Cantonese restaurants. The bill was $2,314 and it was fairly expensive. The view has contributed a bit to the value but overall it is a restaurant you would want to visit once, but might not be returning.