This Chinese restaurant is part of the group of the same name from Singapore, which started in 2004 and now having opened more than 20 restaurants, including two in HK. The one we went is located in One Peking, and had been awarded Michelin 1-star status.
Arriving at 11am for the first seating, we found the restaurant had made a mistake and put me in another timeslot. But they quickly fix and arranged for me, with a table on the window side overseeing the Victoria Harbour, spacious and with a comfortable setting.
We ordered the Supreme Seafood Set ($998 each). The first course is Double-Boiled Shark's Fin with Cabbage. The soup is very delicate and light, with a good flavor and not any hint of oil. The cabbage provided some sweetness to the soup. Adding a bit of Chinese coriander enhanced the fragrance even further and a few drops of the vinegar also enriched the shark's fin with a bit of sourness and complexity. A good soup to start our meal.
The second course is Baked Boston Lobster with Black Pepper. I can associate this with the Singaporean Pepper Crab, with the same great peppery notes which bombarded the palate with a nice kick from the sweet and fresh lobster meat. The plating can see a bit of more sophistication, but the taste is really good.
The third course is Braised Fish Maw with Goose Web in Oyster Sauce. The piece of fish maw is fairly big, braised perfectly with a tender texture while retaining a bite, and the oyster sauce serving a great complementary umami note infusing into it. The goose web is also nicely done with the skin peeling off the bone upon biting but not too soft. And the two pieces of broccoli can help to scoop up the nice sauce at the end. Nicely done.
The fourth course is Sauteed Tiger Garoupa Fillet with Vegetable and Preserved Black Olives. This is one of my favorites in the meal, with the fillet have a wonderful seasoning, the skin showing the collagen and the flesh firm with a good bite. Paired with celery which provided a contrasting crunchiness and a nice fragrance, the preserved black olives are appropriate in saltiness too, further enhanced in taste by the scallion and shallot. Really good.
The fifth course is Braised Seasonal Vegetable with Crab Meat. An abundance of crab meat is poured on top of the young and tender spinach, cooked just perfectly. The thickening together with the crab meat provided nice flavors to add to the spinach, and while it looks simple, doing it right and with attention is not something many restaurants will focus nowadays.
The sixth course is another of my favorites for the meal, Crispy Rice with Seafood Broth. Served steaming hot, with the crispy rice poured it there was a hissing sound, and then adding the Chinese coriander and spring onion to the broth added an extra fragrance to the sweet and rich seafood essence, and the bite from the crispy rice, the pieces of shrimp, or the slices of kale stem give a rewarding and filling happiness. Very nice.
Coming to the dessert, the Steamed Red Dates Cake is good, with layers of red dates paste giving a chewy bite. Not too sweet, it has a delicate fragrance that helps to smooth out the intense flavors from the prior seafood broth.
The final course is Chinese Almond Cream. The almond notes are intense and concentrated, and while this is sweeter than the red dates cake, but is not overly so. Satisfying on the palate with a complete, rewarding sensation, again it is something that can show whether the restaurant paid attention to the offerings.
Service in general is good, with the staff attentive and friendly. The bill on the day is $2,207 which is reasonable in my opinion. While chatting with the staff, it seems there are a number of dim sum the restaurant is famous for, maybe it is good to pick another time to come and try those also.
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