Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Xuan

This restaurant is located in Lun Fat Street, Wanchai, offering Vietnamese cuisine with a northern influence by veteran chef John Nguyen. With a few tables outside by the street, we had opted to dine indoor with comfort.

The interior decor is chic, with full-length window facing out to the street, creating a cozy and welcoming ambience with the use of wooden furniture. The many beautiful murals also help to bring a contemporary high-end setting.

I ordered a cocktail to start. My Ke Time ($128). The refreshing drink has a nice balance of sweetness and acid, with vodka mixed with fresh lemongrass, pineapple juice and peach liqueur. Simple yet also delivers a quenching experience from the hot and humid weather. 

For starter we had Cha Gio Crispy Spring Rolls ($128). The spring rolls are certainly tasty, with fillings made from local grouper and crab meat, paired with market greens and homemade Nuoc Mam. Wrapping the spring onion with the lettuce, adding the fresh herbs of mint and coriander, and then pouring in a bit of the nuoc nam sauce gives a perfect harmony of sweet and savory taste. Highly recommend.

The other starter is something I tried for the first time. Banh Beo Trio Rice Cakes ($148). The rice cake is basically a small plate of steamed rice paste, before putting in different ingredients on top. There is one with the shredded pork which got a bit of spice, and I like this the most given its spicy kick while not overpowering. The egg yolk and crab meat one has a creamy texture to showcase the delicate taste of the crab meat, and the remaining one features a large prawn with some deep-fried pig skin. Quite interesting but in terms of taste it might not be the most impressive dish.

Then we had Banh Xeo Sizzling Crepe ($198). Another innovative dish, the crepe wrapped around a number of prawns, as well as pickled carrot and turnip shreds. Paired with another nuoc nam sauce which also got some pickled carrot and turnip added, it is eaten with the lettuce wrapping the crispy crepe and the prawn, then adding the fresh herbs of coriander and mint, plus the nuoc nam sauce, similar to the spring rolls. Good in taste, but personally I prefer the spring rolls more.

The last dish we ordered was Grilled Three Yellow Chicken (half - $198). The chicken was nicely roasted with a bit of char, while the meat is still tender and juicy. There are a few slices of lime on top, which I believe has been marinated with syrup to give a nice sweet and sour taste, and using them to wipe across the chicken added further flavors to it. Coming with steamed rice, this dish is a nice main course to consider.

Service is decent, though the staff is a bit unsure of themselves in my observation. Not sure is it because they are new or not properly trained, but it is a minor thing which can be improved easily. The bill was $943 and in my opinion at a decent price level. A nice place to sample some northern Viet cuisine.