This Michelin 1-star Cantonese restaurant is located on 25/F of Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. Opened since 1968, it has a long history serving exquisite cuisine. Coming early in the evening, we were seated at the window side with a great harbour view, admiring the amazing sunset in town.
The restaurant in fact has undergone renovation recently, with a refined luxurious setting, using a navy-blue colour throughout, with soft lighting, plenty of Chinese art decorations on the walls creating a warm and comfortable environment making one feel relaxed and pampered.
We had pre-ordered Classic Barbecued Duck Feet 懷舊功夫鴨腳包 ($168). This is a traditional dish seldom seen nowadays. The chef put together the duck feet along with barbecued pork, pork belly, chicken liver and taro, then wrapped with duck intestine, before putting it to grill. Cutting it into slices to show the beautiful components, with each of them great in taste and giving a harmony of flavors. The chef also smartly served together with pickled winter melon balls, providing a refreshing and mouth-watering sour note to balance the fat of the dish. A must-try in my opinion.
Next, we had the soup, with me ordering Hot and Sour Soup 鮮蟹肉花膠海鮮酸辣羹 ($298) while my wife had Double-Boiled Honey Lotus Seed with Matsutake Mushroom, Elm Fungus and Yellow Fungus 松茸愉耳黃耳燉雪蓮子 ($268). My soup is very tasty, having a great balance of spicy and sourness, with abundance of fish maw, crab meat, and other seafood like scallop and conpoy, plus bamboo shoot, black fungus and bean curd, all cut to thin shreds, demonstrating the great knife skill of the chefs. My wife also had good comments on her soup, delicate yet full of flavors, and the different fungus offering a good bite in contrast with the lotus seeds. Both soups are fantastic.
We then had Sautéed Lobster with Superior Fish Broth 極品魚湯泡龍蝦球 ($588). This is another of the signature from the chef, with the Australian lobster sautéed with a great fish broth to perfection, not a tiny bit over-cooked, rich in its original sweetness. The staff shaved some dried caviar on top of pickled salmon roes marinated in sake to add another layer of complexity in flavor, with the popping texture of the roes wonderful to complement with the lobster, and the interesting huadiao taste permeating together with hints of savory from the dried caviar. The tender spinach shoots soaked up all the essences underneath to complete a sensory wonder. Another must-try.
The Sweet and Sour Pork with Fresh Pineapple 鮮鳳梨咕噜肉 ($278) is always a test of chef, and this one certainly delivers high marks. The pork has a thin coating which is barely discernible, with the sauce concocted with a perfect harmony of different flavors. And when we finished the dish, we did not see any sauce left behind on the plate to illustrate the perfect thickness of the sauce. Even all the bell peppers are cut to the equal size and rhombus shape. The fresh pineapple brought a touch of sweet and sourness that matched impeccably with the pork too.
We decided to try another traditional dish of Braised Bean Curd with Morel Mushroom and Abalone Sauce 鮑汁羊肚菌紅燒豆腐 ($348). The bean curd has fully absorbed the flavors of the abalone sauce, with a tasty umami note. The morel mushroom exhibits its unique characters, with the great taste and texture to add to the overall enjoyment of this dish. Even though it seems simple, it is another example of the chef paying attention to all the creations.
Coming to desserts, I had Chilled Fig Cream with Seaweed Sago 雲裳無花果甘露 ($138) while my wife had Red Bean Cream with Lotus Seed and Aged Tangerine Peel 遠年陳皮湘蓮紅豆沙 ($98). The presentation for my dessert was certainly daunting, with a glass jar full of mist, and upon opening the white mist seeped out profusely from the dried ice, creating an amazing spectacle. Waiting till the mist died down, the fig cream was good in taste, appropriate in sweetness and the sago was also made from seaweed instead of the traditional starch, with a firmer jelly texture for my liking. My wife commented that the red bean cream was also very good, with the aged tangerine peel fragrant and the red bean boiled to give the ‘sandy’ texture. A good wrap up for our wonderful meal.
The service was very good, with the staff attentive and serving with polite sincerity. I also like how they explained the dish and the special techniques and ingredients used, which gave us a more complete dining experience and appreciation on how meticulous the chef had prepared our dishes. The bill on the night was $3,265 which obviously is not cheap, but in my opinion worth every penny. A restaurant I would like to return again and sample some other of their signature dishes.
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