Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Man Ho

This Cantonese restaurant was awarded Michelin 1-star status in 2021, located on 3/F JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong in Admiralty. Arriving early on the night, we were the first table seated in the main dining room. There were a few VIP rooms on the side catering for bigger groups. 

The décor is nice, with a luxurious yet relaxing setting. There are ample spaces between tables offering good privacy. The chandeliers in the high ceiling provides a starry experience, and there is also a tea bar on one side, featuring good varieties of tea from different parts of the world. 

After serving a welcome drink, the amuse bouche was Sliced Pickled Cucumber with Vinegar Jelly. It might sound simple, the chef had thinly sliced the cucumber and left a bit of attached, creating a single piece of cucumber of stacked slices. Beautifully presented, the vinegar is made into jelly and got the right level of sourness to bring refreshing palate and a great appetizer to start our meal. 

We began with the soups. I opted for Hot and Sour Soup with Shredded Sea Cucumber, Duck Blood and Peppercorn 海參鴨紅椒麻酸辣羹 ($188). As a big fan of hot and sour soup, this one however was not my favorite because of its numbing Sichuan peppercorns note but without the intensity of the hot and sour elements to balance. The quality of ingredients was good though.

My wife had Fresh Fish Soup with Fish Maw, Clams, Dried Tiger Prawn and Bean Curd Sheet 艇皇花膠鮮魚湯 ($268). The fish soup was prepared using three different types of fish, and then the chef added clams to further increase the umami taste. The dried prawn was very large in size, with the bean curd sheet adding bite but also leveraging the texture to absorb the soup. A smart move and no wonder this one was a signature of the restaurant. Best to order this instead of the hot and sour soup in my opinion.

The starter was Stir-fried Frog Legs with Soy Sauce 醬油田雞腿 ($228). This for sure was the best dish on the night, with the meaty frog legs wonderfully seasoned, tender and bouncy on texture. The soy sauce gave a nice savory note and the additions of some spring onion further enhanced the overall flavors of the dish. Definitely worth to try it out. 

Coming to the main courses, first was Sauteed Garoupa Fillets with Asparagus, Chives and Shredded Yunnan Ham 白蘆筍腿絲油泡星斑球 ($618). As the restaurant had run out of white asparagus, the green ones were used instead. The garoupa fillet was very good, large and thick in size. The chef cleverly seasoned lightly to highlight the original great taste of the fresh fillet. The asparagus was tender, trimmed away any hard fiber and so no residue on biting. I guessed the ham would help to add an extra dimension of savory to the dish, so it was a shame it was forgotten. 

Next was Signature Deep-fried Crispy Chicken 萬豪脆皮炸子雞 ($348 half). The chicken was a local-raised one, tender and not fat, with the skin crispy to showcase the cooking skills of the chef. However, it was a bit over-seasoned for me. After adding the lemon juice provided it helped to tune down the saltiness better. The main issue was the way the chicken was chopped up. Unlike most other restaurants, the section around the thigh were cut in big pieces, and cutting along the bone instead of perpendicular, which exposed the bone marrow and created more sharp edges, making it difficult to eat, and easy to cut your mouth. The restaurant definitely needs to pay attention. 

Then came Braised Pomelo Peel with Dried Shrimp Roe 蝦籽柚皮 ($228). The pomelo peel was thick and had processed well to remove any hint of bitterness, fully absorbing the sauce which was of the right viscosity. The shrimp roe added the savory note and with the tender choi sum on the side, it was a nice dish overall. 

Coming to dessert I ordered Chilled Mango Cream with Sago and Pomelo 楊枝甘露 ($78). The mango cream was a bit thicker than my preference but still good. My wife had Double-boiled Peach Resin with Maca and Chickpeas 瑪卡雪蓮子燉桃膠 ($118) and it was decent as well.

The restaurant had provided some treats, including Osmanthus Cake 桂花糕 and Golden Pastry Cookie 黃金酥. Both were decent in taste and a good wrap up for our dinner. 

Service was good, with the staff attentive, helping to change plates and pour tea as you would expect from a restaurant in a 5-star hotel. However, as I have written numerous times, I always found a big opportunity if the staff could share more the dishes when they were served, on the ingredients, cooking technique and such, which always made the food more interesting and appealing for customers. Unfortunately apart from the introduction of the fish soup, there were no attempt to do that for the other dishes. 

The bill was $2,094 after a 15% credit card discount. Fairly reasonable in price considering the location, service and food quality, I hope the restaurant would pay more attention to the comments I highlighted.