This Michelin 1-star restaurant is in Island Shangri-La Hotel at Admiralty, offering nice Cantonese cuisine, headed by Chef Leung Yu King and his team. Coming on a Saturday evening, we were surprised that most of the tables were already occupied, despite it was still early at 6:30pm.
The décor is grand with chandeliers from the ceiling, beautiful renderings of traditional arts on the walls, and a thick carpet all creating a cozy and premium dining experience. Seated in one of the big private rooms, while the staff were all friendly and nice, they would need to come in and out to attend the tables so we did not feel well looked after sitting inside.
We ordered Bitter Melon Marinated with Preserved Plum 話梅涼瓜 ($140) to start. The bitter melon had been cut into a cherry blossom shape, and had spent good amount of time to marinate, infused with the sweet and sourness from the preserved plum and without the hint of bitterness. An appetizing snack that even for those who don’t like bitter melon would want to try it out.
Next came Deep-Fried Frog Legs in Spicy Salt 椒鹽田雞腿 ($450). The frog legs were all very meaty, with wonderful texture reminiscent of chicken. The chef had deep fried them, retaining the tenderness of the frog’s legs, before putting in an abundance of spicy salt to give an intense savory, spicy note. Ideal to pair with some icy cold beer.
It was followed by soup, with me picking Hot and Sour Lobster Soup 四川酸辣龍蝦羹 ($260), while my wife had Double-Boiled Bamboo Fungus with Yunnan Ham and Cabbage 肘子竹笙燉菜膽 ($300). The hot and sour soup had lots of premium ingredients, like lobster and crab meat, but on taste it was a bit lacking on the spicy and sourness I would expect. A bit disappointing.
The Poached Sea Bass with Hakka Style Pickled Vegetable and Spicy Pepper 酸菜浸鱸魚 ($500) was one of the chef’s recommendation. The sea bass was nice on its texture, soft and tender, but not sure whether it was due to the intense flavors of the pickled vegetables, it was slightly fishy in taste. The pepper was just very mild on spiciness and not able to provide the necessary complements to the complexity of taste. This one was also a bit below par.
Last we had Stewed Spareribs in a Clay Pot 無錫肉排煲 ($280). Served sizzling hot in the clay pot, the spareribs were stewed well, with the meat detaching from the bone. Originally, I thought it would be quite strong in flavor, but turn out it was not. There was not much pick up from the sauce and the spareribs ended up just simple and mediocre. In the end, we found those ribs at the bottom of the pot ended having better taste, and apparently the sauce was not mix well during cooking, leaving those on top under-seasoned. Something they need to pay attention.
The portion was quite big, so we did not have room for dessert, and also having to pack almost half of the spareribs to takeaway. The bill on the night was $1988, with a 10% credit card discount, and considering the overall experience, I would not say it justifies the Michelin status unfortunately. Hope this is just a slip on the day, and they can work on improving in future.
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