Located on 4/F Century Square, right in the heart of Central, this restaurant specializes in Shanghai cuisine. Coming early on the evening of Double Ninth Festival, there were not that many people and we were seated at a comfortable sofa.
The décor is decent, with soft lightings and a contemporary feel which was pleasant and welcoming. Checking the menu, we decided to order the Set Menu ($388 each) as it offered a few of the dishes we wanted to try, but in smaller portions so we could sample more.
The first was Marinated Chicken in Chinese Yellow Wine 花雕醉雞. The chicken had picked up the fragrance but not the bitterness from the wine. Quite a tasty starter.
The second course was Shredded Tofu and Conpoy Soup 文思豆腐羹. This is a signature dish to demonstrate the cutting skill of the chef, with the tofu cutting in fine shreds and put in the supreme broth prepared using conpoy. It was delicious and I also like the soup was steaming hot in temperature.
On the next course we could choose Braised Abalone, Sea Cucumber or Fish Maw in Brown Sauce, and we both decided to opt for sea cucumber 紅燒原條遼參. The cucumber got a very crunchy texture, and the brown sauce was beautifully made, full of flavours and umami. The chef provided a small ball of rice for us to mix with the sauce to savour it. A smart consideration.
The fourth course was Steamed Giant Garoupa Belly with Aged Yellow Wine 陳年花雕蒸龍躉件. The fish belly was fat and the chef had seasoned well, with the fish oil a perfect match with the yellow wine. The issue for me was that the skin was not de-scaled properly so I had a piece which was so full of scales I could barely eat. A mistake that the chef needs to pay attention.
Then it was Deep-fried Sliced Pork in Fermented Tofu Sauce served with Bread 夾餅乳香肉. The steamed bread was soft and moist, and putting the sliced pork in-between created what I always called ‘Chinese hamburger’. The pork was marinated with the fermented tofu sauce to give a nice savoury taste, with a crispy outside but still quite juicy. The shredded onion and peppers were a great complement to bring extra flavours. With the bread ‘neutralized’ the fat it was a nice dish and my favourite in the evening.
The Poached Seasonal Vegetable in Soup 上湯時蔬 was decent, with the amaranth quite tender and the chef had used garlic to start the cooking with the vegetable, before putting in the supreme broth to add further to the flavours.
There were two dim sums to wrap up the meal, with the Squid Dumpling 墨魚餃 having the ink mixed with the dough to give a dark colour, but it was too thick and was apparently made beforehand and frozen, as the dough was very tough on texture. The fillings were decent but could not compensate for the issue on the dough. A disappointment.
The other dim sum was Turnip Puff 蘿蔔絲酥. Deep-fried and extremely hot, comparing with the dumpling it was much nicer. The finely shredded turnip was good in taste, with the puff crusty and while also a bit too thick, it was overall a much nicer offering.
The dessert was a Sweet Soup with Dried Longan and Snow Fungus. Not too sweet, the delicate flavours from the ingredients were a nice wrap up for the meal, and also had the benefit of smoothen the throat.
The service was decent, with the staff attentive and courteous. The bill was $915 which was a good deal in my opinion, considering the food we had and the restaurant setting. While still needing to pay attention to some of the issues mentioned, the restaurant is worth trying it out if you are in the neighbourhood seeking a place to enjoy some Shanghai food.
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