This Cantonese restaurant is located on 3/F Regal Hong Kong Hotel, with a high ceiling and large windows looking out to the Causeway Bay neighborhood. The décor is of classic design, with large chandeliers and good lighting, red carpet, and golden walls. We were seated at the window side, with a spacious table and good distance from the others so it was not noisy at all.
After looking at the menu, we decided to order some of the signature dishes, with an appetizer to start. Picking the Smoked Egg with Caviar ($108), the egg had been smoked with tea leaves, infusing with a nice fragrance, but it was not marinated so the taste was light. The runny egg yolk was creamy and rich, and the caviar on top provided a bit of savory flavors to the egg. Quite a nice starter.
To our surprise, before we could even finish one egg, the next course was already served. The Smoked Crispy Chicken with Supreme Tea Leaves ($288 for half chicken) had been cooked for a while apparently, with the chicken only lukewarm in temperature. The skin was still quite crispy fortunately, but apart from the tea leaves fragrance (the same as those for the eggs) the chicken was quite tough on texture and under-seasoned. Normally I would not dip the Worcestershire sauce or garlic salt provided, but for this one I had to. A very big disappointment as this was supposed to be one of the award-winning signature dishes.
Just when I finished the first piece of chicken the soup already arrived. The Braised Fish Soup with Egg White and Carrot ($138 each) was another signature, with the thick fish broth having a nice yellowish color and a hint of carrot flavors. In the soup there were some garoupa slices, together with mushroom and the interesting white egg 'pearls'. The taste was actually very good and helped to rescue some marks from the earlier setback from the chicken.
Next came Fried Oyster with Fungus and Spring Onion in Casserole ($368). Served in a sizzling hot casserole, the beautiful aromas of ginger and spring onion were mouth-watering. The portion was generous with 7-8 oysters, with also an assortment of fungus. I liked how the oysters maintained relatively ‘dry’ and not feeling the oily and greasy sensation, with sufficient seasoning while not masking the original flavors of the oysters.
Then we had Golden Prawns with Salty Egg Yolk and Sauteed Fresh Milk ($216 for two). The staff was very helpful by advising us to order one prawn each instead of the normal portion. The large prawn had been deep-fried and then sauteed together with the salty egg yolk, coating the shell with the nice savory delicacy. I also liked the sauteed fresh milk, silky soft and nicely seasoned. And the broccoli on the side not only helped to add color to the plate, it was also a good complement to balance the rich taste.
Finishing we had the free Red Bean Soup for dessert. While it was a bit too thick for my preference, at least the red bean soup was of appropriately sweetness.
Service was decent, with the staff attentive and friendly. The main issue was the speed of serving. Frankly for the first couple of dishes it was even faster than a fast-food diner, not only causing the food to get cold quickly, but also showing clearly some of the food was not prepared upon order (or at least not properly reheated). The bill was $1,280 after a 15% credit card discount so the price was not cheap as well. I sincerely hope the restaurant could take note and improve, as we did have good memories in previous visits when their food quality was one of the highlights.
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