Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Yau Wok Hei 有鑊氣

This modest restaurant is located at Tai Chuen Street in Tai Kok Tsui, and its name highlights the skills of the chef, in preparing dishes with ‘wok hei’, the energy from a smoking wok and the fast-stir-frying process to bring forward the best flavours of the ingredients.

Arriving early evening the small restaurant was quite full already, and we managed to get a table near the entrance. The décor was simple, living true to the neighbourhood style, with the emphasis on the food than the dining ambience. The staff recommended us several of their signature dishes on the night.

The first was Jiangnan Four Snacks 江南四小拼 ($138), including four different snacks to start as appetizers. Mouth-Watering Chicken was spicy but very appetizing, making me continue despite sweating profusely. Marinated Turnip had a crunchy texture and good balance of salty and sweetness. Jellyfish-Head was a bit tough on the bite, while the Spicy Ginger Trotters were flavourful. A good starter for sharing.

Next came the signature Sichuan Pepper Seabass 老壇酸菜魚 ($298). The fish fillet was tender, with the soup having a wonderful spicy and sourness that was pleasant and making one want to continue for more. With bean sprouts and glass noodles, the portion was big and would require 3-4 people to finish.

Then came Marinated Goose 乾隆鹽水鵝皇 ($138), another of their signatures. The goose was deep in flavours, with the marinade not too salty to over-dominate the taste. The goose had a nice chew, with firm meat texture, but only a thin layer of fat. Note the portion was big, and this would be best enjoyed with more people.

The final course was Black Diamond Crispy Tofu 黑鑽脆豆腐 ($88). The tofu was coated with a thin black batter before deep-frying, making a crisp skin while the tofu inside remained silky soft. With some spicy garlic dusted to season, it was very tasty particular with icy cold beer. Even though we were full we finished all of them.

Service was good, with the staff friendly and nice in providing us recommendations. The bill on the night was $712 which was fantastic considering the portion and quality of the food. Considering the overall dining experience, I would rate them a Good 68 points, worth trying.

Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Summer Palace 夏宮

This Cantonese restaurant, located inside Island Shangri-La at Admiralty, received its Michelin recognition from 2008, and has consistently been on the podium ever since. With my last visit almost five years ago, today we returned to see whether they continued to impress us on their food and service.

Seated at a table near the centre of the big circular dining room, the grandeur décor, plenty of artistic Chinese paintings and decorations were familiar. It was a busy night, with most tables taken. While not exactly running around, I could feel the staff was a bit short-handed and scrambling.

We started with Marinated Pig’s Trotters with Spicy Ginger 沙薑豬腳仔 ($260). The trotters were delicious in taste, picking up nice spicy ginger flavours but not excessively salty, with wonderful collagen on the skin plus good chew on the bones. A wonderful starter to begin the meal.

Next, we had each a Baked Stuffed Crab Shell 焗釀鮮蟹蓋 ($308). With a beautiful golden crust, the crab shell was stuffed with abundance of crab meat with a rich cream sauce. Unlike the other restaurants, here the chef did not add in a lot of other ingredients like shredded onion or mushroom, to highlight the crab meat flavours.

Then we had Deep-Fried Crispy Chicken 脆皮炸子雞 ($420 for half). It had been a while since we had this traditional dish, and here the chicken had a nice crisp skin, with the chicken meat juicy and marinated well. The shrimp crackers on the side were also a reminder of how this dish used to be served traditionally. Very nicely done.

Another common dish that was becoming increasingly difficult to find was Deep-Fried Fresh Frog Legs in Spicy Salt 椒鹽田雞腿 ($550). The frog’s legs were coated with a thin batter before deep-frying, protecting the flesh from drying out. The spicy salt was appropriate in seasoning, not making us thirsty afterwards. Also nicely done.

The last dish was Poached Vegetable with Yunnan Yellow-Ear and Pith Flower in Thick Broth 雲南鮮黃耳竹笙花濃湯泡菜苗 ($308). Using the fresh yellow-ear fungus from Yunnan and cutting them into small pieces, they were paired with pith flowers in a delicious broth to cook the tender vegetables. A fantastic dish.

For dessert, I had Chilled Herbal Jelly with Diced Fresh Fruit 鮮雜果涼粉 ($85). A type of street food in my youth, the chilled herbal jelly was cut into dices and mixed with the fresh fruit and some konjac cubes. Together with some syrups, the sweetness level was just right. A good finish to a wonderful meal.

My wife had Sweetened Bean Curd Sheet with Quail Egg, Semen Coicis and Yunnan Ginkgo 雲南翡翠銀杏薏米腐竹鵪鶉蛋糖水 ($95). A bit of twist from the traditional version, this one used ginkgo from Yunnan to prepare the sweet soup, with also a spot-on sweetness level tailored to the HK people.

Service was good, but the staff were simply too busy and could not properly spend time with the customers to provide their best service. The bill on the night was $2,902. Considering the food quality and overall dining experience, I would rate them a Good 73 points, outperforming the prior rating I gave. Definitely worth visiting.

Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Wing Lai Yuen Sichuan Noodles 詠藜園四川擔擔麵

The name of this restaurant is well known in Hong Kong, because of its long history and how the owner and family persevered in difficult times to continue the business, truly living to the Hong Kong spirit. While I visited their Hung Hom outlet many times, it was the first occasion I came to Chuk Un at Wong Tai Sin to check it out.

Arriving at late lunch hours the restaurant was quiet, with the space having a more traditional neighborhood décor. With photos showing the signature dishes and some red chili decorations on the wall, there was a wider range of dishes we found here compared with their Michelin Bib Gourmand store in Hung Hom.

To start, we had Pigeon in Chinese Wine 花雕醉鴿 ($90). The pigeon was large and having marinated in Chinese wine to infuse with the unique flavours, I found this was rather light and would prefer a more intense experience with probably a longer marinate period. The meat was not too tough though.

We also had Sauteed Sliced Pork with Spicy Pepper & Cabbage 回鍋肉 ($75). The flavours were wonderful, with good ‘wok hei’ having the food stir-fried rapidly under high heat. The cabbage and pork both picked up from the chili bean paste an appetizing spiciness, and it was a very dish to go with rice too.

Apparently, the Signature Dan Dan Noodles 招牌擔擔麵 ($34) was something we could not miss. Taking the normal spiciness level, the noodles had a nice al dente texture. My wife had Special Dan Dan Noodles with Minced Pork & Peanut Sauce 改良擔擔麵 ($49), which got more minced pork and a thicker soup with peanut sauce.

The last one we had was Steamed Pork Dumplings 鮮肉小籠包 ($48 for 4 pieces). The fillings of xiao long bao had nice flavors, with also a good amount of soup inside to enjoy with. The dough was appropriate in thickness, to avoid easily bursting to leak out the soup when picked up by chopsticks.

Service was decent, with the staff attentive and responsive, with a more neighborhood tone in their interaction with customers. The bill on the day was $357 including two bags of stir-fried peanuts to takeaway. Considering the food quality and overall experience, I would rate this restaurant a Good 68 points. Worth trying to learn more this restaurant and its history.

 

Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Dot Cod

While I had not visited them before, Dot Cod is not a new restaurant in Central and used to operate in Prince’s Building for many years. After closing in 2024, it took a while, but they finally re-opened at the renovated Tak Shing House, still in Central, and today we came to see what they had prepared for us.

The ground floor was a bar with lots of customers on this Thu evening, and the staff took us to an internal elevator to go up to the second floor, where the main dining room was located. The space was neatly designed, in a more classic Western restaurant setting, and I liked the mural on the wall showing the old Victoria Harbour scene.

To go with the food, I ordered a bottle of Xige Estate 西鸽酒庄 No. 28 Chardonnay 2023 ($728). The Ningxia white wine had a lively citrus note, with some hints of pineapple and melon to supplement, further enhanced with richer creamy vanilla notes with toast and light oak characters.

I had some oysters to start, going for Grand Cru Oyster ($204 for 3) and picking the Speciale as they offered a crunchier texture. The freshly shucked oysters had nice briny taste, and on the side the chef had prepared shallot vinegar, lemon, and tabasco as condiments, for individual preference.

We then had two appetizers to share. First was Pressed Lobster and Avocado ($268). Formed in a disc shape, the layered lobster mousse had a good mix of lobster meat, on top of avocado added with fresh chives. Decorated with some salmon roes on top, it had the heritage tomato dressing to integrate the flavors together.

The other appetizer was Grilled Garlic King Crab ($248). The king crab legs were grilled nicely, fully cooked but keeping the flesh moist, with the meat sweet and rich in umami. It was also a generous serving with two legs. Some garlic and herb butter were used as condiments, with a caramelized lemon on the side to adjust acidity.

For the middle course we had Clam and Sea Asparagus Linguine ($328) to share.  The local clams were fresh and good in taste, cooked together with white wine, garlic, onion, chili, and sea asparagus, with the linguine of a good al dente texture, picking up all the flavors from the clams and the sauce. Delicious.

The main course was Stumped Seabass ($488), with the whole sea bass beautifully grilled, stuffed with fresh herbs and caramelized lemon. Good to serve two people, while the fish did not have many bones, it would still need to pay attention to pick them out. On the side was some button mushroom and salad to balance the diet.

For dessert, my wife had Traditional Eton Mesa ($128), mixing some strawberries with vanilla chantilly and meringue. On the top the crumbled honeycomb are scattered and further drizzled with fruit coulis. It was a dessert with lighter flavors and appropriate sweetness, more tailored for the ladies.

I had Bread and Butter Pudding ($128). A much richer dessert in comparison, with the indulgent pudding having rich butter and white chocolate, topped with cranberries and candied mandarin, with also a scoop of vanilla ice-cream. A very satisfying and filling dessert to wrap up the meal.

Service was good, with the staff attentive and eager to help introduce the dishes but not explaining in detail which could be an opportunity. The bill on the night was $2,856. Considering the overall food quality and dining ambience, I would rate them a Good 70 points, worth trying. One thing to note also is their fish tank right in the middle.

Wineshark Home Cooking - Stir-fried Beef with Deep-fried Dough Sticks 鬼馬牛肉

Ingredients (for 4):

• Beef tenderloin - 400g
• Deep-fried dough sticks - 1/2
• Spring onion - 1 sprig
• Coriander - 1 sprig
• Sugar - 1/2 tsp
• Oyster sauce - 1 tbsp
• Tapioca starch - 1 tsp
• Water - 1 tbsp
• Sugar - 1.5 tsp
• Oil - 1 tbsp
• Tapioca starch - 1 tsp
• Ginger - 1 tsp
• Garlic - 1 tsp
• Water - 1 tbsp
• Soy sauce - 1 tsp

Procedures:

1.Cut the beef into slices. 

2. Finely chop garlic and ginger.

3. Cut the deep-fried dough stick into slices.

4. Cut the spring onion into small pieces. Pick the coriander leaves.

5. Heat some oil and put the deep-fried dough sticks to fry again. Remove afterwards to drip off excess oil.

6. Mix sugar, oyster sauce, tapioca starch and water together to form the thickening.

7. Add in sugar, oil, tapioca starch, ginger and garlic, one after the other, mix well each time.

8. Add in some water to loosen the beef, then right before cooking add in soy sauce and mix well.

9. Heat the wok with oil, then add in the beef to stir-fry. When it is dry, add a bit of water to loosen.

10. Add in half of the deep-fried dough sticks and the thickening. Mix well and serve with the remaining half of coriander and spring onion on top. Put the rest of the deep-fried dough sticks on the side.

11.

Wineshark HK Restaurant Review - Sushi Kumogaku 寿し雲隠

Last year when Chef Kin organized the sea urchin feast, I could not attend because I was hospitalised. This year, I could not miss the chance again and so even though the Typhoon Signal No. 8 would be hoisted later in the night, we braved the winds and came to Sushi Kumogaku at H Code in Central.

Seated at the L-shaped counter, soon all the guests on the night arrived and the dinner started. The special omakase menu was at $3,000 each, and I started with a serving of 天明 さらさら純米 ($160) from 曙酒造株式会社 in Fukushima. A limited edition for summer, it had a light and refreshing taste, soft umami, best for the hot season.

The first course was 殻付紫雲丹 白海老添え. The purple sea urchin was served on its shell, with some white shrimps added in the middle, seasoned with a touch of yuzu to freshen the palate. Both were sweet and great in taste.  

The second course was 旬の刺し身. The seasonal sashimi included Makogarei 真子鰈 and Echubai 越中貝. The marbled sole was recognized as the best white fish in summer, with sweet and umami flavors. The Japanese sea snail had pleasant crunchiness, mildly sweet with also abundance of umami. Both seasonal and rarely seen.

The third course was 旬の雲丹 利き二種. The red sea urchins were 由良 川勝 極, the highest grade of this rare sea urchin from Awaji this year, and the other one coming from Ehime. Very sweet with unique fruity note, it was best to pair with salt. While the first one was much more expensive, the second one had more intense flavors.  

The second serving of sake was 田中六五 6513 from 白糸酒造 ($180). With rice polishing ratio of 65%, the sake was made to a lower alcohol level at 13%, hence its name. The sake had a unique yogurt flavor, with gentle acidity and a dry finish. The silky smoothness was also pleasant, best for more refined cuisine with delicate taste.

The fourth course was 蒸し鮑. Using the black abalone from Mie, after steaming with sake for an extended period, it was cut into thick slices and paired with the amazing abalone liver paste on the side. The stock was also delicious as well. Chef Kin later provided us with some shari to scoop the rest of the paste to enjoy.

The fifth course was 天然鰻 白焼き. Instead of the typical farm-raised ones, wild eel was a rarity and caught at sea. Grilled to perfection, the meat was tender and fluffy, with a nice fragrance. With a bit of sansho powder to season, there was also a peach mixed tofu sauce to cleanse the palate before transitioning to the sushi.  

The sixth course was 天縞鯵. This shima-aji sushi was special as most striped jack was usually farm-raised nowadays, but this one was caught. The flesh had a more reddish color but not as fatty as those raised.   

The seventh course was 烏賊. The aori-ika sushi was one of my favorites, with the bigfin reef squid having wonderful sweetness while the meticulous cutting on the surface made the texture also soft and easily chewable.

The third serving of sake was 十六代九郎右衛門 愛山13 from 湯川酒造店 ($170). The mix of almond and white peach aromas was very pleasant, on a deeper note evolving more to lychee and muscat, with also an elegant finish.

The eighth course was 鰯. The iwashi sushi was another of my favorite, having the tenderness and soft texture of the sardines, coupled with the intense flavors, memorable and great in taste.

The ninth course was 鮟肝 燻製. The ankimo had been smoked under applewood, infusing the monkfish liver with a woody fragrance, balancing its original richness, with a bit of sansho pepper on top for extra flavors as seasoning.

The tenth course was 松茸. The prized matsutake mushroom was coated with thin batter before deep-frying in tempura style. Large and meaty, the mushroom was drizzled with a few drops of lime to balance and freshen.

The eleventh course was 雲丹素麺. Chef Kin had made some changes versus the version from last year, using tomato consommé to prepare the somen, with a tiny bit of salt to season. Together with some Hokkaido Yoichi sweet purple sea urchin, it was a nice mix of sweet and sourness that was appetizing and flavorful.

The fourth serving of sake was 上喜元 純米吟醸 渾身 仕番41號 無濾過生原酒 from 酒田酒造 ($150). Recognized by many as a sake of super value for money, it had a perfect balance of umami and acidity, with elegant nose to match with more flavourful food.

The twelfth course was 本鮪. The tuna was caught in Indian Ocean, with the chu-toro sushi having the perfect balance of lean and fatty, bursting with rich fish oil on the bite but not overly fatty like eating a lump of pig lard.

The thirteenth course was 鰹, with the katsuo sushi featured a bit earlier than normal in other years. However, it was of great quality, with the flesh seared by charcoal while the flesh remained raw and moist.  

The fourteenth course was 毛蟹と雲丹. After meticulously removing the crab meat from kegani, it was mixed with its own miso to prepare a horsehair crab sushi, with some Amakusa red sea urchin on top to add a touch of deep umami.

The fifteenth course was 紫雲丹. The purple sea urchin was from a popular brand 大千, often regarded as the best in quality and fetched high price. Its size was even larger than the length of the sushi, and with a touch of salt it was amazing in taste.

The sixteenth course was 赤雲丹. Unlike the last one, this Hokkaido Rishiri red sea urchin sushi was smaller and had to be served on a gunkan roll, but with an even sweeter taste and creaminess. It was also my favorite sea urchin on the day.  

The seventeenth course was 蛤. The hamaguri sushi was huge, with the Asia hard clam so big I could barely finish in one bite. The umami and the thick meat were memorable, without having to rely on the thick sauce typically used on such.

The eighteenth course was 手巻き. Mincing the tuna with the addition of some pickles, the hand roll was wrapped in a crisp nori sheet, finishing a great dinner with a bit more sushi rice to ensure the customer was full and contented.

The fifth serving of sake, for my additional orders, was 澤乃井 大吟醸 凰 from 小澤酒造 ($200). The sake was the signature of the brewery, with good elegance and finished with a crisp dryness to wrap up the last few pieces of sushi on the night.

The first add-on was Akagai 赤貝 ($100), with the ark shell crunchy in texture, on each bite the umami was seeping out to coat the mouth with wonderful flavors. Very good in quality and freshness.

The second add-on was Akamutsu 赤鯥 ($100), with the rosy seabass having good fattiness. But unlike most other restaurants where the flesh was torched to vitalize the fish oil, this piece was raw to retain a more delicate taste.

The last add-on was 干瓢巻 Kanpyu-Maki ($120), splitting into four pieces to serve both of us. The dried gourd roll was usually on my last sushi, with a good amount of wasabi to freshen and cleanse the palate, with satisfaction.

The Soup was prepared with dashi and kombu, helping to warm the stomach to finish this meal with contention. Tamagoyaki 玉子焼 was fluffy, with good umami from mixing seafood to the egg before baking them.

Dessert was the seasonal Muscat Grapes. The Japanese grapes were like mini jade eggs, on the bite the grape had a crunchy skin, juicy and sweet. A happy finale to a fantastic meal, making us all feel happy and satisfied.

Service was great as always, with Chef Kin explaining each course in detail, and trying to interact with each customer as much as he could, while busy preparing all the dishes. The bill on the night was $7,898. Considering the overall experience and food quality, I would rate them an Exceptional 85 points, must try.