This restaurant is located at Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong, offering contemporary Chinese cuisine specializing in Peking duck and some other classics. Arriving early in the evening, we were shown to our table, passing by a semi-open kitchen where we could see the ducks getting roasted in the oven.
Seated at a table on the window side, looking out was the East Coast Boardwalk. With dusk falling, seeing the many people jogging or walking home from work brought a sense of serene peacefulness. Coupled with the neat design, marble tabletop and comfortable seats, the dining ambience was relaxing, high-end but not intimidating.
We started with two appetizers. Chilled Jellyfish, Black Vinegar 陳醋脆海蜇 ($118) was simple, with the crunchy jellyfish pieces drizzled and seasoned with sesame oil and black vinegar. Delicious in taste, with also some smashed cucumber on the bottom giving contrast in texture. A nice starter.
The other one was Chilled Sliced ‘Yin Yang’ Chicken 擔擔鴛鴦雞 ($138). A signature of the restaurant, the steamed patty from the different colour meat of local three yellow and silky chicken, cut to diamond shape and assembled to a star pattern, sitting on top of a dan dan sauce with rich peanut notes and a bit of spiciness. Also nicely done.
Next came the soups we ordered. My wife had Double Boiled Pork Lung Soup, Dried Tangerine Peel, Chinese Cabbage 陳皮菜膽燉白肺湯 ($148) while I went for Hot and Sour Soup, Shredded Fish Maw, Scallop 花膠帶子酸辣羹 ($138). The pork lung soup was delicious, sweet in taste and sufficiently hot in temperature to serve.
My hot and sour soup was honestly probably the better option, with lots of ingredients including fish maw, conpoy, scallop, wood ear, bamboo shoot, shiitake and enoki mushroom. The balance between the spiciness and sourness was perfectly executed, bringing me a pleasant sweat, and the flavours were so good.
After finishing the last course for 45 minutes, the pre-ordered Signature Roasted Peking Duck 京式明爐烤鴨 ($448 half) finally arrived. The meat was cut into three ports, including duck skin, breast meat and leg meat, with different texture and fattiness. Quite tender and juicy, the duck was paired with cucumber, leek, garlic, soy sauce, wapped a steaming hot pancake. Not bad, just that it took too long to arrive which affected the experience.
My favourite dish though was Pan Fried Scallop, Shrimp Paste, Fresh Lily Bulb 豉油皇百花煎釀帶子 ($388). The fresh scallop was sliced in butterfly style, attaching the bouncy shrimp paste on top, before putting to pan-fry with soy sauce. The taste was amazing, with some lily bulb in the middle as condiment to balance.
For dessert, I had Chilled Mango Pudding, Fresh Mango, Mango Jelly 鮮芒果布甸 ($68), while my wife had Red Bean Sweet Soup, Dried Tangerine Peel, Lotus Seed 十年陳皮蓮子紅豆沙 ($68). The pudding was covered by the mango jelly, with fresh mango underneath, plus some pieces of cake to offer a variety of texture to enjoy. Good as not too sweet.
The other dim sum we had to share was Housemade Sesame Roll, Toasted Sesame Seed 手工芝麻卷 ($68). Beautifully presented, the sesame roll had a distinct black and white layers, rich in sesame flavours and not too sweet. Not to be missed if you enjoy this traditional dessert which was not regularly seen nowadays in restaurants.
Service was decent, but I could feel the staff was a bit disoriented and unsure, probably still early in the opening stage and not getting fully familiar with the operations. The bill on the night was $1,585 after a 15% discount. Considering the overall experience, I would rate this restaurant a Good 70 points, worth trying.
