Archive | Dim sum RSS feed for this section

Lung King Heen

11 Mar

the dim sum diaries hong kong

 

 

lung king heen hong kong

Some may wonder how one Chinese restaurant can truly stand itself apart from the rest. Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons, the first and only three-Michelin-starred Chinese restaurant in the world, proves, with style and charm, exactly how this can be done.

As you enter, you immediately notice the star-class service and beautiful, elegant décor of hand-embroidered silk and glass screens, comfortable leather chairs and of course the floor to ceiling windows that show off the gorgeous view of the harbour, or ‘view of the dragon’, to which the name translates.

Almost as soon as we were seated, the restaurant’s cheery and slightly mischievous sommelier, Bernard, sauntered over to offer us some Champagne from his Champagne cart; how could we turn him down? And, more importantly, why do more restaurants not have Champagne carts?!

Happily sipping on our bubbles, whilst taking in our city’s gorgeous view, a lotus root and prawn amuse bouche appeared before us to enliven our taste buds and get us even more excited about our imminent feast (as usual, we may have over-ordered just a tad).

lung king heen hong kong

The chef’s signature appetiser selection offered us miniature versions of four incredible starters: crispy eel with sweet soy sauce (amazingly meaty and succulent, with a sweet, satisfying yet delicately crisp exterior); crispy scallop with pear and Yunnan ham (an unexpected yet delicious combination of sweet and savoury, crisp and tender); char siu (one of the best I have tasted – so juicy and meaty with hardly a trace of fat); and barbecued suckling pig (unbelievably crispy skin and ever-so-succulent pork, served atop a slightly strong-flavoured Japanese shiso leaf). I could probably have been content with just this starter.

lung king heen hong kong

The dishes kept on coming, however, starting with individual portions of beautifully presented steamed star garoupa fillet with ginger and spring onions. This faultless fish was as tender as could be, and carried a lovely, comforting flavour.

lung king heen hong kong

lung king heen hong kong

The roast Peking duck, which must be ordered at least six hours in advance, was exquisite. The skin, carved up in front of our table, was perfectly crisp and full of flavour, complemented by the hoisin sauce, spring onions and cucumber, and wrapped up in a soft pancake (which I sadly had to miss out on) – the flavours and textures were enough to create heaven in your mouth.

lung king heen hong kong

The rest of the duck was taken away and brought back several courses later as stir-fried minced duck in lettuce wraps. This has been one of my favourite dishes since childhood, and Lung King Heen’s version did not disappoint.

lung king heen hong konglung king heen hong kong

Unable to decide between two prawn dishes, we ordered smaller versions of both: wok-fried prawns with crispy green pea purée and sautéed prawns with steamed eggplant in spicy plum sauce. Although I thought I would prefer the latter, the sauce was a little too rich and sticky for my liking. The wok-fried prawns, however, were excellent, simply dressed in an interesting yet delicious green pea crumble.

lung king heen hong kong

The wok-fried superior Australian Wagyu beef cubes with morel mushrooms were certainly superior; each bite of beef was wonderfully tender and beautifully flavoured by the rather pungent mushrooms.

lung king heen hong kong

Meanwhile the stir-fried shredded vegetables with bean sprouts were delicately flavoured and very fresh. The addition of soft sheets of tofu played well against the crunchy bean sprouts, giving us a little bit of goodness after all the slightly less healthy dishes!

lung king heen hong kong

I never understand why Chinese restaurants always serve the rice last. I know the saying goes ‘save the best for last’, yet what if by this stage you can barely fit another morsel of food in your mouth?! Who am I kidding? When the Lung King Heen lobster fried rice with seafood arrived, and I tasted just how incredible it was, I made an extra effort to eat every last grain.

lung king heen hong kong

Of course, there was then dessert, and we all know that dessert occupies its own little space in our stomachs (perhaps the paunchy bit at the front that we can never get rid of?!). We tried the chilled mango and sago cream with pomelo – a refreshingly light end to a rather heavy meal.

Service at Lung King Heen lived up to its three-star status throughout the entire evening. Despite dining with the lovely PR ladies, I noticed that service for the other diners was just as exceptional; plates were changed between courses, advice and detailed descriptions of dishes were given where necessary, yet we didn’t feel suffocated at all. When the bill arrives, remember its three-star status, take a deep breath, and think about the delicious food you’ve just eaten. An average meal is likely to cost around $1500 per head, perhaps more if you fail to resist the Champagne cart… Definitely one to recommend.

Lung King Heen

4/F, Four Seasons Hotel

8 Finance Street
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 3196 8888

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Urban Discovery’s Hei Fai Food Walk

21 Jan

Urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

Kowloon is considered by many of us to be ‘the dark side’; a faraway land only to be visited when dreaded visitors appear and demand to go there. Even then, the temptation to hand them a map and claim other priorities does enter our minds, and you know we’re all guilty of that. However, there is so much to be explored, particularly when it comes to food. Yet if we want to eat like the locals, where do we go and what do we order when there is no English menu in sight?

The Sassy girls recently embarked on a ‘Hei Fai Food Walk’ tour courtesy of Urban Discovery. Starting from Jordan MTR station, our knowledgeable guide Edmond led us on a culinary tour of local eats, finishing up over four hours later with satisfied bellies and cultured minds in Yau Ma Tei.

Urban discovery hei fai food walk

Our first stop, Wong Chi Ka (which apparently translates to ‘the home of the king’) was a cute little dumpling shop not far from our meeting point. Here we not only tasted some amazing rice noodles with chicken in sesame peanut sauce, incredible xiao long bao (my all-time favourite) and ‘turnip crispies’, but we also learnt about important Chinese food etiquette. For example, we learnt that ‘Hei Fai’, which means ‘move your chopsticks’ is what the host at a Chinese dinner party will announce before anyone around the table is allowed to serve themselves food. Try to enforce this around a table of hungry expats each fighting with the Lazy Susan and all you will get is a round of evil glares.

Urban Discovery Hei Fai Food Walk Hong Kong

We also learnt the correct way to eat xiao long bao and the secret behind how the chef manages to get the broth inside the delicate dumpling skin. I won’t give away the secret but it is quite a clever one.

Urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

Urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

Edmond then led us to Mak Man Kee, a popular noodle shop that always has a queue outside. As with most of these noodle joints, the turnaround is so quick that we barely waited five minutes before being seated. The difference with this noodle shop is that the noodles are handmade with duck eggs as opposed to chicken, giving them a distinctive, slightly chewier texture. One of the house specialities is braised pork trotter with noodles. Although the idea of eating pigs’ trotters may not sound appealing, having been cooked for over four hours, the flavour and texture was divine, although sadly there wasn’t enough meat on it. The less offensive sweet and sour pork option was also delicious, as were the prawn wantons.

urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

A leisurely stroll through the night market, where naturally us girls simply had to make a few purchases, took us to a typical Chinese teashop just in time to shelter from the rain. In the beautifully decorated teashop, Edmond had a surprise in store for us: turtle jelly. I think of turtles as pretty cool little creatures (thanks in part to the way they are depicted in Finding Nemo) and perhaps naively assumed that would make them taste good. I can assure you that no matter how much sugar syrup you add to turtle jelly, it will never ever taste good. Determined to make myself like it, however, and encouraged by the fact it is supposed to be incredibly good for you, I kept trying it. Regardless, I can now safely add this to my list of food I dislike, along with chocolate-orange.

urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong


A non-food related part of the tour involved having our palms read. We kindly asked our palm reader to only give us the good news, and he proceeded to amuse us with hilarious proclamations of our good health, wealth, careers and love lives. My favourite part was when he told me I would marry a rich, handsome, happy and ‘mentally mature’ man. Yes please!

urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

Dai pai dongs, or street-side food stalls, are gradually becoming extinct. Where there once were hundreds of unlicensed food stalls lining our city’s streets, there are now only about 28 licensed ones (the term dai pai dong in fact refers to the ‘big license’ these restaurants must have in order to function). In a lively dai pai dong just off the market, we tried a range of seafood dishes including delicious deep-fried prawns and deep-fried squid, as well as the restaurant’s famous dish: claypot rice with chicken and Chinese sausage. This is one of the few restaurants that still use charcoal to cook the claypot rice, giving the dish a distinctive flavour.

urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

urban discovery hei fai food walk hong kong

Our last and final stop was of course dessert, at Gourmet Desserts Café, a bustling place serving both Chinese and Western desserts. When Edmond asked us what we wanted, we pointed to everything on the menu and he pretty much took our word for it! We tried almond soup, a ‘flaming snow mountain’, two types of chocolate fondant (plain and whisky), ginger soufflé and chestnut crumble; needless to say we practically rolled down the stairs onto the MTR!

Hei Fai food walk, at $550 per person for the incredible and fulfilling adventure I have just described, is the perfect way to spend an evening, whether you’re just visiting Hong Kong, have guests in town, or have been here for years. We all need to be taken out of our comfort zones once in a while, and if outside of that zone is delicious food, then what’s the excuse?!

www.urbandiscovery.asia

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

dim sum bar

2 Nov

Over the past few months, Café Deco Group has been busy increasing its repertoire of yummy restaurants and I had the pleasure of visiting one of them on Monday night. dim sum bar, over on what we have established is actually not-such-a-dark side, opened its doors in Harbour City at the end of August, serving its namesake both in the form of old trusty classics and interesting modern treats. Behold my second dim sum review on The Dim Sum Diaries…

dim sum bar is by no means your average dim sum restaurant. With its modern interior and no trace of the oh so classy chandeliers we know to associate with dim sum restaurants, dim sum bar gives off more of a clean, organised feel, whilst still maintaining the casual, down to earth café vibe. Dishes are presented in an elegant manner, with some even served in tiny individual bamboo steamers.

Steamed Siu Mai with Truffle

Whilst old favourites such as char siu bao, char siu cheong fun and pork and shrimp siu mai can be found on the menu, it’s worth branching out and trying dim sum bar’s signature dishes which you certainly won’t find on any other dim sum menu.

Steamed Cheong Fun rolled with Crispy Rice Nest and Seafood

The cheong fun with crispy rice nest and seafood is delicious; an unusual yet perfect contrast between the soft doughy rice noodle and the crispy rice nest. Even more delicious in my opinion, however, is the steamed cheong fun with fresh scallops; perfectly cooked scallops and chunks of choi sum that simply melt in the mouth.

dim sum bar’s version of a turnip cake comes as a deliciously gooey turnip base topped with a crispy shrimp paste. Admittedly this didn’t look incredibly appealing but tasted divine. Siu mai is also prepared with an interesting twist: beautifully presented as pictured above, dim sum bar’s siu mai is topped with finely chopped and very delicately flavoured truffle in place of the standard roe.

King's Dumplings in Lobster Bisque

The King’s dumplings in lobster bisque are a real treat: luxury har gao filled with prawns and incredibly tender lobster submerged in a wonderfully smooth and creamy soup.

Even the fried rice comes with a twist; traditional Cantonese fried rice with shrimps, wrapped in a fresh lotus leaf. Although it was just a little on the dry side, I can never get enough chow fan.

Baked Chocolate Cream Bun

Save space for dim sum bar’s signature cream buns (and signature baked char siu buns which are as delicious as expected) as these are out of this world. I have always thought that dim sum should also come in sweet form and even considered opening a dim sum desserts restaurant! dim sum bar offers a couple of options that would fit right in to my dream restaurant: baked almond cream buns and baked chocolate cream buns. I tried the almond one first; the sweet, warm almond cream immediately delighted my taste buds. It was, however, after a few mouthfuls just a tad too sweet for my liking so I could only manage half. The chocolate bun was amazing; not too sweet, not too sickly, just warm, comforting, delicious chocolate which oozed out of the fluffy, crumbly bun. Why don’t all dim sum restaurants serve these?

Other desserts include all-time favourite mango pudding, black sesame soup and papaya and almond pudding amongst others.

The service at dim sum bar is very good and the waiters are all very friendly, differing from a lot of Hong Kong’s dim sum joints. Prices range from $15 to $85 per dish so are very affordable for upmarket dim sum.

If you love dim sum but get a little bored (if that’s even possible) of the bog standard dishes and fancy something to get your taste buds tingling that little bit more, then make the “trek” to TST and try dim sum bar, even if it’s just to satisfy your chocolate cravings and taste the baked chocolate cream bun!

dim sum bar

Shop G103, G/F Gateway Arcade
Harbour City
Tsim Sha Tsui
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2175 3100

Date visited: Monday 31st October 2011

Tags: , , , , , , ,

The Grand Stage at Western Market

23 Aug

I am very aware that I call my blog The Dim Sum Diaries and yet there is not a single dim sum review on here. There isn’t really an excuse for it other than that I always go back to the same dim sum restaurants and it is generally against the ethos of my blog to write about an already visited restaurant. I have begun to rectify this by trying The Grand Stage at Western Market.

Western Market, completed in 1906, is the oldest surviving market building in Hong Kong. Obviously it has been renovated a couple of times, but it still maintains the beautiful Edwardian structure, with classical red brick and granite façades and a high ceiling.

The Grand Stage on the second floor is quite an amazing setting, looking out over the few market stalls still in existence. Apart from the all-important chandeliers, it is very different to any other dim sum restaurant in town. There is less hustle and bustle, no need to queue for a table (in fact we were given a table for seven without any delay), and the food is generally presented in a more fancy manner, though not at too much of a price difference.

I think we ordered enough food to serve an army, yet looking through the menu now, I notice things I wish we had ordered. This is always the case with dim sum as no matter how much you order, you never seem to even make a dent in the menu. I always prefer to go in a bigger group, however, as the waiters don’t give you as many dirty looks for ordering far too much food and not eating it (though more often than not, even in a small group, Gweilos will make a pretty good job of finishing it all!).

Highlights at The Grand Stage were poached pork and vegetable wontons in chilli oil, xiao long bao (always a winner), pan-fried turnip cake (essential choice), pan-fried pork buns in Japanese style and har cheong fun (in this case as individual portions with one whole prawn inside rather than pathetic little ones).

I wasn’t too impressed with their egg custard buns, even though they did attempt to make them fancy by adding a touch of grated coconut. The filling just didn’t ooze quite enough for my liking. I like a lot of ooze. The sautéed snap beans with minced pork weren’t wonderful either, as there was too much oil and not enough pork.

Just as in many HK dim sum eateries, the waiters don’t speak amazing English, although they do try their best, and service is passable. Including a tip, we paid $200 each. Obviously you can get dim sum for cheaper in other places, but the atmosphere at The Grand Stage is really worth it. I would recommend it to show off to visitors as an alternative to the fun and lively City Hall, another of my favourites.

Craving something sweet and unable to resist Honeymoon Desserts on the ground floor of Western Market, we popped in there for some mango pudding, mango dumplings and mango sago. So worth the extra calories. Although calories don’t count on a Sunday anyway.

The Grand Stage

2/F Western Market
323 Des Voeux Road
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +853 2815 2311

Date visited: Sunday 21st August 2011

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,808 other followers