Some notes and photos of my recent trip to Hong Kong in late November. Cheers!
Fine dining:
LAI CHING HEEN - High end dim sum with lovely views of the harbor and Hong Kong skyline.
A nice cinematic entrance
A lovely afternoon and view
A trio of dumplings (left to right)
1. Steamed lobster dumpling, shrimp, porcini.
2. Steamed cuttlefish dumpling, crab roe, squid, celery, lotus root.
3. Steamed scallop dumpling, shrimp, conpoy, Yunnan ham, zucchini, assorted vegetables.
Sparkling golden oolong tea with Lungan honey. This is incredible stuff. The tea sommelier (you read that right) recommended it and said it tasted like coca cola, and he was not wrong. Hotels in Hong Kong are creating their own sparkling tea brands.. I’ve never seen this in the States but I would love more.. it is absolutely delicious!
Sparkling Golden Oolong with Lungan Honey – Regent Hong Kong
Stubbed crabshell with crabmeat - signature dish, they cut it open and serve it in front of you.
Wok seared rice flour cannelloni, fish maw, conpoy, squid, soy sauce.. came with 3 sauces, I really enjoyed the pepper from Hainan
Braised sweet corn soup, fresh crabmeat
Crispy Lung Kong chicken
CHEF TAM’S SEASONS - Located in Macau. Chef Tam’s Seasons was one of my favorite meals of all time. I wish I can come back here monthly - the menu is extensive and full of delicacies. Chef Tam’s Seasons Menu
Crispy hairy crab custards (hairy crab was the showcase seasonal ingredient at this time for Chef Tam)
Roasted goose and celery spring rolls
Baked barbecued pork tartlets
Their take on a whiskey sour using oolong tea. It was one of my favorite cocktails I’ve ever had.. I believe I had 3 of them. Absolutely delicious and absolutely dangerous.
Baby baked pigeon with sand ginger and salt - gave out plastic gloves for this dish
Double-boiled pork soup with chuan bei, aged tangerine peel and white fungus
Braised abalone with sea cucumber - also found out abalone sauce has no abalone in it
Fried chicken with Sichuan peppers - they heard me talking about this dish and remembered that I like it spicy, so they included this dish on the house.. small things like this only add to the experience.
The whole staff was super knowledgeable, friendly, and attentive. Chef Tam came out to introduce himself to my wife and I.. he was probably thinking who’s this wild guy ordering sea cucumber! I expressed my gratitude and so did he with a big smile having the staff ask us if we’d be interested in taste testing out his new desserts they have been working on. Don’t care how full I am, that’s an easy yes!
First, a yin and yang black and white sesame panna cotta… incredible.
Strawberry dessert looking like art? I’m beyond thrilled
Oh, it’s not over.. now, the candy cart comes out
JEE - Incredible QPR at Jee, $49 prix fixe for 5 courses - I got the lobster with fermented vegetables for $19 more and I’m glad I did as it was the best dish of the afternoon.
Abalone in chicken soup with 25-years aged chenpi
Chicken wing stuffed with taro and Chinese sausage
Lobster with fermented vegetables
Roasted pigeon with muscovado sugar
Fried orzo with aged radishes
Snow swallow with almond milk
Casual food:
CHINESE SOUP KITCHEN - Local joint that is open at 5am. Beef shank and shrimp wonton soup and pork vegetable wonton soup with fish balls with 2 coffees came out to $11, can’t beat it.
LUK YU TEA HOUSE - Tea house and dim sum restaurant established in 1933. First floor is only open to loyal long-time customers. Standard dim sum menu but they do have some traditional nostalgic items that may be harder to find these days, such as pin-yi noodle soup with crabmeat, double-boiled pig’s lung soup with almond, pig’s liver siu mai, and this hot sago pudding with lotus seed paste filling.
SABAH - Respected Malaysian restaurant in Wan Chai with excellent seafood laksa and roti. Always need to add a nasi lemak order as well. Coconuts are super hydrating! Eat, power walk, eat some more.
YEE SHUN MILK COMPANY - One of the oldest dessert shops in Hong Kong, located in Causeway Bay. Have to try their signature double skin steamed milk pudding. The chocolate milk pudding also deserves an order. So good!
KIKA, MACAU - Michelin recommended gelato shop in Macau that takes their craft seriously. Made fresh daily, primarily importing from Japan, here you can find several different green tea flavors based on their intensity. A nice strong green tea matcha gelato combines really well with their Hokkaido 3.6 milk gelato. Flavors here come primarily from Japan, the Shizuoka crown melon is worth a try. Others I was with loved the rose yogurt gelato, and if it’s your thing, they do have the durian gelato here, which of course I had to try. The owner of KIKA told us that she is moving to Dallas next year. Is Dallas ready for such a non-traditional gelato place? I hope so, they will be lucky to have it.
AUSTRALIA DAIRY COMPANY - A classic breakfast spot that always lives up to the hype. A must stop for their scrambled eggs, toast, and French toast. This is a no nonsense place, you come in, you have to know what to order ahead of time, eat your food quickly, and you leave asap. When mentioning Australia Dairy Company, a waiter lit up and told me with a big grin on his face that his friend asked the staff there, how do the eggs come out so fast, and they told him, “Just like life, our eggs are premade”. Lol, Classic.
HEARTWARMING - Kings of black sesame ice cream, you’ll smell the black sesame down the block. They specialize in black sesame desserts, and they only serve black sesame desserts. Expect a line, but it moves quick.. located in Prince Edward.
SHUM SHUM DESSERTS - Up north a bit in Sham Shui Po, is another dessert place that I thoroughly enjoyed. Beancurd pudding, mango, taro and sweet potato balls, brown sugar pearls and purple sweet potato sago. So delightful.
BAR LEONE - recently rated the #1 cocktail bar in the world, so you have to give it a try right? some live up to the hype, some don’t.. at Bar Leone, I definitely enjoyed my time here.
Fig Negroni and Olive oil sour
Mortadella sandwich
