Tim's Kitchen

Admittedly this is a very belated post, a visit made last October, but a post nonetheless! Happy New Year everybody - the holiday period was definitely enjoyable for me, being a glutton and all....hope all of yours was too!

Braised pomelo skin with shrimp roes ($80/pc)

Really good - not to get into the whole cooking process but the soaking of the skin to remove its bitterness alone takes around 3 days... since this is something I wouldn't bother doing, this is one dish I like ordering. The shrimp roes were fragrant too and seasoning was just right. 

Chilled marinated goose meat roll ($54)

Not a big fan of beancurd skin but I liked the filling - different textures and flavours made for a delicious bite.

Choice of 2 BBQ meat: BBQ pork and roasted crispy baby pork belly ($118)

BBQ pork (char siu) was mediocre at best, lacking both sweet and salty flavours, charred bits and wasn't quite tender enough; but that clear five-layered roasted pork belly was as glorious as last time.

Double-boiled winter melon soup with shrimps, yunnan ham, crab meat, fungus ($550/7 servings)

In line with the end-of-summer heat, we pre-ordered this bad boy to share. Luscious winter melon meat with fresh seafood and quality ham... lovely!

 

Deboned Eight Treasure Duck ($500)

This was fall-off-the-bone tender, one can easily cut through the meat with a spoon. Well-seasoned and something worth ordering in advance for.

Barley, chesnuts, green beans, lotus seeds, gingko nuts, egg yolk and various offal including liver.

From a previous visit: 

Two barbeque selection ($118) - BBQ pork and roasted baby pork belly

Oven-baked chicken with preserved vegetables wrapped in lotus leaf ($450)

This chicken was one of the better Chinese-style chicken dishes I've had. Very tender chicken with basically no fat between the skin and meat, and full-on flavours coming from the bird itself and saltiness from the preserved vegetables. I'll be ordering this again.

 

Tim's Kitchen deserves its popularity. I have yet to try the taro puff with sliced duck and the fried glutinous rice,  and will definitely be back for those!

Food: ♥♥♥♥1/2

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: About HK$300-400

 

Tim's Kitchen

G/F & 1/F, 84-90 Bonham Strand,

Sheung Wan 

Hong Kong

T: +852 2543 5919 (bookings highly recommended, many dishes require at least a day's notice) 

Kwan Kee Claypot Rice - Mid-summer heat treat

Summer in Hong Kong really is ridiculous. If its not raining, its blazing hot and this day was no different. It had been raining during the day, so at night there was a period of clear air and skies. During this period, we visited the older Kwan Kee at Wo Yick Mansion near Centre St to find a mini queue, and without thinking twice we trekked over to Kwan Kee on Des Voeux Road to find ourselves being seated at their last available table. 

The second branch is noticeably larger with better air-conditioning - much more suited for a summer day!

Macau Day 1

Over CNY we made a last-minute decision to go Macau, primarily to watch the House of Dancing Water, but also just as importantly, to eat. 
We were luckily able to get great tickets for the show and hotel rooms at the L'Arc, last-minute by pulling some strings since every other respectable hotel had been fully booked since last year.... 
So on the first day, without reservations, we had no idea where to go... we ended up at Rossio, the buffet restaurant at MGM. Nothing was spectacular and no photos were taken... serves us right for not planning ahead!! 

Jasmine Place

Jasmine Place @ Central

Jasmine Place has never disappointed from the several visits i've made here, and tonight's casual family gathering did not disappoint either. In light of the winter season they had a special menu for winter specials...

Sang Kee

Date of visit: 13^th September

Sang Kee Congee @ Sheung Wan

I woke up with a craving for something soupy...and thought of Sang Kee. I dragged my poor brother out with me to Sheung Wan, promising him some good congee (though I had never been). After getting slightly lost in the unfamiliar streets I finally found Sang Kee (there are a few branches around the same area, but each specialise in something different e.g. rice vermicelli or beef brisket). Sang Kee Congee was small and full at 11am, but we were just arriving as some were leaving, and were seated amongst other grandpas and grandmas quietly slurping their huge bowls of congee....and we knew we had arrived somewhere special.

shredded pork and century egg congee $25 (large)

a piece of century egg... 

Lean pork and century egg is a common and popular combination, and Sang Kee's made for the best version I've had (which I can remember). the consistency of the congee was perfect - thin and rice is cooked to the point of being only tiny particles left. I couldn't detect the use of cornstarch or other thickeners either. The ingredients gave the plain congee flavour, and it was slightly salted so it was really enjoyable on its own. 

fish belly and sliced fish congee (yu-lam and yu-wun) $32 (large)

There was plenty of fish belly (i.e. fish attached to bones) in this big bowl of congee, which was much plainer and loaded with spring onions in comparison to the lean pork-and-century-egg-combination above. The fish itself, being white, does not impart much flavour to the congee so the bowl of soy sauce is there for diners to dip the fish for more 'taste'. The consistency of the congee is the same as above - thin, with the rice 'broken'. 

From the two the pork and century egg definitely outshone the fish belly/sliced fish congee, though both are indeed different and had equally good congee base. 

pan-fried fish (dace) cakes $10 

These pan-fried fish cakes were a disappointment (at least, on my visit any way), and don't think I would order them again on a next visit. Fish cakes itself were soft and all I could taste was oil.... i.e. the fish cakes were a sponge which absorbed way too much oil! (ps. should have ordered those fried dough sticks/crullers instead!)

Fish cakes aside Sang Kee definitely did not disappoint and those huge bowls of congee provided a filling and comforting breakfast. 

Food: ♥♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥

Price: $

Sang Kee Congee 

G/F, 7-9 Burd Street, Sheung Wan

Tel: +852 2541 1099

HKUAA

Date of visit: 10th Aug 2010

HKUAA Chinese Restaurant @ Lan Kwai Fong 

I have wanted to come here for some time ever since a friend told me their Cantonese food was quite good. Since we had a tourist friend in town it was the perfect excuse to try it out! We came here on a Tuesday night to find the restaurant relatively full, but luckily reservations were made.

I had the honour of deciding what to order that night, and so I went with their signatures, as well as a couple of dishes that were suggested by others. 

First was the pigs lung with almond soup ($100 for a tureen), which was a first for most people on the table. The pigs lung soup here is slightly oilier than Luk Yu’s and lacked the strong taste and aroma of almonds which I really liked. It was also less creamy than Luk Yu’s in my opinion. However, for those who don’t like almond tea because of its strong scent, this would’ve been acceptable to the palate. 

Pan-fried pomfret fillets  was a suggestion of the waiter. There was about 9 small pcs of fish max, and it wasn’t bad but nothing exciting or memorable. The choy-sum sitting beneath was way too undercooked too.

The sweet and sour pork was my favourite dish this night. They used young ginger (zi-geung) instead of pineapple like Luk Yu, and although the ginger wasn’t half as good (lacked the real punch and crunchiness), the pork and its sauce was so wonderful. The pork was still crispy and crunchy after sitting at our table for some time, and the sauce was really balanced – right levels and sweet and sour which everyone enjoyed. 

Next a few of the dishes came together… a lotus leaf rice (i.e. fried rice wrapped in lotus leaf) which was reserved when reservations were made. The rice had some diced chicken, mushrooms etc and was quite flavourful and not as oily as some Chinese restaurants prepare it, but was nothing special.

“Zai” (vegetarian claypot dish of assorted vegetables with vermicelli) was also one of the favourites on our table. There wasn’t a lot of sauce, but each piece of ingredient was coated with enough flavour from the fair amount of fermented beancurd (‘fu yu’) used, that spoons of sauce just wasn’t necessary. I particularly liked the big Chinese mushrooms and cabbage, whilst ma loved the vermicelli! 

Spinach with century and salted eggs was not even close to Luk Yu’s. The small dish only had a little spinach, and most were salted eggs, rather than a half-half of each kind. The broth was not sweet and lightly salted as I had hoped, but the fried garlic was good (and good for one’s health too!).

Deep Fried whole Chicken ($290) (‘Za Ji Gai’) was not our first choice, but since we didn’t pre-order their signature salt-baked Chicken we opted for this Chinese restaurant staple instead. Whilst the prawn chips on top were really bad and without flavour at all, the chicken fared a lot better. I loved the crispy thin piece of skin, clearly only possible because they had rendered the fat layer in between the meat and the skin properly. The chicken meat was also really tender, if not slightly bland, but a little Worcestershire sauce helped brighten it up. 

left - almond and eggwhite soup, sesame soup

front - red bean soup, back - walnut soup

To end, we had some sweet soups ($28 per bowl). Here they have three choices only on the menu (almond-egg white, walnut and sesame soup), but were told they also had red bean soup (dessert of the day I’m guessing), so we ordered two almonds, two sesames, one walnut and one red bean soup. I had a try of the sesame soup and almond-egg white. Whilst my almond-egg white soup was way too thick and sweet, the sesame soup was acceptable – right sweetness and right consistency. Nonetheless I don’t think the $28 a bowl sweet soups were worthy at all… desserts are clearly not their forte, and you can find better versions at local dessert joints/stores! 

With four beers our bill came to just under $1,400. Not cheap, though they do have set dinners which have better deals ($888 for 8 diners?!). Wouldn't mind coming back - esp for the sweet and sour pork!

Food: ♥♥♥♥
Service: ♥♥♥
Price: $$$


Hong Kong University Alumni Association
Room 101, Yip Fung Building, 2 D'Aguilar Street, 
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2522 7968

Yung Kee, Revisited

Date of visit: 10th Aug 2010

Yung Kee @ LKF
In July I had a quick lunch at Yung Kee, and had a memorable congee and char siu rice. So when an out-of-towner came to visit, I was happy to take him here for another casual lunch. 

Wanton noodles ($31) - Yung Kee only makes the thin egg noodles here, but we ordered one to share any way. The noodles weren't as good as I hoped - looked nice but noodles weren't the slighted bit springy and had no bite to it - perhaps a little over-cooked?? The dumplings contained more pork and shrimp thus making the dumplings really soft when bitten in to. They also weren't particularly flavourful... don't think I would order this again. 

Char Siu (BBQ Pork) with rice ($2x) – we ordered the ‘bowl’ size, and although the char siu here is quite lean they managed to make it quite tender. I thought the char siu this time was better than last – they had given us cuts with slightly burnt edges, giving each piece a smokey BBQ flavour which we liked. Some sauce would’ve been nice though, the rice was so plain underneath!

Roast Goose with rice ($3x) – I didn’t try it this time, but my brother liked it well enough.

Assorted Seafood Congee ($55) – The waiter suggested this, and it was indeed a very tasty bowl of congee. The name is sort of misleading, since there’s some roast pork (salted), which adds to the flavour of the congee, making it less ‘plain’ compared to the single-item congees. Anyway, there was also some sliced fish as well as a couple of shrimps, and on top was some peanuts, chopped up deep-fried dough-sticks (yao jar gwai) and a sprinkling of fish roe (?) I believe. The ingredients were fresh, even the dough stick was still crisp and crunchy. We all agreed this bowl of congee was really tasty and I would definitely come back for it.  

We finished in less than one-hour - you got to love Chinese restaurants for their speed in Hong Kong! Thank you A for lunch! =) 

Food: ♥♥♥ 1/2

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$

Yung Kee

32-40 Wellington Street, 

Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2522 1624

Luk Yu Tea House, Revisited

Friday 16^th July 2010

Luk Yu  @ Stanley Street

On a rainy Friday night I was invited to a dinner at Luk Yu with my mum by my aunt, having just been here a little over a week ago. We were seated in their cute booths once again and my aunt ordered their pigs lung and almond soup before we studied their menu. The soup was just as creamy white in colour as the last time, but slightly less thick or chunky from ground almonds and less salty, which I thought was better.

pigs lung soup!

Auntie ordered the sweet and sour pork with young ginger, and on the recommendation of one of the waiters, a stir-fried sliced pigeon with ham dish. The sweet and sour pork was one of their signatures, and although ginger is not for everyone I loved the use of the young ginger. It had no roots and I loved the spicy crunch in my mouth. The pork was soft and not chewy or tough at all too. Sauce was well-balanced, without overdosing on the sugar or vinegar…yumm.

sweet and sour pork with young ginger

The fresh sliced pigeon with ham was stir-fried with button mushrooms and ginger pieces. The 'ham' was nothing other than deep-fried Yunnan ham and was laid out by the chef in the shape of the bird (see photo!) – creative, no? It was very easy to eat as it was all meat (no skin or bones), and had been very well seasoned – perfect with rice. The dish was overall very delicious and I couldn’t stop raving over it at the table.

Sliced pigeon with ham 

 no dinner is complete without some veggies

My experience here was better than the last, because of the soup as well as the dishes were relatively new for me. I would strongly recommend diners try the pigeon dish, and can’t wait till my next visit!


Food: ♥♥♥♥
Service: ♥♥♥
Price: $$$$


Luk Yu Tea House
24 Stanley Street, Lan Kwai Fong
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2523 5464

Siu Shun Village Cuisine

Date of visit: 8th July 2010

Siu Shun Village Cuisine @ Causeway Bay Plaza II

We were a table of 10, an organized dinner for the arrival of my cousin from US. We had a set dinner (12 pax), which totalled at $1688 - dirt cheap for seafood if you ask me!

Siu Shun specialises in seafood. The food in general was mediocre, nothing really stood out and nothing was really memorable save for the large fresh prawns and the little cute tapioca custard dumplings for dessert... so this post will just be a pictorial.

"Prawn Toast" - really nice prawns used, toast was oily. 

Flaked fish fillet and sharks fin thick soup, did not like the raw Chinese celery in this soup!

Stir-fried soy milk with crab meat - an alternative to 'chao siin nai', with crispy fried vermielli at the bottom. Didn't detect any crab meat, tastes like tofu.

Steamed fish dish

Three kinds of fungus with broccoli, variety of mushrooms, spinach and vermicelli

Prawns with ee-fu noodles in gravy. Best dish of the night...

Fish fillet stir-fried with peppers and celery. Simple yet tasty fish, second best dish of the night. 

Za Ji Gai (Deep-fried crispy whole chicken) - chicken looked browner than the one at Luk Yu on Monday, but wasn't as good (not surprising). The prawn crackers were awfully soggy and not crispy, so aunt ordered them to send out another plate, which they did....

Much nicer prawn crisps =)

This was not on the original set dinner, but as they had sold out of the glutinous rice (dessert), they made a fried rice with yellow croaker. The yellow croaker was awfully over-cooked and didn't taste pleasant. Rice not dry enough.

Tapioca starch dumplings with custard filling - not too sweet, suited everyone's palate nicely.

So that was a Thursday night! Hope to take my cousin to more decent places around HK!

Yung Kee, LKF

Date of visit: 7th July 2010 

Yung Kee @ Lan Kwai Fong

My friend P's sister loves Char Siu, and so do I, but not to her extent =P Everyone's preference of Char siu is different. I like them lean and soft but still slightly chewy, whereas others may like them half fat/half lean etc etc. I suggested we try out Yung Kee for our lunch meet-up. 

A plate of roast goose and char siu with rice ($52) was quite reasonably priced. I tried the BBQ Pork only and it was pretty good. Not too sweet or salty, and did not have the scary red colouring some places tend to have. It was caramelized well, making it smell appetizing. The pork itself was pretty lean, yet was not chewy - yum!

Shrimp Wontons with Thin Noodles ($31)

I only tried the soup, which was quite good and mild in flavour - no presence of any alkaline (gan sui)! I didn't try the wontons, but P did comment that it was not all shrimp. Had a bit of pork as a filler. She prefers Mak's Noodle (麥奀雲吞麵世家). 

Congee with fish slices ($32)

This was really good. The congee was slightly too thick for my liking but taste-wise it was spot on, and I didn't feel the need to add any other flavourings, even pepper. The fish was 'wan yu', thinly sliced and they gave at least an ounce or two of it. Would've liked the chopped spring onions to be fresher though, the ones given (mainly white, so towards the root of the plant) weren't so nice and gave a little bitterness. 

Mini Egg Tarts ($21)

We decided to end with a plate of mini egg tarts. The tart shell was pastry-based, rather than my favourite cookie base, but was not bad. It retained some crispiness around the sides of the tart. The filling was nicely sweet and smooth, my favourite part of the egg tart! Nonetheless, I still think for this kind of flaky pastry based egg tarts, Pak Kee's on Centre St is the best (and they sell for $2.5/standard sized!). 

This place was quite full, so reservations are a must for lunch hours. I did enjoy my simple meal here, and would gladly do it again, but may visit Tai Cheong instead for my favourite cookie based egg tarts!

Food: ♥♥♥

Service: ♥♥♥

Price: $$

Yung Kee

32-40 Wellington Street, 

Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2522 1624