Christmas Eve dinner @ Home, Hong Kong

Guests:  25

Prep time:  5+ hours

Thoughts:

Before:  No problem!

During:  OMG

After:  Success!  Glad we stayed at home.  It wouldn't feel like Christmas without a big dinner at home.

East Ocean Restaurant @ Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

visit date:  December 2008

The ten-course Chinese banquet is a standard for celebrating special occasions, from weddings, births, birthdays, to special holidays including the Winter solstice.

It is for the occasion of Winter solstice that my family went to East Ocean recently and we ordered a 10-course dinner.  I must say, I was disappointed.  Very disappointed...and I have determined that the cause of my disappointment stems from four causes: 

1)  Eating overload: Hanging out family & friends in HK usually means a meal out, even when there's no particular special occasion.  This is largelybecause most families don't have homes large enough to host many guests...and as well, it takes a lot of work and sometimes it's just a lot easier to go out to eat.  As a result, I have been eating waaay too many meals out.  Feeling so gross....

2)  Weak by comparison.  A few nights before our dinner at East Ocean, we ate a crab feast 10-course banquet in Wanchai restaurant.  The restaurant is apparently less well known that East Ocean, but what a difference in value for money.  For the same price of $3000HKD for a 10-course banquet for 12, the highlights of our crab feast included two hairy crabs per guest, delicious and fresh oysters, in addition to a lot of other special, tasty and huge dishes.  I was more than satisfied with every single dish.  Further, the price included a private room, a mahjong table and a TV.  There was even an attendant permanently in the room to help us re-fill tea.  For the exact same price, East Ocean served what I think was a really nothing-special meal.

3) They had an "off' night. We didn't go on the exact date of Winter Solstice, but it was still a busy dining night and the staff likely didn't have enough time to give its food or us proper attention (did I mention that they kept on serving each huge platter on my left over the head of my 13-year old cousin even though there was a perfectly empty seat on my right? It was kind of dangerous!).  However, is being busy really a good enough excuse given the price they charge?

  
4) The food simply wasn't good. There was a roast piglet and apparently that is a big deal for Chinese celebrations (maybe that is why the cost was so high?) but I didn't think it tasted anything special.  Then there was an abalone dish...but rather serving it traditionally with the abalone on its own, so that you can savour the flavours, the small abalone served was baked and covered with spices/sauce.  By covering it up like that, I kind of get the impression that means the abalone wasn't good in the first place.  Anyways, here is a line-up of our dishes:

The menu:

The roasted piglet.  I think the dish should be crispy.  It wasn't.

Shrimps with cashew and celery.  What is special about this?

The baked abalone.  This was a disappointment...

This was the only hearty dish.  Scallops with black moss seaweed.  This quality of dish is what I expected from the rest of the meal.

The chicken portion was really small.  If I count the limbs, I think there's a whole chicken there, but it looks like only half a chicken..

Aargh, in my opinion, this was the worst dish of the night.  Steamed dumplings filled with tomatoes.  One of my relatives was kind and said it tasted refreshing.  Most of us just said it was odd.  We can eat it, but we won't necessarily eat it again.

The best dish of the night:  the Chinese birthday bun.  It was hot, huge and each had its own egg yolk (oh, the cholesterol...).

On one hand, since this restaurant has a good reputation, I want to believe the "off night" excuse to give it a second try.

On the other hand, there are sooo many other restaurants in HK.  Ultimately, I think I would rather want to give those a "first try" than to go back to East Ocean again.

Mi-Ne Sushi @ TST, Hong Kong

visit date:  December 2008

Mi-Ne Sushi has several outlets around Hong Kong, and the one at Causeway Bay (the one on the tram route, second floor, close to Sogo) is a regular hangout for my family members. The price is right, with a good selection averaging around $15 - $25 per plate, the fish is good, and they have some interesting ones beyond the traditional just-fish-on-rice (like using the flame torch, some special sauces, etc. etc).

Well, this past Sunday I was heading to watch the Hong Kong Ballet's performance of The Nutcracker and would be in TST.  My cousin suggested that we try the TST Mi-Ne because they have some special manager specials not available in the CWB branch, including.....*drum roll* a foie gras + salmon sushi.  The CWB branch has foie gras sushi (delicious, delicious at $35 per piece)...but foie gras + sushi was new.  With that knowledge, we made up our mind to go to the TST Mi-Ne.

We got there around 17:45 and we were the first customers of the evening.  Very nice.  I hate hate hate waiting in line for food, no matter how good it is.  

A very pretty and appetizing place mat.

We sat in a booth because it was easier to chat and share plates.  If I was by myself or with one other person, I like sitting on the sushi conveyer belt.  I don't like grabbing plates off the belt (how long have they been sitting there?!?!) but I still like watching the little plates go by.

It was the first time I have had the chance to admire Mi-Ne's interior.  The CWB branch is usually so packed with the people.

The wasabi is readily available in a box on your table.  You can help yourself to as much as you like.  

Wasabi marinated shrimps.  Spicy, good texture.  However, I think I like the marinated  infused octopus more.  Even more chewy and has a good slimy texture that is very interesting to eat.

Swordfish toro.  A white fish...not very strong in flavour, but a very interesting flavour.  Got a good bite to it, not squishy like salmon or tuna.

Roasted eel.  Comes hot!

Salmon, torched and served with a slice of lemon and salt.  This is sooooo much better than just regular salmon!  You can taste a bit of the smokiness (torched smell?) from the torch-blowing process, but it's also still tender like sashimi.  Plus the salt and lemon gives it an extra kick!

The highlight.  Foie gras with salmon.  They serve it with a sweet sauce.  When you put the combination of foie gras, salmon and the sauce in your mouth...I am not sure even how to describe it but the combination simply amazing.  The best part?  Whereas a single foie gras sushi is $35 (though admitted the piece is much bigger) this manager's special is only $20 for TWO pieces!  We ordered four plates.  I wish we had room for more!

Old favourites include scallop sushi.  So big and juicy.

Sea urchin sushi.  Love...

We ordered more than enough for the 3 of us.

Our tally.  Actually not that much...our family has gone through towers of food before.  TOWERS.

As for the Nutcracker performance, I really enjoyed it!  I may have gone in with lowered expectations because I have already seen the Nutcracker before (once in TO - really grand production, and once in Vienna) and I really was not sure how the HK ballet production would match up.  I was pleasantly surprised!  The dancers had great technical skills and the orchestra was top-notch.  My favourite dance sections were the snowflakes dance and the Arabian dance.  If I was to compare the HK performance with the other productions I've seen...I'd say this company has a lot of skills, but not necessarily a lot of flair?  The most lacking part was the set.  But this is probably because I compared it with the TO set...which has a Russian setting and the set is very elaborate and grand.  To be honest, I sound like I am nit picking now, but I really wasn't comparing the different performances in my head when I watched it.  I just sat back and enjoyed...and enjoyed I did.  :)  It was thoroughly really nice production!

Here are a couple of photos not of the show, but of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre in TST:

Vegelink @ North Point, Hong Kong

visit date: December 2008

A couple of weeks ago my Mom and I had separate dinner plans changed at the last minute, so we decided to try the vegetarian restaurant Vegelink across the street from my apartment. My mom went there for dim sum lunch and really enjoyed it, so we decided to see how it would be like for dinner. Unfortunately for us, but good for future reference, we were told that the restaurant is actually a private kitchen. For dinner, reservations must be made, only a tasting menu is served, and there are set start times of 7:00pm or 8:00pm. As a result, even though there were still tables empty, they were not able to serve us. Even though we couldn't eat there that night, we decided we really wanted to go back to try their tasting menu. It was very reasonably priced at $160 pp, so made a reservation to try its tasting menu dinner.

As the the restaurant is located on the first floor (or second floor in Canada), its street-level entrance is shared with a kindergarten, but there's a sign outside that clearly points to it. Once you walk up the stairs, voila the restaurant entrance. 

The interior clean, modern and very zen. Most importantly, because of its intimate size, it was also very cozy. It made for a very good atmosphere for dining with family and friends.

We were served a barley tea. It tastes like the type I used to buy in Korean supermarkets in Toronto. It is a nice change from the usual black or green tea. The tea is not heavy and was a good company to the food.

The menu of the day. Ten courses + desserts.  $160HKD.  Seriously a bargain!

The first course was a quartet of four items. This included "fish balls" (I use the quotation marks to highlight that given this is a vegetarian restaurant, all the meat are imitation). The taste was quite good! 

The second part of the quartet was a potato and apple salad. Unfortunately, given my allergy to raw apples, I could not try this. Otherwise, I would have loved to try the potatoes.

The third part of the quartet was marinated shredded tofu/mushrooms. I really liked this. Opened the appetite.

This was interesting. It's cherry tomatoes dipped/marinated with a sweet sauce. As a result, it was sweet and sour at the same time. I am not sure I loved the flavour, but I thought it was interesting.

The first dish was a "shark fin dumpling". The shark fin was quite yummy. You really can't tell it's not real shark fin. I really enjoyed the dish, in part because I really liked its delicate presentation. I should also comment here that the service was impeccable!

Pumpkin soup with dried scallops. It was lighter than the regular creamy pumpkin soup, which I gather is because it was not made with the usual cream. The flavours were western and asian at the same time.  I really liked this soup and the  "dried scallops" added a really great texture!

Braised scallops. Using the stems of large mushrooms, they created faux scallops. I think I actually like these scallops more than real ones! They were very tender and full of flavour. 

Spinach with mushrooms and fried noodles. I am not sure what those fried noodles are made out of. I wish I knew so that I can replicate it! They were very crispy which is a good contrast to the softness of the veggies.

Tofu skewers! The tofu that is dark brown in colour was made to imitate beef and you know, they marinated it so well that it actually tasted very meat-like!

Oh dear, I am not sure my description can do this dish justice because the manage of the restaurant seemed really proud of it, coming to our table and explaining it to us in person. It is stacked chinese cabbage with filling of carrots and some special ingredient flown in from Japan. (I didn't fully understand what he was saying!) The stack is then cooked with a special mushroom sauce. The sauce was really delicious. Luckily I took his advice to pour more sauce on my plate!

A curry with beef balls. I liked this dish, but I wasn't in love with it. Maybe it's because I don't like curry as soup, but that is how we were expected to eat it.

Fried sticky rice. It wasn't very strong in flavour, BUT, I think I actually liked it that way. I would describe the flavour as gentle such that the dish as a whole was comforting. I also really liked the texture of the rice. Usually I dread the rice at the end of a big Chinese meal, but this was good.

A salty-sweet dumpling stuffed with veggies and meat. It's hard to describe...it's a traditional dim sum! I am usually not a fan of the real meat version (don't like the salty-sweet) and I still don't love it, but I appreciated this version because it wasn't oily and it was a well-made dish.

Yum, dessert. A beans cake and grounded-walnut porridge. I have had the chance to sample a lot of new asian desserts recently and I am really appreciating that there are a lot of varieties out there! It's an area of eating I am definitely keen to explore more.

To summarize, I really enjoyed the restaurant and given that its menu changes every week, it is a place I would like to try again. The manager said that they are able to design menus for any price that you want to offer. While the only standard one right now is $160 pp, they want to experiment with new "set" menus at prices like $280, $380, etc. I was really happy with the $160 and am super curious to see what $280 may be like. Seriously, given the restaurant really is across the street from my apartment, I really don't have an excuse to not come back!

Jumbo Kingdom @ Aberdeen, Hong Kong

visit date: December 2008

The Jumbo Kingdom floating restaurant is quite famous. It has been visited by the Queen of England as well as other celebrities and it was even featured in the Stephen Chow film God of Cookery. While I have admired its prettiness from a distance, I never thought I would actually go myself because...well...isn't that a place for tourists?

Well, it is actually quite easy to forget at times that I am a tourist in HK too! Luckily, my Uncle has not and it was on his suggestion that we go try the restaurant for dim sum lunch. Apparently it is quite expensive in the evening (I totally believe that) but is much more reasonable for lunch. So, off we went to Jumbo.

After a short bus ride to Aberdeen, we got off at the pier where Jumbo has a dock for its private boats which takes you onto the floating restaurant.

Big sign at the dock. If you are looking for it, you can't miss it.

The most well-decorated dock in the area.

Jumbo provides access to its floating restaurant with a free private ferry (well, I am sure the cost is embedded in the price of food). For someone who is sensitive to motion sickness, I found the boat very steady...and as for the restaurant, I could not tell I was on a boat at all. No worries at all.  

After a short boat road, voila, the restaurant!  Because of the route that the boat took, I didn't have the chance to take a wide shot. It is actually very impressive when you see the entire restaurant, three large floating restaurants linked together, from a distance.

The interior of the restaurant is very elegant and beautifully decorated.  A large central stair case leads to the first level which is a private club (???) and the second floor is the main common dining room.  I liked the details on the ceiling.

I need to point out that view from the restaurant is not spectacular. With our window seats, we looked into the harbour which was filled to the brim with private yachts which is really not that attractive unless you are really into boats.  The main structure in front of us was the HK marina club which is a big white building...and that is all I have to say about that.  I would say the people inside the marina club would have a much more interesting view eating their meal while looking at the Jumbo restaurant and the water. 

While the view is lacking, I think eating at the Jumbo restaurant is more for the experience of taking the small boat out to the floating restaurant and just saying you ate in a floating restaurant.  Luckily, the food was also quite good. 

Beef tripe.  I am surprised it is on the menu given that Jumbo caters to tourists.  I guess there are more tourists who enjoy beef stomachs than I thought!

Shanghai "little basket dumplings". This was my only disappointment mainly because I normally love this dish and I have had it at other places that were prepared much better (with a thinner dough, more soup inside)

Sticky rice wrapped in lotus leaf. This looked really good, but unfortunately I was too full to actually try it.

Custard filled buns. This was really tasty. I liked how the filling was very neutral in colour. Usually the custard-filled buns in more local dim sum restaurants have fillings that are very bright yellow-orange in colour...created most likely from food colouring.  

Shrimp dumpling rolls. The shrimp was very tasty.  

Fried squid cake. Not a very common dim sum dish. It was nice to see that as a seafood restaurant, they have created special seafood dim sums.

Fried fish balls.  This was also very well made!  They do their seafood very well!

Fried wontons.  I am not usually fond of this dish and I usually don't eat it at all because the wrapper is sometimes made way too big and with too much oil. While I still don't love this dish (I don't like deep fried things in general) I have to give them credit for making this dish with a delicate touch. The wrapper was very thin and crispy and it did not feel that oily.  

All that dim sum, for three of us!

On the whole, I had a very very nice experience at Jumbo Kingdom. Dim sum was more expensive than my usual fare (at around $25-$30HK per dim sum compared to $15HKD) but I think that's because I usually go to very very local and cheap places. If I compare it to other slightly-above-average dim sum restaurants throughout HK, it is really not that expensive at all.  

While it may not be my regular hangout, this is a good place for a special occasion or to bring visiting friends from abroad.  While I cannot say how their dinner menu is like, for lunch, it is not entirely a tourist trap.  :)