Hong Kong Diary: New Traditional Chinese Cuisine
Hello, my dear friends, how is fall like for you so far? I’ve had a flash back to summer the past week because of my trip to Hong Kong, it was over 80F everyday and the humidity was high, too. I am not complaining at all, for more summer days.
The trip was a spontaneous one where I had little time to prepare for. Prior to my trip, I only looked up places to take good photos and must-try dim sum, which I will share with you in the next couple of posts, everything else I decided just to go with the flow. Much thanks to my trip sponsor, Cathay Pacific Airways, I was able to try out a few very cool things in Hong Kong I wouldn’t think of doing otherwise, like the innovative ways of traditional Chinese cuisine are served that I will show you in this post.
With over 14,000 registered restaurants in Hong Kong, it sure is a foodies heaven. As a group of first-timers from the west, we zoomed in on foods that are local and authentic to Hong Kong during our trip. One of them was a banquet-style dinner at 1 Michelin-starred restaurant Yat Tung Heen, and another traditional cantonese dinner family-style at Dragon Noodles Academy.
Yat Tung Heen 逸東軒 located at the basement of Eaton Hotel, it has a large open space and away from all the street noise. It is perfect for a quiet dinner or banquet. Overall, our dinner was very delicate, from flavors to plating. My favorite dish was the Prawns Two Ways, the prawns were so fresh and bouncy, and the sweet & sour one had a burst of flavors at first bite. The tomato soup was pleasant both visually and taste-wise, there were mushrooms stuffed inside the skinned tomato.
Dragon Noodles Academy 龙面馆 is located in Central, near the famed bar district Lan Kwai Fong. As you could tell from the images, the decor and the food is very Chinese, however, the presentation is very western. We had two orders of each dish and we shared them family style. My favorite dishes are the ham with rice which had a very aromatic smoky flavor, and the Peking duck, the paper thin pancake had a good chewiness to it, one of the best I’ve had. Even we were pretty stuffed after all the delicious courses, many of us found the thinly slivered silken tofu dessert a very delightful ending to this feast.
If you are planning a trip to Hong Kong, I hope you will find the time to visit these finer and more innovative Chinese restaurants. As usual, please feel free to ask any questions you might have related to the subject.
