Dim sum~ @ Tim’s Kitchen

Having heard so many positive things about Tim’s Kitchen, Mr. C and I finally went to try it over the weekend. Located in Sheung Wan, the front of the restaurant is subtle, yet well-presented and once inside the warm tan and cream tones gives it a distinctly homely feeling.

Their selections for dim sum is not huge, but we do find some favourites and a couple of items that are more traditional and not commonly seen in other restaurants like their sesame paste buns and steamed pork dumplings with liver.

Along with the dim sum we also ordered an appetiser of Chiu Chow soya bean curd. This was served wonderfully hot, and just visually seeing its smooth texture with its gentle wobble as it was set on the table we could tell it was going to be good. We were not disappointed as the silkiness of the tofu just melted in the mouth and the soy sauce was perfect in terms of its saltiness, adding flavour yet not overpowering the delicate soy bean taste.

For dim sum we had:

Pan-fried XO rice rolls. Nicely browned with a significant wok-hei flavour, the rice rolls were slightly chewy and if you needed it there was a sauce dish of sweet hoisin sauce for your dipping pleasure.

Steamed layered bean curd. Multiple layers of dried bean curd steamed till soft and interspersed with layers of minced prawn, I really enjoyed this. Biting into the bean curd it was springy and it released a wonderful aroma of soy beans on the palate. Something different 🙂

Prawn dumplings. When this was served, Mr. C already commented that he could tell it was going to be really good. By the translucence of the glutinous skin and the colour of the prawn I did not doubt him. The skin of the dumpling was beautifully chewy and each contained a large whole prawn where it was meaty with a sweetness that can only come from fresh prawns.

Crabmeat dumpling in superior soup. This was marvelous. The clear soup was piping hot and the flavour of the ‘gum wa’ ham was intense. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the dumpling with it’s generous filling of sweet crabmeat and diced mushrooms, while the skin retained its chewiness despite the high temperature of the soup.

Steamed dumplings with liver. This came out looking like two irregular balls of minced prawn and pork with two slices of pork liver draped in the middle. I was not too partial to the liver, but despite the appearance of the dumpling they tasted really good, with a slight bouncy texture when you bite into it. (Unfortunately no photo)

Steamed sesame paste buns. These came out quite early on, but since they were part of our dessert items, we ate them later which was slightly unfortunate as they had cooled down by then. Despite their lukewarmness, the buns still retained their fluffiness and the sesame paste was heady with a hint of sweetness.

Mango pudding. Mr. C’s favourite~ Made in a heart shape mold, it was a sizeable portion with a drizzling of evaporated milk.The pudding was quite firm emphasizing the amount of gelatin used and I detected a citrusy sour note among the sweetness of the mango which could have come from pomelo or yuzu. (No photo =.=)

Very good~ Definitely want to return to try out their a la carte dishes during dinner 🙂

Simply amazing~ @ The 8

8. The symbolic numeral that Chinese people consider as good fortune, so for the Chinese restaurant inside Grand Lisboa Macau to be named after this lucky figure it is more than fitting no? Specialising in Cantonese and Huaiyang cuisine, The 8 is a holder of two-Michelin stars and from the numerous positive reviews regarding the caliber of the dishes served here both for dim sum and main courses it really is not that surprising.

At the entrance as you are greeted politely by the hostess, the large 8 symbol is boldly illuminated from behind by the reddish lit back wall. Directed through automatic sliding doors into a dark corridor where both walls are a feature with water trickling down you are met with projected images of gold fish darting about in a stream on the ground. Very serene, there is a gap of a few seconds for guests to enjoy this before the sliding doors at the opposite end open and you step into the main dining room. The restaurant is elegant, black with a contrast of deep red setting the tone for the decor with hints of Chinese elements used in the furnishings. The far wall is an eye popping mural of plump orange-red gold fish and for any first timer to The 8, their attention must surely be stolen by the stunning crystal ball suspended low-down towards the center of the room. It was quite dim inside, but spotlights were cleverly aimed above each table, providing enough light for diners to appreciate the visual aspect of their meal.

They have an impressive selection for dim sum, with more than 50 types available for selection, but despite looking at the menu, most of the items we had were arranged for us because of Mr. C, so we had a mix of both dim sum and main dishes.

It is not often that Chinese restaurants offer amuse bouche, but here they serve diced grilled pork and abalone with mushrooms on a crunchy cracker. The pork was nicely marinated, while the abalone served cold, was pleasantly chewy.

Steamed dim sum arrived first. A selection of three, clockwise from top- steamed superior river shrimp dumpling shaped like a gold fish, dumpling with sharks fin, scallop and asparagus, dumpling with Pacific clams and shrimp. Elegantly made, the fillings were very fresh while the glutinous skin was delicately thin and translucent with a slight chewiness.

As the server placed this on the table, I could not help exclaiming at how cute the items were~ L to R, a miniature baked tart with crabmeat in curry sauce and a hedgehog BBQ pork bun with preserved vegetables. The filling of the tart was creamy with a light curry flavour while the tart itself was baked perfectly, firm yet buttery with a hint of sweetness. The BBQ pork bun was something different too, the filling was moist and sweet, but what was special about it was the bottom of the fluffy bun was pan-fried to a golden brown so there was a pleasant contrast of soft and crunchiness. Both were very very good~ Recommended.

A silver covered steamer came next, revealing a hairy crab roe xiao long bao. Juicy pork mince encased in a thin skin. And of course, lets not forget the soup. For any xiao long bao, the soup is definitely the most important aspect as it contains all the essence seeped out from the filling. Here, not only was it piping hot, it was also gorgeously sweet from the addition of crab roe.

We were then served one of their signature dishes, a half portion of shredded chicken with crispy skin laid over a bed of pomelo with a honey and lime sauce. The chicken was really tender and the skin was cooked till most of the fat had been rendered out, leaving it very crisp with little oiliness. The pomelo was naturally sweet and paired with the chicken it made a very refreshing dish.

To meet our vegetable quota, we ordered pea shoots, but rather than cooking it with consomme, the manager suggested we try it with their special method using congee broth. This came out as a generous portion of pea shoots immersed in a smooth milky liquid. Creamy with a slightly thick texture, you can detect a subtle fragrance from the rice used in the congee. Paired together with the tender vegetables, it seemed so simple, but was immensely satisfying~ Recommended.

For our final savoury course, we were served ‘mai seen’ (rice string) with assorted mushrooms and pigeon fillet. This was prepared in front of us gueridon style and the end result was a bowl of delectable broth, with a hearty assortment of fresh mushrooms, tender slices of dark pigeon meat ladelled over perfectly cooked ‘mai seen’. This was so so good, definitely worth trying~

And of course dessert plays a part here.

I picked the double boiled milk with birds nest and coconut milk, while Mr. C picked the duo of chilled coconut mango pudding as well as the almond tea with birds nest.

I loved my dessert, the double boiled milk was so creamy with the perfect level of sweetness and there was a more than substantial amount of birds nest inside.

Mr. C’s dessert was so cute, the two puddings were shaped into small goldfish, ‘swimming’ on top of a thin layer of green jelly. The coconut one was lightly fragrant, while there were pieces of fresh mango used in the other one. They were set a little more firmly than usual puddings of this type, but only because they needed to be molded. I think Mr. C quite enjoyed it too, but his preference was obviously more inclined to the mango pudding :p

I find that almond tea desserts served in restaurants are usually not very palatable, with overly fake almond flavour or the texture being too thin. The one served here was a different story though. Running a spoon through the liquid, I could feel a slight resistance which emphasized a thickness in texture. Silkily smooth, with no grittiness at all, the natural almond flavour was really pleasant.

And for petite fours~ Portuguese egg tarts with milk tea 😀 The waitress offered three types of powder to sprinkle on top, cinnamon, chocolate or vanilla. Mr. C chose cinnamon which was the traditional accompaniment, while I chose to have mine plain. The tarts were so flaky and crunchy with the custard being gorgeously rich. The one sprinkled with cinnamon actually tasted better, (not that the plain one was not good) as it filled the senses with its spicy aroma. Paired with the sweet, creamy milk tea, it was a perfect way to end the meal~

I do not think words alone can describe how much I enjoyed the experience at The 8, but there is definitely a need to return, especially to try their renowned dish of suckling pig stuffed with fried rice~

Always satisfying dim sum @ Lung King Heen~

Lung King Heen is probably one of my most favourite places for dim sum, even though they always have a one to two month reservation wait, I always try to book so that I can enjoy dim sum here~

Up on the fourth floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, what catches the eye at first glance are the floor to length windows along one side of the wall which gives diners a spectacular view of the harbour. The restaurant does not cater for many tables, preferring to give diners space for a comfortable dining environment (even for a one person booking, they give you a four-seater table, trust me this is from personal experience) and also so the staff can give attentive service worthy of a 3-star Michelin restaurant.

Normally I dim sum alone, but this time Mr. C joined me which allowed me to order more things outside the scope of what I usually have~.

Steamed assorted mushroom dumplings with gluten. If there is a vegetarian dumpling option on the menu, it is always a must order for me. Meaty cubes of mushroom and bouncy pieces of gluten with the wonderful flavour of wok hei all wrapped up in the wonderfully chewy glutinous skin that Lung King Heen does so well.

Steamed lobster and scallop dumpling. This is one of their signature items, served as an individual portion, it was slightly larger than the other dim sums. The whole dumpling essentially was made up of lobster topped with scallop and a fresh whole prawn. The lobster meat was sweet and juicy, and even for someone like me who is not particularly enamored with lobster, it really was quite good.

Steamed garoupa dumplings with shrimp and jasmine. This was not bad, the garoupa was really fresh, but I could not really taste the jasmine.

Shrimp dumpling with bamboo shoots. The shrimp was sweet with a slight crunchy texture that only fresh prawns can exhibit, drizzled with a little XO oil or chili sauce it was so good~

Siu mai. Filled mainly with prawns, if you are the type that enjoy a higher prawn to pork ratio inside your siu mai, then this is for you.

Steamed rice rolls with scallops, water chestnuts and coriander. This was ok, slippery sheets of rice noodle enveloping a generous filling of scallops and obvious green patches of coriander. I don’t tend to mind the taste of coriander as I find it to be quite fresh tasting, but Mr. C picked out all of his as he can’t stand it.

Baked whole abalone puff with diced chicken. This is another signature item and probably my favourite from the whole dim sum menu~. Firm, buttery pastry, perfectly baked holding a moist filling of diced chicken pieces topped with a succulent abalone braised in a sweetish soy sauce. The combination of both sweet and savoury is just really really good. This is definitely a must have item.

Baked scallop puffs with avocado and onions. This was something new on the menu which I had not tried. It did not look the most appealing with the funny green colour, but I have long ago learnt to not judge food by how it looks. Using the same buttery pastry as the abalone puff, that was of course good, but I found the filling to be quite bland.

Baked pork buns with fermented bean paste. They always alternate this with their baked pineapple BBQ pork buns which I was hoping to order, but this was not a bad substitute. Moist pork coated in the slightly sweet bean paste, the bun was pillow-like, and the swirls on top were reminiscent of the crispy topping found on snowy BBQ buns.

Aside from dim sum, we also order their honey glazed BBQ pork as well as pea shoots in consomme. The BBQ pork, despite being quite lean was gorgeously tender while the vegetables were very soft in a wonderfully light and savoury broth. 🙂

Even though Lung King Heen serves petite fours, we still decided to order desserts :p We shared a double boiled egg white milk custard with birds nest and a chilled mango and sago cream with pomelo. The milk custard was silkily smooth with a delicate flavour. There was a hint of ginger to it as well which I think came from the bird’s nest.

The mango and sago cream, was actually unexpectedly sour, so just after one spoonful I gave up, but clever Mr. C decided to scoop down to the bottom where he uncovered his favourite mango pudding hahaha… Paired with the sweet mango pudding, the rest of the dessert tasted much much better~

In addtion to our original desserts, we received two more varieties compliments from the manager~ Steamed milk custard layered cake and glutinous dumplings. I really liked the layered cake, soft and spongy with a seductively sweet custard flavour. I am not particularly partial to ‘lor mai chi’, so I did not try this, however Mr. C said it was just ok.

Finally to petite fours~

A chilled passionfruit jelly (if I remember correctly) and baked custard puffs. The passionfruit jelly was lightly tart, but quite refreshing after such a heavy meal and I absolutely adored the custard puffs, so buttery and sweet, they tasted exactly like custard mooncakes 😀

Such a satisfying dim sum lunch~ Outstanding food, attentive service and relaxing surroundings. If you ask me whether Lung King Heen is worth the one month plus wait, I would answer you in the affirmative 🙂

Lunch @ Yan Toh Heen

Sundays for me are generally synonymous with having dim sum. To me nothing is better than relaxing over a pot of fragrant tea while picking up delicately made dumplings still steaming in their bamboo steamers. So, last Sunday I was able to make a lateish booking at Yan Toh Heen, originally I was planning to go alone, but was able to invite Mr. C to join me at the last minute. Sorry for the late notice~

We were lucky to be seated at the end of the room right near the windows so we were able to look out towards the harbour. It was a gorgeous day, sunny with blue (well as blue as HK can get) skies. We had perfect natural lighting brightening our table, while the other side of the restaurant seemed quite dark. The downside was it did become quite hot, but that was easily solved by asking one of the waiters to turn up the air-conditioning.

I was delighted to see that Yah Toh Heen offered candied walnuts for pre-meal nibbles, so while waiting for our food to come I was happily eating these 🙂

As a starter, we had a plate of assorted mushrooms and black fungus in a yuzu dressing. I admit that it was not the most visually appealing. but taste wise it really helped awaken the palate. Held together by a tart yet subtly sweetish savoury yuzu dressing, the crunchy black fungus and meaty mushrooms really helped whet the appetite and was really tasty~ Recommended.

Steamed dim sums arrived next. Assorted mushrooms and string bean dumplings and scallop and conpoy dumpling with asparagus. Both of these were very good. The glutinous skins were semi-translucent and delicately chewy which is something that I desire in good dumplings. The fillings were very fresh, where the vegetarian dumplings had a nice flavour from the ‘wok hei’ with the bean sprouts retaining a slight crunch while the scallops were pleasantly sweet.

Tofu sheet rolls with shrimp and fungus in chicken broth were quite good as well. I adore fresh tofu sheets which I find to be much better than the ones that have been fried and this was no exception, so soft with a pleasant soy bean taste, the lightness of the tofu was a nice match with the more salty flavour of the shrimp filling.

Our last dim sum were baked buns with roast goose and taro. Looking exactly like a baked BBQ pork bun with a ‘snowy’ crust, it even tasted quite similar if you did not know the fillings beforehand. The outside of the bun was nicely crispy while the inside was moist and sweet. I loved the softness of the taro cubes and the goose meat was quite tender, but I did not like the skin as it was too chewy.

Aside from dim sum, we also had two main dishes. The first was young spinach sprouts with fresh tofu sheets in broth. The spinach was soft with no stringy parts and I was more than happy with the reappearance of the silkily soft sheets of bean curd. This dish was very ‘qing’ where the spinach and tofu acquired most of its flavour from the broth.

Our second main dish arrived in a big bamboo steamer. Upon removing the cover, it revealed six pieces of steamed garoupa. Each piece was perfectly cooked, the flesh was delicate and moist with absolutely no fishiness at all. Eaten with a little bit of soy sauce and shallots, it was just stunning~ Recommended.

And for desserts? We ordered four to share~

Egg custard tarts with birds nest. I adore egg custard tarts, but only if the base is of the biscuit variety. These ones fit the bill perfectly. Firm enough so that it could be picked up easily with a wonderfully wobbly custard center and a generous amount of slippery birds nest. There were not too sweet, but I would have loved them more if the base had a more buttery taste.

Sweetened almond cream with papaya. When the cover was lifted from the bowl, the fragrance of almonds filled the senses. For some people that dislike the almond aroma, this may be a bit too much for them, but for me it was very enticing. Running my spoon through the almond cream, I was a little worried that it would turn out to be the watery kind, but happily it was pleasantly thick. Taste wise it was very much like its name sake, but it was quite gritty in texture. Only so-so for me.

The chilled milk pudding was something that I was really looking forward to trying. It was quite softly set, and melted easily on the tongue leaving behind a light milky taste. It was served with red beans and black kokuto syrup which added a pleasant sweetness to the pudding. Quite yummy~

Our final dessert was mango pudding. This was of course Mr. C’s choice :p It was not bad actually, quite smooth with a rich mango flavour and the way the pudding was set made it seem as if you could just suck it through a straw like a thickshake.

And complimentary fruit 🙂

Dinner @ Spring moon~

After having quite a filling lunch in the afternoon, I really wanted to have something lighter along the lines of Chinese cuisine for dinner. Knowing that I have not been to Spring Moon for dinner, Mr. C suggested we go there that night.

Spring Moon sits on the 1st floor of the The Peninsula hotel and upon entering you feel as if you have stepped back in time into a Shanghainese styled room back in the olden days complete with traditional furnishings in a dark chocolate brown. What catches the eye is the tea station set up in the far end of the room where the back wall is decorated with numerous small and delicate-looking teapots. Just by this you can tell that Spring Moon places a great emphasis on tea and if in doubt of what to pick, they even have a tea specialist to advise you on your choices.

Since they are so knowledgeable on tea, of course we opted to have tea. I always prefer my tea to be lighter in taste so ‘tie guan ying’ was suggested to me which was ideal since it was the tea I always order whereas Mr. C wanted something  more unique and asked the specialist to surprise him. I can not remember the name of his tea, but it had quite a smoky taste reminiscent of ‘suan mei tang’.

For pre-meal nibbles I loved how they served candied walnuts in a big silver bowl. These were so so addictive, both of us could not stop eating these and even during the meal, I could not resist sneaking a few for that crunchy and sweet goodness~

To start we were served BBQ pork. Gorgeously glazed in honey, the pork was of the ideal ‘half fat, half skinny’ ratio. BBQ pork is probably my favourite out of all the roast meats, and this was quite spot on. The parts that were lean were very tender and even though I tend to bite off the areas with pure fat, I could still taste its richness in the meat. Very good~

A covered bowl was served next, revealing a fish maw consomme. This was a prime example of why Cantonese cuisine excels in the art of boiling soups. The consomme was so fragrant with an underlying essence of chicken and the depth of flavours it revealed on the palate despite being such a clear liquid, emphasised the quality of ingredients used. The fish maw itself was boiled till soft, with a slight spongy texture and there was absolutely no trace of fishiness at all. Very very nice.

 The baked crab shell was also something I really enjoyed. The crust, baked to a golden brown was so crunchy and it hid a creamy filling of crab meat and onions. The curry-like cream sauce was not too heavy and there was a lot of crab compared to ones I have had in other places so each mouthful was satisfyingly meaty.

Both of us share a dislike of fish, or let me rephrase fish that have a strong fishy taste, but the garoupa we ate that night fit perfectly within our boundaries of fish that we tolerate and actually like. Pan-fried perfectly till the outside was crispy, with the inside remaining soft, it seems such a simple dish, but many places manage to overcook garoupa resulting in it becoming rubbery in texture. This was so satisfying 🙂

The black kagoshima pork dish was only so-so for me. This was their version of ‘double-cooked pork’. Thinly sliced I found it to be slightly overcooked as the pork was a little rough, but the dried chilies used in the stir-fry process gave a pleasantly mild tingle in the mouth.

I always need greens to fill my daily vegetable quota and this came in the form of young spinach in broth, tender and flavourful from the broth itself. Yes it does not seem to be anything special, but it is something that I can not go without.

How is it possible to end a Cantonese meal with no carbohydrates? Ours came in the form of rice wrapped inside a lotus leaf. Upon lifting the cut-out section, there was an additional surprise of a whole abalone nestled snugly on top. The abalone was braised till it was perfectly tender with a nice springy texture. I only had a small spoonful of the rice, which was cooked till the grains were separated from each other, however I prefer my rice to be more sticky and it was a little bland for me.

And let’s not forget dessert shall we. Mango pudding. Mr. C’s favourite. I was actually surprised that he ordered mango pudding as normally to me, this is something that little kids or ‘gwai lou’ would order from the dim sum carts in Sydney when they are having yum cha. I always found that it tastes too much like plastic and the texture always too firm from the overuse of gelatin. After my first spoonful though I could see why Mr. C is so fond of this. Thick, like a softly set milk shake, the flavour was rich from the use of ripe mangoes, but not sickeningly sweet either. If mango pudding tastes like this in HK, I could be persuaded to order it more often haha..:p

A very enjoyable dinner~