Summer Palace, Island Shangri-la, Hong Kong

I was out to romance my wife on Valentine's Day so we went to the two Michelin-starred restaurant Summer Palace, which is in the Island Shangri-la hotel in Admiralty for a 'late lunch'.

Actually the place was not all candle lit (perhaps this Chinese restaurant does not sell itself out for Valentine's day), and with it still being in the Chinese New Year period, it was fairly busy with families. There are no windows to let light in but it is not a dark place, with sparkling chandeliers and an elegant Oriental interior.

We were shown to our neatly laid out table, given the menu to contemplate over and asked if we wanted a drink at first. We opted for Chinese tea and drank Iron Bhudda tea for the evening.

Table Setting

The menu is split into various sections such as soups, appetisers, mains etc. We ordered two starters and the first to arrive was the Sea Moss Soup, shown in the picture below. This soup was good, with a strong flavour and contained the sea moss and two dried oysters for some opulence. There was also a slice of meat, which might have been ham or possibly tongue.

Soup

Our other starter was Pan Fried Bean Curd Skin Filled with Shredded Vegetables, which was returned unfortunately. The skin was too soggy and not crunchy for our liking, which it usually is after frying. Turns out they steamed them after frying, losing the crunchiness, and our liking for them and so we asked for this dish to be taken away.

Bean curd skin

For the main courses we ordered a fish, chicken and pork dish. The Spotted Garoupa fillet with black bean sauce was the first course to arrive. The fish meat could have been a bit softer but the sauce was good and there was the spring onion garnish.

Garoupa

Stewed Chicken with Salted fish and Scallion in a stone hot pot and Stewed Spare Ribs in a clay pot were the other two main courses that we ordered. The chicken was nice, the best dish of the night. The meat was tender and in small chunks, with the scallions and salted fish offering some extra flavour. The spare ribs were very red in colour and cooked until the meat was really soft, but could have done with a touch more seasoning.

Chicken on left, Pork on right

We also chose Beef Fried Rice as our starch dish. This was cooked with egg white only and along with the little pieces of beef there was shrimp paste too, to give it a decent flavour. The one niggle was that it was a little too oily.

Fried Rice

We could not finish all of the rice between the two of us and took the remainder away. The waiter then gave us the dessert menu to look at but we did not choose anything so we paid the bill and went on our way.

Now, I am not a professional food critic but to give Summer Palace two Michelin stars surprises me. I have been better one-starred places and the difference between this and a three-starred restaurant I have eaten at is wide.

That is not to say this place is bad, far from it. The food is good and well presented, as expected for the price you pay. However nothing is that exceptional to make you remember it. It is a pretty place and staff are friendly but do not have that hospitable warmth to make you want to return in a hurry.

Scores:

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 4/5

Service: 3/5

Setting: 4/5

Total: 14/20

Total Bill: HK$1193, about GBP£50 a head.

I ate: All of the above.

I drank: Iron Buddha Tea.

I wore: Gieves & Hawkes tie and cufflinks.