Wong Chi Kei

Wong Chi Kei (WCK) is a congee and noodle restaurant that started life out in Guangzhou, then Macau before branching out to Hong Kong. This restaurant is placed in the ground floor of the New Town Plaza shopping centre in Sha Tin, where a lot of eateries are located. It was a busy Sunday lunch time but we managed to get a seat after a brief wait. I was with my fiancee and we chose two dishes to share.

The first was preserved egg and pork congee. The rice porridge was very smooth and the rice grains, whilst visible are not lumpy when put into the mouth. Preseved egg is a local delicacy and and is a common ingredient for this variant of congee. Because of it's black colour it may look like a rotten egg but it has the texture of a normal boiled egg. The pork was shredded and nice but some shreds could have been a bit more tender.

Congee (Rice Porridge)

The noodles are home made and cooked to maybe just past 'al dente' but not too soft. They were placed above some pleasant prawn wonton and boiled Chinese vegetables. The shrimp roe is coarsely ground and sprinkled over the noodles, giving them a crunch and nice seafood flavour but it made me think that I was chewing sand. The noodles came with a broth that you pour over the noodles so that it's not too dry.

Noodles

I also ordered a hot honey ginger tea, which was a very nice drink. The fresh ginger was spicy and worked very well with the sweet honey.

Ginger & Honey Tea

Because WCK is nestled next to other restaurants within a shopping mall there's a slight food court feel to it but it has it's own furniture and crockery to keep its identity. The place is clean, service is quick, price very reasonable and the staff friendly enough.

Food: 4/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5
Total: 13/20.

Total bill: 112.2HKD for two so about £5 a head.

I ate: Preserved Egg and Pork Congee; Braised Noodles with Wonton and Shrimp's Egg. I drank Honey Ginger Tea.

I wore: polo shirt and shorts.

Wong Chi Kei
New Town Plaza
Sha Tin, Hong Kong
http://www.wongchikei.com.hk/

House of Canton 翰騰閣

My blog entries are like buses as I'm publishing another one today after the first took ages to appear. Today's lunch was a dim sum affair at a restaurant within Cityplaza in Tai Koo on HK island. As with most places in HK it was busy and with it being a Saturday as well, even more so. We had 11 people eating today as it was an extended family pre-wedding gathering.
Dim sum is a communal food so there are no courses and everyone gets to try a bit of everything. Generally the dishes are served in the bamboo trays as they're predominately steamed dishes but some are plated or otherwise.

Because there was no order in which the dishes arrived I'll present the photos and describe them underneath. Popular ones (in the Western cultural sense) will be described first and the less well-known and more obscure latterly.

Har gow (prawn dumplings): Nice large pieces of prawn wrapped in a translucent pastry that was slightly too thick for my liking.

Siu mai (pork & prawn dumplings): A very pleasant dumpling with predominantly a pork filling with a sizeable prawn piece on top.

Char siu bao, (barbecue pork bun): This had a nice white dough and the pork filling was ok.

Pai gwut (Steamed Spare ribs): Bite sized chunks on meat (both lean and fat) in black bean sauce and chilli that was not too spicy.

Roast pork belly: The best dish I had. Lovely mix of meat, fat and a crispy skin.

Ma Lai Go (steamed sponge cake): Sweet and soft, if a little soggy.

Choi sum: Boiled Chinese vegetables served in a soup with rice vermicelli, which I thought was quite bland. 

Chicken fried rice with abalone sauce: Really nice dish with the right amount of sauce to make it moist yet not too runny.

Chicken's feet: this dish would scare most people off, Chinese or otherwise. This stewed delicacy is quite sweet and tasty but I am not be able to tell you the ingredients of the stew base, unfortunately.  Remember to spit the bones out, of which there can be a few.



Generally you mark down the dishes you want and the food arrived quickly after ordering, so the waiters' duties are mainly to bring the food over and refill your teapot. It's a fairly typical dim sum / local restaurant setting and a there must have been a couple who are likely to have had / will have their wedding banquet there recently as their names were placed on one of the walls (but it wasn't my fiancee and I). 


Overall it is a decent enough restaurant with some nice dishes. The good thing about dim sum is that if you don't like the portion you have just ate there's probably someone who will like it so wastage and guilt is kept to a minimum. Actually in Chinese culture no-one really finishes the dishes whole as they are saving the last portion for someone else out of respect. However, with me being brought up in Scotland I'll finish it off if it's nice!


Ratings:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 3/5


Overall: 13/20


The bill worked out to be around 100HKD a head. (At time of writing 1GBP = approximately 12HKD)

I ate: all of the items that were written above and more that have not been photographed.

I drank: Chinese tea of Iron Buddha  and Dragon Well (Lung Jeng in Cantonese) varieties.


I wore: Jeans and polo shirt.

Caprice, Four Seasons Hotel

Tuesday was the Mid-autumn festival holiday, which basically meant I had a day off and more importantly finally write something for lunchquest. It also coincided with my fiancee's mother's birthday so we all headed off to Caprice, which is located on the 6th Floor of the Four Seasons Hotel in Central, Hong Kong. This is one of HK's best restaurants and as soon as you walk into the hotel lobby with it's large atrium and go up in the double height lift, you know you've entered a top class venue.

We were not sat next to the  windows but the glazed facade of the building meant we had a great view of the harbour and Kowloon.  Our dining party all opted for the set lunch which comprised of three courses and a glass of wine and tea/coffee. For starters I chose Foie gras terrine and duck. This was a delightful mix of the firmer meat and softer pate working well with each other. It was complimented with a tomato chutney. 

Starter

For the main course I chose the Guinea fowl and Atlantic crab. What arrived was two cylinders of excellently roasted  meat that was tender and flavoursome on a bed of spinach. However the shredded crab that was lightly fried (I think) was even better. 

Main Course

In between the main and dessert there was the petit four, wee treats for us that we couldn't finish in the end but were able to take home with us. 

Petits Four

Dessert was a selection from their tray. Panna cotta, macaron and a fruit moose. The first was creamy & crunchy with the apple & cinnamon sauce. The second had the nice biscuit and the filling was made from the Chinese / Southeast Asian fruit that I need to find out and was different but pleasant. For the third the fruit was a bit sour but that could be down to the freshness of them. 

Dessert

Service was plentiful, attentive and well mannered. A nice touch was when three waiters placed all our main dishes together on the table and lifted the lids all at once. 


One grumble from one of the diners was of the peas that accompanied her main dish of wagyu beef. Peas were clearly on the menu so I think her dislike of the vegetable  is attributed to her school dinner days. So we can debate further if anyone wants; should peas be on fine dining menus?

Wagyu Beef Flank, Peas & Carrots

Caprice is not cheap but you do get what you pay for in terms of food, presentation, service and setting. Overall an excellent venue!

The condiment set

Earl Grey Tea

Restaurant Interior

Ratings:
Food - 5/5
Presentation - 5/5
Service - 5/5
Setting - 5/5
Overall - 20/20

I ate: Challans Duck Leg and Foie Gras Terrine, Green Tomato Chutney; Roasted Guinea Fowl, Alaskan King Crab, Young Spinach Leaves and Sauternes Sauce; Desserts from their Pastry Chef's selection. 

I drank: San Pellegrino sparkling water, French white wine, Darjeeling tea.

Bill for one: 500HKD plus 10% service charge. (1GBP = approximately 12HKD)

I wore: smart casual grey shirt and blue pants