. The Tasting Palette .

I’ve heard so much about Yung Kee. It must be Hong Kong’s most famous restaurant. The roast goose here is supposedly one of the best in the island. The window of the shop along Wellington Street at Central bear testament to this. Hung in a row, the roast goose really looked delicious and crying out to any passer-bys to be eaten.

We made reservations as we are afraid that we won’t be able to get seats. For some reason, I did not have much appetite. It must be because it was a horrible start in Hong Kong- the flight was tiring, the plane food was expectedly horrid, the wait at the immigration was long, our itinerary got screwed up, need I say more?

Century egg with pickled ginger

We were first served with the traditional styled halved century eggs with pickled ginger. I just love this simple but appetite-whetting dish. Then we had the award-winning (Gold award in the Best of the Best Culinary Awards in 2001) deep-fried prawns with crab roe. Taste-wise, it was pretty good. The crab roe lent the dish an interesting bite. A pity that the batter wasn’t crispy enough; it kind of clung onto the prawn in a slightly soggy manner.

Deep fried golden prawns with crab roe

Roasted goose, Yung Kee

How could we not order the roasted goose when we are at Yung Kee. It was good! The meat was tender and moist and it came with crispy skin that I couldn’t resist eating. I greatly wished that I had more appetite to order the deluxe set actually but I just wasn’t feeling hungry. Another reason why I did not order that set was because the first dish was roasted goose with preserved trotter! I don’t fancy trotters so it was a deterring factor.

The other dishes were not worth mentioning.

In any case, on the whole, my experience at Yung Kee was pretty disappointing. Perhaps I was let down as I had heard so much about this place and expected something more or perhaps we did not order the right dishes.

***

Yung Kee Restaurant
32-40 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2522 1624

***

Dinner at Lei Garden

We were shopping at the IFC mall and were thinking of where to head for a good dinner. My dad told me about the Lei Garden that was located here (Yes. It is the very same Lei Garden which they also set up 2 restaurants in Singapore). I always liked the food served at Lei Garden (Singapore, Chjimes) hence I decided that this will be a great choice. We arrived at the restaurant at 615pm which was early for dinner but we were told that the restaurant was fully booked already!

Filled with disappointment, I was about to leave when the waitress t old me that we could eat there if we could finish in an hour's time. And so we did.

We did not order much since we weren't too hungry after eating a huge lunch at Joel Robuchon (will blog later).

The stir-fried shrimps and baby scalops with a mix of celery and bell peppers together with the macademia nut was really good. Rich enough flavours, a myraid of textures and colours made a lovely, delectable dish.

Stir fry seafood and vegetable served on cabbage

The dish that took me by surprise, however, was the braised chicken in 3 types of sauces. I'm not exactly a huge fan of braised meat or anything. This one was done so well that I couldn't stop eating. Lovely, lovely, lovely!

In closure, our meal at Lei Garden, IFC mall, was truly good, we couldn't find fault with anything. The dishes that we ordered were really simple but we got more than we could asked for.

Braised chicken in 3 types of sauces

***

Lei Garden

Shop 3008-3011 IFC Mall 1

Harbour View Street, Central

Tel: +852 2295 0238

***

Dim Sum at Maxim's Palace, City Hall

I was really excited to eat dim sum in Hong Kong since dim sum originated there. Hong Kongers can spend mornings and afternoons just sipping on tea, feasting on those tiny morsels of food and reading their papers. I think if I tried doing that in Singapore, I would be asked to leave by the staff. In Hong Kong, dim sum and yum cha has reached a cult-like status; it is a weekly activity for the family as they rise up early on Sundays to eat and chat the day away.

After being let down by Lu Yu Tea House, a traditional dim sum place along Stanley road, I was hoping that Maxim’s Palace at City Hall will give me better memories. I was looking forward to good dim sum because I had heard about this restaurant from a friend and I had read favourable online reviews of the dim sum served here.

Maxim, as I came to realize has a chain of shops just like Crystal Jade in Singapore. They had their bakeries, their small informal cafés, and their more upscale restaurant. We arrived at Maxim’s Palace on our last day in Hong Kong at 9am. The restaurant was still empty but it started filling up fast by 10am.

While the dim sum here was way better than the ones at Lu Yu, I had to admit that we started off from a low ground. As I was eating, I could already think of many places with higher standard of dim sum in Singapore alone- my favourite being Hua Ting.

Like I have mentioned in my previous post, I tend to judge a dim sum place for its har kau. It is the simplest yet the hardest to get it perfect. The one at Maxim’s palace lacked the juiciness of the prawn, the skin was slightly on the thicker side too.

The most memorable dish from Maxim’s Palace is the actually the soya beancurd. I ordered the one with 黄糖 (sugar). The soya beancurd was really smooth and silky and the sugar added crunchiness to the otherwise normal dessert.

Memorable soya beancurd with 黄糖

The downside of eating at Maxim’s Palace is that it is indeed expensive! We spent about S$45 per person and we did not even order a lot! After the meal, I felt like I could have eaten much better stuff with the money spent.

***

Maxim's Palace(City Hall)

Low Block

City Hall, Central, Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2526 9931

***

Krispy Kreme, Terminal 1 (Arrival Hall)

First row from bottom: Glazed Cruller, Chocolate Cruller,

Middle row: Cinnamon Apple Filled, New York Cheesecake

Last row from bottom: Chocolate Iced Custard Filled, Caramel Kreme Crunch

I was tasked to bring back Krispy Kreme for my greedy sis and best friend. I took a turn at the airport and went down to the arrival hall located at the basement to buy back the donuts.

I'm not a fan of donuts. In fact, I don't like the fried dough dessert at all. However, my first encounter with the krispy kreme told me that this donut is going to be different.

My favourite flavour is the New York Cheesecake. I find the rest a tad too sweet. At least the New York cheesecake has cheese flavour (albeit mild) but better than the uber sweet maple fillings and sugar icing.

Even though I am not such a big fan of donuts, I do agree that they are pretty darn attractive! Look at the colors! My photo does no justice to them because of the yellowish lighting.

. My Tasting Palette .
. In celebration of food and dining experiences .
Contributors Po simin Macau Bites Hong Kong Bites- Sweets to remember Da Paolo- La Terrazza Apple and Rhubarb Crumble My sunshine after the rain: BBQ fun! My Italian Romance: Ristorante Da Valentino Ending our Sunday with Pregos Pâte à choux- Cream puffs, profiteroles and the like French bistro food: Brasserie Wolf The chronicle of souffle making Interests Indulging myself in food porn (online or food magazines) Exploring and discovering new restaurants Dining and chilling out with my loved ones Baking and cooking over the weekends Sharing my love for food with others Wishlist Desserts by Pierre Herme- Written by Dorie Greenspan Vanilla bean pods (one can never have enough) Valrhona Cocoa powder Valrhona chocolate Macarons from Laduree and Pierre Herme Madelines mold Pretty cake stands (I only have one and only one) YUZU from Japan! (They taste great in almost anything) A food tour to Italy and France Opportunity to study at Le Cordon Bleu	Friday, April 18, 2008 Hong Kong- The more traditional I’ve heard so much about Yung Kee. It must be Hong Kong’s most famous restaurant. The roast goose here is supposedly one of the best in the island. The window of the shop along Wellington Street at Central bear testament to this. Hung in a row, the roast goose really looked delicious and crying out to any passer-bys to be eaten. We made reservations as we are afraid that we won’t be able to get seats. For some reason, I did not have much appetite. It must be because it was a horrible start in Hong Kong- the flight was tiring, the plane food was expectedly horrid, the wait at the immigration was long, our itinerary got screwed up, need I say more? Century egg with pickled ginger We were first served with the traditional styled halved century eggs with pickled ginger. I just love this simple but appetite-whetting dish. Then we had the award-winning (Gold award in the Best of the Best Culinary Awards in 2001) deep-fried prawns with crab roe. Taste-wise, it was pretty good. The crab roe lent the dish an interesting bite. A pity that the batter wasn’t crispy enough; it kind of clung onto the prawn in a slightly soggy manner. Deep fried golden prawns with crab roe Roasted goose, Yung Kee How could we not order the roasted goose when we are at Yung Kee. It was good! The meat was tender and moist and it came with crispy skin that I couldn’t resist eating. I greatly wished that I had more appetite to order the deluxe set actually but I just wasn’t feeling hungry. Another reason why I did not order that set was because the first dish was roasted goose with preserved trotter! I don’t fancy trotters so it was a deterring factor. The other dishes were not worth mentioning. In any case, on the whole, my experience at Yung Kee was pretty disappointing. Perhaps I was let down as I had heard so much about this place and expected something more or perhaps we did not order the right dishes. ***** Yung Kee Restaurant 32-40 Wellington Street Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2522 1624 * Dinner at Lei Garden We were shopping at the IFC mall and were thinking of where to head for a good dinner. My dad told me about the Lei Garden that was located here (Yes. It is the very same Lei Garden which they also set up 2 restaurants in Singapore). I always liked the food served at Lei Garden (Singapore, Chjimes) hence I decided that this will be a great choice. We arrived at the restaurant at 615pm which was early for dinner but we were told that the restaurant was fully booked already! Filled with disappointment, I was about to leave when the waitress t old me that we could eat there if we could finish in an hour's time. And so we did. We did not order much since we weren't too hungry after eating a huge lunch at Joel Robuchon (will blog later). The stir-fried shrimps and baby scalops with a mix of celery and bell peppers together with the macademia nut was really good. Rich enough flavours, a myraid of textures and colours made a lovely, delectable dish. Stir fry seafood and vegetable served on cabbage The dish that took me by surprise, however, was the braised chicken in 3 types of sauces. I'm not exactly a huge fan of braised meat or anything. This one was done so well that I couldn't stop eating. Lovely, lovely, lovely! In closure, our meal at Lei Garden, IFC mall, was truly good, we couldn't find fault with anything. The dishes that we ordered were really simple but we got more than we could asked for. Braised chicken in 3 types of sauces ***** Lei Garden Shop 3008-3011 IFC Mall 1 Harbour View Street, Central Tel: +852 2295 0238 * Dim Sum at Maxim's Palace, City Hall I was really excited to eat dim sum in Hong Kong since dim sum originated there. Hong Kongers can spend mornings and afternoons just sipping on tea, feasting on those tiny morsels of food and reading their papers. I think if I tried doing that in Singapore, I would be asked to leave by the staff. In Hong Kong, dim sum and yum cha has reached a cult-like status; it is a weekly activity for the family as they rise up early on Sundays to eat and chat the day away. After being let down by Lu Yu Tea House, a traditional dim sum place along Stanley road, I was hoping that Maxim’s Palace at City Hall will give me better memories. I was looking forward to good dim sum because I had heard about this restaurant from a friend and I had read favourable online reviews of the dim sum served here. Maxim, as I came to realize has a chain of shops just like Crystal Jade in Singapore. They had their bakeries, their small informal cafés, and their more upscale restaurant. We arrived at Maxim’s Palace on our last day in Hong Kong at 9am. The restaurant was still empty but it started filling up fast by 10am. While the dim sum here was way better than the ones at Lu Yu, I had to admit that we started off from a low ground. As I was eating, I could already think of many places with higher standard of dim sum in Singapore alone- my favourite being Hua Ting. Like I have mentioned in my previous post, I tend to judge a dim sum place for its har kau. It is the simplest yet the hardest to get it perfect. The one at Maxim’s palace lacked the juiciness of the prawn, the skin was slightly on the thicker side too. The most memorable dish from Maxim’s Palace is the actually the soya beancurd. I ordered the one with 黄糖 (sugar). The soya beancurd was really smooth and silky and the sugar added crunchiness to the otherwise normal dessert. Memorable soya beancurd with 黄糖 The downside of eating at Maxim’s Palace is that it is indeed expensive! We spent about S$45 per person and we did not even order a lot! After the meal, I felt like I could have eaten much better stuff with the money spent. ***** Maxim's Palace(City Hall) Low Block City Hall, Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2526 9931 * Krispy Kreme, Terminal 1 (Arrival Hall) *First row from bottom: Glazed Cruller, Chocolate Cruller,* *Middle row: Cinnamon Apple Filled, New York Cheesecake* *Last row from bottom: Chocolate Iced Custard Filled, Caramel Kreme Crunch* I was tasked to bring back Krispy Kreme for my greedy sis and best friend. I took a turn at the airport and went down to the arrival hall located at the basement to buy back the donuts. I'm not a fan of donuts. In fact, I don't like the fried dough dessert at all. However, my first encounter with the krispy kreme told me that this donut is going to be different. My favourite flavour is the New York Cheesecake. I find the rest a tad too sweet. At least the New York cheesecake has cheese flavour (albeit mild) but better than the uber sweet maple fillings and sugar icing. Even though I am not such a big fan of donuts, I do agree that they are pretty darn attractive! Look at the colors! My photo does no justice to them because of the yellowish lighting. link \| posted by simin at 9:39 PM \| 0 Comments: Want to Post a Comment? back to main page
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