A Taste of Hong Kong Part 2

Characterized echina dim sum HKD 30

On our first day in Hong Kong, we decided that we were going to have some dim sum for brunch. After all, it would be a cardinal sin to go to Hong Kong and not have some dim sum! The concierge recommended us to cross over to the Hong Kong Cultural Center to have dim sum at Serenade. Once we were inside, we discovered such opulent decor that bespoke of Hong Kong style. The restaurant is overlooking the Star Ferry terminal, over the Victoria Harbor, still on the Tsim Sha Tsui side.

Sorry about redness here, I forgot to change the white balance till later...

Unfortunately we didn't get seated near the windows, but soon after we saw the menu we got uber excited nonetheless. Why? Because Serenade offers characterized dim sums that are shaped in cute little animals! The animals are: goose (baked pastry stuffed with mushrooms & goose meat), goldfish (shrimp & bamboo pith dumplings), garoupa crystal dumplings, jumpie bunny marshmellow, echidna (deep fried creamy yolk buns) and cuttlefish (baked pastry with mashed red beans). They had "Dim Sum in the cage" for HKD 188 (approx. AUD 24 with 1AUD:7.8HKD) which includes cuttlefish, goose, echidna, goldfish, steamed abalone and pork dumplings and steamed shrimp dumplings (all 3 pieces each). No, we did not order this as we wouldn't be able to finish and we wanted to pick and choose. However, if M from Love my foods and sugar and O from ieatsweet were my travel buddies at the time, I would not have a say this decision-making process and we would have dim sum in the cage on the table pronto. If there's enough interest, I will scan the menu once I'm back in Sydney, so let me know if you want to see the menu.

Staging #1: Echidnas in the garden

Staging #2: fish pond and the creative director herself

So what did Cg and I ordered? We got the echidna (on my insistence as they look way too cute!), goldfish, garoupa, BBQ pork buns, and conpoy (dried scallop) with chives dumplings. The echidna was the first to arrive and we almost squealed with delight. To have the scenes replayed in my mind right now we must have looked like lunatics as we busted our cameras and shot these echidnas paparazzi style. Cg being her creative self got the idea to rearrange them so that they are kissing each other, then making an echidna garden on a separate plate. Yeshhh, we did the same with the goldfish and the garoupa. No, not so much with the other two non characterized dim sums.

Garoupa crystal dumplings HKD 35

Goldfish HKD 35

Conpoy and chive dumplings HKD 18

Now, taste wise, I know you are curious. I have to say that for the characterized dim sums, as expected they looked better than the taste, especially with the goldfish and the garoupa. I liked the echidna though, the buns were sweet and the egg yolk inside was quite nice. The BBQ pork buns were standard and so were the conpoy but since conpoy are not readily available in Sydney, I was a happy camper. We drank a lot of tea then, they kept on refilling our pot and Cg really loved the taste of the tea. I appreciate the service and the waitresses restraint in not laughing over us when we were staging the characterized dim sums. I think they are used to the patrons uber excitements by now.

View of the harbor from Tsim Sha Tsui promenade

View from the Peak

Lonely Boy, my friend who works in Hong Kong, recommended us to go to the Peak, the highest point in Hong Kong - a scenic point. As we were pleased with his earlier suggestions so far with Sevva and Wagyu, we decided why not take up this advice. So we took the MTR to Admiralty and head to the tram station. I love the old school-ness of the tram. Riding the tram to the Peak felt like riding the roller coaster slo-mo. The steepness gradient was between 4 and 27 degree. It was really cool and I felt like I was transformed back in time as the tram was very colonial-esque. Usually I'm always a bit skeptical about going to touristy places, but I had to commend Lonely Boy again on his choice, the view from the Peak was spectacular! We were lucky that the weather holds up that day as well. The sky was blue, the air crisp with early winter chills and breezy without being too cold. Vertigo people beware! I'm not afraid of height, but standing too close to the railings definitely gave me the chills.

After taking enough pictures Cg and I wandered back down to the mall and to the back where we found ourselves at New York Fries. I had to laugh at Cg when we ended up here as she originally said she wanted ice cream and the choices I laid out to her were hagen dazs, some gelato shop or movenpick. Long story short, we ordered one small "The Work" to share. The fries were awesome, it tasted like a combination of wedges and fries, tasty on the outside and soft on the inside. What impressed me the most was the condiment bar where you could get all sorts of toppings to add to your meal. I was happy to see cajun seasonings there and decided to get some despite all the toppings that were already in our fries. Cg is a convert of cajun seasoning now.

The condiment bar

The Works: fries with green onions, real bacons, sour cream, cheese sauce and chili

Around 4pm, we made our way back to our hotel as Cg was to meet her relatives and I could use some rest before meeting a friend for dinner that night. After much debate, I decided to left my camera for dinner as my shoulder were aching from carrying my dslr all day. Dinner was amazing and I was sorry I left my compact digicam at home. If you find yourself in Hong Kong, you might want to try this little tapas restaurant called Enoteca on Elgin street in SoHo area. The best way to find it is to find the mid level escalators and take it all the way up to Elgin road and turn right, walk 15 steps and the restaurant should be on your left. My recommendation would be the chicken pesto risotto balls and the beef sauteed with garlic and chili. The food was amazing, but service was a different story. If you are looking for a place to relax and talk for a while, the host won't be happy. She let us ordered dessert then after we had a bite, she came to tell us that we need to finish up as the next seating party has arrived. Well, lady... if that was the case perhaps you should have told us before we ordered dessert - no? Anyways, that was my rant.

From there, Cg joined K and I. Then, still on Elgin street, we hop in to a Greek restaurant and got a half jug of sangria while we waited for D to join us. Too bad K was leaving for her vacation the day after, but luckily D promised to take us out for the weekend to this private club called Prive. Didn't I tell you how I didn't know that Hong Kong could be THAT much fun?

Serenade Chinese Restaurant

Hong Kong Cultural Center (1st Floor)

Restaurant Block

Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, China

+852 2722 0932

New York Fries

Shop 1B, Ground Floor

The Peak Galleria, Hong Kong, China

+852 2849 7968

Enoteca

47 Elgin street

Hong Kong, China

+852 2525 9944

Everything in the menu dim sum: Cherry Garden

The entrance

The visit to Cherry Garden for dim sum buffett is definitely a credit to Camemberu blog and a proof that food blogging does a great job for marketing restaurants and restaurants should allow people to take pictures. One of the dim sum that I wanted to try after checking out Cherry Garden posting on Camemberu was the netted rice crispy turnover stuffed with prawn and mango, truffled essence crystal dumplings stuffed with assorted mushroom and the steamed shark's fin dumpling with dried scallop and shrimp. Oh, and the Fried Potato stuffed with pumpkin, jicama and vegetarian ham.

The table's center piece that later on had to be removed to make space for our dumplings...

After convincing my new friend H to come with me (a persuasion that did not take much persuading), I made a booking. She got there first on Saturday and texted me that the place was fancy, meanwhile, I was in a casual wear with flip flop. Oh well, luckily these people showed a first class service by treating everyone with good service regardless if they were wearing flip flop like I was. After a few minutes debating whether we should go for ala carte or buffet, we all decided that we brought enough appetite (H brought an extra stomach, J, in a form of another friend) to order everything on the menu.

Since the two stomachs present with me that day have never had dim sum before, I was a little worried that they might not be game for some of the things that I wanted to try. H's only request was no jelly fish and happy to report that J was game for anything. So we started ordering the first round of dim sum gallore. Our first dish that came was the scallop and spinach crystal dumpling. After explaining the rule that no food shall be consumed before pictures are taken from all angles and taking pictures of this first dish, the dumplings were gone in less than 30 seconds, followed with satisfied "hm....." from around the table.

Honey Glazed Pork "Cha Siew"

The honey glazed pork cha siew looked very pretty in plum coloring. Although I was skeptical at first when I first bit into it, I was converted. The meat was crisp and tender at the same time, succulent and juicy, savory and sweet all at the same time. How could it be possible? It is possible when done the right way. I haven't had a good cha siew in a while and this was simply awesome.

Pan fried gyoza with spicy eggplant, minced chicken, tofu and mushrooms

The pan fried gyoza was tweaked to include eggplant, tofu and mushrooms, all of which gave it an extra oomph due to the extra chewiness of eggplant and the earthy flavor of the mushrooms.

Scallop and spinach crystal dumpling

The scallop and spinach crystal dumplings were so delicate and deliberate in its presentation that I almost felt like I couldn't eat it as I would destroy the art. I was amazed at how thin and clear the skins were that they allowed you to see the scallops and the spinach inside. And the taste was great, the scallop gave it a sweet taste that was softer than shrimps.

Imperial Hot and Sour Soup

I hadn't had hot and sour soup in a long while and this one was like WHOA! I didn't have to add vinegar and the spice wasn't too overpowering. It also had just the right amount of tofu and minced mushrooms, not too much but not too little. I didn't have to swish around to fish them.

Cherry Wood Charcoal Roasted Duck

The Cherry wood charcoal roasted duck... was worth every fancy name it gotten. You could definitely taste the smokeyness of the cherry wood and dipping it into the plum sauce was a match made in heaven. The earthy taste of the meat was lightened by the plum sauce, it reminded me of the contrast between roast turkey and cranberry sauce at American Thanksgiving dinner. Though I would say that duck meat is much richer and earthier than turkey.

Plum sauce for the roast duck

As the food came to our table, I can't help but being amazed at the presentation of each dish and their quality. The dumplings' skins were translucent and you can see what was stuffed inside, heightening the anticipation of its taste before it even landed in your mouth. The shape of each dumplings were almost identical and deliberate as if it was not just dumpling to be feast upon by mouths but also a feast for the eyes.

Minced chicken dumpling in garlic soy sauce

These dumplings, small as they were, were tenth fold tastier than their size. The crisp wasabi prawns were a variation of a more traditional prawns mayonnaise with a Japanese twist of wasabi, the roes and the mango. The prawns were chunky and crunchy. The wasabi was mild so that you don't have to worry that it would burn your nose.

Crisp wasabi aioli prawns topped with fresh mango

Truffled essence crystal dumplings stuffed with assorted fresh mushrooms

Yes, the truffled essence crystal dumplings that I was dying to try. I love how the dumplings were delicately made in a clear skin which enabled us to glimpse the inside of the dumplings in anticipation on how it will taste like in our mouth. There were indeed assorted mushrooms and it was good, but perhaps because I had built up the taste so much in my imagination the reality rather fell short. It was good, but I expected something more.

More food kept on coming. And when it slowed down, we knew it was time to order the second round quick so that our feast didn't stagger as there is nothing worse than a time lag where you have to wait for your food which would definitely kill your appetite for the coming food. And we kept on being wow-ed by each dish starting from their presentation.

Roasted ribs with pumpkin in spicy garlic sauce

Pai gut. Roasted ribs, yum!!! A huge fan of pumpkin I was delighted to find that they mixed the pai gut here with pumpkin. I can't really taste the pumpkin in the ribs, but the ribs' meat were soft, tender and succulent. The pumpkin was sweet and savory.

Deep fried eggplant with pumpkin

Bite cross section of the scallop and pumpkin fry

Eggplant is definitely another favorite vegetable of mine and this one was scalloped and fried with pumpkin. Crispy on the outside, mushy and sweet on the inside? The verdict is: yummy!

Crispy rice turnover stuffed with shrimp, apple and mango with wasabi mayonnaise

Although the Crispy rice turnover stuffed with shrimp, apple and mango with wasabi mayonnaise was one of the first batch order, it didn't come till the very end. I was worried that I would be too full. Crispy and crunchy skin, with innards that was packed with shrimp, apple and mango, they were an explosion of savory and sweetness in my mouth. Topped that with wasabi mayo, simply heavenly. Just don't think about the calories.

This dumpling reminds of of a bunny for some reason,

probably the pink bunny ears that caused it

The bunny dumpling turned out to be another one of spinach dumpling, it was good and very cute to look at.

The food kept on coming and we kept on munching away till one of the waiter came and informed us that they were taking the last order including dessert. Torn between desire to try more with a decreasing stomach space as well as the need to have dessert, we opted for dessert. After trying to decide was we wanted to order, we came up with a brilliant idea of ordering "everything on the dessert menu", swallow the pride and reveal the piglets in all of us to the waitresses.

Waitress: So, have you decided what would you like to order for dessert?

Us: Yes, could we have 'everything' on the dessert menu please... *innocently*

Waitress: .............. Uh, so three mango cream, three avocado cream....

Us: No! no, no, we just want one of each from the dessert menu... *grimace*

Waitress: Right, so one of each of everything from the dessert menu.

Us: Yes, thank you.... *duck heads*

"Everything" on the dessert menu: (Clockwise from bottom left corner) Warm soya been milk with tremella mushroom and glutinous rice dumplings, Chilled sour plum jelly with sliced guava, Pan fried Chinese pancake stuffed with red bean paste, Cream of avocado with walnut ice cream, Chilled cream of mango with pomelo, sago pearls and lime sorbet.

Chilled cream of mango with pomelo, sago pearls and lime sorbet

They gave us just enough time to settle our stomach before bringing the dessert in one big trays with a bang. Three of the desserts came with smoke spewing from its container giving it its wow effect. All eyes were turned and fixated to these desserts that were coming towards us. As soon as all 5 desserts, that is everything on the dessert menu, touched down on our table cameras started clicking eager to finish taking picture and revelling on the dessert.

The Avocado cream was much better than I expected, it reminded me of avocado juice that I used to have back home but much creamier with vanilla ice cream and walnut. The avocado scent sent pleasure signals up through your nostrils to your brain racing the signals sent from your taste buds.

Chilled sour plum jelly with sliced guava:

The chilled sour plum jelly was interesting but it was too sour for me.

Pan fried Chinese pancake stuffed with red bean paste

If you are feeling like some good dim sum in a place with good service and feeling like splurging and indulging yourself a little then this is the place for you. Just remember to bring an empty stomach and a huge appetite. Do make a booking, they have 2 seating times: 11 ~ 12.30 and 13.30 ~ 15.00. Buffet is SGD 45++, and you can order "everything" in the menu, like we did...

Cherry Garden
5 Raffles Avenue
5F Mandarian Oriental
+65 6885 3538

Dim Sum: High Tea @Min Jiang ~ Goodwood Park Hotel

What is better than to spend one weekend morning or noon or afternoon with family and friends for good old dim sum? Dim sum allows you to relax while you eat little scrumptious bite size delights while sipping good old authentic Chinese tea, unsweetened of course, with your family and/or friends. You can eat as many or as little as you want, and you can linger, provided that the waiters or waitresses did not boot you out.


Some of the selections, this one in particular seems like tofu with crab meat balls

At that particular Saturday, I was helping out a friend moving house and when we went to get lunch, we didn't mean to have dim sum, we actually were going for Indonesian. However, on the way there, we passed Goodwood Park hotel and I was telling her about this dim sum place and she was intrigued. Then we found ourselves putting our names down as they were still preparing for high tea. Dim sum high tea at Min Jiang starts at 3pm to 5pm on saturdays, sundays and public holidays. Buffet on the dim sum including tea is SGD23.80++ per person. "++" means that you will be charged 10% service and 7% GST at the end of your total bill. It came down to around 28 bucks per person. I thought it was reasonable enough, considering you can eat anything you can fit to your stomach and the quality of the food.


Our table, after ransacking the buffet table, a tableful of yumms...

I didn't have breakfast that morning, so I was famished. So were my partners in crime. At 3pm on the dot, we were seated and ready to get our food. Once the waitress told us it was ready, we nearly run to the buffet table. We went completely bezerk. We picked up a tray and started to load anything and everything within sight, we came back with two full trays and a few plates on hand. I was almost embarrassed at the amount of food we have laid out at our table.


Garlic Pork (bottom) and Duck (top) all smothered with herbs, ingredients and sauces!

Since it would take ages if I were to do a complete review, I shall highlight to you a few dishes. I have to say that the garlic pork is a Must-Have with capitals M and H. It is oh-so-good. The thin slices of pork were submerged in vinegary soy sauce with lots and lots of garlic and other spices that really brought out the meat's natural flavor. All the flavors simply exploded in your mouth. We had a second helping of this. Just can't help it.


Fried stuff: deep fried dumplings, chicken dumplings (the one that is tied with straw like edible thing), fried lotus buns (the golden brown round things on the left) and siew mai, which isn't fried but steamed...


Dipping, lathering, preparing the deep fried dumplings before we eat them

Deep fried prawn dumplings. Such a simple dish, such a delight when cooked in perfection. The dumpling skin were golden crisp and the inside of it were simply ladden with prawn. Dipped it ever so lightly on a mayonnaise dip, Y.U.M.


Chicken feet (top left corner), cong fan - prawn wrapped in dumpling skin like that is made from rice flour (the white goodies with soy sauce), steamed spring rolls, broccoli and of course, the amazing chili sauce.

I also just have to rave about their chili sauce. Simply amazing! The best way for me to describe it would be Thai sweet chili sauce with fermented beans. Please do not be put out by fermented beans, just try this delicious chili, you'd be a convert. Just don't hold me responsible if you get addicted.

Although dim sum's veggies are usually kai-lan (chinese broccoli), at Min Jiang, I found the real broccoli with oyster sauce. I would prefer if they have kai-lan, but broccoli is a type of veggie so its better than not having any veggie at all.


Pai gut, so tender and delicious!

The pai gut (pork ribs) were so tender and sweet. I haven't had such a good pai gut in a long time. It is such a simple dish, but perhaps it is the simplicity of it that makes it really hard to reach perfection. It's real easy to screw up if the chef is not careful. The meat can get too hard, or chewy, but here... it was little bite size of heaven.


Prawn chong fan, I just love the combination of prawn, rice flour and the sweetened soy sauce... I wish they have the one with fried dough inside too...

Siu Mai, Ha Kaw, cong fan, all the other dishes were good. They were small yet succulent, steamed into perfection. The only thing that I didn't like that day was the duck, it was too bitter. However, other than that I have no complain. I was in dim sum heaven. I thought the quality of the food justified the price. I'd go back for sure.


Oh, did I mention that these awards assured me before we sat down?

Sorry if I'm making you hungry, even as I am posting this I am getting hungry of these dim sum...

Min Jiang
Goodwood Park Hotel
22 Scotts Rd
Singapore 228221
+65 6737 7411