For the first evening (Friday), we went to Man Wah with Patrick and Debra. Patrick, as usual, took care of ensuring the wine arrived and prepared in pristine conditions and ordering the food in advance so that we could focus on catching up. Man Wah, as I commented on a previous blog, has so far not been awarded any Michelin stars by the infamous food guide. So we wanted to try it again to understand why Michelin had bizarrely missed out on this established institution in HK given our recent rather indifferent experience at Tim's Kitchen, a 2 Michelin-starred restaurant. Patrick had ordered some jelly fish and cucumbers in garlic, to work up his appetite as he waited for us to show up one after another, from 15 minutes later, to almost an hour later! (Sorry, Patrick!)
I unfortunately did not make an accurate record of the dishes we had that evening, nor did I take pictures. However, they were all impressive and from memory: 1) the roast pork belly for which all of the fat, crackling and succulent meat just melted in your mouth and merged into one really tasty bite,
2) chicken cooked in Chinese rice wine had a very fine touch to it, floral and delicate, 3) lobster in a salty egg white custard was Debra's favourite with really smooth salty duck egg white custard and perfectly cooked lobser, 4) minced pigeon in lettuce wraps was equally delicious (in many ways, better than using duck, as duck could be a little sinewy), 5) sole cooked in black bean sauce, complete with crispy deep fried bones - definitely my favourite and still yummy, even this was the second time we tried this dish (testament to consistency of good quality!), and 6) the stirred fried Chinese spinach was a perfect end to the evening. We also had a few desserts to share, including a classic mango pudding and poached aubergine with ginger ice-cream. The petits fours were delicious, especially the miniature walnut cream cookie, which I asked for extra helping to be shared between Patrick and me!
As for Patrick's choice of wine for the evening, we started with two Meursaults both by Comtes Lafon - 2006 Meursault Clos de La Barre and 2002 Meursault Charmes. I thought the Clos de La Barre showed really well, with a good dose of nervy acidity, balanced by a lightly creamy texture and complexity layered with minerality, smoky, gilled macadamia, stone fruits. Beautiful finish. Drinking well now (with plenty of aeration) and will drink well over the next 10+ years. 18/20
The Meursault Charmes was made in a much richer style, showing minerality, honey, smoke, cashew nuts, with a lot of depth and concentration of flavours, but somehow we felt that it lacked some acidity, and resulted in a slightly flabby feeling. Drinking well now, perhaps one to drink within the next 5 - 6 years. 16.5/20
For the reds, we had one wine that absolutely delighted us (except Debra) and another that was a total disappointment. The 1984 Haut Brion was a beauty, elegantly mature, showing some very classic Graves character, violet, blueberries, coffee, tobacco, and some pebble stone mineral notes. Perhaps a little fragile in structure, but this has not affected the balance, complexity and length. Good length with a lovely sweet touch to it. A classic. 18/20
The 1990 Musigny by Comte Georges de Vogue was a bit of a disaster. Some stewed character came through. We kind of left it and towards the end, the nose had completely disappeared.
In terms of the restaurant Man Wah, we hope the Michelin guide will review it differently next year, if the quality we experienced remains sustained!
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| Prawns with golden crab roe and crispy prawn and pork puffs |
Our second Chinese meal was last night when we had dinner with Neil Perry (of Rockpool) and Sam, his wife, both absolute foodies, and made us look like total amateurs! We went to T'ang Court at the Langham Hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui. T'ang Court is a 2-Michelin starred restaurant. We started with a promising dish of prawns with golden roe and pan-fried pork and prawn puffs.
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| Lobster stir-fried with 3 onions |
Then came the signature dish of lobster stir-fried with three onions (spring onion, red onion and white onion), which was probably the most delicious dish of the evening.
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| Peking duck with wrapper |
This was followed by the first course of the Peking duck, for which we were served the crispy skin with a bouquet of chives and red chilli topped with hoisin sauce wrapped in a home-made (fluffy rather than the normal paper-thin version) pancake. This dish I felt was pretty standard - not as impressive as I had expected - the skin was not very crispy, nor was it sliced to perfection (a little less fat would have been ideal). As we had the whole duck, they gave us 4 pancakes each. Frankly, 2 would have been plenty! (Something to remember for next time!)
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| Beef with chilli and coriander |
The next course was a bit of a disaster: totally overcooked beef with chilli and coriander. It was so terrible that each of us finished the first slice out of politeness and left the second piece untouched. (We only admitted to each other after the plates were taken away!) I wonder why the Assistant General Manager had recommended this as a restaurant signature dish.
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| Kale, mushroom in rich chicken broth |
Next was Chinese kale cooked in rich chicken broth with mushrooms. I personally did not find the mushrooms (with texture like "vegetarian abalone") added much to the taste nor texture of the dish - I found them too supple, without much resistance (but I was a minority on this point because both Richard and Neil liked them). The kale was perfectly cooked in the broth, retaining just a sufficient of crunchy freshness. An alternative could be traditional dried Chinese mushrooms which would have more intense flavour and would readily soak up the essence of the chicken broth while retaining a more chewy texture - a sprinkling of dried scallops or yunnan ham could do well to spice it up!
The second course of the duck dish was minced duck served in lettuce wraps. The meat was a little tough and when compared to the minced pigeon dish at Man Wah, the latter scored far higher marks in my view.
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| Baked seafood rice in creamy sauce served in crab shell |
We then had petits fours, which consisted of a deep-fried sesame coated glutinous flour ball filled with lotus seed paste and a miniature classic winter melon paste cake (what we locals call "dear wife's cake"). (I added the "dear" to for an endearing touch!) They were actually quite tasty! By the time, the fruit platter came, we just couldn't eat any more but I think Richard and Neil politely tucked into the mango to show our appreciation.
Neil and Sam are such foodies (quite rightly so given they are in the league of fine dining and first class restauranteurs, with their renowned Rockpool and Spice Temple restaurants in Sydney and Melbourne) that I am afraid the dishes didn't impress them sufficiently and left all of us wondering about the Michelin stars. Well, let's hope they have a better experience this evening at Lung King Heen in the Four Seasons!
As for the wines of the evening, we started with a 2008 Robert Weil Riesling Trocken but unfortunately, as we took a while to get the menu sorted, we got ahead with the drinking and very little of it was left to pair with the lobster dish. It was just a great dry Riesling wine, with poise, elegance and plenty of complexity, the initial aromatic character of peach, lychee, mango, revealing the underlying petrol and honey character. Beautiful finish. Lovely as apperitif but even better with the prawns and lobster dishes. 17.5/20
The two reds were so different and we were able to appreciate them with such different flavours in the dishes. I paired the 2003 Meo-Camuzet Clos de Vougeot with the Peking duck. For the flavours of the duck, this was a perfect wine. Bright ruby core. A luscious style, with juicy red fruit and sweet spices. It offered richness and charm. I loved the red cherry, plum, spicy, floral notes of this wine. Lengthy finish. Drinking so beautifully now that I would recommned to drink this over the next 5 - 6 years for optimum enjoyment. 18/20
The 1993 Leroy Richebourg was a mature burgundy with verve and poise. The nose was a beguiling blend of strawberry, raspberry, rose petals, cinnamon, caramel, toffee and leather. A harmonious fine example of a powerful, classic yet elegant burgundy, showing a well-matured wine with all its elements at peak and at one with each other. Beautiful sweet finish. Drinking at peak now, and will continue to do so for the next 6 - 8 years at optimum storage condition! 19.5/20
As for the restaurant, I don't think I will be rushing back, except for the very attentive and thoughtful service we received. Only two dishes in the entire evening, namely the lobster dish and the kale in broth, were in my view worthy of a Michelin mention, let alone 2 stars! Restaurant reviews are rather subjective - we should continue to do our homework and seek out interesting places, rather than blindly following the recommendations of the "authoritative guides"!
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