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2010-05-22
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I overheard some business associates saying that DYNASTY in Wanchai (but not TST branch) is patroned by a lot of famous or rich businessmen and the likes, some of them even booking permanent dining rooms so that they could dine here regularly or simultaneously having a permanent venue readily available for dining with their clients. Its kind of like Fook Lam Moon in a way. My first visit here was for lunch around 10 months ago, gee time really flies doesn't it since its taken me ages to write
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BBQ CHAR SIU PORK 密汁叉燒 -
Dynasty is famous for Char Siu Pork, or so I've heard. So much so, that many consider it to be No.1 in the whole of HK, perhaps even Southern Cantonese region. Although it might sound like a contrarian view, I can tell you it really isn't that good. This Char Siu was actually disappointing on both occasions I had it - the marination was not very sophisticated or multi-layered for one, it was mainly fermented beans savouriness. In fact, slightly worst than the one I make myself at home or what I take to a beach BBQ. I could instantly think of 4-5 places better in this regard.. The meat texture was also overly sodarised soft, yet somehow stringy - if it'd carried a sophisticated marination then I might forgive its lack of fresh pork taste, but it lacked both. For $140 for a small plate of No. 1 Char Siu, this really can be struck off the elitist's list, even taking into consideration inconsistencies. 3.5/5
ROASTED PORK 燒腩肉 -
This on the other hand was good. I think I've mentioned it before in my 容記小炒王 review. I've previously believed the 5 layers Roast Pork in Lei Garden's to be alright good as they're famous for these, but in reality I found it is their lesser known BBQ Char Siu which is the better option whereas their more famous Roast Pork is always served slightly cold and missing meaty flavour or aroma. Dynasty Wan Chai is the opposite of Lei Garden as their roast pork is very flavoursome, evenly roasted, aromatic to the nose and better than their more famous Char Siu. FYI: My personal belief is that Char Siu is much harder to make perfect than a Roast Pork. This is going by personal experience making it, as well as eating them outside. I have very high expectations with these. 4.5/5
TRADITIONAL SALT BAKED CHICKEN 古法鹽局雞 -
There are apparently 3-4 methods of making Salt Baked Chicken from what some chefs told me. The so called traditional method is like the one here, where the chicken is firstly fried with salt in the wok, before being baked with more salt surrounding it until the skin is crispy. Another method involves it being baked on a bed of salt under low heat, where it doesn't turn crispy. Sometimes chefs encase the whole chicken with salt for baking, making another non-crisp version. Another lazier version exists, where its a 'wet' version which is just like poached salted chicken. Anyway, all versions are served with 沙薑汁. The version here was very good indeed. It has good chicken taste, with a bit of that 淮鹽 flavour having infiltrated into the meat as well. The meat was kinda of moist, could have been better but at least the meat wasn't tough nor mushy! 4.5/5
POMELO SKIN 鮑汁柚皮唐生菜 -
It was the right season to eat this - although my personal opinion is that nowadays, this could be a year round dish anyway just like so many vegetables are available throughout the year due to advances in technology, whether it be grown in soil, green house or hydroponic. Scientists can make Sakura blossom in winter if they needed to. Anyway, this was ok-good but slightly over-poached soft. The abalone sauce was so Cantonese, slightly boring even? This is still an above average dish, at least it was better than 得龍's version. However, the one served at Manor was much better, as that had a really great deeply flavour sauce, plus, I actually like Pomelo Skin to carry just a hint of its original Pomelo flavour with 'some' bitterness and veiny texture - it seems like most other eaters judge it using a different system as they expect it to be washed and soaked until its tender and only retains little less than vague sweetness. So anyway I guess everyone has different preferences as I prefer things to retain a naturalism in it, otherwise why bother ordering pomelo skin? 4/5
CLAYPOT VEGETABLES IN RED TOFU CURD SAUCE 南乳粗齌煲 -
I'll tell u one thing - I've never believed that my mamma or my grandma or my aunties boasting of their traditional methods, always cooks such and such versions of a dish to be the best in the world. That's a very Italian or Chinese mentality and admittedly I am the cold blooded type. 真的假不了麻... well my family loathes me with this 幫理不幫親 attitude! Having said that, there has been rare occurrences where certain dishes churned out by the family's kitchen somehow beats anything else out there, including my own version. Jealous! My family makes a killer of a 南乳粗齌煲 every Chinese New Years, fullstop. 一碗麵 owner's auntie also makes a good one, but nowhere as good as my family's version. Dynasty's version falls in somewhere in between. Its good, but not good enough. It lacks fresh veggies taste, it lacks red tofu curd taste, even the gingko's were a bit bitter, it needed more thoughtfulness to make it multi-dimensional! 3.5/5
SIGNATURE PRAWN ROES AND ABALONE SAUCE THICK NOOLES 鮑汁蝦籽撈粗面 -
This is the chef's signature noodles dish, which, I had to had. I was surprised it lacks any prawn roes taste, but there was certainly abalone sauce within. The thick noodles were well.... thick manufactured noodles, in fact they were slightly overcooked even compared to the likes of say 安利 or 麵創仿 or just about any other noodles place. This isn't a dish that could go terribly wrong, so the score isn't low - but there are plenty of better noodles out there. 3.8/5
CONGEE & RICE
Rice cooked pretty well. Congee was a bit of the thinner restaurant type, almost like a Chiu Chow version but at least no msg.
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ANYWAY, even though I came here before this place had received its 2010 1st Michelin Star, this dinner I guess wasn't overly impressive somewhat. It was decent yes, the Salt Baked Chicken and the Roast Pork especially were enjoyable and they would make me come back just for these. The other dishes were done pretty decently to be fair, even the Char Siu pork I didn't particularly enjoyed was ok-good, just not impressive.
Somehow, this feels exactly like Deja....
Its like, going out for Cantonese dinners in HK is more of the same anywhere you go these days, where one can pick flaws in the dishes left and right and know where it could be vastly improved. Its just that the kitchen is either too egotisical or complacent to listen to criticism, or they really don't care ? Even at places in Melbourne such as Silks, Flower Drum, Tea House before change of ownership, East Imperial, Crystal Jade, sometimes Lucky Chan's when you're lucky, plus a myriad of places like Golden Dragon Palace, Choi's and a few more I can't recall the names right this moment, can make better consistent Cantonese dishes. Even the crappy and what my family calls The Cheap Canteen 'Treasure' restaurant on Springvale Road there makes a better 八寶鴨 than HK's 蓮香樓. And that good old Bamboo House has made such killers of a 鍋貼, 樟茶鴨, 義崧桃仁, 賽螃蟹 for the past 20 years, they'll still beat anything in HK even if its becoming more run-down every year. Even the lowly regarded, 四大美人's Pepper Chilli (慶相逢) there has made me better, more smoky 樟茶鴨 than ex-2009 HK Michelin 1 Star 紫玉蘭 believe it or not, despite Pepper Chilli over there being regarded as a trashy gweilo restaurant. Sometimes it makes me wonder - whether the HK Food Scene is growing more and more 脫節 with International Food Standards.
Lunch at Dynasty however, is a different experience in comparison, as their dim sim chefs are not the main kitchen chefs. My Next review.
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