Lamma Hilton Shum Kee Seafood Restaurant     森記酒家  

We came over to Lamma for the first time for "Lamma fun day," which wasn't very fun at all. So we hiked from Yung Shue Wan to Sok Kwu Wan, then hiked in a circle around the big mountain-hill thing in the south. I needed some fried seafood like nobody's business.

This place had lots of sets for 2 people, and the manager told us we could swap out any method of cooking on the menu for any other method (like salt and pepper fried squid for steamed squid). Seemed like good prices and lots of options.

Sweet and sour calamari. This was fried calamari with a sweet and sour dipping sauce. The main guy in the restaurant (manager? owner?) told us the calamari was great, and he was not lying. My wife swears this was the best squid she's ever had: perfectly cooked, not rubbery at all, succulent, with a crispy outside. A+

Salt and pepper fried shrimp. Normally I prefer my shrimp with the shells off, but these shrimp shells were somehow inoffensive, and maybe even added a positive crunch. The salt and pepper seasoning was great, and they came with these really tasty, spicy chili slices... like hot bell peppers-- sweet but fiery. A

Clams in black bean and chili sauce. I was really digging the black bean sauce. It wasn't very spicy, but it lots of flavor. The clams themselves were tender, and not tough or chewy like you often find. A

Scallops with mashed garlic. These were two scallops in their shells with bean-thread noodles and tons of garlic paste. I thought the noodles and garlic were fine; the scallops were overdone for my taste. I've had way better. B-

Fried rice. Light and fluffy and eggy. A nice "filler" accompaniment. B+

In general, I thought this place was great. Maybe all the other places around it are even better, I don't know, but a lot of them had closed up or had no patrons when we were leaving, so that tells you something. Yeah, there are lots of Westerners here, but that's sort of the demographics of Lamma.

Total for 2 with 3 (640ml) beers: $400 exactly. Well worth it if you ask me, them was some good eats. A

So yes, I'm caucasian, but I pride myself in finding authentic cuisine. Now, I'm still learning what that is in Hong Kong as I've only recently moved here, but when I sat down at this place and saw the only other customers were also expats like myself, I got a bit worried. If you're wondering, "so, why did you sit?" it is because I was with two friends who saw the restaurant reviewed on CNN-Go and wanted to give it a try.

We ordered a set meal for 4 even though there was only three of us - lots of food, which was as follows:

1, Steamed shrimp: very fresh and succulent - the dipping sauce was light, which was nice.
2. Black bean steamed scallops - black bean was good, but there were so few (three), I was a bit disappointed that I only got to eat one.
3. Steamed veggies - I forget what they're called... the small white ones with the green leaves.
4. Steamed fish - my friends chose the fish (sort of), so I don't know what type it was - but it was good! A light soy-sauce flavor sauce with onions to complement. Probably the most well-rounded dish on the table.
5. Fried Mantis Shrimp - wow... this was great. A bit too salty, but when you look past that I wished the shell was edible. Salt+pepper fried shrimp. The inside was meeting but then gooey... I don't know what the goo was - my guess was eggs/ovaries, but it went throughout the entire length of the shrimp. But that doesn't matter - it was good!
6. Yeun Chau Fried Rice - nothing special, just something to fill the stomach... not like we needed anymore food. But being one who can't leave food on the table I ended up eating a huge portion of the rice because there was a lot.

The bill came to 503, so wasn't too bad considering all the food we had. Nothing really stood out though besides the mantis shrimp (which, btw, isn't technically a shrimp or a mantis) and the fish. But even then, I feel like I can find equivalent dishes elsewhere. I sort of want to try Tai Yuen and Wai Kee next time I'm there to compare.

The service was great. The restaurant wasn't busy at all so there was always someone there giving us new plates and refilling our beverages. There's one guy that speaks pretty good English there, but my limited Cantonese also got us through most "conversations."