After having quite a filling lunch in the afternoon, I really wanted to have something lighter along the lines of Cantonese cuisine for dinner. Knowing that I had not been to Spring Moon for dinner, Mr. C suggested we go there that night.
Spring Moon sits on the 1st floor of the The Peninsula hotel and upon entering you feel as if you have stepped back in time into a Shanghainese styled room back in the olden days complete with traditional furnishings in a dark chocolate brown. What catches the eye is the tea station set up in the far end of the room where the back wall is decorated with numerous small and delicate-looking teapots. Just by this you can tell that Spring Moon places a great emphasis on tea and if in doubt of what to pick, they even have a tea specialist to advise you on your choices.
Since they are so knowledgeable on tea, of course we opted to have tea. I always prefer my tea to be lighter in taste so 'tie guan ying' was suggested to me which was ideal since it was the tea I always order whereas Mr. C wanted something more unique and asked the specialist to surprise him. I can not remember the name of his tea, but it had quite a smoky taste reminiscent of 'suan mei tang'.
For pre-meal nibbles I loved how they served candied walnuts in a big silver bowl. These were so so addictive, both of us could not stop eating these and even during the meal, I could not resist sneaking a few for that crunchy and sweet goodness~
To start we were served BBQ pork. Gorgeously glazed in honey, the pork was of the ideal 'half fat, half skinny' ratio. BBQ pork is probably my favourite out of all the roast meats, and this was quite spot on. The parts that were lean were very tender and even though I tend to bite off the areas with pure fat, I could still taste its richness in the meat. Very good~
A covered bowl was served next, revealing a fish maw consomme. This was a prime example of why Cantonese cuisine excels in the art of boiling soups. The consomme was so fragrant with an underlying essence of chicken and the depth of flavours it revealed on the palate despite being such a clear liquid, emphasised the quality of ingredients used. The fish maw itself was boiled till soft, with a slight spongy texture and there was absolutely no trace of fishiness at all. Very very nice.
The baked crab shell was also something I really enjoyed. The crust, baked to a golden brown was so crunchy and it hid a creamy filling of crab meat and onions. The curry-like cream sauce was not too heavy and there was a lot of crab compared to ones I have had in other places so each mouthful was satisfyingly meaty.
Both of us share a dislike of fish, or let me rephrase fish that have a strong fishy taste, but the garoupa we ate that night fit perfectly within our boundaries of fish that we tolerate and actually like. Pan-fried perfectly till the outside was crispy, with the inside remaining soft, it seems such a simple dish, but many places manage to overcook garoupa resulting in it becoming rubbery in texture. This was so satisfying
The black kagoshima pork dish was only so-so for me. This was their version of 'double-cooked pork'. Thinly sliced I found it to be slightly overcooked as the pork was a little tough, but the dried chilies used in the stir-fry process gave a pleasantly mild tingle in the mouth.
I always need greens to fill my daily vegetable quota and this came in the form of young spinach in broth, tender and flavourful from the broth itself. Yes it does not seem to be anything special, but it is something that I can not go without.
How is it possible to not end a Cantonese meal with no carbohydrates? Ours came in the form of rice wrapped inside a lotus leaf. Upon lifting the cut-out section, there was a whole abalone nestled snugly on top. The abalone was braised till it was perfectly tender with a nice springy texture. I only had a small spoonful of the rice, which was cooked till the grains were separated from each other, however I prefer my rice to be more sticky and it was a little bland for me.
And let us not forget dessert shall we~ Mango pudding. Mr. C's favourite. I was actually surprised that he ordered mango pudding as normally to me, this is something that little kids or 'gwai lou' would order from the dim sum carts in Sydney when they are having yum cha. I always found that it tastes too much like plastic and the texture always too firm from the overuse of gelatin. After my first spoonful though I could see why Mr. C is so fond of this. Thick, like a softly set milk shake, the flavour was rich from the use of ripe mangoes, but not sickeningly sweet either. If mango pudding tastes like this in HK, I could be persuaded to order it more often haha..
A very enjoyable dinner~
吃
嘉麟樓 VS 
形狀大小: 兩者差不多 
