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2009-05-21
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A bit surprised that this Private Kitchen restaurant hasn't had a lot of reviews, because apparently they can be quite full on certain nights! This dining experience was from a few months ago, probably around the tail end of 2008, but surprisingly I'd forgotten about writing a review.1st of all, there is no corkage for Bring Your Own wine. I support this idea or even a fairer rate by the bottle ($50/bottle is ok, but not when its $100 or $300), especially with the poor selection of wines in Chi
1st of all, there is no corkage for Bring Your Own wine. I support this idea or even a fairer rate by the bottle ($50/bottle is ok, but not when its $100 or $300), especially with the poor selection of wines in Chinese restaurants within Hong Kong. From memory, we had the following dishes but its been a while, so take it as indicative only please!
Some Dishes:
Smoked Duck with Honey Glaze and Caeser Salad - Surprised to see this American + Italian fusion dish here. Unlike most places serving smoked duck in Hong Kong, this wasn't the pre-smoked frozen packs from supermarkets. Having said that the duck was a bit tough but had a strong 'wood derived' smokey, yet slightly sour flavour in the meat. I could not detect much honeyed taste though. The salad wasn't too bad at all. Not sure of its appropriateness for being part of the greater TASTING MENU, however.
Stir Fried Eggs with Bean Sprouts and 'Fake' Shark Fin - This was a vegetarian dish. I am not entirely a big fan of shark fin but for the price per person of roughly $500, I surely expected better than 'fake' vegetarian fins. This dish was slightly too dry.
Chinese Wine 花調 steamed Crab - I've had this a lot of times in Hong Kong in the past, this version was actually really good. Part but not all of the alcohol has been burnt off leaving mainly the aromatic smell and sweet, fruity taste. I wouldn't think this is a dish that any restaurant can make wrong, but many do - here it was pretty spot on.
Smoked Chicken in Sweetened Soya Sauce - This seems to be a dish that cycles in and out of popularity, I thought it was becoming popular again lately in Hong Kong during this time I re-entered HK..., I guess its nearly identical to good old 太爺雞 but disguised under another dish name. Not smoked with wood this time but with tea leafs, the aroma penetrated into the soy-soaked skin but perhaps not much into the chicken meat. I thought the chicken meat wasn't tough but wasn't tender enough either, it was somewhere in between. It certainly needed the sauce to act as an lubricant.
I remember trying really good interpretations of this dish in the past but can't recall where and when. That night's one wasn't bad at all. Overall acceptable.
San Choi Bao - I frankly cannot remember which type of Lettuce rolled San Choi Bao we had on that night, but I distinctly remember it being below-par, especially the ingredients not standing out at all.... perhaps that last reason is the explanation for this dish leaving absolutely no trace of its constituted parts in my head except that it wouldn't even satisfy the Gwai Lo's that adore this dish.
Fried 伊麵 - No surprises, perhaps a bit bland.
Some other fried vermicelli noodles, vegetables, and probably dishes I'd forgotten about, etc, that were so-so to good.
陳皮蓮子茶 - From memory, I thought this isn't as good as I'd come to expect, due to a very weak 陳皮 influence, but the Red Dates and Longan fruits' sweetness made it slightly 1 dimensional. Lots of dessert shops make better ones.
ALL IN ALL, I thought it was indeed impressive that a single lady chef was able to cook food of such high quality and on time, for roughly 25-30 people in 2 separate rooms - and still have spare capacity to come out smiling to the customers and asked for our feedbacks in her slightly non-Hong Kong Cantonese voice.
We were told that the dishes change seasonally and the menu can be altered to suit. She gave me the impression that she cares about the customers - even though we're paying through the roof for some rather ordinary dishes and ingredients.
At that instant - my mental score was a high '3'. In hindsight, I guess I should give her a low-mid '4' but don't expect too much either!
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