Hainanese Chicken Rice originated from Hainan region in China, but there are numerous evolving representatives of it all found over Asia - the original & most authentic Hainanese style such as the one served at Hainan Restaurant is served bone-in, the soup carries lettuce, and sometimes winter melon and chicken giblets, and the rice can be served in rice ball forms or with taro, but most pertinently it should use a white-skinned Man Cheong chicken breed which feeds on coconuts and worms
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Hainanese Chicken Rice originated from Hainan region in China, but there are numerous evolving representatives of it all found over Asia - the original & most authentic Hainanese style such as the one served at Hainan Restaurant is served bone-in, the soup carries lettuce, and sometimes winter melon and chicken giblets, and the rice can be served in rice ball forms or with taro, but most pertinently it should use a white-skinned Man Cheong chicken breed which feeds on coconuts and worms, but kept in dark cages to give it that translucent white skin (They don’t really see daylight, *evil*). The Thai versions have a more liberal use of yellow turmeric powder and like the original Hainan version, is not served with Dark Soy Sauce by default. The boneless versions eaten in Sing-Malay regions however has taken the world by storm, despite not being the most authentic - and this influence has shaped the way HK’s customers also prefer their Chicken Rice to be served as well! Authenticity to taste preferences in every region, has never been linearly co-related.
Beautiful Bread Basket - Loved the cheesy roll and the sesame crisp, also the pumpkin seed bread. HK restaurants honestly serve very good bread in general, although one would expect this to be the case in this 6 star status Grand Hyatt Hotel - even if this is only their Café !
Hainanese Chicken Rice (Singapore-Malaysian Style version) - HKD $235 Half Thigh and Half Breast was ordered, and despite the highish price there was easily double the meat as most other shops! The chicken is deboned, and served with ginger/shallot paste, dark soy sauce and a chili sauce. This is more of a modernised Singaporean version in my opinion? The Shallots & Ginger paste is more Cantonese than the more gingery & garlicky paste than Singapore and Malaysia. ~ 7/10 The Dark Soy is everyone’s favourite, here it’s good but not exactly viscous or blows your mind but at least it’s not caramelized until bitter (this is not served in original Hainanese or Thai versions) ~ 6.5/10 The Chili Sauce was the weakest link. It is not ‘exotic’ at all without much chiliness, garlic taste nor aroma. It also lacks a lemon or lime juice input which gives it a lifeliness. ~ 3/10
Chicken Thigh and Breast, with Veggies - The dish was very presentable and cut neatly, also cooked quite well. The chicken skin’s texture was not rubbery thick, like many non fresh chickens and the meat texture and taste was good rather than jumping out in your face. At $235 it is at a premium price, but you are guaranteed quality ingredients. In fact, I personally don’t think $235 including a good bread basket is all that expensive in a 6 Stars Hong Kong Hotel setting or anywhere else in the world. It is the norm and you can sit here for hours with a harbour view and great service. ~ 8/10
Chicken Rice - Hong Kong’s rice usually suffers a common problem in that it is too wet, 2ndly it does not have much chicken stock, herbs nor chicken oil taste. The latter might not be perfect in places like Singapore either but from my observation - Singapore never over cooks the rice. Fortunately, the Grand Hyatt Grand Café version was one of the rare few to remain nicely fluffy. Mostly tasting of Galangal & Chicken Stock, there was also a weak hint of Chicken Oil followed by Lemon Grass & Shallots oil. No signs of Pandan. By HK’s standards, this is at least Top 3 grade. By Singaporean standards from what I tried recently, this is probably within Top 5 easily. ~ 7.5/10
Chicken and Wintermelon Soup - This was surprising because it tasted more like a clear chicken consommé and very natural. Not salty at all but quite Chinese medicinal soup like. At 1st glance too bland, and definitely not for everyone. But since HK is Cantonese and soups are an important part of our daily diet, I’ve got to say that this consommé like soup was packed with ONLY natural essences. There has been a lot of work gone into making this to be this way, but I think to most others the difference is too minute to be discernible. Result of a street stall food made into higher end hotel food, but I do appreciate it here. Hard to rate. ~ 5/10 as a street soup, 9/10 for hotel quality soup.
Earl Grey Tea - This was quite fragrant for once with a good Bergamot aroma and a smooth Ceylon tea base. The same Ronnefeldt tea as used in Shangri-La's Lounge, one of my favourite to-go tea places!
My Overall verdict and summary break down, independent of that nice harbour view or extravagant Hotel Price for a simple Hainanese Chicken Rice Set !! -
Chicken Taste & Seasoning – ★★★★ Chicken Freshness – ★★★★★ Chicken Tenderness and Moistness – ★★★★ 1/2 Sauces & Compliments (Too mild from being exotic even for a hotel) – ★★★ Soup (a little under-salted and unconventional, but elegant) – ★★★★ 1/2 Rice (Fluffy dry as a long grain, Galangal biased but lacking exotic chicken oil aroma) - ★★★★ Price Factor – ★★
Came here once not long ago, revisiting again to celebrate an auntie's Birthday. We were a big table of 12 and requested for a seat in the outside area towards the lobby because it was brighter with a higher ceiling. Definitely more comfortable than when I sat on the inside area last time. It was less spacious there and noisier. I personally enjoy buffets mainly for their unlimited seafood! However, Grand Hyatt doesn't do fresh oysters . Nonetheless, the seafood they offered was nice and fresh.
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Came here once not long ago, revisiting again to celebrate an auntie's Birthday. We were a big table of 12 and requested for a seat in the outside area towards the lobby because it was brighter with a higher ceiling. Definitely more comfortable than when I sat on the inside area last time. It was less spacious there and noisier.
I personally enjoy buffets mainly for their unlimited seafood! However, Grand Hyatt doesn't do fresh oysters . Nonetheless, the seafood they offered was nice and fresh. I especially like their crab and prawns! Sweet and tasty. They also had a wide range of appetizers which I didn't try. For those who did, said good things about their Foie Gras and they had crackers to accompany it with. Their sashimi was also fresh and sweet. I liked their salmon but the octopus was a bit too tough for my liking.
Their hams were freshly sliced in front of you with the melon. I think they served Serrano Ham and something Salami-like. I didnt try it, but everyone who did said it was good. I was surprised they didn't serve Parma Ham though. I also really enjoyed their Peking Duck. They cut the duck in front of you and wrap it for you too! They were delicious and I took seconds.
The Chinese Barbeque was also good quality. The chicken's skin was thin and crispy. However, the rest if their hot foods were slightly disappointing. I'm not sure whether I was full by that time or whether it actually tasted that way. I couldn't really tell how they tried to cook their lobster but it tasted slightly curry-like. The fish seems overcooked as the flesh was tough. The Kung Po tofu wasn't great either. I'm glad they offered vegetables in clear broth - that tasted quite nice.
Onto the desserts! Nice and large selection! What they didnt have last time was the Mochi Stand . A chef takes a spoon of mochi paste from a large bowl and rolls it into the three flavours: Sesame, Matcha and Peanuts. He then cuts them up into small pieces for you to enjoy! I think it was a cute and creative idea. I tried a little of each flavour and liked the peanuts one the most. The rest of the desserts were good too, but the Panna Cota was brilliant! It was smooth and not too heavy and the berries made it very refreshing .
Finally, each person gets a drink each. I took a Iced Lemon Water and really liked the way it was presented! They placed the slices of lemon so that they were floating one on top of the other. Cute!
In terms of the restaurant itself: quite simple and old-fashioned decor, but also comfortable. The inside was clearly not designed specifically for buffet setting (as Island Shangri-la's Cafe TOO is) but worked pretty well. Although where we sat was quite far from the food, I didn't find that a problem as it gave us a rest between each plate!
The service was very good apart from the fact that the drinks came really slow. We had to catch up on it and they explained that the bar was busy because everyone was finishing their meals. At least they were clear and polite. We also asked them to take out the Birthday cake discretely and they managed to do so very well. However, we sat next to the cleaning counter and saw that they placed our plates of cakes (after slicing) right next to all the dirty dishes before they served it to us. We were quite confused as to what they were waiting for. Also, it would be better if they cleared our table before they brought the cake out.
Overall, a good quality buffet with great seafood. Service was great although could be improved!
Likes: Crab, Prawns, Peking Duck, Mochi and Panna Cota Dislikes: Most of the hot foods Come Again? Yes