For me, the best thing about this restaurant is the freedom I feel when ordering from the menu. Not only is it extensive, but nothing on it is that expensive, which makes me feel like I can order whatever I want.
The sizes of the dishes are suitably proportioned to their prices, and I always end up feeling like I’ve enjoyed a good bargain.
Plus, many dishes do have a unique quality, given they’re meant to represent village cuisine.
On the other hand, I feel that the overall quality of the food at this restaurant has slowly but surely been deteriorating. Since it tries to accommodate as many people as possible, it tends to churn out food very quickly, giving the impression that it’s rushing its customers. I usually eat hastily and feel rushed – this is the worst aspect of dining here. Hence, we order only a few dishes at a time, to avoid them being hurriedly brought out all at once, and growing cold before we have a chance to eat them. It’s not the most comfortable way to dine, but I nevertheless find the food quite enjoyable.
圍頭五味雞
I love the sauce of this dish. The chicken is well flavoured and the meat is tender. Served in a soup bowl, the size is not huge, and other meat dishes can be ordered at the same time.
豬油撈砵仔飯
I have only ever tried this delicacy at this restaurant, so I don’t have anything for comparison. I find it fun to adjust my own seasoning for this rice, according to my own taste. But, of course, it may be hard for some people to mix in enough lard for there to be a strong enough taste! There may be an advantage to the kitchen mixing it for you afterall - what you don’t know can’t hurt you, right? Lather on the lard please - just don’t let me see how much you put in. Another good point about this dish is the firmness of each rice grain – cooked in a small clay pot, the fragrance of the rice is better preserved.
香茜燒米鴨
I like this even better than the chicken. Again, the sauce was superior, and had been allowed to be absorbed into the flesh of the roast duck, which becomes immensely flavorsome.
盆菜豬肉
The thing I loved most in this dish was the yam – it was soft/“粉”, and had absorbed the rich sauce (again, well made!). The pork on the other hand was not soft enough for me, and the layer of fatty skin was surprisingly thin. I don’t necessarily find the fatty skin attractive, or that yummy, but I understand some people love it, and isn’t it meant to be the soul and life of this particular dish? Without it, it just doesn’t seem right…
雞蛋焗魚腸
Being one of my favourite Asian dishes, this is usually made well here. There are usually lots of fish intestines within the egg (though whether this is good or not depends on personal taste!) and it’s served fresh and piping hot. That night, however, it seemed like it hadn’t been baked for long enough – there was lots of excess moisture, and the top wasn’t that golden and crispy.
羊仔骨
I’m a fan of lamb meat – the more pungent the lamb aroma, the better. The rack here was alright – the lamb taste was detectable, but the meat was a bit too fat and oily and was quite small in size. But, the marinade was again, like the sauces of the other dishes, well prepared, making the meat very tasty.
者者馬拉盞炒皇帝菜
You can probably guess what my praise for this dish would be…
Yep – well flavoured. Great sauce. It was an incorporation of the elements of ‘夠鑊氣’, ‘野味’ etc… ie the qualities that you can only really get when you eat out at Chinese restaurants such as these, or dai pai dongs, etc.
椒鹽九肚魚
Not too bad – the delicate flesh remained moist and soft while the batter wasn’t overly thick.
南乳鱔片
This was slightly disappointing, as the eel slices were neither juicy nor well-flavoured. The red fermented bean curd failed to make up for the eel’s lack of flavour, as it too was rather bland and lacked the ‘smelly’ quality that gives this sauce its character.
金沙焗海蝦
The prawns were rather small in size, but quite fresh, and the egg yolk mixture was fairly well done. Again, as I commented in my critic of Ban Heung Lau, I wonder if this dish would improve by removing the shells from the prawns first, so the egg yolk mixture could coat the flesh more thoroughly? I’m not familiar with how best to cook prawns – perhaps the shell is needed to keep them fresh? – so this is mere speculation! Any opinions, anyone?
糯米包
This was like a healthy version of糯米包. Firstly, the glutinous rice was wrapped in translucent skin, like that of siu-mai. Secondly, the glutinous rice itself was quite dry and loose, unlike the incredibly ‘sticky’ kind that is usually served. It also didn’t have many fatty pieces of臘味 (perhaps another factor contributing to its dryness), and it was of a very light colour, unlike the dark brown that 糯米飯usually possesses. It had lots of peanuts though…
I’m not quite sure I like this healthy version all too much – if I eat something unhealthy, I’d prefer it … unhealthy.
奶皇馬拉糕
This used to be my all-time favourite. Note: used to be.
The quality of this dish made here has gone majorly down-hill. It’s still served when it’s freshly steamed, and is still soft and spongy, but the rich taste of custard is gone, as are the two rich layers of custard cream in the middle. Now, you can hardly see/ taste/ feel the layers of custard cream - it’s like eating plain cake. It’s very disappointing, especially since it’s still sold as being one of the restaurant’s specialties.
It’s best to come here with a large-ish group of people, so more dishes can be tried. My few criticisms aside, most dishes are indeed worth trying. And if they’re not, they’re still on a relatively low price-level...
Tip: space out your orders - order few at a time!
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