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在西区居住多时，经常走过这一列店铺，但从来没有想象过楼上原来有一家私房菜！同伴在网上看到食评，知道是私房菜，一定要预定。不过今天大胆 8 点左右打电话过去，店主依然说没有问题，可以招待我们。进店里一看，是典型的一个唐楼单位。可能是拆掉了房间吧，但也只能容下 4、5 张台。店员原本要求我们两人搭台，但分明另一角落有一长 2 人台。我们要求坐 2 人台，店员也没有问题。没有看餐牌，店主伯伯跟我们沟通了一下，问了一下我们的预算，就回去准备了。（也因为如此，以下的菜名只是我个人的了解）先来的是一碟份量十足的醉鸡。同伴尝得出是新鲜鸡，我也觉得非常入味，唯独是不算十分嫩滑，但也说得上出色。接着是海蜇。口味十分清新、爽口，垫底的拍黄瓜很醒胃。店员续端上两碗颜色颇深的汤，说是翅汤。卖相一般，但用勺子一捞，原来真的有不少翅，更有鲍鱼、花胶。喝起来味道不错，汤底很稠，但却不是碗仔翅那种生粉汤。后来店主伯伯解释是因为汤炖了很久，汤料都溶化了。赞！吃到这里已经点饱，但主菜才刚刚开始。端来的虾颇大，一人有两只。酱汁很美味，有甜、有酸、有辣。个人对海鲜十分挑剔，而且吃到现在期望已经提升了，所以觉得虾未算最新鲜（留意：绝对不是「不新鲜」或「梅」，我只是跟海鲜店的游水虾相比，想来也不是很公平），但同伴不同意。后来店主伯伯讲解时也说只会用新鲜材料，我唯有归咎可能我们去得较晚，新鲜虾可能断气了。撇除这点，这不失为一道很出色的菜。食物继续来，居然是一只红烧元蹄。天呀，这种菜色一般是一大帮人是才会点，虽然店主有本事找到较小号的蹄膀，但我们两人还是看傻了眼。无论如何，味道依然高水准，尤其是皮跟肥肉最美味嫩滑。不得不赞是元蹄下的唐生菜，吸收了元蹄的红烧汁，美味得来，却又不油腻。（大家可以看到照片中的汁没有太多油浮面，元蹄来说算十分健康。）这时候店主伯伯出来跟我们聊天。伯伯说他做这点不是为了赚大钱，只是赚一百几十块的人工，已经很开心。这点我觉得伯伯不是胡说，以今天的份量、用料来说，绝对超值。之后再来的是小笼包和豆沙锅饼。小笼包是很传统的做法，皮比较厚、汤汁不多，香港人吃惯了改版「皮薄多汁」、有如灌汤饺的小笼包，未必喜欢。总括来说，$ 200 一位物超所值，美味，绝对值得再来（下一次会带外国朋友来）注意，这里只有茶，没有餐饮供应，但店主不介意我们自行到 7-11 购买。
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本来打算前往的餐厅逢星期一休息，经朋友介绍机缘巧合之下来到沪粤一品香菜馆食私房菜。订枱的时候发生一段小插曲，要知道食私房菜一定要确定好人数，方便餐厅买𩠌。怎料朋友摆了个鸟龙，我们最终只有6人出席，他却订了8人，因此餐厅买了8人份量的𩠌。但是大厨兼老板的袁伯伯很好，只收我们7人钱，也许这就是私房菜的人情味吧！菜肴方面，打头阵的是新鲜醉鸡。醉鸡端上餐桌，花雕的香气已经飘出来，令朋友们如痴如醉。袁伯伯采用新鲜鸡，内质细嫰，不会太肥。确实为本来没有多大期望的我们带来无限的惊喜。接下来的烤夫也保持一贯上海特式，不错！第三道菜是青瓜海蜇头。海蜇头的质感属意料之中，而味道偏向清淡，相信是为接下来的热荤清理一下我们的口腔。进入热荤的环节，首先登场的是干烧海虾。海虾新鲜不在话下，酱汁是尤其出色，甜酸辣度刚好，为了这个汁，我们不得不以白饭来迎接它。接下的给我最大的惊喜 - 美国带子豆苗。只只带子都很饱满，据袁伯伯讲，每只带子要25元，可见其对用料的执著。而好的带子，加上袁伯伯的功夫，吃起来不会有一般熟带子的韧性，真的了不起！是日靓汤上场 - 花胶炖螺头。袁伯伯亲自为我们舀汤，并叮嘱我们一定要把汤喝完，当然我们也没有辜负他的心机啦。用料相当十足。正当我们以为菜已经上得七七八八时，袁伯伯再端上一道虾子蚊海参。不是吧，我们已经开始有饱意了。我们真的满足了，怎料再继续追加清蒸海鱼、洋烧排骨、上汤鲜菜和豆沙锅饼！由于照片上载所限，在此不赘。其中豆沙锅饼更是令在场的女性朋友欲罢不能。负责订枱的朋友事前都不知道会有多少道菜，只见菜肴一道一道的端出来，好像没完没了似的。最后有9道菜、1汤和1甜品，200大元有如此份量，已属难得。而且袁伯伯一点也不吝啬，用料绝不马虎，不为赚钱，只为兴趣，加上烹调技巧高超，可见其敬业乐业的精神。下次会凑齐大伙朋友再来！
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Hole in the wall? Check. Green and white checked tablecloth? Check. Elderly but friendly chef and his sidekick running the show? Check. Awesome food? Check. A HUNDRED BUCKS for a 11 course meal? No way!It is indeed true, and I can vouch for it in person. Having only read one review here posted almost a year ago, I didn't have much to go on except a hunch that someone good is about to happen. The 7 of us crammed around a small table, and next to us was a large group of friends who took up the remaining 2 tables. Mr Yuen came out to greet us and asked if it's alright if he calls the shot for the dishes. Absolutely, I said, except not the chilled beef in jelly and no fatty pig's feet, and he slinked back into the kitchen and kept himself busy. His helper ran the rest of the show, helping him prepare the ingredients, shuttling back and forth and bringing out dishes of glorious food. Don't except too much service here, but it was a pretty laid back atmosphere so I helped myself to spare bowls and refilling the tea from the old school urn. We brought 3 bottles of wine, and we managed to find a rusty old corkscrew at the bottom of a pile of utensils.The first dish came quickly, and we had the puffy dough 烤芙 with 毛豆 (kinda like edamame), golden needles 金针, black fungus 云耳. The dish wasn't exactly a cold appetiser, but neither was it hot, but somehow that worked well with the flavours and texture of the ingredients. The drunken chicken was next, the wine sauce was splendidly fragrant with a touch of sweetness, and the chicken was ever so tender. Then came the marinated jellyfish with pickled cucumber. My friend said they were the biggest pieces of jellyfish she's seen, and they were crunchy and springy too. The cucumber slices were home made, and it had a wonderful sourness that pleased my taste buds very much.The rest of the hot dishes came one by one, not too fast and not too slow, just enough time for us to clamber into one dish and gobble it all up and let the flavours sit before the next one arrived. The eggplants with salted fish came bubbling like molten lava, and the eggplant retained its firmness but still soaked up all the goodness of the sauce, and the best part was that it wasn't oily and greasy. The ma por tofu had less sauce than the usual rendition, but I much preferred this style as the gooey stuff normally masks the true flavour of the tofu. And the tofu here was firm, smooth and silky, with fresh pieces of pork and just the right balance of chilli. The sweet and sour pork had the most tender pieces of pork I've had for a long time, but they weren't fatty which meant a lot less guilt. The use of sweetcorn was a little unconventional but gave the sauce a bit of crunch and texture. 干煎大虾 (fried prawns) was nicely presented on a bed of lettuce, and the sweet chilli sauce was my favourite of the night. The prawns were very fresh and people wasted no time getting their fingers dirty peeling off the shell.Then came the xiaolongbao, which reminded me of the ones my shanghai friend's mum used to make as she would lay down a bed of cabbage too. The dumplings didn't have much juice in them as he probably didn't put in a lot of fat, but the pork was fluffy and tasty. The hot and sour soup was a tummy-warming bowl of soup with plenty of condiments - black fungus, tofu, beancurd sheets, bamboo shoots, and I think some pig's intestines too (but I didn't say anything at the time or it might have put off some of my Westerner friends). The consistency of the soup was perfect, not too thick, and a 50-50 balance of hotness and sourness.By then we were finally feeling full, but the dessert wasn't wasted on us. Someone called it pop tart, which I guess is the closest version you can get in the western world. The dough was thin and crispy with a glaze of oil but which didn't taste greasy, with just enough red bean paste in the middle to offset the floury taste of dough without overpowering your sense of taste. Mr Yuen came out when he finally finished cooking up a storm, and asked me to translate and tell the others that he's very pleased that they enjoyed his meal, and that he cooks for pleasure, as a hobby, and not for profit. And he pulled a figure out of thin air and said, $100 a head. OMG, nobody believed it. So we left a handsome tip and parted with the lovely gent. Make sure you book a few days in advance as it's almost always full.
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圣诞日，上完教会后和同伴到处闲逛，想吃个Christmas Lunch之际，路边的一块告示牌吸引了我们的目光。一张红纸，用毛笔上书廿多只字；看完后环顾左右，不禁一怔：又话有上海嘢食？间舖呢？？原来开在阁楼。登门只见另一张红纸写著「营业中」贴在门上。一推门，里面真的有人，一位貌似店主的老先生正在阅报，他放下报纸，打量著我･･･「请问･･･做唔做生意？」「做！做！坐啦！」历险小说到此为止，而家坐低开饭。环顾四周，这儿像传统香港老一辈的家多些，有福禄寿、金鱼缸、中国画，还有几个花瓶和植物。另一边墙上，挂了个相架，都是些六七十年代的当红的女星，除狄娜外，我一个名字也叫不出来。窗边更放了数张黑胶碟，堪称历史珍藏！店主递上了菜牌，一看，竟有种似曾相识的感觉：我还是细路时，好像曾到过这家店吃饭！店主解释，原来以前是家地舖，后来搬上阁仔，一晃眼廿多年了。我们点了最传统的客饭：炒鳝糊 ($50) 和狮子头 ($40)，又因馋嘴点了一客十个的小笼包 ($30)。店主说，狮子头需时较久；原来他也是厨师，说完他就进后栏了。切嘢声、洗嘢声、炒镬声相继传出，就像是妈妈在厨房忙碌，我哋班马骝喺客厅边反斗边等食一样。店主说，因楼上舖的关系，人流较少，材料基本上无法预先预备，只有现点现做，类似私房菜的做法。唔紧要，我哋等得。例汤（青红罗卜煲排骨）先上，顶住吓肚先。十多分钟后，炒鳝糊先上。卖相扎实，甚至不修边幅：芽菜向不同方向展开，鳝条掺杂其中；芡汁色泽较深，味也十分浓。鳝的份量不少，实在而不花巧。我们放慢来吃，等待狮子头的到来；不消十分钟，也上桌了。最传统的做法，不砂锅、不清汤，菜和笋随便放在那坨肉上，很率性自然。味道，想了半晌，想不出怎样去形容它；想到了，就是：「家里头的味」。难道有人会为阿妈煮的𩠌写篇食评，雕琢一番？吃得有点撑了，还有十个小笼包等著我们解决。金属蒸笼、菜叶舖底，还有多少上海菜馆是用这种排场呢？讲样子，个个包法和大小都不同；皮，不薄；肉汁，几乎没有；肉本身，倒算鲜。小南国、王家沙、夏面馆、翡翠等的小笼包，要卖相精致，要皮薄馅靓肉鲜甜，可说应有尽有，但附送的还有市场的熙攘、买卖的匆忙、敏捷准确的服务，就是没有这儿的恬静和闲散，还有身兼几角的店主过来聊天。圣诞节，处处有售的是华丽、享乐和customer satisfaction，但这节日所表扬的温暖、关怀和人情味，却在业绩、效率和评分表的追求中消失殆尽了！菜都上过了，为何仍听到烹煮声？正努力清剿枱上饭菜之际，店主为我们送上了惊喜：现煎的锅饼！（同伴说是豆沙馅，我却尝到一些枣泥的味道。）那份劳苦、那份心意，不是在酒楼吃饭后，相熟的部长或经理，送上几碗预先煲好一大锅、送完即止的糖水所能比拟的。这是今餐第一个感动位。店主姓袁，本身不是上海人，但自十二岁起就在上海舖工作，与上海人为伍。他说自己快七十四了，我们大惊，因他体型矫健，面貌精神有活力，简直一点都不像！六十多年的经验，有谁还可夸口呢？问他是否以控制饮食来维持体重，他说不必：店内事务如采购食材、款客等，全部亲力亲为，太过忙碌才找家人帮手，哪里胖得起来？他还说，甚么都吃，不吃的话，哪能明白客人的口味？有道理。这个年纪，他还在做厨，已不是为揾钱了，纯粹因为自己太喜欢烹饪这工作了，仍在竭力追求美味：「所以我事先声明狮子头要等，因工序多：炸完要烚，烚完又要炆，唔系唔好食嘅！」第二个更感动的位。无以为报，把行囊中的圣诞VCD赠予他，希望与他分享一份珍贵的礼物。正为另一位街坊忙碌的他，走出来连连鞠躬致谢。这个圣诞餐，没有火鸡，没有布甸，却百倍窝心！
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