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2009-09-23
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Every since I came back to Hong Kong I realized that I made a lot of piggy friends. No, they aren’t lazy or big; they are simply lovers of porky deliciousness, and will go extra miles for pig-related gourmet. Since May I have been having at least a feast of whole suckling pig monthly, from the whole baby pig at 八月花 in June, the stuffed suckling pig at季季紅 in July, then the August’s whole roast baby pig at 西苑, and the latest stuffed whole piggy at Celestial Court 天寶閣, the upscale Chinese restaur
Even before tasting the food, diners would certainly feel pampered at Celestial Court with the very attentive staff who make extra effort to ensure your tea cup is always filled and your plates replaced whenever it gets dirty. Of course they also know how to impress their customers, a lot of them being Westerners, as evidenced by the special effects – the teapot heated by candles, contemporary flower arrangements, double plates resembling French fine-dining. However, these are norms nowadays for hotel restaurants, and so more “gimmicks” are necessary. And so gimmick it comes – the Roasted Whole Suckling Pig Stuffed with Pearl Barleys, Black Truffles, Ham and wild Mushrooms (黑松露烤薏米燒釀乳豬) as one of the “Monthly Culinary Highlights”. Just from the name you can tell that this is one of those contemporary Chinese creations with a fusion (and luxurious) element added in, to “elevate” the flavor profile and of course the price…
When the whole uncarved roasted pig arrived on a serving cart, you could feel those envious eyes from the adjacent tables, and I could feel my mouth watering at the same time. After a few moments of admirations and picture-taking as if the piggy is the latest young budding model, the manager swiftly cuts the piggy and distributed my share. The beautifully roasted suckling pig, with the skin so crispy thin wrapping around the “black diamond studded” barley mix. Sorry if I am superficial but I will take this piggy over any of those young models any day. Without any hesitation I bite into the paper thin crust and yes, this pig is incredibly delicious! The skin is seasoned well and doesn’t stick to the meat like the ones at 季季紅. It doesn’t possess any redundant fat, just a thin coating under the skin to provide the flavor without greasing your lips. The crackling sound rebounds in my ears at every bite, and my brain wants encores of this symphony celebrating whole hog for the whole night.
But if everything seems too good to be true, it sort of is. There is the filling, lavishly covered with bites of black truffles (from Yunnan, we believe) which, unfortunately didn’t have much aroma to start with. The barley provides a sticky mouthfeel not unlike the traditional glutinous rice fillings. The original idea of substituting rice with barley is to cut down on the grease for the summer special, a novel concept. But the drawback is that the flavorful pork fat which tends to transform the rice into delectable sparkling pearls with a sensual aroma is not absorbed well by the barley, leaving the filling concentrated with a mysterious flavor. What is it? In the end we couldn’t figure out and asked the chef, who revealed that foie gras was added in a way to add flavor subtly and invisibly. To me it is rather unnecessary, as the foie gras doesn’t elevate the dish; contrarily it distracts our tastebuds to fully appreciate the main ingredients. That said, the suckling pig itself is still top-notch without a doubt, and if the chef can try out some other forms of fillings, this stuffed pig may still become a dynamite dish all around.
With the somewhat heavy piggy, 蛋白龍井蝦仁 appeared like a fresh spring in the forest. We were expecting river shrimps but the color and the size of the shrimp told us otherwise. While the shrimps are quite bouncy and relatively large, the unique sweetness of river shrimps and the tea fragrance is no where to be found. The green sauce resembling the pond is actually creamy spinach juice which added some earthiness to the dish. Not bad, as long as you don’t treat it as the regular 龍井蝦仁 in Shanghainese restaurants.
龍鬚桂花魚 wowed us in appearance with the fine knife skills of the chef, but the flavor is catered to foreigners with its excessively sweet and sour sauce which overpowers the delicate fish. On the other hand, a similar sauce finds its balance with the pork meat in 子蘿咕嚕肉, provided that you are lucky and pick the meat that’s moist and meaty rather than dry and stringy.
大良蟹肉炒鮮奶 follows the contemporary 炒鮮奶approach which emphasizes layers of egg white like a snow mountain rather than the traditional creamy milky texture. This new kind of 炒鮮奶 seems to be getting a lot of popularity, as we had a similar version not long ago at West Villa. This one is generously filled with jumbo crab meat. Unfortunately the slight hint of ammonia aftertaste betrays the freshness of the (canned) crab meat…The freshly fried pignoli nuts and the artisan Chinese ham do regain some points for providing an adequate amount of crunchiness and savory nuance respectively.
清酒海瓜子浸芥膽 comes at the right time as it provides a gentle broth and some oceanic clam juice to sooth our throats. 古法鹽焗雞 Crispy Salted Chicken is surprisingly well prepared – the chicken skin has crisped up with the salt-baking process and the tender meat releases a mild hint of the spice and salt rub and natural chicken flavors. This is much more enjoyable than the salt baked chicken at HKUAA we had, and an unexpected delight for us.
The only vegetarian dish of 三菇六耳 surely isn’t some random creation by 三姑六婆 as the different fungus and mushrooms all taste meaty and succulent. That’s coming from someone (me) who doesn’t even like mushrooms. 海鮮黃薑飯 provides us yet another tableside show with the server scooping rice from the whole pineapple. It is pretty good and does its job to end the meal in a satisfying mood.
When I was small 天寶閣 was one of our family cafeteria(飯堂) as my dad loved to bring guests there for their shark fin soups. So when the chef came to talk to us after the meal, I wasn’t surprised that he proclaimed that his signature dish is shark fin (though others might feel that he was a little hard sell). That said, a restaurant of this caliber cannot survive on just one dish and it looks like the restaurant decides to steer to the fusion contemporary route instead of focusing on perfecting their menus. From this experience I will say it’s only partly successful. It’s successful as the chef has good underlying skills and experiences to execute the fundamentals of these dishes, but simultaneously he is pushing too hard to please the foreigners with strong yet overpowering flavors or fusion elements that sometimes miss the balance. Overall this is still an enjoyable dinner with the roast pig itself (sans the filling) expertly prepared and most of the dishes above average. The service is very competent and friendly and the environment is upscale without being stuffy. I will still recommend this place especially if you have guests from overseas, but I will rather stick with their old time favorites than their “creative” monthly delights.
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