Clipper Lounge @ The Mandarin Oriental

(Don't worry, I haven't abandoned the Japan posts. Just interrupting that broadcast for a moment).

I'm not going to fluff around with the history and tradition of afternoon tea in Hong Kong - there are enough posts on the web and in printed media about that. And most of them would have mentioned tea at the Mandarin Oriental's Clipper Lounge as a Hong Kong institution (the other being The Peninsula).

Year after year I promised myself that I will go to the MO for afternoon tea. One year I came close - then chose to grab a cake set from the MO's cake shop instead. It was foolish, yes - but I was only 17 and relatively penniless.

So, driven by the fear of missing out yet again on going to the MO for another year, I went ahead and made a booking.
Then changed it.
Three times.

My MO afternoon tea experience somehow ended up starting 2 weeks before actually tasting anything. It was a good start. Unfortunately it didn't last.

Service was brisk, but only attentive at times. We were shown our seats and given menus; but no water. When it did come after 2 requests, the glasses were, to put it bluntly, filthy; marred by water stains, and sticky patches of what I hope was detergent and not something else. Being a cold day they did thoughtfully provide warm water rather than cold - something which deserves a little credit.

For our table of three we were recommended the Mandarin Afternoon Tea set for two (which comes with 2 drinks - tea, coffee or hot chocolate), and order an additional drink; that an additional tea set for one could always be ordered should the set for two be insufficient. It was good advice to heed - sharing the set for two amongst three was quite enough.

Tier 1: Sandwiches (L to R)
Smoked Chicken, Waldorf; smoked salmon, sour cream, chive; egg salad, chive; York ham, mustard; cucumber, cream cheese, herb.
The sandwiches were dainty and looked promising, until one of the party picked up the smoked chicken, waldorf only to discover a long piece of hair attached to the bottom. Despite the offending sandwich being taken away and replaced, it left the rest of us slightly concerned about the hygiene of the remaining sandwiches...
Taste-wise, it was as dainty and delicate as it looks. Nothing much can go wrong with quality ingredients and fresh bread.

Tier 2: Warm (L to R)
Bacon, onion quiche; spinach, feta puff; sausage roll; madeline.
Having only tasted the spinach, feta puff and the sausage roll I can only comment on half of what was on that plate. The sausage was nice, but nothing too amazing; unfortunately I found the puff pastry a bit damp and therefore not the crisp and buttery and flaky sort with which I'm accustomed. Maybe that was intentional; I don't know. The spinach and feta puff was better; pastry had more crispness, but again lackluster. Nothing wrong with the taste, but it wasn't anything that made one's eyes bright up. Actually, I'd be much happier with a Shanghai radish puff (蘿蔔絲酥餅)...

Tier 3: Pastries (L to R)
Opera cake; cupcake; blueberry tart; mandarin cheesecake
The pastries, like pretty much everything else presented on plates, were so dainty (read: small) they were pretty much impossible to divide and share. I ended up tasting the cheesecake and the cupcake. The cupcake was moist, but slightly sticky - it may have been the ultra humid weather (over 95% relative humidity) at play. Nothing too amazing though, I've produced similar tasting cupcakes from my own kitchen. The cheesecake was much better, and closer to the standard I had anticipated. Creamy, flavoursome, rich but not overly heavy, I savoured every bite. I'm told the blueberry tart was quite good too, nice tart pastry, fresh cream and fresher blueberries. The opera cake apparently was a bit heavy on the rum and branded "WTH" by the taster.

Scones: classic and raisin. Served with clotted cream and MO's house rose petal jam.
To be honest, none of the party are big fans of rose-flavoured food. We weren't asked anything about the jam when we ordered, and it was only later that we found out that a blueberry option was available. It left another blot on the experience.
But the scones were good. Understatedly buttery, they were light and perfectly crumbly. Whether they're the city's best, I'm not sure. What I do know is that I will return just for the scones. And the tea.

It wasn't the perfect afternoon tea I had hoped for, but one can only have so much.

Afternoon tea service starts Monday to Saturday at 3pm (3:30pm on Sundays) and is available at the Clipper Lounge and Cafe Causette. The Mandarin Afternoon Tea set for two is $448 including 2 drinks. A 10% service charge is applicable.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Hong Kong
http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/

Yum Cha with a view

Hong Kong, arguably, has some of the best food in the world. It has, I believe, the best yum cha in the world, too, but finding the ultimate yum cha restaurant is a task harder than first thought. What I have found, though, is probably one of the better ones, with prices similar to what is being paid in Sydney (at places like Kam Fook and Marigold), but with much, much higher standards.  Not surprising, because yum cha is a popular breakfast, lunch and weekend brunch option, with at least 2 or more restaurants offering yum cha within the same shopping area--a lot of shopping centres, especially those along the MTR line, are interlinked. Competition is fierce, especially during non-peak periods (before 11am and after 2pm), and with frugal housewives and pensioners on the hunt for great deals, prices are kept low too, without too much sacrifice to quality. Come weekends, though, most families will look for quality--yum cha, in that sense, would be a family treat, and sometimes an opportunity to catch up with extended family and friends. With the economy on the rise, more and more people are now looking for higher quality, and willing to pay the premium for both food, service and ambience.

Cuisine Cuisine (國金軒), located at one of the most highly sought real estate in Hong Kong, the IFC at Central, meets this demand. With views of the Victoria Harbour, the chic interiors and smartly dressed waitstaff reflects the philosophy behind the food: traditional Cantonese food modified to suit the modern palate...and sometimes, the budget. Yum cha is no budget affair here: one of the regular dim sum offerings is abalone siu mai, where chunks of abalone is mixed in with the usual pork and shrimp filling, topped with a reconstituted, dried abalone the size of a fingernail. More regular fare is offered too, made to the same standard of excellence. 

 The seasonal menu

Once seated, tea is ordered and appetisers served. Also on the table are the chili oil and spicy soy, both house specialties. Dim sim is made to order, and a few moments is usually given before the waitstaff approaches again.

First to arrive is the steamed BBQ pork buns (叉燒包 Char siu bao). White, fluffy, and piping hot, each one is split into almost perfect halves. The buns are soft, light, and with just the right amount of chew, encasing a sweet-savoury filling of char siu that actually tastes of meat.

One of the modern reworkings of a yum cha classic is the steamed vegetarian rolls in tofu skins (蒸腐皮齋卷). Topped with a thickened shantang broth, it is light but packed with umami, the interplay of textures of the tofu skin, carrots, mushroom and shaved asparagus lettuce (萵筍) is a reflection of both skill and thought in this healthier version of the classic pan-fried vegetarian rolls that proliferate Sydney yum cha.

Mini char siu pineapple buns (迷你叉燒菠蘿包) is the fusion of the steamed BBQ bun with another Hong Kong favourite, the pineapple bun. The egg and sugar topping on the soft buns, cracked under the oven to resemble the exterior of a pineapple (hence the name) brings out not only the sweeetness of the char siu filling, but also the umami of the pork itself. It has become a favourite dim sim at yum cha, and the version at Cuisine Cuisine is one of the best in town.

Prawn dumplings (蝦餃 har gao) is a perennial favourite. Beneath the translucent skin lies a filling of fresh prawns and bamboo shoots, with the smallest amount of pork to bind it all together. The contrast of the chewy skin and the slight crunch of the filling is perfectly complemented with a small dab of the chili oil. A good prawn dumpling should have 18 pleats, the skin should not break when poked lightly with chopsticks, and offer a degree of resistance on chewing. This, I'd say, satisfies all three requirements.

Spring rolls (春捲) have been experiencing a renaissance in the dim sum world. Many newer restaurants now offer versions that are slender and long, rather than short and stumpy, with a filling of prawn paste that is, well, quite bouncy. Lightly fried, the skin is earthshatteringly crunchy and textural contrast with the prawn paste filling makes this one of the best reworkings I've tasted.

Siu mai (燒賣) is another yum cha classic. Hand minced pork and prawn is mixed in with chopped shiitake to make the filling, topped with roe before being steamed. Texturally, the filling is not as soft and dead as the ones made with machine minced meat, with small pockets of diced meat in the filling that actually lets you taste exactly what you are eating. As only the freshest meat is used, having not experienced the snap chill as Australian meat does, the pork and prawns exhibit extra umami from the freshness.

The stir-fried beef rice noodles with abalone sauce (鮑汁濕炒牛河) provides the carbs for the meal. I wouldn't say it is brilliant--the beef had too much bi-carb in the marinade (good quality beef shouldn't need any with a good chef). Nonetheless, it was still tasty, with the unconventional addition of compacted tofu skin which soaked up the abalone sauce.

Sure, similar, if not the same dishes can be found in Sydney for around the same price (25AUD per person). But the quality of food and service would be vastly different. And with the dollar nearing parity, it makes a lot of sense to save up for a trip to places like Hong Kong where the currency is pegged to the greenback, and splurge there instead.  

Cuisine Cuisine

3101, Podium level 3,

IFC Mall, Hong Kong

Ph: +852 23933933

Bookings essential for yum cha.

Comfort Food

Congee.
As a child, I hated the bland, tasteless rice gruel that Mum made whenever I was sick. Gloopy, and always too hot, the thought of having congee alone made me determined to stay away from bugs as much as possible.
There is one type of congee I will never say no to, though. Sang Kee.
As a kid growing up, it was always a treat when we went out to Sang Kee for congee. Back then there was one tiny storefront, in the back streets of Sheung Wan in Hong Kong. This place was a favourite of my father, back when he was working in the vicinity in his early career in business. I'm not sure how often he went, but considering the current owner/proprietress still remembers him, I'd say it was pretty often.
A couple of years ago, they started expanding. First they merged with another nearby shop selling beef brisket in clear soup, and became Sang Kee Congee and Beef brisket noodle experts. Business was so good that they soon took over 2 more store fronts. Then it was the opening of the Kowloon branch near Yau Ma Tei station, and then a third store at North Point. I make an effort to go to Sang Kee at least once for the congee each time I go back to HK; a trip to HK is not complete without having a taste of my favourite congee.
For such humble beginnings, though, I can say they are world renowned. Regularly featured in guidebooks to Hong Kong (very prominently in Japanese one; and I recall seeing an entry in Lonely Planet also), Pat Nourse named it as one of the must-visit eateries of Hong Kong in the Gourmet Traveller. Chua Lam (avid Iron Chef viewers may recall that he is featured occasionally as a taster on the judging panel) is a regular visitor, and often writes about it in his magazine and newspaper columns. Speak to 10 Hong Kong gourmets, at least 9 of them will recommend it as a favourite, I reckon.
While they are famous for the fish bone, pork fry and fish ball congee, I've grown up with the beef congee, partly because I lack the patience and skill in eating segments of fish with large pieces of bone attached, and only just recently acquired a taste for fish balls in general. The beef is tender, packed with umami, and the congee scaldingly hot with the subtle sweetness of the pork bone, conpoy, bean curd and gingko seed soup base used to boil the aged jasmine rice coming through. The rice is cooked until it has almost completely disintegrated, forming a thick, soupy goodness that settles any stomach, and calms the mind.



The experience is not complete without a side order of fried dough sticks (you tiu). Soak a few pieces in the congee, the gaps become filled with the hot gruel, and becomes a fantastic vehicle of experiencing the ricey goodness, especially when sprinkled with a few drops of their special soy sauce.

Having been to both the Sheung Wan and Yau Ma Tei shopfronts, I still think it is best at its original location, the hole in the wall where it all started. The atmosphere is completely different: but that may be the memories talking. Taste wise, they are all the same. The head chef spends his day travelling to the three stores, to maintain their famed quality, so there should be no difference.



Sang Kee Congee and Noodles
Ground Floor, 9 Tung Fong Street (Opposite YMCA)
Yau Ma Tei
Yau Ma Tei MTR Station D exit