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2010-04-11
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FOR THE WHOLE RANGE OF FOOD PHOTOS, PLEASE VISIT MY SUPPLEMENTARY PHOTOS BLOG AT [ foodofhongkong.blogspot.com ]:Came here for lunch around 7-8 months ago, but haven't gotten around to reviewing here as anything more than 8 photos in my portfolio takes much longer to review as I'm lazy to update my supplementary photos blog! Still have a few more macau reviews to come, some more than 1 year old already lol! Anyway visited before this ultimately got rewarded the coveted 2 Michelin Stars. The
Came here for lunch around 7-8 months ago, but haven't gotten around to reviewing here as anything more than 8 photos in my portfolio takes much longer to review as I'm lazy to update my supplementary photos blog! Still have a few more macau reviews to come, some more than 1 year old already lol! Anyway visited before this ultimately got rewarded the coveted 2 Michelin Stars. The reason we chose to eat here for yum cha was simple. First of all, the front counter told me the Chef here is apparently related to HK's 龍景軒 (of 3 Stars fame but undeservedly perhaps!), 2ndly I was staying in the Four Seasons Hotel upstairs - which as a side note, is better than HK's Four Seasons Hotel - at least the bed is not ridiculously short like HK's one! Anyway it was a no brainer to give here a try.
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銀耳鮮蝦餃 -
Skin a little thick but very good and elastic, with beautiful fold lines. The prawns were crunchy and had prawn taste. The Fungus additional very welcome and gave it that extra textural sensation. One of the best Prawn Dumplings around, except for skin thickness. 9.5/10
原隻鮑魚雞粒酥 -
The 1st sign of Lung King Heen's relation, even the biscuity crust was the same. The abalone was actually diagonally sliced beforehand, making it easier to eat it as 2 bites. The diced chicken below were good. In fact, this SAME DIM SIM, is executed better in Zi Yat Heen than Lung King Heen - it is more natural in taste, sauce is better, chicken is better, and ultimately less sweeter in the crust too! 9/10
梅菜叉燒腸粉 -
Another surprisingly well executed dish, in fact better than Lung King Heen again. The addition of 梅菜 is a novelty in a Char Siu Cheung Fan. This is quite good overall, but unfortunately? 金澱堂 serves exactly the same thing and THAT version is even better than here. Having said that, its perhaps unfair. 7.5/10.
蟹粉小龍包 -
Looking at the presentation, its quite obviously Lung King Heen influenced again. I have had the Siu Loong Bao at Lung King Heen and it was not even remotely great. The version is is the crab roe version - the skin was a little doughy, but its thinner than it looks on the photo. The crab-roe and pork meat inside however were very tasty, in fact, much better than Din Tai Fung's version, both Taiwan and HK. Pity the skin isn't as great, but its already better than Lung King Heen. 8/10
薑芽牛肉球 -
Not a big fan of Beef Balls at all, but was curious to try this out as it advertised to be using new ginger stems! Anyway the ginger turned out to be just like Japanese gari, luckily not too overly sweet. The beef ball was very well executed, none of that soda-rised taste or overly slimey. If there is one beef ball I would happily devour, this would be it. But still not a big fan haha! 8/10
臘味蘿葡糕 -
This was good but not impressive. It carried the desired Chinese Lap Cheong Sausages contribution. As for the turnip taste, it was apparent but not strong. I liked this as it wasn't falling apart, yet it was fluffy, also not oily like most places. 7.5/10
'局'酥皮燒鵝包 -
This dish looks almost exactly the same as Lung King Heen and Tim Ho Wan's famous Baked Char Siu Bao, although from memory Lung King Heen also does this Goose version sometimes. This was ok-good, but baked unevenly. Edible but not memorable. 7/10
松子叉燒酥 -
Another well executed dish, but ordinary in a sense. The Char Siu inside were sliced carefully, with a gooey corn-starch based sauce. Its better than a lot of restaurant's version already as it was 'clean', though a bit austere. 7.5/10
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THE FOOD here are actually executed quite well but not perfect. Its better than Fook Lam Moon execution wise even, and indeed on average way better executed than the similar dimmy's at Lung King Heen on 5 occasions I went to there. What this 'Little Sister' loses out on to its Four Season's counterpart Lung King Heen, is that the dim sim designs here are more old-school, a little bit boring even compared to its HK sibling, which always come up with newish inventions to sit along their normal selections!
If you ask for my personal opinion - old-school items, when doen right, are still definitely commendable. Afterall, its not practical nor is it smart to reinvent the wheel at every opportunity as it could alienate customers. However receiving this quality level of food execution is a minimum expectation for a Chinese Restaurant in a 5-6 Star Four Seasons Hotel, isn't it?! At these highish prices, 紫逸軒 does not impress in its lunch at all, it wasn't very outstanding. It reminds me of eating at Fook Lam Moon, which is also quite well but nowhere near perfectly executed, although if I have to choose I'll pick this place over there. FYI, a la carte dishes here are surprisingly much higher than Lung King Heen on average, but for dim sims its the other way around as its around 20-25% cheaper. Anyway, perhaps night time might be a different experience altogether, for better or for worst!
REST OF PHOTOS AVAILABLE @ foodofhongkong.blogspot.com
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