文華廳

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Normally I will cook in the weekend, or just have something simple outside. Today we decide to go somewhere nice for lunch after my annual medical and eye check and have booked Man Wah in Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong.Having visited here a few times but all for dinner, it is actually my first lunch in Man Wah. We are seated at a table on the window side looking out to the Victoria Harbour and the old Supreme Court underneath. With good natural light, the environment is very comfortable and relaxing.To start I have a glass of Louis Roederer Collection 244 ($318), a refreshing champagne based on the 2019 vintage. We also have the Snow Chrysanthemum ($80 each), with nice flavours and a darker colour, permeating with an interesting aged tangerine peel aroma. There is also a welcome drink of homemade White Bitter Melon Tea, seasoned with some lime and a bit of lemongrass, highly refreshing and appetizing.We order a number of dim sum, with the manager helpfully arranging two pieces each so that we can try more varieties. Starting with Har Gau 筍尖鮮蝦餃 ($70), with a thin dough skin and the fillings of shrimp and bamboo shoot seasoned very well, having a nice bite. Delicious.The Siu Mai 家鄉咸魚燒賣 ($70) has some salted fish mixed with the minced pork, with a few salmon roes on top. The savoury taste of the salted fish is delicate, adding flavours but not dominating, so even for people who normally do not eat salted fish this one would be good.The Crab Meat Dumpling 羊肚菌蟹肉粿 ($112) has a generous stuffing of morel mushroom and crab meat, in a translucent thin dough skin, so able to look through inside. The fillings are good in taste, with the mushroom having its unique fragrance.The Soup Dumpling 懷舊灌湯餃 ($208) is made in the traditional style, with the soup inside the dumpling and not immersing the dumpling in soup. With shrimp, scallop, pork, shiitake mushroom, and supreme broth, it is a truly luxurious and delicious dim sum to enjoy.Next is Pan-fried Green Chili filled with Carp Fish Paste 煎釀虎皮椒 ($188). Using Japanese green chili, the spiciness is not too strong. The carp fish paste is homemade, very bouncy and the black bean sauce provides a wonderful savoury taste.The Shanghainese Soup Dumpling 南翔小籠包 ($92) is thoughtfully put on a wooden holder, allowing us to pick them up without worrying to poke the dumpling skin to burst forth the broth inside. The minced pork is seasoned nicely, with the broth wonderful in taste.The next dim sum is a recommendation from the manager. The Pork Belly Dumpling 中山金吒 ($80) has a funny water-drop shape, with red bean curd sauce and pork belly fillings. Its name comes from the distorted pronunciation of the master teaching the apprentice how to knead the shape. It is the first time I have seen this one and recommend trying it out.The Pan-fried Rice Roll in XO Sauce X.O.醬珍寶蝦乾煎腸粉 ($198) comes next, with the rice roll made by the chef himself. with a perfect texture. After pan-frying with some soy sauce, the homemade XO sauce is added for its flavours and some spiciness, with some large Tai O dried shrimp on top. I applaud the chef’s effort to showcase local ingredients, and this is a great example.Another of the recommendation from the manager is Iberico Ham Puff 伊比利亞火腿燒餅 ($112). The concept comes from the Shanghai puff, but reducing in size, and instead of using the harder Yunnan ham, the chef uses the 24-month Iberico ham, with a softer bite and also less salty. Adding the Taiwan scallions for more fragrance, with some sesames scattered on top, it is excellent and a must-try.For dessert, my wife has Red Bean Cream 遠年陳皮湘蓮紅豆沙 ($128), with lotus seed and aged tangerine peel. Not too sweet, the aged tangerine peel is also very fragrant, but the beans have been cooked to the degree that they have broken down and having less ‘bite’.My dessert is the Chilled Fig Cream 雲裳無花果甘露 ($148), with seaweed sago. Very Instagram-able, the staff used a glass jar to hold the fumes which comes from the liquid nitrogen, creating a pretty scene. Instead of using mango, the chef has opted for fig, and also replaces the sago with seaweed pearls to provide a healthier option. There is also no cream added to the dessert.Service is very good, with the staff friendly and attentive, explaining the ingredient of dim sum and their origins to us. The bill on the day is $1,884. For high-quality dim sum in a fantastic setting and ambience, Man Wah is definitely one of the best restaurants in town. continue reading

小妹約人吃飯，通常都會早一點，今天 booking 一點半，應該是第二輪了，一如既往，比預約時間早了十分鐘，上到酒店二十五樓《文華廳》，說出名字，那位服務員小姐跟我說（很有禮貌的）：「還未到時間，兩位可以先落去大堂等一等。」🙄小妹不知如何反應，明白第一輪客人也許剛走，桌子需要打點一下才能招呼我們，但是要回去大堂等小妹第一次遇到。看看環境，畢竟舊文華電梯大堂地方狹小，也許還夠空間放一兩張凳子給客人等位吧？不要緊，今天小妹請客，心情大悅，就下去大堂坐一下，幾分鐘而已，一點三十分準時入座。【 文華廳前世今生 】甫一進去，發現《文華廳》完全變了，環境開揚，我們窗邊桌子能遠觀中環灣仔。****翻查小妹的 dining diary，驚覺原來上一次來《文華廳》已經是二零一九年六月，那晚乃品茶晚餐（其實食物味道普通，只是多了點泡茶玩味，每人有兩個計時器，算算甚麼時候茶才可以喝 ☝🏽，因此之後沒有再想起文華廳）。一別數年，文華廳連主色調都由深紅改成藍色，那些雀籠吊燈還在呢。前世今生，紅色藍色，各有利弊。之前嫣紅，牆色也深，窗邊格子窗花圍繞，甚為古雅，整個餐廳變得深邃，唯採光稍遜，整個地方甚為黯淡，卻添幾分神秘和艷麗。現在變成藍色，多了現代感，整個大廳開揚了，不過這個 blue tone，似 high street 的 patisserie 多過中菜廳，也未免沒有 character 了。還有以前用了紅色桌布，襯托中菜廳的主色調，桌子雅觀，反觀現在淺紫灰色桌布，倒像商場酒樓🫤，看上去欠缺貴氣，還是燙得直滑的白枱布最好。【 茶 】今天叫了鐵觀音。店方奉茶用有蓋茶杯（焗盅），因為茶葉不在杯中浸泡，焗盅除了保溫好一點，沒有其他功用。《文華廳》的茶其實不差，茶色青綠，幾杯後味道依然，回甘綿長。****今天簡單吃套餐 A（$ 768），再加一籠蝦餃（$ 128）。先來【 香檳 】Louis Roederer 243。不是 Cristal 般深度，尚算怡人。****【 蝦籽瑤柱小籠包 ｜ 鼎湖竹笙上素粿 ｜ 黑松露帶子荔芋 】造型落足心機。味道也不錯，小籠包皮薄而不漏，肉汁豐盈，多了點蝦籽，點綴一下，算是好的開始。****素菜粿黏度適中，也有清香，加上竹笙如網，雖未算雅麗，亦要嘉許廚師心思，可以之作。黑松露帶子荔芋有些 gimmicky，不是甚麼也要加松露的。一般松露油味入火水，如果品質一般的黑松露，則缺乏香味，強加點心上實屬無謂。追加的【 筍尖鮮蝦餃 】，出品達到基本要求，皮軟糯不黏牙，蝦味道鮮美（沒有異味是很重要的），筍和肉都份量恰好，大小有分寸，包功亦好，夾起來有重量皮卻沒有破爛，不失粵菜點心精緻，調味恰當之蝦餃，遠高及格只仍未至驚艷之境而已。****【 老火湯 】甜美，有層次，熱度夠，火候足，有種家的味道（是好是壞，自行判斷，小妹並不介意，小妹家煲的湯可以是否滋味呢）。****【 羊肚菌鮑魚滑雞煲  】長氣了點，不過都係要講，就是小妹覺得粵菜分開小碟擺盤上菜令菜式熱度欠佳。這個小型雞煲則非常夠熱，用小瓦罉盛載，保持了那點「鑊氣」，小妹覺得這個菜雖然很濃味，但是沒有過鹹，羊肚菌、鮑魚和雞肉都保持了原味，這樣的調味畢竟有難度的。****【 醬料 】今天的菜餚都調味夠，沒有需要太多醬料輔助，醬油沒有用過，中間的辣醬可以的，二右手面為一般 XO 醬（不知是不是 exactly XO 醬呢）。****【 生炒臘味糯米飯 】醬香得宜，不鹹不膩，色香味不差，只係有兩大問題，一，飯粒太硬，近乎生米；二，份量太少（連小妹胃納有限都覺得文華太小家了）。****【 紅糖金耳葛仙米燉秋梨 】很甜蜜糖水，只是當下天氣不夠冷，這種甜度，加上是紅糖略為太重，而且甜得來有點單調，稍欠秋梨清新。****【 美點雙輝 】綠豆糕粉滑，核桃酥酥脆，還是不差的。****【 盛器 】總結之前，想說一下《文華廳》的餐具，小妹覺得一家 posh 的中餐廳，裝修「光鮮」，需要搭配餐具也對應，這裡的餐具顯然已經殘舊褪色（可以看看盛老火湯的碗和美點雙輝的木盒子為例），縱然這裡的餐具是古董，對比開揚而現代感的餐廳甚有違和感，已經不襯餐廳氛圍。不要誤會，殘舊跟歷史悠久的餐具是有分別的，更與日本「侘寂」風馬牛不相及。如果到過京都《嵐山吉兆》，目睹過京料理亭素淡中雅麗而世故的房間，再看桌子上北大路魯山人的食器彷如「殘破」，看真點低調和諧，才領略人家的美學高峰（吉兆也有用法國 Baccarat 的）。管理層是要檢視一下奉客的餐具了。說遠一點，來自東京的名鮨店『かねさか』（金坂），香港分店人家都有用江戶時代骨董『九谷焼』小碟呢，那種氣派跟這裡的陳舊感不可同日而語的。【 總結 】多次經驗，覺得文華酒店很多地方還未達最高級酒店服務水準。首先，用現在眼光去看，酒店有先天不足之處，就是地方小，這棟樓是細小的。當然更重要的是店方未能請到稱職的酒店管理和服務員，再者，服務員工制服也太「中菜酒樓」感覺了。今次午餐小妹請客，顧客體驗令人十分尷尬，餐廳是否可以安排幾張凳給略早到臨卻未能入座的客人坐坐呢？早到的客人不太多吧 🤔，總好過要人家乘升降機回到大堂坐吧？至於食物，幾年前已經覺得《文華廳》只屬於中等水準，烹調沒有問題，只是味道實在平庸。只懂用靚料，不會做好菜，也扣分了。常去的 Chinnery Bar 還可以，不過整體來說，似乎文華酒店有點年華老去的感覺。 continue reading

As suggested by my friend, we had a lunch gathering at 文華廳 recently.Dim sums are very good. For steamed dim sums, we recommend har gau and crab meat dumplings with morel mushrooms. For baked and fried dim sums, whole abalone and chicken tarts are must try. Iberico ham puffs are delicious, too. It is a pity that steamed rice rolls will only be provided during weekends.Chilled fig cream with seaweed sage is a delightful dessert we recommend.Soy sauce chicken is one of the best I have tried.Ambience and service are very good. continue reading

難得親戚外地返黎，就打算去間好D 餐廳食中菜。環境方便係ok，但係我哋張枱咁啱喺工作枱後面，非常之嘈！職員放啲杯杯碟碟非常之大聲，好嘈！你放得張枱喺度就應該預咗係要一個良好嘅食飯環境，如果咁差你不如唔好放張枱喺度！ 我同個職員投訴咗三次，佢哋先至真係輕手啲！第二，職員（男）態度令到我以為我喺茶餐廳食飯！講完第一道菜之後，佢話 「跟住呢？」 … 簡直就係茶餐廳服務。同埋非常之趕！ 我埋單嗰陣啱啱簽完名就即刻抽走。 我已經係食第二轉，都咁趕？ 同埋唔識得主動斟茶 （佢個茶壺放咗喺我後面唔喺我張枱上面）太誇張！ 食物非常普通！ 普遍食物唔夠熱我哋仲叫咗一個牛肉腸，但係實在太普通，普通到根本唔想影相，又唔好食叉燒係好腍，但係有少少唔夠熱 蝦餃好普通 牛肉包 （呢個幾好食胡椒味香）只可以話嗰日食到一肚氣！ 餐廳完全對唔住間酒店名，同埋米芝蓮！ continue reading

The dining experience was excellent! I just had a meal at the Chinese Restaurant “Man Wah “at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, a five-star restaurant, and they consistently maintain a high standard. I particularly enjoyed their soy sauce chicken, with tender and delicious meat that made my mouth water. I couldn't resist savoring every bite. Additionally, I want to commend all their service staff, for their sincere and friendly service with a welcoming smile. This is truly a great place to relax and enjoy good food with friends. continue reading