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Since my last visit two years ago I have been looking for the next occasion to return and savour again their wonderful and creative cuisine, but it is getting so difficult to book that I almost gave up. A few weeks ago, seeing an available spot online, I immediately grasped the opportunity. And so, at the beginning of 2025, I come to The Wellington in Central, with a lot of anticipation on what Chef Cheng and his team has prepared.Seated at the same table last time, there is no change in the décor, with the space offering a cozy, neat and comfortable ambience. I have pre-ordered the Premium Tasting Menu ($2,980 each) but also adds two other optional items, as well as going for the Premium 6-glass wine pairing ($2,780).As the Winter Solstice was only two weeks prior, Chef Cheng has prepared a Housemade Snow Fungus and Fig Tea as welcome drink to sooth the throat against the dry and cold weather. With a tiny bit of sweetness, the tea is delicate and smooth. 雪耳無花果茶The first wine served to pair with the four appetizers is Krug Grande Cuvee 172eme Edition. The base vintage of this champagne is 2019, with a beautiful golden colour and consistent fine bubbles, showing a crisp floral, citrus and hints of gingerbread on the nose, and nice hazelnut, brioche and honey on the palate.The first of the four starters is 蟶子配雲南皺皮椒及海茸   featuring Razor Clams, thinly sliced which looks a bit like garlic pieces. On top of the crunchy razor clams are the shredded Yunnan Chili which provides a bit of spicy kick, as well as Bull Kelp, a type of seaweed with a nice bite and adds umami to the dish. The second one is 香辣日本蠔伴自製黃金皮蛋, a rather unique combination. Featuring the signature Golden Crystal Egg, the housemade century egg, the chef has added Chili Japanese Oyster, with the creamy oyster marinated in housemade chili oil to give a kick and also balance the briny flavours of oyster. A stimulating starter to excite the palate. The third one 煙燻酸汁茄子 is a piece of art. The Smoked Eggplant is prepared using applewood to give a nice fragrance, cut into strips and then intertwined together beautifully like a braid. With a Housemade Sour Sauce on top to season, the acidity is appetizing, and the eggplant is soft and pleasant in taste. The fourth one is Drunken Kuruma Prawn 醉花竹蝦, with the very large tiger prawn marinated in 20-year Chinese Huatiao wine, allowing the rich and fragrant aromas to seep into the body of the prawn, but not getting too bitter to affect its sweet taste. A good example of how the chef has mastered the timing and strength of the marinade. To enjoy more the delicious housemade chili oil, the restaurant has thoughtfully arranged a small bunch of Cold Noodles for us. The texture is very al dente, with the slight kick of the spiciness enough to excite but not overpowering the palate, and the portion is not too filling as well.The second wine is Domaine Jean Chartron Puligny-Montrachet Premier Cru Clos de la Pucelle 2017. A monopole just adjacent to the two grand cru Batard-Montrachet and Bienvenues-Batard-Montrachet, this wine has a complex aroma, with a bit more honeysuckle on top of the elegance. The fuller body also matches well with the stinky tofu.One of the additional dishes I pre-ordered is Stinky Tofu Tiger Prawn Toast 臭豆腐虎蝦多士 ($180). Stinky tofu, a local traditional snack, is rarely seen nowadays. Here the bouncy prawn patty is stuffed into the tofu before deep-frying, and provided on the side are the chili bean sauce, with the taste adjusted by Chef Cheng, and Chinese sweet sauce, the two perfect companion to go with stinky tofu. The crunchy surface and delicious taste are truly memorable. A must-order in my opinion. Next comes the Hot and Sour Soup 檬香山瑞裙邊酸辣湯. The traditional Shanghai style soup has some fresh crab meat to give a delicate sweetness, with the crunchy Soft-Shell Turtle skirts to add to the texture. The staff then takes the locally grown perfume lemon and shaves some Lemon Zest on top to add a refreshing aroma. The soup is very flavourful, of the appropriate thickness, and having the right balance of spiciness and acidity. Perfect in all scores. The third wine is Egon-Muller Scharzhofberger Spatlese 2021 from Mosel in Germany. The slightly sweet Riesling has intense flavours to match well with the stronger taste of the threadfin, while still having good acidity to make the wine refreshing. The sommelier also prepares the wine slightly warmer in order not to highlight any fishy notes.Coming to the main courses, the first one 陳皮豆豉蒸馬友   highlights the seasonal local Threadfin Ma Yau, with the chef picking only the largest ones, weighing over 12 catties. After steaming the fish fillet, some shredded spring onion, leek, and coriander are put on top. The sauce on the bottom is made using Mandarin Peel aged over 20 years, mixed with Fermented Black Bean, bringing a wonderful fragrance and savoury flavours to add to the delicious fish. The fourth wine is Anne & Jean-Francois Ganevat Chateau Chalon 2016 from Jura in France. This vin jaune wine is made from Savagnin, with the unique oxidative ageing aromas reminded me a bit of the Chinese Huatiao, but with better acidity. A great companion to pair with crab dishes.Next comes Fragrant Chili Alaskan King Crab 香辣阿拉斯加皇帝蟹配煎腸粉. The meaty king crab leg is steamed with garlic to serve, and then some crab meat is used to prepare a slightly spicy sauce, assembled together with pan-fried Crispy Cheung Fun, with the rice noodle taking the flavours of the sauce and in my opinion tastes even better than the crab meat. The fifth wine is Domaine des Perdrix Echezeaux Grand Cru 2019. A beautiful ruby red colour, the wine has nice red fruit aromas of strawberry and cherries, with some spiciness reminding me of mint and liquorice, with a mellow tannin. A great pairing as I think it is tricky to match with sea cucumber spring roll. But this Pinot Noir has able to enrich the umami flavours successfully.Before the next course the staff brings the Australia Sea Cucumber to show us the original shape before its lengthy 7-day soaking process. Then comes the large beautiful golden-brown Spring Roll 蔥燒婆參春卷, where the staff helps to cut in half for us. Inside the crispy spring roll is the braised whole sea cucumber, glueing, thick and seasoned well. Underneath is some grilled Spring Onion together with a delicious sauce. The sixth and last wine is Paul Jaboulet Aine Hermitage La Chapelle 1999. This wine is ex-domaine and only released for two years, with good freshness despite its old age, showing nice black fruit, leather and pepper, which goes well with the pigeon.Then it is another signature of the restaurant 煙燻蔗汁乳鴿. Upon opening the lid the smoke seeps out, showing the Baby Pigeon which has been marinated for three days, with the chef brushing some Sugarcane juice on the skin to give a bit of sweetness and colour, before smoking it over sugarcane with nice fragrance. The pigeon is juicy and tender, rich in flavours and finger-licking good in taste. The other optional dish I have added is Stuffed Fresh Oyster 薑蔥炒金蠔釀鮮蠔煲 ($200). Served in a sizzling hot Pot, a Semi-Dried Oyster is stuffed inside the fresh oyster, to allow the richer taste of the semi-dried oyster to integrate with the softer fresh oyster. Together with plenty of Spring Onion and Ginger, it is great in smell and taste. Another must-try. Even the vegetable has a thoughtful twist. The Stir-Fry Baby Mustard Green 鹹白肉炒芥菜苗 has been added with some housemade Salted Pork, which has marinated for one month. We are suggested to eat the salted pork first, to coat the delicious savoury taste in the mouth, before eating mustard green, giving a nice fragrance and flavours to season the vegetable, which is young and tender, without any tough fibre on the bite. The last one before dessert is Sliced Dried Abalone Chicken Soup Noodle 乾鮑絲濃雞湯麵. The chicken soup is very rich, with the noodle al dente in texture. With the shredded spring onion whites and the dried abalone to add to fragrance and a savoury taste, it brings the whole noodle to another level of satisfaction. Very delicious and helps to fill the stomach.Before dessert the staff brings a cart to us, introducing the different fruit on the day, reminding me how we have similar service for cheese in a French restaurant. The three fruit we have on the day includes Thailand Ruby Pomelo, which are very sweet and juicy; Guangxi Mandarin, which can be eaten with the crunchy skin; and the Japanese Pear which is very sweet. The fruit can also be encored if desired.For dessert, it is a premium Bird’s Nest Bean Curd Sweet Soup 燕窩銀杏腐竹露. Appropriate in sweetness, there is a generous amount of bird’s nest, with also almond tofu in the soup, as well as Gingko Nut, giving a bit more contrast in texture and health benefits to the dessert. The Mignardises 餐後茶點 include Black Sesame Glutinous Rice Cake and Salted Egg Custard Donut. Both of the snacks are very delicious, not too sweet. The donut has a soft dough with the salted egg custard filling very creative and tasty. The rice cake is equally delicious with the sesame fragrant and rich. A very contented finale to a fantastic meal. Service is very good, with the staff friendly and attentive, eager to explain each of the course and wine pairing in details, as well as the background of the restaurant and the story of Chef Cheng. The bill on the night is $10,741 and even though it is not cheap, I would say every penny is worthy, with the quality of the food and wine impeccable. No wonder it is one of the most difficult restaurants to book nowadays. continue reading

呢排想搵間中菜，掃掃吓見到呢間嘢，先醒起啱啱開業嘅時候幫襯過，而家補返當時嘅食評。味道一般。👎🏿👎🏿👎🏿網上吹噓得太誇張。侍應態度麻麻。👎🏿👎🏿👎🏿👎🏿👎🏿唔知係咪人手唔夠，叫佢拎個餐牌拎咗20-30分鐘，再催多佢一次，佢就態度好差咁話:嚟緊㗎啦嚟緊㗎啦等我做埋啲嘢先。🥴🥴嗰條友似係經理或者Senior。其實永做吾起，唔係冇原因。👈🏻👈🏻👈🏻所以而家想搵返中餐廳都唔會食呢排想搵間中餐廳，都吾會食返永。最後講吓價錢，我哋五個人，坐房，低消係$18,000。 其實如果嘢食好食，態度又好，價錢都係其次。但係又貴，又態度差，味道也一般。唔知而家點，不過身邊人已經好少再提起呢間餐廳。 continue reading

有幸跟住飲食界前輩級人物來永, 試過Vea, 再黎呢間餐廳會有期望的。我帶上我的茅臺黎，絕絕子。整體穩陣，雪膠其實都好好味，但太多照片upload唔到咁多。 如果請客都可以再黎。 continue reading

Another epic dinner organised by Professional Food Critic with Chef Vicky yet again pulling all the stops. I would only highlight the more memorable items of the evening. This time around Chef Vicky was gracious enough to debut Wing’s first roast pig for us to try. We were told last time less than 2 months ago that he was still experimenting it and a work in progress not yet ready for us to consume. This time he told us this is probably his 45th attempt and joked that his staff have had enough of it already for staff meals. I would say that this is a nice attempt but it would have been better had the pig been served quicker when the skin was crispiest. Surprisingly the table’s favourite was the pork pepper buns that were served right before dessert when we were full to the brim. Chef Vicky explained that he usually likes to save the best for last as diners are usually too full by then so it has to be incredible. And they were indeed delectable. Straight out of the pan kind of hot. Eminent foodies commented that the pork was juicy fresh and the buns were peppery but not at all pungent. What a treat! continue reading

有老婆帶我威, 能夠吃到永也是我在香港中的Bucket List之一, Chef Vicky在上層VEA表達的是如何用本地食材去處理法國Fine Dining, 這裏比較純粹, 就是用他理解的去做中菜. 沒有西式的煮化, 但是有西式的嚴謹和細緻. 頭盤最令我驚奇的, 是將茄子蹺得做辮子一樣, 然後加上酸汁以煙燻做法, 重疊起來的茄子吃起來口感有層次, 並非只有軟蓉蓉的感覺. 另一道是蟶子配上海茸, 無論是切絲還是切片, 也見到絲毫不差的刀功, 作為開胃小菜當然也夠惹味.湯品是紅棗當歸燉羊肉, 羊肉來自法國, 羶香柔和, 加入當歸和紅棗燉成的高湯, 甘醇而暖入深. 主菜的馬友以陳皮豆豉醬一齊蒸, 馬友的油香和醬香結合, 鮮甜但不膩. 煙燻乳鴿配以蔗汁, 乳鴿的秋味和肉香, 配以甘蔗的直甜, 互有補足, 煙燻令肉質更為鮮嫩且在吃前帶有帶有香氣, 層層遞進. 阿拉斯加長腳蟹的肉質爽實, 配煎腸粉的香脆, 和秘製麻辣汁的惹味, 成為整晚味道最強的角色. 最後的花膠燉飯雖說有點似燉意大利飯, 外表看起來黏貼, 但內裏卻出奇地紮實, 和炆得很腍的花膠, 相映成趣. continue reading