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2012-11-12
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Sundays for me are generally synonymous with having dim sum. To me nothing is better than relaxing over a pot of fragrant tea while picking up delicately made dumplings still steaming in their bamboo steamers. So, last Sunday I was able to make a lateish booking at Yan Toh Heen, originally I was planning to go alone, but was able to invite Mr. C to join me at the last minute. Sorry for the late notice~We were lucky to be seated at the end of the room right near the windows so we were able to loo
We were lucky to be seated at the end of the room right near the windows so we were able to look out towards the harbour. It was a gorgeous day, sunny with blue (well as blue as HK can get) skies. We had perfect natural lighting brightening our table, while the other side of the restaurant seemed quite dark. The downside was it did become quite hot, but that was easily solved by asking one of the waiters to turn up the air-conditioning.
I was delighted to see that Yah Toh Heen offered candied walnuts for pre-meal nibbles, so while waiting for our food to come I was happily eating these
As a starter, we had a plate of assorted mushrooms and black fungus in a yuzu dressing. I admit that it was not the most visually appealing. but taste wise it really helped awaken the palate. Held together by a tart yet subtly sweetish savoury yuzu dressing, the crunchy black fungus and meaty mushrooms really helped whet the appetite and was really tasty~ Recommended.
Steamed dim sums arrived next. Assorted mushrooms and string bean dumplings and scallop and conpoy dumpling with asparagus. Both of these were very good. The glutinous skins were semi-translucent and delicately chewy which is something that I desire in good dumplings. The fillings were very fresh, where the vegetarian dumplings had a nice flavour from the 'wok hei' with the bean sprouts retaining a slight crunch while the scallops were pleasantly sweet.
Tofu sheet rolls with shrimp and fungus in chicken broth were quite good as well. I adore fresh tofu sheets which I find to be much better than the ones that have been fried and this was no exception, so soft with a pleasant soy bean taste, the lightness of the tofu was a nice match with the more salty flavour of the shrimp filling.
Our last dim sum were baked buns with roast goose and taro. Looking exactly like a baked BBQ pork bun with a 'snowy' crust, it even tasted quite similar if you did not know the fillings beforehand. The outside of the bun was nicely crispy while the inside was moist and sweet. I loved the softness of the taro cubes and the goose meat was quite tender, but I did not like the skin as it was too chewy. (Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo =.=)Aside from dim sum, we also had two main dishes. The first was young spinach sprouts with fresh tofu sheets in broth. The spinach was soft with no stringy parts and I was more than happy with the reappearance of the silkily soft sheets of bean curd. This dish was very 'qing' where the spinach and tofu acquired most of its flavour from the broth.
Our second main dish arrived in a big bamboo steamer. Upon removing the cover, it revealed six pieces of steamed garoupa. Each piece was perfectly cooked, the flesh was delicate and moist with absolutely no fishiness at all. Eaten with a little bit of soy sauce and shallots, it was just stunning~ Recommended.
And for desserts? We ordered four to share~Egg custard tarts with birds nest. I adore egg custard tarts, but only if the base is of the biscuit variety. These ones fit the bill perfectly. Firm enough so that it could be picked up easily with a wonderfully wobbly custard center and a generous amount of slippery birds nest. There were not too sweet, but I would have loved them more if the base had a more buttery taste.
Sweetened almond cream with papaya. When the cover was lifted from the bowl, the fragrance of almonds filled the senses. For some people that dislike the almond aroma, this may be a bit too much for them, but for me it was very enticing. Running my spoon through the almond cream, I was a little worried that it would turn out to be the watery kind, but happily it was pleasantly thick. Taste wise it was very much like its name sake, but it was quite gritty in texture. Only so-so for me.
The chilled milk pudding was something that I was really looking forward to trying. It was quite softly set, and melted easily on the tongue leaving behind a light milky taste. It was served with red beans and black kokuto syrup which added a pleasant sweetness to the pudding. Quite yummy~
Our final dessert was mango pudding. This was of course Mr. C's choice It was not bad actually, quite smooth with a rich mango flavour and the way the pudding was set made it seem as if you could just suck it through a straw like a thickshake.
And complimentary fruit
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