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2011-12-29
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It was quite a cold night (Hong Kong standard). It was my birthday night. Parents extended invitation to various family members. Having done a head count, we decided to set the venue at 革新會! Not our first time here~ No disrespect; but the décor of the restaurant edges slightly towards the more "dodgy" end; some may think that this is not the type of place for a birthday dinner. But it was all about the delicious food for me; nothing fancy, but simply delicious food. Situated on the third floor
Parents extended invitation to various family members. Having done a head count, we decided to set the venue at 革新會! Not our first time here~
No disrespect; but the décor of the restaurant edges slightly towards the more "dodgy" end; some may think that this is not the type of place for a birthday dinner. But it was all about the delicious food for me; nothing fancy, but simply delicious food.
Situated on the third floor of an ageing building in between Central and Sheung Wan with an ageing lift. As soon as we reached the third floor, we could spot our private room (with the kitchen in another room beside).
We occupied the whole room. From my understanding, they normally only serve one big table each night. As you could see, very simple settings. For most of the night, there was at least one (or even two) server(s) in our room. It was all very casual; you could easily pop into the kitchen area when no one was around to help."Light"-fried Tiger Prawns with "Sweet Chilli Sauce"
This might seem like a simple dish, but it was certainly not easy to do it well. The Chef was not trying to do a deep fried version or something like tempura. The batter was just right; not too thick and not too thin, giving it the perfect golden slightly-crispy non-oily coating. The intestinal tracts were all cleaned and cleared out. Prawns were all of good size (yes, king prawns) and they were fresh and chewy. The "sweet chilli sauce" was likely to be off the rack from the supermarket. Though the tiger prawns alone, with the rather perfect coat around each and every one of them, were nice enough! YUM! Braised Bamboo Piths with Fresh Crabmeat and Roes
MY FAVOURITE! Just look at the photo! Super generous amount of bamboo piths topped with super generous amount of crabmeat and roes; with choi-sum surrounding the golden pile! The bamboo piths were prepared well; white, soft, no fishy-smell and crisp. The crabmeat and roes formed a beautiful creamy golden coat over the bamboo piths. Crabmeat and roes - fresh and the freshness of the crab filled each of our mouths. Just the aroma itself gave you immense warmth and comfort to your heart! So appetising! Choi-sums were all done well; not over-cooked and each and every piece looked healthy and green! Highly highly recommended!Stuffed Boneless Chicken Wings
Ok. I loved this one as well (both taste and presentation). (Might not appeal to chicken wing haters but it was a good dish!) Bones were extracted and removed from each chicken wing. Then, the Chef stuffed thin-sliced ham and bamboo inside! Chicken wings are definitely not the healthiest parts of a chicken. Such impression often gets worse because of certain popular (and rather fattening) ways of cooking them (deep fried or stewed in greasy gravy etc). This dish, though, "successfully" gave me the "false" impression of it being such a healthy dish. The sauce tasted simple yet so delicious! It tasted like a thick creamy essence of fresh chicken and ham. Chinese lettuce by the side was cooked in the same sauce (yummm) and still crisp!! Braised Grouper Tail
I guess "grouper tail" was chosen for the dish to have a nice mouthfeel! Although it was the tail area, the meat was very fresh, chewy but "young". The sauce was very very tasty and rich - some sort of gingery black-bean sauce! Not a dish with lots of fish bones (for those who are worrying).Crispy Fried Chicken
Cannot deny that this dish lacked a bit of natural chicken aroma; also a bit raw near the bone area (which would be of particular concern given that bird flu reappeared these days). However, the meat was tender and the skin was crazily crispy! (must also give credit for a fair amount of fat; not too much and not too little for it to be a dry old chicken)Fried Glutinous Rice
Generous amount lap chang, ren chang, shrimps, spring onion fried with egg and glutinous rice. Each and every little piece of rice was dry, chewy and tasty. It was definitely what we would call in chinese - "有鑊氣"!! Although I was very full, I still couldn't help feeding myself an extra bit more! VERY NICE!!Magic painted by good food and good wine!
It was my birthday and we brought our own bottles of Reds. (Note: the Margaux - older than me) "every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour.."
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