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2014-03-14
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You will all have to forgive me....I am not based in Hong Kong, but I try to visit whenever I can. And where I currently live, the Hong Kong Cantonese style food sucks, maybe 95% of the time. Even if you have $, you may not necessarily be able to get quality ingredients and execution, whereas in Hong Kong, if you have $, the sky is the limit. So fellow reviewers who actually live in HK, think about how good you have it. Then again we have better air quality and bigger housing....different timezo
You will all have to forgive me....I am not based in Hong Kong, but I try to visit whenever I can. And where I currently live, the Hong Kong Cantonese style food sucks, maybe 95% of the time. Even if you have $, you may not necessarily be able to get quality ingredients and execution, whereas in Hong Kong, if you have $, the sky is the limit. So fellow reviewers who actually live in HK, think about how good you have it. Then again we have better air quality and bigger housing....different timezone, different problems, grass can be greener on the other side.But anyways, let me recount the experience of December 26, 2013. 2nd day in town from my arrival, and I was already pumped to meet with family who was hosting a dinner here. This Yau Ma Tei location of Star Seafood is actually within short reasonable walking distance from the temple that is across from Mido Cafe. You cannot miss this restaurant because from the outside, there is a massive and impressive display of live fresh seafood. And what's more remarkable is that the water in the tank is clean and crystal clear. The restaurant clearly has nothing to hide and is proud of displaying alive and kicking seafood imported from different parts of the world! Contrast that to some seafood restaurants in the USA, where you can't even see through the tank.....well I don't want you to lose your appetite.
Whether you set foot in this restaurant or not, you cannot help but marvel at the vast variety of sea creatures in the tanks. Alaskan King Crabs alone, there must have been at least 30 of them....each of them already pre-weighed with a price tag, so you know off the bat what you will be paying (at least to start). Then there are fat pudgy geoducks, prawns, abalone, and varieties of fish I have never heard of.
So after an elevator ride upstairs, and waiting for my party, the ordering process began. Turns out we had a set menu, and my relative who to my surprise, was an avid gourmand himself, took the reins and had us an Alaskan King Crab. We were asked how we wanted it prepared, and when I heard "shaoxing wine with egg white", I was like "yeah baby, bring that chit on!!!!"
Let's get to it:
Alaskan King crab two way: The legs were steamed, preserving the raw ocean flavor. This was my first time ever having fresh king crab legs.....sure I have had my sure of the frozen ones from Costco and at Chinese buffets overseas....but this was a true delight. The rest of the body was steamed with egg white and supposedly shaoxing (huadiao) wine, but for some reason I could not taste it...which made me wonder if the kitchen forgot to add it. But it was supremely tasty, especially with the crab fat and juices melting into the egg white....this would be like a supreme Chinese style chawanmushi. I must say that with a large crab of this size, a restaurant of this capacity and crowd (it was very busy that night too), the steaming technique was exacting and the dish came out perfect.
Roast goose - I had no expectations, and was very amazed at its flavor. The skin was no longer crispy with the sauce splattered over it, but overall very enjoyable. Roasties and goose are their signature here and this did not disappoint.
Mixed roasties platter - cha siu, crispy skin roast pork, chicken. Of course even the most average tasting roasties in town surpasses anything in the USA...
Shrimp with efu noodles - very tasty, particularly the way the shrimps were sauteed to lend flavor to the noodles.
Steamed glutinous rice with Chinese sausage - While not as fragrant as Keung Kee in Wanchai, this was still very tasty, although a tad moist. What made this even more deliciou was scooping up the egg white from the Alaskan King Crab and pairing with it. We took the crab head, scooped up the egg white, and mixed the tomalley with the egg white....sooooo good.
Steamed fish from Saba (off the coast of Malaysia/Borneo area), wanted to say it was some sort of grouper, but really cannot tell. The steaming technique is consistent with how the crab came out, that also applied to the fish. Very delicate flesh on this wild fish, and also did not disappoint.
I think everyone at the table was pretty happy with the meal. We even brought in various wines such as Australian Chardonnay, a Gamay from France.
Shark fin is currently banned in California, but I had my first and only bowl in Hong Kong, and it felt like a reunion with an old friend. I don't miss not having shark fin, but it was familiar ground for me here.
Overall, very pleased with this meal. Given that this restaurant is a chain, I am very surprised that they handled scale very well and were able to keep up quality throughout the evening. I can only imagine how stressful it would be to work here, especially during yum cha hours.
张贴
