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2009-05-18
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Was asked by my boss to come up quickly with a place for an impromtu urgent business meeting on the same night. Obviously the Causeway Bay's 西苑酒家 is known to be a notch above here but the other location is noisy and unsuitable, whereas the Central one is hit and miss in food quality in past experiences. This shop has sparser table gaps, less eavesdropping and despite the shopping centre location, proved convenient for everyone concerned. In the end this wasn't a bad choice even if it wasn't i
Was asked by my boss to come up quickly with a place for an impromtu urgent business meeting on the same night. Obviously the Causeway Bay's 西苑酒家 is known to be a notch above here but the other location is noisy and unsuitable, whereas the Central one is hit and miss in food quality in past experiences. This shop has sparser table gaps, less eavesdropping and despite the shopping centre location, proved convenient for everyone concerned.
In the end this wasn't a bad choice even if it wasn't impressive either. In reality - I thought the food quality wasn't so much below that of CWB's store as the scores here suggested, they're literally on par but there're definitely certain dishes that are better executed over there. In fact, the CWB's 西苑酒家 also has bad days - I certainly remember a few years back taking friends there only to come away highly disappointed with the execution. Personally I rate the Lei Garden chains above here for consistency between all dishes and outlets - but when its done right, 西苑 can have amazing results at dinner time, but only when the kitchens not rushed and lunch is still always better at Lei's.
Had some rather ordinary and fail-safe dishes only for obvious reasons:
大哥叉燒 - I've always thought the Char Siu here to be artificially too soft and not enough char-grilled exterior texture, plus always overly honeyed sweet. Lately however, I found that they now make them more charred and less sweetened than in the past. I'm beginning to like it again, although its still not RAW enough, its too sophisticated and 'different'. The marinade is just amazingly good - I don't know their secret ingredients, but there's a very deep flavour profile with multiple layers of complexity. I think I tasted the 南乳, 果皮 and 八角 influence, also not sure if its 桂花. If anyone knows the formula, I would love to know - so I can try to copy it and make it myself 1 day haha! Please come forward or mail me then I wouldn't say this is the best method to cook Char Siu but then again, its a bit different from the competition's products - and I did definitely enjoy but as an alternative cooking method.
美極煎海中蝦 - A dish that any foodie wouldn't normally ordered in a restaurant like here. Even though it wasn't my call this was surprisingly executed well. These were 油爆 first before being wok fried. Despite the so-called 美極 soy sauce that some foodies might despise, they controlled its balance and influence here very well by mixing it with their own sauce. Not too garlicky either, and the prawn meat texture was good although over-cooked. A nice homely dish and named as such, but one that any mom would love to know how to make but can't emulate it somehow. Mamma's cooking and recipe isn't always good! Its good , but this wasn't sea prawn as advertised. What's with the mis-marketing?
清炒小白菜苗 - Sweet, not overly oily, cooked to the right degree.
'跼'魚腸 - I never knew this was a 'famous' traditional style dish in 西苑, but the waiter said so and we tried this. This was done quite well indeed, one of the best '跼'魚腸 I've had in the recent years and trounces Pang's in Happy Valley's version or some others I've tried completely. It was the real deal - 葱, crispy 油條, coriander, 果皮, fish intestines, fish liver with fresh taste, eggs not over-baked, etc. Nearly perfectly baked outside and inside, and the freshness and cleaniness of the fish organs were spot on when one could really taste each individual component. I've had some bad executions of this dish recently in Hong Kong, so after all the disappointments perhaps it lowered my expectations. Perhaps the eggs part could be slightly better. But I accept this and give it a hearty smile.
椰絲脆麻花 - They don't have 雪影杏汁包 in this outlet. DAMN. So ordered some 脆麻花 instead. I thought these looked strange when it arrived. They're in fact made from Spring Roll skin rather than Wonton like Skins, so it doesn't have 'air bubbles' and is extra thin. I wouldn't say I like this interpretation, especially in contrast to the 'grissini' doughy like ones in China. Not too sweet though and cheap.
冬瓜薏米糖水 - On the house, I must say I've never had this type of dessert soup before. May be in a soup but not sweet. I think the ingredients were put in afterwards or at the last minute as there's no integrated taste.
OVERALL - not a bad dinner by any measurement but nonetheless not top notch. Food quality ranging from low '3's' to low '5's. A MID '4' EXPERIENCE. I still prefer the CWB store but that's not to imply this branch isn't upto standard. If there's any variations, its minimal, plus the service here is much friendly. However I've had some ordinary or below-average meals in this restaurant chain in the past and thus I will hesitate and stop short of recommending it.... it all depends on the luck that day.
張貼