Sunday, June 25, 2017

My Birthday Lunch 2017

I love Shanghainese food, so I choose to have a Shanghainese lunch on my birthday. Xiao Nan Guo used to be one of my most favourite Shanghainese restaurants in Hong Kong.  For some reason I haven't been there for some time and today when I come, I notice a few changes here.

Although the restaurant's Chinese name remains 小南國, its trade name is changed to 1987 Shanghai Min. Well, this restaurant was opened in Hong Kong in 1987, so the name change is understandable.  The second change is the location. Luckily it only moved from 12/F of Time Square to 11/F, so I still manage to find it.  The third change is somewhat strange - their most famous signature dish 'grandmother's pork' disappeared from their menu!

No wonder people always say 'the world is changing'. This I can understand, but a restaurant stop selling something highly reputable and in high demand is beyond my understanding. In fact, 'grandmother's pork' is one of my most favourite Shanghainese dishes, and I come to Xiao Nam Guo because of it. Luckily the waiter told us there was a replacement dish called 'braised pork with bamboo shoot'. Very juicy, tender and delicious.  Even if your grandmother is a meat lover but her teeth didn't perform well, she can still enjoy this dish without a problem. 

Braised Pork with Bamboo Shoot (HK$298)

Chinese usually eat noodle on birthdays. I'm not quite sure of the reason behind, but could be a matter of longevity, due to the length of the noodles.
 Green onion stirred with Soy Sauce is one of my favourites from Xiao Nan Guo, very yummy.

Noodle Stirred with Green Onion and Soy Sauce (HK$48)

Qi vegetable is flown in from Shanghai direct. Its availability is quite depend on the season, luckily it is available today. It is a cold dish cooked with dry tofu - very healthy 

Qi Vegetable with Dry Tofu (HK$58)

Drunk Chicken (HK$80)

Undoubtedly good! I even drank a few spoons of the soup with very fragrant Chinese wine.  No worries, no one will get drunk with a drunk chicken.

Deep Fried Mini Yellow Fish (HK48@)


This appears on almost every table. They are really wonderful! Very crispy outside, soft and tender inside. Price wise, not too expensive.

One thing I want to mention is that they have an area dedicated for 2-person tables. It is relatively quiet comparing sitting at the main dining area - quite a good idea!

Anna's 2-person Birthday Lunch at 1987 Shanghai Min
HK$705 (c.US$91)
inclusive of tea, pickle and 10% service charge

11/F, Time Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel: 2874 8899

Hong Kong Food Blog - Shanghainese Birthday Lunch







Friday, June 2, 2017

Private Kitchen Dinner

I haven't had private kitchen dinner for some time. It's becoming very popular nowadays in Hong Kong. Last Tuesday was Dragon Boat Festival, my nephew took us for a private kitchen dinner. The 14 of us had a private room, although relatively small but at least with some privacy.

Private kitchens usually serve unique menus and ours was relatively luxury.


Starter: Smoked Eggs
Everyone of us had a half egg which were served with some fine salt. Looked colourful, a good starter.

Cold Cut: Chilled Abalone


Most of the dishes were served per headcount, so each of us had one abalone.  I had two, because we had a baby in the group, and his father decided to let me eat his. Very chewy, well done!

Steamed Clams, Dual Style: Thai


Clams are generally not my favourite, but the boss's, especially the Thai flavour ones.

Steamed Clams, Dual Style: Wine


So each of us had two clams, one in Thai Tong Yam style and one in Chinese wine.  

Garoupa Dual Style: Stir Fried Meat with Green Beans and Black Truffle


Expensive item! Well, one piece per person?! I did expect a larger portion!

Garoupa Dual Style: Steamed Head and Bones


Golden Pears, made of prawn meat


We thought the pears were dessert, but they were not. The pears were actually deep fried prawn meat, served with avocado sauce. Each of us shared a half pear. Little bit creative, in terms of appearance. Taste? Not bad at all.

Pomelo Peel with Goose Feet

These two veggie dishes were quiet normal however with relatively expensive ingredients such as bamboo pith. Pomelo peels were cheap however took a lot of time and effort to make it taste good. So both dishes were well done!

Assorted Veggie with Bamboo Pith


Signature Dish: Sweet and Sour Pork, chilled version
Quite amazing, in terms of appearance!

Signature Dish: Sweet and Sour Pork, chilled version
After the decorative ice craft was removed, we had to dig into the ice cubes to look for our sweet and sour pork.  However we could have more than one fruit if we want. It was my first time having sweet and sour pork chilled version. Quite creative, but again, one piece per person was not quite enough.


Roast Chicken with Tea Leaves


Didn't look good, but tasted good. The tea leaves' black color wasn't attractive, but the chicken was very delicious with crispy skin and juicy meat.

Steamed Sticky Rice with Crab


I am not skillful in eating crabs at all, every time it hurts the mouth, so I decided to go without it. The crab juices sipped into the sticky rice, making my plain rice very yummy.


Lee House Restaurant
303 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

12-Course Dinner for 14
$?? - My nephew's treat

I've checked other set menus of HK$6,900 for 12 persons, and found ours to be more luxury, with tea and service charge, total bill may go close to HK$10,000.


Hong Kong Food Blog - Private Kitchen Dinner