Non Spicy Sichuan Food

Non spicy Sichuan food? Are there really any? Yes of course.  If you love Sichuan food but cannot put on too much heat, there are still plenty of choices.

I have a coupon of HK$100 for dinner at a Sichuan restaurant.  So I took my sister there.  Both of us like little bit of spicy, so here are our dishes - 2 cold cut starters, 2 hot dishes, 1 soup and couple of dessert.  

Cucumber Lumps with Garlic 手拍青瓜

Cucumber with garlic is a very healthy combination.  The special thing about this dish is that the cucumber lumps has to be pounded by hand with a heavy knife.  I think the garlic sauce is seasoned with some sesame oil.  Very fresh and delicious.

Pork Slices with Smashed Garlic 蒜泥白肉

Sichuan restaurant menus usually indicate the level of spicy by the number of chilies between one to three.  So this pork slices has two chilies means it is of medium spicy, still acceptable to us.

Stir Fried Chewing Pudding 炒年糕

Cantonese usually eat chewing pudding sweet, but Sichuan chefs make it savory which is quite a new taste to me.  Stir fried with preserved vegetables and pork slices, in a relative thick gravy, very fragrant and silky smooth.

Vinegar Fish Fillet 醋溜魚塊

This is quite a famous non spicy Sichuan dish.  While other tables all have big bowls of food full of red chilies, our table looks a bit plain and rare.  But look, this doesn't look colorful, but tastes good.  Fish fillets and black fungi in moderately thick gravy, we can sense the fragrance of vinegar combined with a little level of sweetness.

Fish Maw Hot and Sour Soup 魚肚酸辣湯

We share one bowl of soup not because of saving money, because the dishes are really large in size, and we want to be able to eat a little more varieties.

With one chili, the level of spicy is just right for us.  Lovely soup!

Sweet Dumplings 擂沙湯丸

We had this sweet dumplings before and love it very much.  It is made to order and it's still warm when arriving our table.  There are lava type sweet filling, coated with a layer of fine flour of some kind.  Very nice.

Green Bean Syrup 綠豆沙

While we had to pay for the sweet dumplings, the restaurant offered us the green bean syrup free of charge.  This made us exceptional full and kind of over loaded when going home.  But I really enjoyed the dinner.  Because this restaurant apart from providing wonderful food, its setting is lovely and comfortable together with friendly waiters.  Price wise is quite reasonable.

Cabbage in Plain Water 開水白菜

If you think that Sichuan signature dishes are all spicy, then you're wrong.  One of the most famous Sichuan dishes that China government serves their national guests is called the Plain Water Cabbage.  It's really plain in appearance but delicious for the mouth.  The restaurant we went last night serves this dish.  Unfortunately it has to be pre-ordered, minimum four, and costs HK$128 per person.  So the two of us missed the chance to try this national dish.

Total bill:  HK$556.5, deducting the $100 coupon, we ended up paying HK$456.5 (US$58.5) for our 6-course non spicy Sichuan dinner.  Well, they gave us another $100 coupon, really aggressive in encouraging us to come again!

Tin Fu Paradise

Wanchai, Hong Kong

Hong Kong Food Blog - Non Spicy Sichuan Food

Sichuan Hot Pot Set for 2

Hot Pot meal is good for people who enjoy spending time around the dining table. It is relaxing and fun, however keeps you busy though in doing the cooking yourself.

Over the Easter holidays, I found a Sichuan restaurant with attractive holiday lunch sets.  So after the set lunch, we went to try out the hot pot set.  It was equally good.

The booth we had was very spacious and comfortable for two.  There was no real fire.  The hot pot was set on an electric stove.  We were offered a small side table to ensure that our main dining table won't be too messy.

As for soup base, we can choose between plain version and spicy.  Well, Sichuan spicy soup can be VERY spicy, so we went for the plain version.  In fact there were quite a lot of ingredients inside - tofu, mushrooms, turnip etc.  If you want to try both, you can pay an extra $10 for the dual soup style.

While the soup boils, we had to collect the soy sauce and any other seasoning of our choice.  There were a great many choices for us to pick.

Here's the menu

Suchuan Hot Pot Set for 2

Beef Chuck & Blade (8 pcs) 美國雪花肥牛

Iberian Pork or Sliced Lamb (4 pcs) 西班牙黑豚肉或羊肉片

Chicken (4 pcs) 鮮雞件

Grass Carp Belly or Sliced Grass Carp (4 pcs) 鮮鯇魚骨腩或鮮鯇魚片

Beef Tripe (4 pcs) 白毛肚

Mushroom Ball + Fish Ball (4 each) 香菇貢丸, 潮州白魚丸

Enko Mushroom + Chinese Lettuce + Sweet Corn 金菇菜, 唐生菜, 甜粟米

Homemade Dumplings (4 pcs) 家鄉抄手

Sichuan Flat Noddles or Vermicelli or Instant Noodles 四川紹粉或龍口粉絲或公仔面

Complimentary Roseller Drink (2 glasses)

These cool drinks were just good to balance the heat from the hot pot.  I like it.  (See top photo - the tall glass next to the hot pot)

Sweet Potato Soup

To wrap up the meal, we had two desserts which were also free.  Quite an old fashion Hong Kong style dessert.  Just didn't expect to have this in a Sichuan restaurant.  After all, we were extremely full and happy.  I generally eat one meal a day, but my friend also gave up dinner!

Hot Pot Set for 2: HK$168

Cost of Tea: HK$12 per person

Service charge:  10%

Total:  HK$211.12 (US$27)

Sichuan Paradise

3/F One Capital Place

18 Luard Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Tel:  2205-0020

Hong Kong Food Blog - Sichuan Hot Pot

Sichuan Holiday Special Lunch Set

The commercial areas in Wanchai had very little people over holidays, because people simply don't need to go to work.  Hence the restaurants in that area are offering holiday specials to attract the neighborhood residents.  Here's one that drew my attention.  

Sichuan Paradise had unanimous great reviews over the internet, namely good environment, good services, good food and good value of money.  Rarely I see a restaurant with that kind of rating.  So I've decided to give it a try over the Easter Holiday.  Indeed, this restaurant is wonderful and I must agree with all the positive reviews from the internet.

6-Course Lunch Set for Two - HK$138

The restaurant is situated on the 3rd floor of a commercial building. It was a Sunday, so we had no difficulties accessing a lift.  Undoubtedly it's interior design really offers a very comfortable eating environment.   And the waiters are friendly. We simply couldn't resist the special offer of HK$138 for two people. While we ate, we even doubt if HK$138 is really for two persons or one. 

In fact, they didn't shrink the dish size to compromise the price.  The prices are special but the dish sizes are regular.  Here's what we got.

Marinated Black Fungus 涼拌小木耳

A very healthy cold cut starter.  Black and white fungus with sliced cucumber and sesame.

Deep Fried Chicken with Dried Chilli 霸王辣子雞

This is really authentic Sichuan taste.  It made us cry.  If you love chilli food, here is really a paradise.

Dan Dan Noodle 擔擔面

Each one of us had a bowl of Dan Dan noodle which was served in three degrees of spicy.   I love spicy food but don't want to put on too much heat, so I opted for the minimal level.  

Pan Fried Dumplings 生煎鍋貼

These dumplings are very juicy and delicious.  I spilled some of juice so I took extra care in eating the second one.  It happened again, because it was so juicy.

Sliced Pork in Garlic and Chilli Sauce 蒜泥白肉

One more cold cut dish.  May be I can say this is the Chinese style bacon.  The very thin slices of pork and cucumber with garlic and chilli sauce, very delicious and healthy combination.

Red Bean Syrup 紅豆沙

Quite a common dessert, but well done.  Great to wrap up our meal.

Very spacious booth

No wonder everyone say that this restaurant offers comfortable eating environment.  And there are reasonable space between tables.  Good setting!

Pickles: Free

Pickles are generally charged at HK$10 per dish.  But we got them free as we were on holiday special.

Lunch Set for Two: HK$138

Tea cost: HK$12 per person

Service charge: 10%

Total:  HK$178 (US$22.8)

Other holiday specials
Lunch set for Two: HK$128
Hot Pot set for Two: HK$168/288
Some half-price hot picks.  

I think I must come again to try the hot pot set - 9-course for HK$168 is not bad at all for two persons.

Sichuan Paradise 天府人家

3/F One Capital Place

18 Luard Road, Wanchai

Hong Kong

Tel:  2205-0020

Hong Kong Food Blog - Holiday Sichuan Special

Macau Luxury Dinner

I had a day off yesterday and visited Macau. Well I would want to include some Macau food info in this blog. Because people visit Hong Kong always visit Macau together. I’m a frequent Macau visitor, and would want to share with you my dining experience there.

Jardin De Jade had my favourite dish – smoke duck – on their menu at very attractive price - MOP40/half and MOP68/whole – according to some information at the Macau Pier.

First, we were completely happy with the lovely and clean environment along with the friendly waiters.

We had some default appetizers (vegetable, ham and pumpkin) so we can start eating even before ordering.

Jardin De Jade - we had little booth, a semi private dining area.

The Appetizer - Vege, ham, pumpkin - MOP20. Lovely, colorful and well presented. We liked it.

Drunk Chicken - One of our favourites. I had never heard my sister kept saying 'yummy' while eating. In fact, this drunk chicken was extremely pleasing and delicious. We even tried to drink the soup. Very yummy and delicious. (MOP66)

Smoke Duck 樟茶鴨 - it's great that I find a place nearby to eat my favourite smoke duck. I don't need to fly to Beijing for it, at least. But the info from the pier was absolutely out dated. On the menu, it was MOP78/half and MOP108/whole. But the strange thing was that we paid only MOP55 at last for a half duck. We didn't know why we were offered the discount.

Buns to go with the duck. Same as eating Peking duck. Freshly steamed, hot and soft. Extremely comfortable to eat with the duck. And also we were served some sweet and sour sauce.

Abalone Mushroom with Vegetables. As a matter of balance diet, we always order vegetables. They were cooked with chicken broth, tasted very well. (MOP52)
Briased noodle. We always want some rice or noodle to wrap up a meal. This Yangzhou style noodle in soup is light, healthy and yummy. (MOP42)
I liked also the utencils from this restaurant. They are all tailored made. Tea pot, chop sticks, napkins, everything had their trademark on it.
The hotel where the restaurant situated is celecrating its 5th anniversary. I thought this could be the reason we had discount on the signature dish (smoke duck). I took this photo becasue I wanted to turn that $5,000,000 into real cash. Unfortunately I had no luck in this trip and end up losing money.

Dinner date: November 29, 2011
Number of People: 2
Cost: MOP285 (US$35.5), inclusive of 10% service charge
Restaurant name: Jardin De Jade 蘇浙匯
Restaurant address: 6/F, Star World Hotel, Macau
Restaurant telephone: 853-8290-8638

Note: This restaurant has a branch in Hong Kong (at Sun Hung Kai Centre in Wanchai).

Hong Kong Food Blog - Smoke Duck from Macau

Authentic Mapo Tofu

There are many place in Hong Kong serving mapo tofu. But the most authentic one is from Tanyoto ( 譚魚頭 ). I don't mean to advertise for them, but their product tastes the same as that of Sichuan Restaurant's in Beijing. If you love spicy food, this is the place you must go. Mind you, they are going to paralyse your tongue.

麻婆豆付 Mapo Tofu HK$58 (US$7.4)

口水鷄 Spicy Chicken HK$38 (US$4.9)
Likewise, the spicy chicken here at Tanyoto is the most authentic.
Tanyoto has three branches in Hong Kong, two in Beijing and two in Shanghai. You can also find them in 20 other cities in China.

Hong Kong Chinese Food - Mapo Tofu

Chicken Roll

Some time ago, I had this special deal from Tanyoto. Their tea time starts 2.30 pm. Can't you imagine this special set costed only HK$19.8 (US$2.5) ?

Chicken Roll

A thin sheet of chicken meat rolling some vegetable inside,

coated with smashed garlic and pungent sauce.

Beef Noodle
Hong Kong Chinese Food

Discounted Sichuan Dinner

We have a discount coupon from Tanyoto, so we went there for a Sunday dinner. Sichuan restaurant in a Cantonese society serves also some Cantonese dishes. We had a combination tonight. The Fish Fraquent Sliced Pork is only graded as slightly hot. The other Fish Maw dish is Cantonese.

A La Carte Six Course Dinner for Two:
Fish Fraquent Sliced Pork
Mushroom Fish Maw with Vegetable
Dan Dan Noodle
Sichuan Dumpling
Almond Tea
Coconut Pudding
Total cost: HK$285, less HK$50 cash coupon, we paid HK$240 (US$30.7) including tips.

Fish Fraquent Sliced Pork 魚香肉絲

There is no fish in this dish, why is it called Fish Fraquent?

Because Sichuan is a basin, people seldom had a chance to eat fish.

So they name it 'fish' just to imagine that they are eating fish.

Mushroom Fish Maw and Vegetable 北菇花膠菜苗
Hong Kong Chinese Food

A Special Priced Red Dinner

Dinner date: August 13, 2008
Number of People: Four
Cost: HK$360 (US$46), plus 10% service charge
Restaurant name: Tanyoto Restaurant Hong Kong Branch
Restaurant address: 129-135 Johonston Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Restaurant telephone: 852-2893-9268
Anna's comment: If you are not a spicy fan, this Sichuan set dinner could be scary. They are all very hot and spicy. Our tongues were paralyzed. Even the vegetable was stir fired with red pepper. The only non spicy dish was my favourite smoked duck. And of course the fruits and dessert at the end was completely admired as they gave us a cool feeling in the mouth.

- Spicy chicken
- Fish in water
- Stir fried Panopea abrupta
- Smoked duck
- Mapo Tofu
- Stir fried vegetable
- Fruit platter
- Almond tea

This is the authentic Mapo Tofu, from Tanyoto's Sichuan chef

We all voted that this was the hottest dish of the night

麻婆豆付 - 辣得口中噴火

Spicy Chicken 口水鷄，辣到流眼淚
Smoked Duck 樟茶鴨
Stir Fried Vegetable 炒油麦菜
Stir Fried Panopea Abrupta 炒象拔蚌
Fish in Water

Though its name is Fish in Water, it is actually cooked

with chilli pepper. We all voted that this was the

second hottest dish of the night

水煮魚，辣到舌頭麻木

Hong Kong Chinese Food - Sichuen Set Dinner

My Favourite Sichuan Smoked Duck

My niece bought me dim sum lunch today. We went to Tanyoto, one of the most authentic Sichuan restaurants in Hong Kong. Smoked duck is one of my most favourite Sichuan dishes. However I still think that the smoked duck that I ate at the Sichuan Restaurant within Prince Gong Palace in Beijing is the best.

Smoked Duck with Camphor Wood & Tea Leaves 樟茶鴨 Hong Kong Chinese Food - Smoked Duck

May 4 Dim Sum Lunch

Today is May 4th Movement 89th Anniversary. Well, it has nothing to do with eating, but it is a Sunday, so I go on a dim sum lunch, as usual. Tanyoto serves authentic Sichuan cuisine, however with some localised Cantonese dim sum. Today I have a combination of both and some of the dishes really look nice and tastes yummy.

Baked Oyster with Red Wine 紅酒焗生蠔

HK$48 (US$6.2) Sunday special price

Spicy Wanton - Sichuan Style 紅油抄手

HK$18 (US$2.3)
Sweet Dumpling with Sesame Pastry Filling - Cantonese 擂沙湯丸
Hong Kong Chinese Food - Sichuan and Cantonese

My Combined Shanghai/Sichuan Dinner

Dinner date: April 25, 2008
Occasion: Casual dinner
Number of People: One
Cost: HK$105 (US$13.5), including 10% service charge
Restaurant name: Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao 翡翠拉面小笼包
Restaurant address: 3/F Tai Yau Arcade, 181 Johnston Road, Hong Kong (has other branches)Restaurant telephone: 852-2573-8844
Anna's comment: This restaurant serves a combined menu of Beijing, Shanghai and Sichuan food.

Shanghainese Beancurd Jelly Noodle Soup 油豆付粉絲湯

This is a signature Shanghainese dish.

Ingredients include soft beancurd, jelly noodle, sliced mushroom and pork,

dry shrimps and vegetables

Sichuan Fried Rice 四川炒飯
Hong Kong Chinese Food - Shanghai/ Sichuan