My self-imposed ban on dining out is temporarily lifted this afternoon and there's a very good reason for it. Today's lunch venue is not any restaurant in town but the No.1 restaurant in all of Asia (2021) - The Chairman (大班樓). Not surprisingly, it's been one of the toughest tables to get for a while thanks to its meteoric rise the last two years.
To be honest, I have all but forgotten about this booking since it's been made more than three months ago but thankfully, I have a habit of jotting things down on my iPhone calendar and I was alerted of the "event" ahead of the all-important meal.
Slow-cooked soup with cordyceps root and pork (蟲草花豬展湯) – My partner in crime is my friend with the spoiled palate, Agent-I. We both agreed that we should be starting things off with the daily soup today which was double-boiled soup with cordyceps root and pork rather than the vegetarian soup.
This was very soothing to the palate and what a nice feeling it was to start the meal with something as soul warming as this.
Crispy fermented tofu with Szechuan chili and bean paste (大班樓鹹魚臭豆腐) – Neither Agent-I or myself is a fan of stinky tofu but as it's a signature dish around here, it was something that was impossible to turn away from.
We could smell these from miles away but to our pleasant surprise, they tasted much much better than they smelt. In fact, we thought the fermented flavors were very mild.
I really like the crispy crust and the special sauce made with salted fish (鹹魚) was a surprisingly good match.
Smoked baby pigeon with Longjing tea and chrysanthemum (龍井菊花煙燻乳鴿) – This came with some really lovely smoky tea flavors (but not so much chrysanthemum).
It was really tender but if I had to choose between the two starters, I probably go with the fermented tofu again.
Pork belly slow-cooked with preserved Chinese vegetables (乾梅菜陳皮扣肉) – Steamed flowery crab with aged Shaoxing wine and fragrant chicken oil (雞油花雕蒸花蟹配陳村粉) is the signature main dish here but Agent-I and I decided to have something simple instead. This would match the description of a simple, hearty dish and I was betting on the fact that it would go well with my steamed rice.
The wobbly pork belly was really delicious but I thought the preserved Chinese vegetables were a little on the sweet side.
Yeah, as expected the melt-in-the-mouth pork belly worked really well with the steamed rice. I love simple hearty dishes like this.
Baked chicken with caramelized shallots and onion (慢煮薑蔥煀滑雞) – The other main dish was slow-cooked baby chicken but I thought the caramelized shallots and onion really stole the show here.
Double-boiled Chinese sweet soup (生磨杏仁茶) – Dessert was another house specialty, Chinese-style almond cream.
It was pretty thick like hot almond milk.
This was a pretty tasty and enjoyable lunch we had today. No fancy ingredients like flower crab but it felt like elevated home cooking from start to finish. It's safe to say that I'm already looking forward to my next visit, which will be some time in mid March.
Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$
Address: G/F, 18 Kau U Fong, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2555-2202
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm daily
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 10th (2021)
S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 1st (2021)
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