Mid autumn festival is often the time when we thought about Spring Moon (嘉麟樓), largely because of their famous moon cakes but I know I can always count on their dim sum too.
The place was pretty packed but fortunately I made this reservation a couple of days in advance.
I've always said they have got the best honey roasted walnuts in town.
Baked barbecued pork puffs (叉燒酥) ($57) - One of my personal favorites here.
The pastry was very crispy and mouthwatering as was often the case but I thought the portion of pork and sauce was a little light on this afternoon. What I've always enjoyed about these pork puffs was the way the BBQ pork sauce oozed out on my first bite but somehow that part was missing today (7/10).
Pan fried rice flour rolls with XO chili sauce (XO 醬炒蝦米腸) ($88) - I am never a big fan of this dish but this was pretty good. Nice and soft with the perfect touch of XO chili sauce (6.5/10).
Crispy rolls filled with fresh crab meat (生拆蟹肉金網卷) ($57) - My very first time having this dish and it was another solid offering. Love the fresh crab meat together with the thin and flaky wrap. Very nice (7/10).
Golden mashed taro with diced abalone, chicken and black mushrooms (鮑魚雞粒芋角) ($63) - Another one of my favorites here but this time around, it didn't have the usual flaky texture. Definitely the most disappointing dish on the afternoon (4/10).
Steamed pork and shrimp dumplings with crab roe (蟹籽大蝦燒賣) ($57) - Pretty tasty and the shrimp was absolutely huge (6.5/10).
Crispy chicken smoked with tea leaves (茶皇煙燻脆皮雞) ($260) - That was it for dim sum as we moved onto other dishes starting with their signature crispy chicken. The chicken was very tender but I thought the smoky scent from the tea leaves was a little heavy for me (6/10).
Braised e-fu noodles with fish maw and conpoy (花膠瑤柱炆伊麵) ($270) - We had the house special fried vermicelli with crab meat and egg last time and thought it was good but not great. This time, we decided to try our luck on their braised e-fu noodles with fish maw and dried scallops.
Is it just me and were these e-fu noodles slightly thicker than the typical ones we had? Anyways, this was pretty delicious. The noodles were flavorful with just the right balance of seasoning. Thought the bite was good but would have been even better if there's a little more fish maw in it (7/10).
Steamed red date cake flavored with coconut (乾清棗皇糕) ($54) - This was how we usually end a lunch at Spring Moon, a nice basket of steamed red date cake with coconut. Very rich and intense flavors of red dates. Love it (8/10).
For whatever reason, I was less satisfied than I usually was walking out of those doors today. Was the food good like it usually was? Absolutely. But was there an element of surprise from the menu? Not really. As a matter of fact, it's been the same old dim sum menu all over again and quite honestly, I had trouble picking out the items I really like. I think they should take a serious look at their food menu again and try to breath some new life in there.
Food for thought: Perhaps with something more interesting and innovative like they have at Greater China Club (大公館)?
Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 1/F, The Peninsula Hong Kong, 19-21 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2696-6760
Website: http://hongkong.peninsula.com/en/fine-dining/spring-moon-chinese-restaurant
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