I was reading about this place a couple nights ago and it quickly caught my attention when I realized that the café was behind the same management that owns high-end Chinese restaurants China Tang and Island Tang. So this has to be good, right?
Well too early to tell but the contemporary design certainly scored some pretty impressive points right from the get go.
Banana milkshake (香蕉奶昔) ($48) - I don't usually see milkshakes very often from a local café so whenever I see one, I normally make the most of it. Very nice creamy flavor and a very refreshing start.
Baked puff pastry with turnip filling (蘿蔔絲酥) ($18) - Both China Tang and Island Tang are excellent with their dim sums so of course I owe it to myself that I at least try a few of their dim sums as my appetizers. This one was the best of the bunch. Very flaky puff pastry wrapping around thin stripes of tasty turnips. That was nicely done.
Steamed pork dumplings with kimchi (泡菜豚肉燒賣) ($18) - Every restaurant is introducing dishes with a Korean twist and the latest one, Tang2's siu mai (or steamed pork dumpling) with kimchi courtesy of the innovative chefs here. Despite drawing mixed reviews from the four of us, I thought it was not a bad move at all.
Baked barbecued pork buns "in pineapple shape" (菠蘿叉燒包) ($18) - Interesting description they've got here on the menu but anyways, slightly disappointing to say the least.
Steamed xiao long bao with lobster bisque (龍蝦湯小籠包) ($18) - After all, this is not a Shangainese restaurant so I don't blame them for not knowing how to make a good xiao long bao. Like the contemporary twist on paper when they choose to use a lobster bisque as the broth but the result was less than satisfying.
I could name a number of reasons why it failed - wrapper too thick, meat too dry, zero soup inside the bun.......end of story.
Signature baked pork chop on rice (馳名焗豬扒飯) ($84) - Onto our main dishes now, this was a highly touted item on the menu and we knew we had to squeeze this one in.
The minced meat with the tomato sauce was a pretty slick move but I thought the baked pork chop was even better. A little expensive but certainly worth a go.
Tang2 signature chicken rice (招牌雞飯) ($84) - Another house specialty here. They didn't mention it in the menu but this was in fact a Hainan chicken (海南雞飯) with the usual chicken oil rice. The chicken was tender and flavorful but again the portion was a little small.
Stewed wagyu beef with onions, Peking scallions and spring onions (三蔥和牛肋肉) ($138) - Apart from all the dim sums and "char chan teng" (Hong Kong style tea restaurants) favorites, the restaurant also offers a small selection of upscale dishes including braised abalone, pan seared scallops with sea urchin and crystal king prawn in lobster bisque just to satisfy those with a deeper wallet.
Despite not owning a deep wallet, I decided to try this braised wagyu beef out from those elite items. I thought it slightly exceeded my expectation. The texture was soft as if it has been slow cooked for hours and the sauce was full of wonderful flavors from the 3 types of onions.
The bill comes to $550 for the four of us, which was considered a little steep but I like the quality of some of those dishes. The only thing I want to see is perhaps a little more consistency across the board (less hit-and-miss items) and slightly bigger portion.
Food Rating: 4.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Unit G09C, G/F, Cheung SHa Wan Plaza, 833 Cheung Sha Wan Road, Lai Chi Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok
Tel: +852 2341-5788
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