Right before I made the trip down to Pacific Place, I tried to look for information on Dim Sum Library's head chef Leung Kok-wah but there's very little available other than the fact that he had a stint at Man Wah, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental.
I have never been much of a fan of any restaurants under the Aqua Group but perhaps the contemporary spin on Cantonese dim sums here can change that this afternoon.
Black truffle shrimp dumplings (黑松露蝦餃) ($58) - Our parade of modern dim sum started with a box of delicious shrimp dumplings. There's a bit of black truffle everywhere from the wrapper to the shrimps inside. Not the first time I had my har gow with black truffle but these were surprisingly tasty. Can't believe the fast start we're having!
Hokkaido king crab and sea urchin spring rolls (海膽蟹肉春卷) ($88) - I have read mixed reviews on this item with many claiming the spring rolls to be too flavorful for the king crab and sea urchin. But I thought they were pretty nicely matched.
The sea urchin was a little bit overpowering but I could still taste the king crab meat within the crispy skin. Won't mind having another one of these at all.
Deep-fried taro puff with foie gras (鵝肝芋角) ($68) - Pretty decent but I like my taro puff to be a little more flaky and I certainly won't mind more foie gras in the filling.
Black garlic pork dumplings (黑蒜燒賣) ($58) - I was looking for the black garlic everywhere.
Turned out it's been hidden right in the middle of the dumpling. Interesting idea!
Crispy rice flour roll stuffed with squid mousse (花枝響鈴炸両) ($78) - We had something similar at China Tang a couple of weeks ago called steamed rice flour rolls filled with crispy tofu sheet and seafood (嚮鈴海鮮腸粉) but this was way better.
From each of these layers, there's a bit different texture and flavor. First, there's the rice flour roll, then the you tiao (油條) and finally, the stuffing of squid mousse. A well-designed dish with very nice results.
Dan dan xiao long bao (擔擔湯包) ($68) - The obvious crowd pleaser here as everyone had one of these on their table. This was really flavourful and spicy with mala sauce. Underneath the thin wrapper was spiced nutty minced beef with Sichuan tones and of course, a warm broth reminiscing of the broth in the classic dan dan noodles. Definitely not a bad choice especially for those interested in the burst of spicy flavors.
Steamed Matsutake mushroom bao (松茸冬菇包) ($62) - My little one's favorite with lots of chopped Matsutake mushrooms.
Wild mushroom dumplings with beetroot (紅菜頭野菌餃) ($58) - This wasn't bad but somehow the marriage between beetroot and wild mushrooms didn't work out as well as I thought they would.
Beef ball filled with Yunnan morel (羊肚菌軟心牛肉球) ($58) - I was quite interested in the marriage of beef ball and morel mushrooms. Could they make this work?
I had trouble understanding the concept behind this one though. Didn't see this coming with runny morel purée stuffed inside the beef ball. Probably, the least successful dish of the afternoon, along with the siu mai.
Soy braised e-fu noodles with prawns (蝦球炆伊麵) ($188) - The noodles and prawns were pretty nice but I had trouble finding out what the sauce was made of. Judging by its color, I first thought it was made with prawn heads and coral but the flavors didn't match. That was still unsolved mystery at this point.
The execution on some of these dishes was far from perfect but I like the cutting-edge and ground breaking ideas behind their unconventional take on Cantonese dim sums. Sometimes, it's all about taking chances.
Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 124, Level 1, Pacific Place, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Admiralty
Tel: +852 3643-0088
Website: www.dimsumlibrary.com.hk
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