Since I have been looking for a place to bring my family out for lunch this weekend, I thought I should pay Xiqu Centre a quick visit while I check out Moon Lok Chinese Restaurant (滿樂中菜) at the first floor podium all in one go.
Moon Lok is brought to us by the folks behind Pak Loh Chiu Chow Restaurant so we know Chiu Chow cuisine would play a role in today's lunch for sure.
Honey glazed BBQ pork and coriander rice rolls (香茜蜜汁叉燒腸) - But first off, some Cantonese dim sum. This was for our little guy. It was pretty decent but definitely not the best rice roll I've had in recent memory.
Steamed beef ball with bean curd (鮮竹牛肉球) - Another one of my little guy's favorite. Not bad.
Steamed beef tripe with homemade sauce (珠荳醬皇金錢肚) - Very tender but a little heavy handed with the spicy homemade sauce.
Cantonese caramel sponge cake (焦糖原籠馬拉糕) - A lot of dim sum were going fast this afternoon and it's only 1pm. I was so disappointed when we were found out their baked barbecued pork pastry with dried orange peel (遠年陳皮叉燒酥) was all sold out.
In order to make sure that I got my hands on their traditional sponge cake, I decided to order it a little early. This turned out to be very soft and pillowy, and the touch of caramel was right on the money. Very nice.
Stir fried vermicelli with shrimp and pumpkin (招牌金瓜炒米粉) - Since most dim sum were gone fast and furious (the dim sum chef already gone by 1pm?), I thought it's time to check out their fried noodles and rice.
This was touted as one of their signature dishes and it definitely didn't disappoint. The vermicelli had such nice texture, combining well with the pork, shrimp, pumpkin, cabbage, leeks and rest of the goodies. Another thing I love about this dish was the seasoning. It was very very light which allowed the natural flavors of the ingredients to shine. Excellent work!
Fried rice with minced beef, spring onion and garlic (滿樂葱絲牛肉崧煨飯) - Supposedly another house specialty here. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Chiu Chow style fried rice which tends to be more soupy than our Cantonese version but this was an outlier. Despite being a little more soupy for my liking, I thought it was pretty delicious thanks to the abundance of spring onion and garlic. Didn't expect such fine results with this mix (I know dry fried rice with the earthy notes of spring onion and garlic but soupy fried rice!?).
After lunch, we brought our little guy around the Xiqu Centre to soak in the atmosphere. I knew the building work has commenced a long time ago but didn't realize it all started in 2013 until I got to see the documentary in the middle of the centre highlighting every milestone of the building project.
I think Hong Kong needs more of these iconic landmarks not only for the sake of arts but in a broader sense, places where we can bring our next generation to. Places about our past and present where they can be proud of.
Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Shop 2-4, 1/F, Xiqu Centre, 88 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3622-1449
Website: www.facebook.com/moonlok.chinese/
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