It's only 10 days before Christmas but the holiday spirit is noticeably down this year with the social unrest and a number of other issues in the background. Our early celebration meal is taking place at Spring Moon (嘉麟樓). It's my call all the way (cuz I'm settling the bill) but Jelloman is helping to gather the usual participants.
Before our meal officially started, I spotted a celebrity couple stepping into the restaurant. They've got to be the best looking couple in the local show biz these days. I thought the wife was the prettiest Miss Hong Kong the city has seen in a long while. Guess it's pretty obvious who they are!!!
Some caramelized walnuts to start the meal at Spring Moon as usual. I could smell some tea flavors in there this time. Perhaps they've been smoked with tea?
Baked barbecued pork puffs (香焗叉燒酥) ($78) - My favorite baked barbecued pork puffs in the city. It felt like the puff pastry was a little bit "thick" this afternoon but flaky and buttery as usual. Not bad.
Baked turnip puffs with assorted fungus and black truffle sauce (蘿蔔千絲松露花瓶酥) ($78) - Finally, something new.
I have always enjoyed coming to Spring Moon but I had to admit that their dim sum menu looks a little dated and boring at times. But this was a breath of fresh air. Inside the super flaky crust made with shredded turnip were diced fungus which were drizzled in a sublime black truffle sauce. Very nice texture and combination of flavors there.
Golden mashed taro with diced abalone and chicken (鮑魚雞粒荔芋盒) ($88) - Another dim sum I always order here.
Underneath the crispy outer layer were diced abalone and chicken. The abalone sauce did well to tie everything together neatly.
Steamed vegetarian dumplings with assorted mushrooms and carrots (松茸翡翠上素餃) ($78) - After the big three, things were about to get a little boring. The steamed vegetarian dumplings weren't bad. Thin wrapper and lovely fine chopped mushrooms and vegetables. Never a bad combination.
Steamed shrimp dumplings with bamboo shoots (筍尖鮮蝦餃) ($88) - Not bad.
Steamed pork and shrimp dumplings with scallop (帶子燒賣) ($88) - Boring.
Steamed chicken rolls with abalone, fish maw, black mushrooms and vegetables (水晶翡翠滑雞扎) ($98) - Something for my little nugget. This is obviously a premium version of steamed chicken rolls with fish maw right in the middle of the action.
A little surprised to see luffa featured in this one.
Steamed minced beef balls with dried fungus, bamboo pith and tangerine peel (榆耳竹笙陳皮牛肉球) ($88) - Another dish for little guy. Surprisingly, he didn't resist the deep flavors of the tangerine peel.
Steamed rice flour rolls with barbecued Hungarian manglica pork (匈牙利鬈毛豬叉燒腸粉) ($108) - I don't know why the chefs here are so obsessed with Hungarian manglica pork. The pork meat was a little chewy today and noticeably less flavorful than our preferred Iberico pork.
Fried vermicelli with crab meat and egg (蟹肉金絲米粉) ($298) - Things got back on the right track thanks to a couple of well-executed noodle and rice dishes. The fried vermicelli coated nicely with egg was again very very tasty. Only if they could throw in a bit more crab meat, it would be perfect for me.
Braised fried rice with diced abalone and chicken (鮑魚粒雞粒撈飯) ($300) - The fried rice was braised inside a clay pot.
I could smell this from long way out. This was very delicious. Every grain of rice was coated with the rich flavored abalone sauce. Texture book stuff.
For whatever reason, there were very few Christmas decorations at the malls this year. Ironically, the one presented here just outside The Verandah was more exciting than any one we've seen so far. Of course, little one couldn't resist spending some time circling around the mini-city model.
Back to the meal at Spring Moon for a moment, I thought this afternoon's dishes were very good to start (the first three) but like our previous meals here, it went into an anticlimax before hitting the highs again with the two rice and noodle dishes. It's really a borderline Michelin starred experience. I'm happy that they got their star back last year (based on its rich history in the city) but I'm not sure if they fully deserve it.
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: www.peninsula.com/en/hong-kong/hotel-fine-dining/spring-moon-cantonese
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