Tin Lung Heen 天龍軒 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Every restaurant is trying to get through this difficult time largely unscathed. There are campaigns like #unitedwedine to support the local restaurant business. Other restaurants are teaming up with food delivery service providers (Foodpanda, Deliveroo etc.) to get their business afloat. You think the high-end restaurants won't get into the act? Think again.



Early this month, Ritz Carlton Hong Kong launched their 9th anniversary promotions which included some special discounted prices for their F&B arm, including Tin Lung Heen (天龍軒) and Tosca di Angelo. I wasted no time getting online and claiming two coupons from Tin Lung Heen (of course, need to secure a table at the same time).



It's been a very dismal week with poor weather conditions (albeit no rain). I'm sure every Hongkonger is experiencing some dismal mood as well with the uncertainty of how long this coronavirus oubreak will drag on.



It's nice to know that your restaurant staff have your back covered. The team has already prepared envelopes for us to secure our face masks.



As soon as we got settled down, we were offered some caramelized cashews with sesame.



Barbecued pork with osmanthus flower honey (桂花蜜汁叉燒) - It's a multi-course menu that they were serving so let's go on with it. You can't go wrong by kicking off the meal with the restaurant's signature barbecued pork glazed with osmanthus blossom honey. Not surprisingly, the succulent char siu came with the wonderful fragrance of osmanthus from top to bottom. 



Steamed turnip cake and preserved meat topped with fish maw in X.O. chili sauce (X.O.醬花膠蘿蔔糕) - There was no sign of any fish maw but this was very tasty thanks to the finishing touch of X.O chili sauce.



Double-boiled pork shin soup with pork tendon and red date (豬腱紅棗燉蹄筋) - I have always been a huge fan of Executive Chef Paul Lau's double-boiled soup.



This was really rich and full of flavors. There was warmth and comfort, with pure flavors of the pork and red dates shining through beautifully. Having absorbed the richness of the soup, even the pork shin and tendon became precious crown jewels. Easily the best dish of the afternoon.



Steamed rice roll with shrimp and crab roes (蟹籽鮮蝦腸粉) ($125) - For a moment, we stepped away from the set menu and enjoyed some dim sum from the a la carte menu, starting with the steamed rice rolls with shrimp and crab roes.



This tasted a little weird. With the addition of crab roes, the typical shrimp rice rolls have turned into something that tasted like mentaiko (明太子), which was a bit unusual. 



Deep-fried bean curd sheet roll with scallop and tomato (番茄帶子腐皮卷) ($110) - My mistake of not reading the English translation and thinking that it was a steamed version of bean curd sheet roll served in tomato broth (we had something like that at Yan Toh Heen not long ago). Little nugget wasn't impressed with the deep-fried version at all so I had this dish all for myself. 

This wasn't bad though. The crispy bean curd sheet worked wonders with the tomato purée and diced scallops so a real blessing in disguise for me to enjoy all four slices.



Baked barbecued pork bun with almond flakes (杏仁雪影焗叉燒包) ($110) - The baked barbecued pork buns looks good with crushed almond flakes on top.



Little nugget always loves his char siu bao.



This was really good. The proportion of dough, barbecued pork and sauce was perfect.



After we finished with our dim sum, we switched back to the stir-fry dishes from the set menu.



Pan-fried scallop with tomato served with crispy rice cracker (番茄脆餅煎帶子) - I wasn't particularly happy with the fact that the scallops have been thinly sliced. An average dish at the very best and I didn't get the part where they paired the scallops with the rice cracker.



Sauteed Chinese kale with pine nuts (松子炒芥蘭) - Some crunchy Chinese kale from the wok. Always love that. Won't mind some ginger in there too.



Wok-fried chicken with straw mushroom and spring onion (草菇蔥爆雞球) - Not bad.



Fried rice with diced abalone, goose and shrimp wrapped in lotus leaf (鮑粒荷葉飯) - The fried rice had a lot of fragrance from the lotus leaf, and it's stuffed with diced abalone, goose meat and shrimp. Very nice.



Here comes our petite fours. They even have a set for little nugget, which was a very nice gesture.



Chilled milk pudding with black truffle (黑松露奶凍) - The panna cotta came with very rich black truffle flavor.



Deep-fried sachima topped with dragon's bread candy (蜜絲蕯琪瑪) - I love having Chinese rice crispies (or sachima) but the glutinous rice dumpling with lotus seed paste stole the show.



I didn't recall having one bad meal at Tin Lung Heen at all. Okay, maybe one from 2017 but that's about all. In fact, there's a reason why I picked this place for my little nugget's 100-day celebration party. Food has always been very good but it was their heartwarming service that truly counts.





Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 102/F, The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, International Commerce Centre, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon
Tel: +852 2263-2270
Website: www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/china/hong-kong/dining/tin-lung-heen
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Mon - Fri), 11:30am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Sat - Sun)