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

After two relatively quiet days to start off the Year of the Tiger, I am going to ramp up the celebration activities a bit in the next couple of days, starting with lunch at one of my favorite Chinese restaurants in town, Tin Lung Heen (天龍軒).

I didn't ask for the window seats today and, little one and mom couldn't care less. They both love coming here wherever they sit. The restaurant is currently serving a New Year celebration menu and since I wasn't in the mood to check out the a la carte menu, I was all too happy to take the special menu instead.

Something to whet our appetite before the delicious parade of gourmet food arrives.

First up as always, the dim sum platter but of course they changed it up a bit for the occasion. I didn't get any instructions from our server but I am starting things off from left to right as usual.

Deep-fried bean curd stuffed with scallop and chives (韭菜帶子腐皮卷) – The bean curd roll was really nice and crispy, and the fillings of scallops and chives both a very good match.

Baked air-dried oyster puff with roasted goose (原隻金蠔燒鵝酥) – Mom and little nugget's favorite. Again, really amazing match between the oyster and roasted goose meat, with the crispy puff providing the exclamation point with its crunch.

Pan-fried cake stuffed with wagyu beef and spring onion (青蔥和牛煎餅) – I first thought this was a "throw-in" to make it a nice trio but it turned out to be no slouch. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised with the mochi-like texture of the pan-fried cake with the wagyu, spring onion and super tangy sauce all oozing out at the right time from my every bite.

Steamed egg white with scallop and crab meat in crab roe sauce (珊瑚帶子蟹肉蒸蛋白) – The parade continues with another mouthwatering dish featuring steamed egg white topped beautifully with two jumbo-sized scallops, and finished off nicely with a umami-rich crab roe sauce.

The egg white and scallops meshed really well together but what tied everything up so brilliantly was the incredible crab roe sauce providing the dish with a much-needed strong finish.

Braised bird's nest soup with fish maw and conpoy (花膠瑤柱燕窩羹) – I was really hoping to get one of Chef Lau's double-boiled soups today but for Chinese New Year, they have decided to saved it for another day. Trading place with their double-boiled soup was a more premium one. Premium as in the ingredients that included bird's nest and fish maw.

I have never been a huge fan of bird's nest soup but I thought the broth was really heart-warming. Of course, it never hurt to have a ton of fish maw strings and bird's nest in there too.

Stewed wagyu beef cheek with lily bulb in red wine sauce (百合紅酒炆和牛面頰) – Very tender and flavorful. The red wine gravy was the perfect icing on the cake. I thought the lily bulb added some really nice crunch to the mix.

Up until this point, I have not stopped praising the dishes coming out of the kitchen today. But yes, you all knew they couldn't keep this up forever, right?

Fried rice with diced abalone, goose and dried shrimp wrapped in lotus leaf (蝦乾爆粒荷葉飯) – Having been in Cloud Nine all afternoon, we are finally back on "earth". The fried rice wasn't bad but the temperature wasn't right.

I love the large dried shrimp (for presentation) but I would much prefer it to be diced and mixed with the fried rice.

Chilled mango cream with sago and pomelo (香芒楊枝甘露) – The set came with chilled mango cream with sago and pomelo, mom's favorite dessert. Not bad.

Steamed sponge cake with raspberry (紅桑子馬拉盞) – Some small mignardises including the steamed sponge cakes with raspberry. I could hardly take more food at this point.

There's a reason why I keep coming back here time and time again; it's the fact that they never seem to disappoint. I made a little mess for ourselves this afternoon by arriving approximately an hour late but the kitchen did a heck of a job with pacing so we could finish in time just before 1pm. Just amazing work!

Food Rating: 7.5/10
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)