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

I promised mom I'd treat her to a scrumptious abalone feast as a token of appreciation for her hospitality during my 3-week stay. Almost at the same time, I came across a seasonal abalone indulgence menu at one of her favorite restaurants, Tin Lung Heen (天龍軒). Timing just couldn't be better. At least, that was the case at the time.

But when I rang mom up last night reminding her of our get-together, she decided to chicken out at the last minute. To her defense, she hasn't been dining out, well for a long long time. In fact, she's one of those who have followed the government's advice very closely by not dining out during the outbreak of Omicron. How could I not leave her alone? Fortunately, Jelloman was kind enough to be my partner in crime this afternoon as mom's replacement.   

I hated the weather in the past two weeks. Very very humid with dark skies starting early in the morning and throughout the day. It reminded me so much of the fall weather in Vancouver. Things got slightly better today with a little bit of sunshine (but not nearly enough) but still fairly foggy, even a hundred and two floors up.

As always, we were started off with two of Chef Lau's signature items.

Barbecued pork with osmanthus flower honey (桂花蜜汁叉燒) – The two pieces of barbecued pork were both really big today. I almost had to ask for a knife and a fork. 

These were again really tender and succulent. The glaze with osmanthus flower honey right on the money. The best part of all, I didn't have to share them with little nugget.

Steamed turnip cake and preserved meat topped with fish maw in XO chili sauce (XO 醬花膠蘿蔔糕) – I really like the texture of the steamed turnip cake today. Not too custardy and yet not too soft and wobbly. And there was just enough heat from the XO chili sauce to spice things up. 

Double-boiled pork shin soup with fish skin and ladybells (沙參公魚皮燉豬腱) – I am a big fan of Chef Lau's double-boiled soup. It never disappoints. 

Today's double-boiled pork shin soup came with these fish skin that looked a lot like "cheung fun" (腸粉). It got this really interesting texture that almost reminded me of Chinese yam (淮山). Most importantly, it worked really well with the sweetness of the broth and pork shin. Quite frankly, it's their soup that always brings me back here. 

Pan-fried scallop with red bell pepper served with crispy rice cracker (紅甜椒窩粑煎帶子) – The Hokkaido scallops were pan-fried to absolute perfection.

I thought the homemade rice cracker (窩粑) provided the perfect match for the scallops with its lovely crunch and the red bell pepper purée delivered a sublime finish with a brilliant sweet and sour note.

Wok-fried Chinese kale with ginger sauce (薑汁炒芥蘭) – Some veggies before the main course.

Braised Australian abalone (6 heads) served with conpoy fried rice (6頭澳洲鮑魚伴瑤柱炒飯) – Here comes the main event.

I didn't expect such a generous portion of braised Australian abalone. This was really nice and tender. 

Of course I had to send mom a photo of this to get her jealous. 😝

Sweetened black glutinous rice soup with Tari in coconut sauce (椰漿香芋紫米露) – I almost didn't have room for dessert but as people always said, we have a second stomach for dessert. I like this a little better than the usual mango cream with sago and pomelo (which is more suited for the summer I think). In a cool and humid day like today, I needed something heart-warming like this.

Deep-fried egg pastry with yuzu honey (柚子蜜糖黃金卷) – The mochi was again very good. The rest, well.......

I am so glad I ended up coming here despite mom's absence. It's my first-ever abalone experience at Tin Lung Heen and it almost blew me away. Almost. Definitely worth a return visit based on the bargain price. 

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)