I got some sad news last month when I learned that GaGiNang 飯館 has closed at Harbour City. GaGiNang 飯館 opened just after the start of the pandemic in early 2020 and has slowly become one of my go-to Chinese restaurants in Tsim Sha Tsui. I thought they were gradually turning the corner but the COVID-19 outbreak proved to be too much of a hurdle for them to overcome.
Later I found out that taking over the space vacated by GaGiNang 飯館 is another Chinese restaurant by the name of Art of Canton (粵藝館). It's another venture from The Food Story who already has four other restaurants under the same roof.
Little nugget had a race with me running to the restaurant. I think he's trying to catch his breath now.
It's not a bad seat to be sitting around trying to catch one's breath. Look at this amazing harbour view!
As usual, no one really wanted to touch the dim sum menu so I took it upon myself to call the shots this afternoon.
Barbecued pork rice roll (焦香叉燒腸粉) – The rice rolls were pretty tasty but there was no sign of the smoky or aromatic flavors from the barbecued pork, as promised.
Rice roll with deep-fried breadstick (懷舊炸兩) – I usually have very high standards when it comes to rice rolls with twisted cruller (炸兩) thanks to the years spoiled by Tasty Congee and Noodle (正斗). This was not really up to par. The twisted cruller was way too hard and rice rolls were sometimes so thin that it's almost invisible to the human eye. 😏
Pan-fried turnip cakes (厚切原味蘿蔔糕) – I like the fact that it's thick-cut and came with lots of Chinese sausage but they were too heavy-handed with salt and other seasoning.
Steamed shrimp dumplings (手藝蝦餃) – A little more than one bite but very delicious.
Steamed mantis shrimp dumplings (富貴蝦餃) – The presentation was gorgeous as one could see the entire mantis shrimp on top of the minced prawn. Having said that, I thought the dumpling as a whole was a little too wet.
Deep-fried fish maw with Tokyo seaweed wrap (東京海苔脆花膠) – I heard a lot of the restaurant's signature dishes had to do with fish maws so I decided to try at least one of them. This was so disappointing. I honestly couldn't taste what was underneath the batter. Just something slippery but very very bland without flavors.
Baked rice noodles with shredded duck and pickled vegetables (雪裏紅火鴨絲炆米) – This was again way too heavy with salt. Some of my guests went on to claim that all the dishes were too salty. Maybe it's true.
Steamed buns with lotus seed paste (香滑蓮蓉包) – At least this wasn't salty.
We didn't order anything else for dessert cuz everybody was in the mood of going somewhere else for their sweet treat. This wasn't bad. You can't go wrong with runny lotus seed paste.
This was quite a disappointing meal for all of us. Most dishes were on the salty side and at this day and age when everyone was trying to eat healthy, it just doesn't work. And to add insult to injury, I thought service was really not up to the expected standard for an upscale Chinese restaurant at all. Servers saw your hand go up but yet too "busy" to entertain your request. It felt like we were eating at a cha chaan teng. But what surprised me the most was that the restaurant was almost entirely full at noon time. That's quite a feat for a relatively new restaurant. Perhaps, that's the lure from a big group like The Food Story but whatever it is, it doesn't work for us if both food and service weren't great.
Food Rating: 4/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Shop OT310, 3/F, Ocean Terminal, Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2297-2022
Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm daily
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