T'ang Court 唐閣 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I have been itching to go back to T’ang Court (唐宮) for a while but the fact that they have turned into a quarantine hotel earlier this year had me thinking twice. But recently, I got some good news that the hotel had finally made some progress in dividing up the entrance for hotel and restaurant guests. That was the perfect reason excuse I needed to get over the hump psychologically.

T’ang Court has always had a very limited dim sum menu but that’s okay for me cuz I am dipping into their executive set lunch menu this afternoon. I am particularly looking forward to see how their double-boiled soup would fare comparing to the ones at Tin Lung Heen.

Roasted suckling pig with chilled fungus and cucumber (青瓜木耳伴乳豬仔) – They flip-flopped my dim sum platter with this suckling pig dish but I was too hungry to notice.

The suckling pig was really succulent and full of flavors. Just a tiny touch of hoisin already made it very pleasant to the palate. My only complaint was, why made the suckling pig into these tiny, narrow strips?

Next up, the dim sum combination (點心拼盤).

Steamed shrimp dumpling (蝦餃) – This was perfectly stuffed with shrimp and no bamboo shoots which was just fine with me. I've added some vegan XO sauce to it for some extra kick. Pretty nice.

Steamed pork dumpling (燒賣) – Came with some diced mushroom and dried conpoy for some contrasting texture. 

Shrimp spring roll (鮮蝦春卷) – Another classic Canto dim sum. And T'ang Court is all about authentic Cantonese flavors. This was nicely done.

Double-boiled fresh sea whelk with dried conpoy and melon (瑤柱蜜瓜煲鮮螺) –

I was expecting great depth of flavors highlighted by the sweetness of the sea whelk and melon but that symphony of flavors just wasn’t there for me despite the abundance of quality ingredients. Instead, it was the slight bitterness from the fresh whelk taking center stage.

Very few times would say that I didn’t enjoy a double-boiled soup (except those made by my helper) but this was one of them.

Pan-fried sliced grouper with soya sauce and green vegetables (豉油皇煎班球) –
Back to the right track with the pan-fried grouper fillet. Really lovely bouncy texture from the grouper. Even the skin was so well-textured with the perfect crispness and there was the lovely fragrance from the fresh chives. The best dish of the afternoon so far. 

Fried rice with diced Wagyu beef, spring onion and olive kernels (和牛粒炒飯) –
Very nice wok hei from the fried rice meshing well with the succulent wagyu beef cubes. Love the smokiness from the nuts too, giving the fried rice some extra crunch and flavors. Delish~

Wolfberry and osmanthus pudding (杞子桂花糕) – Pretty refreshing and aromatic.

Sesame paste puff (麻蓉酥) – More successful was the pear-shaped sesame paste puff that came with this crispy and buttery crust.

It started off very slowly but this turned out to be a pretty good lunch at the end thanks to the grouper dish, fried rice and sesame paste puff. I wish the double-boiled soup could be as good as the one we had at Tin Lung Heen and that's probably not too much to ask for from a three-Michelin-star restaurant. That brings us to the question, are they really worth the 3 stars?

Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 1/F & 2/F Langham Hotels, 8 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2132-7898 
Website: www.langhamhotels.com/en/the-langham/hong-kong/dining/tang-court/

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 11:00pm (Mon - Fri), 11:00am - 3:00pm, 6:00pm - 11:00pm (Sat - Sun)