Lung Wah Hotel 龍華酒店 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

It's not the first time we heard the rumor that Lung Wah Hotel (龍華酒店), the 84-year old restaurant specializing in pigeons, is closing down due to poor business. When the news hit the social media (actually on TV) earlier this month, I promptly rounded up some family and friends for a much anticipated visit, just in case it wasn't a rumor.

Little nugget was meeting some friends at New Town Plaza in the morning so the plan worked out perfectly.

Luckily, I've made advance booking ahead of today's late lunch cuz the place was buzzing even as late as 2:30pm.

We were escorted into this "function room" just adjacent to the main dining area which was still at full capacity in late afternoon. Whatever people said about Lung Wah closing down, it's definitely not true cuz business is very very good.

Very happy to be seated right next to the "Bruce Lee" corner!

Roast pigeon (脆皮燒乳鴿) – This is really the heart and soul of Lung Wah, their signature roast pigeon and they were again finger-licking good. Yum!

Pigeon marinated in soy sauce (滷水乳鴿) – I ordered this for myself thinking that no one would touch it since it's more for old-schoolers like me but I ended up getting some competition from mom and Jelloman!

It's been so long since I last had pigeons marinated in soy sauce and while it's pretty tasty, it paled in comparison to its roasted counterpart, due to the absence of the most decadent crispy skin.

This guy is loving his roasted pigeon.

Pan-fried tofu stuffed with minced pork (煎釀手造豆腐) – This came highly recommended by our server, even more so than their regular braised tofu.

Sadly, it didn't live up to our lofty expectation. I thought the minced pork and gravy were both on the salty side.

Stir-fried rice noodle with beef and vegetable (濕炒牛肉河) – While it didn't have the "wok hei" I was hoping for, the rice noodle was really nicely done, meshing well with the flavorful sauce that was perfect with its thickness.

Some dishes we ordered never came but on an unexpectedly busy afternoon, that's totally understandable. After all, we were just too happy to have come and support our century-old establishment (almost a century old).

Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 22 Ha Wo Che Chuen, Shatin, NT, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Shatin
Tel: +852 2691-1594
Website: www.lungwahhotel.hk

Opening Hours: 11:30am - 10:30pm daily