Sun Tung Lok 新同樂魚翅酒家 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Today is mom's lunar birthday, just a day before her birthday on the Gregorian Calendar. Since little nugget has been grounded for the next couple of weeks in preparation of his upcoming final exams, I was the only one available to take her out for celebration. Knowing that mom would prefer Chinese food, I decided to go back to Sun Tung Lok (新同樂魚翅酒家) as the location is close to the both of us.

I have already checked out their set menus last night and they have quite a few available. Took me a while to get thru each and one of them. So, I knew exactly which one to order once we got seated.

Dim sum platter by the chef (廣東點心薈萃) – We were first started off with a trio of dim sum. At this point, we were beginning to realize that the Michelin caliber service was missing from action as our server simply dropped off the bamboo steamer without even naming what were included in the platter.

Steamed vegetable dumpling (蒸素菜餃) – This came with diced mushrooms, carrots and mixed vegetables. I thought I could taste the subtle flavors from the coriander too.

Steamed pork dumpling (蒸燒賣) – The shumai was meaty and I like the additional texture coming from the diced mushrooms, dried conpoy and ham.

Steamed crab meat dumpling with beetroot and asparagus (紅菜頭蘆筍蟹肉餃) – Probably the best of the trio. The sweetness of the crab meat was nicely complemented by the juicy beetroot.

Green salad with fresh shrimps and corns (鮮圍蝦金粟翠蔬沙律) – After enjoying the dim sum, some green salad to stay healthy. I like the fact that they had some raspberry and mango coulis on the side for dipping the shrimps. Pretty refreshing dish.

Chicken soup with conpoy and fish maw (花膠筒瑤柱燉鮮雞) – The clear soup wasn't bad but there wasn't much flavor in there other than the chicken.

Seared Hokkaido king scallop and portobello mushroom (北海道帶子皇 配紐西蘭啡蘑菇) – Mom is a sucker for Hokkaido scallop so this was the perfect choice for her. The mix of seared scallop, portobello mushroom and what I thought was a Beurre blanc-ish sauce certainly wasn't a bad one but the minced meat underneath? Would be nice if we could get some prawn mousseline in between that scallop and mushroom instead of the meat.

Abalone and pork rice with scallion oil (紅燒鮑魚 燴豚肉蔥油飯) – Another dish with a disappointing blend of ingredients. The braised abalone was pretty decent but I thought it was ill-matched with the rice and minced pork (similar to what was served with the scallop earlier). Didn't finish this one.

Sweetened bird's nest with bean curd sheet, ginkgo nut and bamboo pith (冰花鮮腐竹銀杏竹笙燕窩) – This was really just a sweet soup with bean curd sheets and ginkgo nuts but they tried to make it more premium by adding some bird's net and bamboo pith to it.

Here's my share of bird's nest. This was OK but as an expert of bean curd sweet soup (腐竹雞蛋糖水) myself, of course I expected more.

Mom didn't have any complaints about today's lunch but for me with spoiled taste buds, I thought it was a significant drop-off from my previous experience here (both food and service). This was not a Michelin-starred dining experience and I can honestly say that the restaurant has at least one too many star right now.

Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: Shop 401, L4, FoodLoft, Mira Place, 132 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2152-1417
Opening Hours: 11:30am - 3:00pm; 6:00pm - 10:00pm daily