[Hong Kong 香港] Mott 32 卅二公館

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卅二公馆 Mott 32

Add: 4-4a Des Voeux Rd, Basement of the Standard Chartered Building, Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2885 8688
Hours: 12-2pm, 6-11pm
Website: www.mott32.com
Price: [lunch] 350+ HKD/person
Visited: Aug 2016

You wouldn’t expect a fine dining restaurant to be located in the basement of a bank building, but such is the case for Mott 32. This sleek Chinese restaurant, named after New York’s first Chinese grocery store, is tucked all the way down in the basement of the Standard Chartered Building in Central – yet it attracts a steady crowd with its captivating interior design and delectable cuisine.

在香港的某天中午,在中環做金融工作的朋友約我在 “卅二公館 Mott 32” 吃飯。跟著地址尋到渣打銀行大廈的地下室,沒想到這裡會藏著一間餐廳。而且,還非常漂亮。

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The design style is a fusion of New York industrial style with Chinese elements, from the calligraphy on the exposed concrete walls to the Chinese medicine cabinets adorning the bar area.

設計這家餐廳是在香港非常出名的 Joyce Wang 事務所。斑駁的牆上畫著上海灘的旗袍美人們、各式燈具也很漂亮。

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In terms of cuisine, Mott 32’s offering ranges from barbecued meats and seafood to clay pot dishes, while the lunch menu is mostly dim sum-based.

Mott 32 的名字來自紐約的毛街 32 號,是紐約唐人街的中式美食發源地。餐廳的菜式以廣東為主,不過也有一些四川及北京的元素。

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[Shanghai] Crystal Jade 翡翠酒家

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Crystal Jade 翡翠酒家

Add: 7F Westgate Mall 1038 West Nanjing Road / 南京西路1038号梅龙镇广场7楼
Tel: 5228 1133
Hours: 11:00am-3:00pm, 5:00-10:00pm
Website: www.crystaljade.com
Price: 150-200 RMB/person
Visited: Oct 2015

Please note that this was an arranged tasting.

Lunch at the newly revamped Crystal Jade in Westgate Mall. I’d never been to Crystal Jade before the renovation so I can’t really compare, but the new look is quite pretty in shades of grey and blue-green, with lots of mirrors all over. The menu has also gone through much scrutiny, resulting in a more concise  list of classic and modern Cantonese dishes.

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3 Barbecue combination 烧味三拼 (118 RMB), a trio of BBQ pork with manuka honey, crackling pork belly, crispy roasted duck 马芦卡蜂蜜叉烧、金牌脆皮烧肉、金牌脆皮烧鸭. Very good.

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Steamed Black Truffle and Prawn Dumpling 黑松露翠玉饺 (8 RMB/piece).

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Steamed Minced Pork Patty with Squid Ink 墨鱼汁土尤蒸肉饼 (88 RMB) is a dish I haven’t tasted before. Pork belly is first minced then mixed with chopped water chestnut, diced eel, and squid ink. Flavor and texture both excellent.

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[Shanghai] Jin Xuan 金軒 at Ritz-Carlton Pudong (2)

Jin Xuan 金軒

Add: The Ritz-Carlton Shanghai, 8 Century Avenue / 浦东陆家嘴世纪大道8号上海国金中心
Tel: 2020 1717
Hours: 11:30am-2pm, 5:30pm-1am
Website: www.ritzcarlton.com/shanghaipudong
Price: [lunch] 168~300 RMB/person [dinner]  480~880 RMP/person
Visited on: Jan 2012

Please note that this was an arranged tasting.

Jin Xuan has been on the back of my mind ever since I had a delightful dim sum lunch there a while ago, and a friend’s birthday dinner brought us back to this opulent restaurant.

The gold, the wine red, and the purple – all looked sumptuous and sparkling in the evening.

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[Shanghai] Cha’s Restaurant 思南查餐厅

Cha’s Restaurant 思南查餐厅

Add: 1/F, 30 Sinan Lu, near Huaihai Zhong Lu 思南路30号, 近淮海中路
Tel: 6093 2062
Hours: 11am-2am
Price: 50~70 RMB/person
Visited: Jun 2011

Cha’s Restaurant, a dedicated replica of Hong Kong’s 1950s cha cantings (Cantonese diners), has been wildly popular since it opened in July 2009. How popular? Well, there’s a queue all the time – at 11am, at 4pm, and at 10pm. As I’m not a big fan of either cha cantings or queues, I managed to ignore this place for almost 2 years. It wasn’t until very recently that I decided that it’s about time  to find out what the big deal is with this place.

Note the long line already forming at the door, and this was only 11:15am.

Our waitress was impatient. Tapping her pen on her notepad as she waited for us to order, she was most definitely signaling the message: Ah you ignorant first-timers…chop chop! Do you not see the line forming outside the door? We need to turn tables here! Yes madam, some milk tea (13 RMB/hot, 15 RMB/iced) to get us started, please.

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