Chinese dining with a fine views
Ah Yat is a well known chef in Hong Kong who is famous for his abalone dishes. I returned to one of his restaurants, Ah Yat Harbour View for the second time, but not because of his fame, his cooking or even the 2 Michelin stars it has, I was there for the nice views, with large windows overseeing Hong Kong Island in Kowloon. I really liked the decor too, smart looking, very modern and not overly big like your usual Chinese restaurant.
 |
| Ah Yat |
 |
| views from the east side |
I had the lunch tasting menu last time around so decided to switch things up a little with a selection from the lunch's al la carte menu. To begin we had bit of a strange looking dish: Young ginger with smoke duck breast. According to the menu, the kitchen wanted to present French style in a Chinese way but seems like they got very sloppy with the way it was presented to us, the slices are inconsistent in shape and the young ginger tasted not so much different to the ones you get at a sushi chain. The signature dish from Ah Yat: baked chicken pastry filled with whole abalone was as good as I remembered it, the chicken savoury aroma worked wonders with the tender abalone, very moist and rich in a well baked tart.
 |
| young ginger with smoke duck |
 |
| abalone tart |
 |
| pork liver rice flour rolls |
Pan fried minced pork and sesame cake was decent, not too oily but lacked minced stuffing within. Steamed chicken rolls was well made, the fish maw was soft and silky, the fish maw and mushroom benefited from the savoury sauce that was released to create a very elegant dim sum classic. The crab fried rice was fried rice close to perfection, really light yet full of wonderful flavours, which smell heavenly with the crab roe. The shrimps and crab meat really brought out the richness from the sea and one of the nicest fried rice dishes I've had in a long time.
 |
| pan fried minced pork and sesame cake |
 |
| steamed chicken rolls filled with fish maw and mushroom |
 |
| fried rice with crab meat, shrimps and crab roe |
All in all the whole experience was within my expectation considering I visited in the past, some hit and miss moments but generally of a pretty good Cantonese standard, what makes this place stand apart from other high end Chinese restaurants is it has nice views with a very smart service to match while maintaining its characteristic of a Chinese restaurant without trying too hard to be "westernised". Along with a nice cosy decor and reasonable price tag, it is not a bad place to give a try at all.
Food 3/5
What I paid:
£28 per head
Average cost without drinks and services :
£25 - £70
29/F, iSquare , 63 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
No comments:
Post a Comment