[Wanchai, Yat Tung Heen] Winter delights

Winter is the time for lamb pots and snake soup.
My first meal for these winter warming dishes were at Wanchai's Yat Tung Heen.

The location is near Wanchai star ferry so the restaurant is nice and quiet.

Started with the star of winter, the snake broth with fish maw that serves 4-5 for $1080.
It was thick and warming with silky fish maw.
I liked the taste of age peel and the crunch from the black fungus and ginger.
It is served with lemongrass, Chrysanthemum petals and crispy pieces which you can add according to your preference.

For carbs, we had the glutinous rice with Chinese preserved sausages, another classic dish.
It had a fragrant smokey taste.

The lamb pot which is always my favourite is complex in taste because it is cooked with a mix of fermented red beancurd and fermented beancurd.
The lamb was soft and tender while the beancurd sheet absorbed the delicious sauce.

The last dish was interesting as it was my first time trying eel cooked with dried duck leg, I never thought that these two could go together so well.
The air dried duck leg is similar to parma ham.
In the pot, there were juicy big chunks of sweet radish that has been infused in this delicious gravy.

For dessert, it was good as expected.
[See how springy the buns are]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3S09YU1gIK4

The steamed custard buns were cute filled with silky egg custard filling and the sweetness was right.

The Layered Malaysian cake had a twist to it because it was layered with custard.

Again, both were fluffy and springy but then all their desserts and dimsums are top notch!

[Wanchai, Yat Tung Heen]:
2/F Great Eagle Centre,
Tel: 2878 1212

Guizhou lamb specialist open 24 hours in the heart of Mong Kok

I went here because they specialize in Lamb from Guizhou.
The name of this place is called 貴州遵義黔營羊肉粉 but the English name SIMPLEJOY [on Instagram and also printed on the napkins] is rather random and has nothing associated to Guizhou.

Anyway, it is hidden behind the stalls of Ladies Market so there is some sense of privacy when dining there
It is open 24 hours so a convenient place for early breakfast or midnight dinners!!

They have an English menu.
In Hong Kong, the items on the menu would be deemed as Hardcore but it is pretty common and they seem to eat anything over there!!
Not for the faint hearted because they have BRAINS, PLACENTA, PAIR OF EYES, TESTICLES, PENIS, you name it!

I tried the toothpick lamb which somehow wasn't served on toothpicks.
They were small juicy tender cubes of lamb seasoned with chili and spicy.
Each piece of lamb was scrumptious and not too spicy.

Next were the eyes! A pair of lamb eyes.
It was a surprise because I hadn't a clue how it was going to be served.
In my mind it was two eyes rolling about on a plate but it turned out to be eyes in the soup but they were not floating around.
I was also disappointed that the eyes were cut in half as I couldn't find the lens or vitreous humor.
There wasn't much taste to it but the texture was like springy chewy chicken cartilage.

The ribs were quite pricey but delicious because it was laced with spices.
Adding cumin and extra chili made it taste even better.

Anyway, next time I will be back for the noodles!!!
++++++++++
貴州遵義黔營羊肉粉:
86 Tung Choi street,
Mong Kok
Instagram: simplejoymongkok

[Mr. Cumin] A place to cure lamb cravings

I don't know why but I just love Cumin so I was drawn here.
Cumin is normally paired with lamb and sprinkled on skewers which is just what this joint serves.
As well as the skewers, the rice with minced lamb sauce is a must order.

It was breathtaking watching him grill the meat and you can even feel the flames so I guess don't stand too close!

I wonder how he is going to cope with that heat later when the temperatures are going to reach 32 degrees C plus!!

As well as grilling the meats, it is then torched to ensure that hard to reach areas are evenly done.

Here was what I had:
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Chicken wings stuffed with glutinous rice:

I am not keen on stuffed chicken wings but I loved this because it wasn't too oily or fat after the way they grilled and torched it.

The glutinous rice in the middle had a good flare of spice that gives it a good spice kick that doesn't linger.
++++++
To be honest, I found the lamb skewer and lamb chop quite similar but it depends if you prefer chunks of lamb or a juicy lamb rack.
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Lamb skewer:

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Lamb rack:

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Now to the star of the show, MINCED LAMB WITH RICE.

Looking very spicy with generous flakes of chili, I was fooled because it was not spicy at all and the minced lamb was so tasty and lean which was delicious with the rice.
If you mix the egg, it becomes even more heavenly with the richness of the egg yolk.

It would be great if they have onsen eggs which you could completely mix it in.
The courgette slices were sweet and tasty and I liked the way it was evenly cooked.
++++++
Menus:

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Mr.Cumin 米孜然:
https://www.facebook.com/mr.cuminhk
Hong Kong, North Point, 宏安道2-12號地下5號舖

Fashionable Chinese roast

Good BBQ opened their first takeaway joint in Central in 2015 but sadly I never got to try the slow roasted pork because it was always sold out.

I don't work in Central so it is hard to find a place nearby to sit down and enjoy it.
Managed to try one of the side dishes that was not sold out some evening which was really good because I love OKRA!!

Anyway, recently found out from FB that they have a joint at Lab Concept with a dining area so went there asap.

Coming from Pacific Place, there are these stylish piggies on the floor that lead you to the joint.

Each piggy is different and stylish that I like almost every one of them.

To my surprise, they have fine French teas and lamb charsiu on the menu.

With traditional Chinese roast shops, you are normally put off visually because you see weird wood logs as chopping boards, grubby staff with greasy hands, meat dripping and other meats touching the glass window.

Here you don't see that but you see a TV of what is going on in the kitchen.

Ordered the lamb charsiu and slow roasted pork which comes in a stylish box that is more fashionable than the previous fashionable blue box they had!!
According to Good BBQ, they will change the design of the box every now and again.

As well as the box, the suckling pig is also made glamorous with a golden chain and sparkling gem eyes!

Even the little details like the sauces are labelled nicely.

I loved the lamb shoulder charsiu because it has the charsiu sweet flavouring yet it has a prominent lamb taste without the gaminess.

As well as pork, lamb gives you another option and people who don't eat pork won't miss out on Charsiu.

The slow cooked roast pork was tender and delicious.

New on the menu are buns, a popular snack in the UK.
I had this evilicious charsiu bun topped with a 63 degree egg.

As well as charsiu, they also have crispy pork belly, duck and other combos.

Finished off with a lovely fine French tea which was the perfect finish.

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GOOD BBQ:

Shop C01AD, queensway plaza,

93 Queensway,

Admirality

https://www.facebook.com/GOODBBQ.HK

Mind blowing lamb dishes at City Garden's YUE

As the year of the goat is approaching many restaurants are coming up with lamb or goat related dishes!!

Yue has done a bold approach with Cantonese dishes that I could have never imagined!!

They have come up wth BBQ lamb which is marinated the same way as BBQ pork (Char siu).
They have replaced the BBQ pork with BBQ lamb in the famous 金錢雞 so it now becomes 金錢羊!!

★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
粵味盆菜 Yue's poon choi ($2,888):

The items in the bowl were quite luxurious, there were tofu pockets filled with birds nest 內含足一兩燕窩的燕液福袋, prawns 玉簮明蝦球, prawn roe, abalone 南非鮑魚, BBQ lamb 蜜汁燒羊柳, pigs tongue 豬脷, chicken 江南百花雞, dried oysters 蠔豉, fish maw 花膠, sea cucumbers 遼參 on a bed of Chinese radish and lotus roots.
Here you can see the bird's nest inside the tofu pocket.

I loved it because it had all my favourite items especially the soft fish maw and bird's nest but the best item had to be the BBQ lamb because it was soft and tasted exactly like char shiu.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
薑凍金錢羊 ($168):
As mentioned earlier, this is a lamb version of 金錢雞.

There are four layers, ginger jelly 薑啫喱 on the bottom, a layer of fat 冰肉, a slice of mushroom 白靈菇片 topped with BBQ lamb 蒙古羊柳.

I was really happy they had this because I have always wanted to try 金錢雞 but not many restaurants offer that and you need to book in advance.
It had a delicious but complex mouthfeel because of all the different layers.
金錢雞 is a famous Chinese dish which consists of a layer of liver, pork and and fat skewered together and roasted.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Soup:

The soup that we had was chayote and whelk which was light and healthy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Lotus wrapped rice in abalone sauce:

The rice was really tasty because it was evenly flavoured with abalone sauce and there were bits of mushrooms and dried oysters in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Tea smoked chicken:

The chicken was tender infused with a fragrant tea scent.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
紅菜頭年糕 ($168) Beetroot pudding:
以天然的紅菜頭打汁及打茸而成的「紅菜頭年糕」，味道甜香軟糯、

I was really looking forward to this and it turned out to be as good as I imagined.
Normally I don't touch Chinese New year puddings but this was mindblowing and delicious because it was not too sweet and it was soft with pieces of beetroot in it.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
珍品蘿蔔糕 ($218):
以羊肚菌、姬松茸為材料，加入香味四溢的菇水及上湯，混合足1斤的蘿蔔絲製成，

As well as the pudding the turnip cake which I never eat was also good because it was a vegetarian version and contains morel mushrooms and other fungi so the taste was amazing.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
YUE'

1/F, City Garden Hotel, 9 City Garden Road North Point.