Impromptu dim sum

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I found myself in TST this morning without plans for lunch, when I remembered that I needed to catch up with a friend lives who nearby.  Luckily she was free for lunch, and we met at T'ang Court (唐閣) at the Langham Hotel for some dim sum.  The restaurant had gotten itself two Michelin stars, but I had never found a reason to dine here.

Steamed lobster, crab meat, shrimps and pork dumpling (龍皇帶子餃) - this was the premium dim sum item and came in its own bamboo basket. The taste of crab meat was immediately apparent and dominated.  The dumpling itself was basically a collection of four different types of ingredients fused together.  Interesting texture, but taste-wise it didn't wow me as I didn't see any apparent reason why these particular ingredients should work well together.

Steamed pork, scallop and chive dumplings (韭菜帶子餃) - this was very yummy, as the strong, fragrant chives paired well with the scallops.

Steamed barbecued pork buns (蠔皇叉燒包) - very nicely done.  My friend loves char siu bao and these were definitely good enough for her.

Pan-fried rice flour rolls with home-made spicy sauce (XO醬煎腸粉) - now this was a pleasant surprise.  I had expected the same type of stuff that I'd normally get from Victoria Seafood (海都), but there was a significant difference.  Instead of just simply stir-fried like any rice noodle, these were pan-fried so that the entire outer layer is crispy and crunchy while the inside was still soft.  There was plenty of XO sauce encrusted into the outer layer, making it very, very delicious.  Really good stuff.

Steamed pastries filled with ham, barbecued pork and spring onions (黃橋焗燒餅) - this was another item which I measured against what I would normally order at Victoria Seafood.  The version here was fluffier and lighter, with more oil absorbed into the pastry. While this was also delicious, my preference is for the ones at Victoria Seafood.

For dessert I ordered the mung bean soup (香草綠豆沙), because the Chinese name led me to believe that somehow they decided to add vanilla to it instead of the usual sea kelp found in Cantonese versions of this dessert.  Well, I discovered that in this case 香草 did not actually mean vanilla, but some type of herb used sparingly that I didn't even detect any taste or fragrance.  And there was still plenty of kelp in the soup.  Bummer.

Service was very attentive, which was a nice surprise.  The whole dining experience was very pleasant, and I'm left wondering why it took me so long to make my way here.  I should have listened to my fellow Chowhounds earlier...