January 26, 2014

The best stuffed crab shell in Hong Kong?

I was running about an hour late for lunch, thanks to unscheduled delays while meeting a prospective client.  So when I finally arrived at Man Wah (文華廳) and sat down, Tigger and family had already gone through the dim sum items... and had very kindly saved me a couple of things.  I dug in immediately.

Roast goose puff with yanmin sauce (仁棯燒鵝酥) - hmmm... other than coming in a very cute goose-shaped pastry, I didn't find this very special.  Honestly, if you told me it's a barbecued pork puff (叉燒酥) I would have believed you...

Golden taro puff, abalone (蜂巢鮑魚盒) - too bad this had gotten somewhat cold by the time I got to it... would have been so much yummier.

Roast pork belly (脆皮五層腩) - always nice, even if it's cold.

Organic bean curd, black mushrooms (紅燒有機豆腐)

Pea shoots in superior broth (上湯浸豆苗)

Baked green crabmeat, cheese, sweet corn, pomelo, crab shell (芝士粟米焗釀鮮蟹蓋) - Tigger insisted that I try out this dish, claiming this to be "the best in Hong Kong".  That's a pretty bold claim, although I must confess that I haven't eaten nearly all the crab shells on offer in town.  My favorite has long been the one served at Fook Lam Moon (福臨門), so how did this stack up?

Pretty good, but not the best in my book.  There were a few kernels of corn but I didn't detect any pomelo.  There was a ton of crab meat, and the whole thing was topped with cheese and baked au gratin - this made the dish a little too heavy for me.  The reason the FLM version wins in my book is because it's got a good portion of onions, came with a flour/breadcrumb crust, and one could pour on some Worcestershire sauce and cut the richness with some acidity.

At around twice the price of the FLM version, this was certainly a pricey dish, although with a lot more crab meat here it may yet be a value proposition, relatively speaking...

Fried glutinous rice, preserved meat (生炒臘味糯米飯) - pretty decent, but as Grandma Bear says, the FLM version is still the best.

Egg tartlet (酥皮雞蛋撻)

Bean curd pudding served in wooden bucket (原桶即撞豆腐花) - pretty good, and the taste of soy beans was a little stronger today.

The petit fours here have always been nicely presented... and don't taste too bad, either!

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