Good but not great

There was an impromptu meet-up at lunch today, and since it was just a stone's throw from my office, I decided to join a couple of friends at Sun Tung Lok Chinese Cuisine (新同樂魚翅海鮮酒家).  I haven't been to the Central branch in about a year, so I took the opportunity to refresh my memory on their dim sum items.

Deep-fried taro dumpling with diced chicken (蜂巢五香雞粒竽角) - one of my favorite dim sum items, and the shell here was nice and flaky.  I thought the filling wasn't bad, although there were critics at the table...

Baked ham and spring onion cake (金華火腿焗燒餅) - usually among my favorites, but today the filling seemed to be noticeably milder in terms of flavor.

Steamed scallop, shrimp, and kale dumpling (玉蘭帶子餃) - loved the prawn filling, as well as the slice of scallop on top, but completely missed the kailan (芥藍)...

Steamed preserved vegetable and pork bun (梅菜皇扣肉包) - something I didn't get to order on my last visit.  These weren't exactly small, so they ended up to be pretty filling.

Actually these were slightly disappointing.  Pork belly with preserved leafy mustard (梅菜扣肉) is one of my favorite dishes, but this somehow missed the mark a little.  Not fatty enough.

Baked abalone puff (特色鮑魚酥) - not bad, but maybe I was asking too much when I was hoping for a little more abalone and a little less mushroom...

I always have high expectations for Sun Tung Lok, but I gotta say that I was a little underwhelmed today.  Nothing FAILED, but nothing also WOWed...