Four bottles at Seventh

It's been a while since the few of us winos met up for a few bottles, so plans were made for us to catch up tonight.  When the time came to pick a venue, it wasn't a complete surprise that Seventh Son (家全七福) was chosen.  It is, after all, one of the best Cantonese restaurants in town.  So... just a week after my lunch there, I found myself back at a different table - this time with a few bottles.

For some reason the task of ordering fell on my shoulders, so I picked out a few simple dishes for us.

While we were waiting for some friends to arrive, three of us decided that we were too hungry and needed some food first.  Given our dismal experience at Fook Lam Moon (福臨門) a few days ago, Hello Kitty decided that she needed to satisfy her craving for pork...

Crispy pork belly (脆皮燒腩仔) - this was MUCH better than what we had three nights ago.  Definitely not reheated in a microwave.  Crackling remained crispy and delicious.

Honey glazed barbecued pork (蜜汁叉燒) - beautiful, with the right amount of fat, and very tender and flavorful.

Pan-fried minced pork and lotus root patties (香煎蓮藕餅) - a little more brown than I had expected.  These were surprisingly fragrant thanks to the finely diced Cantonese preserved sausage, seasoned with Mei Kuei Lu (玫瑰露).

Scrambled egg with 'kei wai' shrimps, centurion egg and spring onions (蔥花皮蛋圍蝦炒滑蛋) - haven't had this in a while... and I must admit that I really missed it.  The portion tonight, though, was shockingly small.  Gotta remember to ask for a bigger plate next time.  And one doesn't see 'kei wai (基圍)' shrimps much around town these days!

The Engrish translation, though, was doubly poor for this dish.  Maybe the dish was so small because it came with only one egg (and not eggs)... And it's "century egg", not "centurion egg" - unless these were eaten in Roman times.

Da Liang sautéed egg white with milk and crabmeat (欖仁大良炒鮮奶) - this was miles better than what I had a few months ago at another new, high-end restaurant serving Shun Tak (順德) specialties.  The fried milk and egg whites was very fluffy, and the Indian almonds were incredibly fragrant after been fried at high heat.  Here you've got a variety of textures in every bite, from the fluffy milk and egg whites, then slightly springy crab meat, then to the crispy deep-fried rice vermicelli, and finally the crunchy Indian almonds.

Baby pigeon marinated in sweet and spiced soya sauce (豉油皇浸妙齡乳鴿) - I couldn't believe that they had run out of crispy pigeons for the night, so we had to settle for the marinated version.  These were still very delicious, thanks to the spiced soya marinade.  Each of us devoured half a bird, and I got to suck on one of the brains...

Salt and pepper squid (椒鹽鮮魷) - I had expected the batter to be thicker and the color to be more brown, but it appears that they choose to do a 'healthier' version here with minimal batter, so that we mostly taste the natural flavors of the squid.  Yum.

Crispy pork fillet with pineapple in sweet and sour sauce (菠蘿咕嚕肉) - oh yes, one of the best versions of this dish is served here.  The pork was very, very tender, and the batter was crispy in spite of the sauce.

Leafy amaranth with garlic clove in soup (上湯蒜子浸莧菜) - very, very young shoots of leafy amaranth.

Egg noodle with shrimp egg, ginger and spring onions in abalone sauce (鮑汁蝦籽薑蔥撈麵) - not a fan.  The pungent alkali smell from the egg noodle(s) - was there only one noodle? on the plate? - totally clashed with the strong fragrance from the shrimp eggs.  The flavors would have been fine otherwise.

Walnut cookies (合桃酥餅) - always one of my favorite desserts here.  I just love the toasty flavors from the cookies, and of course the walnuts.  But I wish they would make them a little more brown and caramelize the sugars more.  I think I had 3 of these...

Black sesame roll (懷舊芝麻卷) - another favorite.  I think the Candidate had 3 of these...

Naturally we brought along a few bottles tonight, but our consumption was definitely pretty weak...

2013 Kusuda Riesling - a little petrol and polyurethane on the nose, fairly light.  Rather dry and lean on the palate.

2009 Dame de Montrose - decanted for about 30 minutes.  A little smoky, with some fruit.  Still a little tight on the palate.  Some tannins here but not too heavy.  Later on more smoke showed up in the nose, and the tannins were smoother and silkier.

Daishichi Myoukarangyoku Junmai Daiginjo Shizuku Genshu (大七 妙花蘭曲 純米大吟醸 雫原酒), 24BY - very rich rice aromas on the nose, with lots of banana.  Kinda sweet on the palate as long as it's served cold.

1995 Gaja Barbaresco Sori San Lorenzo - decanted for about 45 minutes.  Smoky with leather notes.  Still tannic.