A casual star in Central

The Compatriot is back in town for a few days, and we finally managed to meet up for a meal.  Now that he's spending most of his time in Rosbifland, he needs his fix of good Asian and Cantonese food whenever he's back.  Since there were only two of us and we wanted something "casual", I figured we could just go to Man Wah (文華廳) at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong since it's nearby.

I've never tasted Chef Wong Wing Keung's (黃永強) cuisine, as I haven't been to Man Wah for a while.  I also never visited Yee Tung Heen (怡東軒) while Chef Wong was running the kitchen.  But he has a lot of fans within the local foodie circle, so I've kinda been wanting to check out the food for myself.

We were offered two amuses bouches: some sautéed string beans (四季豆) and sugar-coated cashews.

Shrimp and lemongrass spring roll (香茅鮮蝦春卷) - OK lah.

Braised beef ribs with gravy (月下燈弄影) - the Chinese description was certainly poetic, and the presentation somewhat aesthetic with the curvature of the rib.  The braised beef short rib was very, very tender... and fatty... and really tasty.

Braised codfish in casserole, vermicelli (乾煸銀絲雪魚煲) - this has everything I like... soft and tender cod that has been pan-fried before braising, glass vermicelli which has absorbed plenty of sauce, and diced garlic.

Poached seasonal vegetable, conpoy, supreme soup rice (米皇瑤柱浸菜苗) - we were looking for a veg dish, and the spinach came in a thick rice purée not unlike what is served at The Chairman (大班樓).

We decided to take it easy in terms of wine, so I just brought one bottle of riesling...

1996 von Schubert Maximin Grünhäuser Abstberg Riesling Spätlese-trocken - petrol, flinty, white flowers.  Definitely dry on the palate.