Is it red or white?

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We haven't seen DaRC and Ro Ro for a few months, but they are finally back in town and can meet up for a meal or three.  They haven't been to Mian (紅棉), so we decided to meet up for some dim sum today.  Mindful of the unstable weather these days, we decided to dine indoors and not try to bring CC out today.  Our decision would be proven correct when we were hit with a severe thunderstorm during our meal.

As I've never tried their dim sum items, I suggested that we pick out a few of those, then supplement with some main dishes. We had about 2 hours for our early session before needing to vacate the table for the next seating, which should be good enough.

Baked taro puff with seafood and egg white (芙蓉海鮮芋角) - not a fan. The taste of ammonia from baking soda was too strong. Blegh!

Steamed Shanghainese dumplings with spicy broth (沸騰小籠包) - this was like drinking hot and sour soup, and the flavors were definitely good.

Steamed minced beef balls with broth (高湯牛肉丸) - the serving vessel was pretty. The beef balls were very soft and springy. Nice flavors with the tangerine peel inside. I liked that this came with some broth and bamboo piths.

Steamed rice roll with crispy shrimps (春風得意米網腸) - this was nice. The flavors and the springy texture of the prawns were good. The crunchy layer inside provided a nice contrast and mouthfeel.

Spring roll stuffed with shrimps and mashed garlic (蒜茸鮮蝦春卷) - these were pretty decent.

Deep fried crispy chicken ∙ scallions sauce (紅棉䓤油雞) - I really liked this on my first visit, and it is still very, very tasty. Thin, crispy skin on the chicken and nice flavors from the contrast between the raw spring onions and the caramelized spring onion mash.  Just a plate of this - with some steamed rice - would give any 'chicken rice' a run for its money in my book.

Yuzu vinegar ∙ jelly fish (日本柚子醋紅蜇頭) - here's a service FAIL... Our server suggested that we order this appetizer, and we said 'yes'. Apparently he then forgot to put in the order, and we had to check with another server to see whether the dish was coming. In the end we still wanted it, so that's how we ended up with an appetizer towards the end of our meal, just before our carb course showed up...

Fried mixed wild rice ∙ seafood ∙ egg ∙ premium soy sauce (元朗大孖頭抽海鮮炒飯) - this flied lice was pretty damn good. This was not done using rice that was already cooked, but rather from scratch with uncooked rice - 生炒 - and the springy texture in the individual rice grains delivered a satisfying bite. Great wok hei (鑊氣), and you've got thin strands of egg along with shrimp, scallop, crab, and I think even flying fish roe.  Made with premium soy sauce (頭抽) from Tai Ma Sauce (大孖醬園). Really, really tasty.

Bean curd pudding (木桶豆腐花) - they brought this bucket to another table, apparently by mistake, then came over to our table with it. I know this can be a common mistake to bring a dish to the wrong table, but it still feels a little weird in times of Covid...

Oh, and the texture of this sucked. Not smooth at all. What was up with all those huge bubbles on top?!

Baileys egg tart (百利酒蛋撻) - I'm guessing they were rushing this out to us so that we could return the table on time, because DaRC took one bite of this and declared that this was 'half-baked'... We sent it back.

For a second consecutive visit I ran into some service fail when it came to wine. I told one server that we had brought two white wines and that they needed to be chilled in ice buckets. She returned with a bucket, but then brought us one glass for red wine and another for white wine. This was quickly rectified after I reminded her.

Then somewhere along the line, we discovered that one of the bottles had been taken out of the ice bucket because another staff - who looked more senior - thought it was a bottle of red wine and shouldn't be chilled. WTF?! I don't expect restaurant staff to know each and every wine in the world - especially if they're not sommeliers - but that bottle was in the bucket for a reason. Even if it were a bottle of red, there are still times when I would want it chilled to get to the correct serving temperature. The decision to remove a bottle from an ice bucket should be mine.

I'll say this again. If you're charging me HKD 500 for corkage - which I have no problems with paying - Imma have some high expectations when it comes to your wine service.

So these were the two bottles of Californian whites we brought for a casual lunch...

2008 Peter Michael Chardonnay Point Rouge - lots of sugar cane, very caramelized and oxidized, sweet with notes of straw. Very ripe and sweet, and very buttery on the palate.

2007 Sine Qua Non Body and Soul - 71% roussanne and 29% viognier. Flinty, tropical, also sweet and caramelized but not quite sugar cane. Notes of straw. Ripe and buttery on the palate.