A long-overdue return

The Covid-19 pandemic has definitely upended most people's lives over the last 2 years, and my dining habits have certainly been affected by the social distancing restrictions put in place by the government here in Hong Kong. One of the results of restrictions on party size has been a reduction of visits to Chinese restaurants. When you're restricted to tables of 4 or even just 2 during the worst of times, Chinese meals become a very different experience.

Historically, Seventh Son (家全七福) has been my go-to Cantonese restaurant - whether for dim sum or dinner. But my visits ground to a halt after the pandemic started, and amazingly I hadn't been back since June 2020! I had heard from a few friends about the declining standards over the last few months, but today was the first opportunity for me to see for myself.

Steam riceflour rolls with prawns (滑爽鮮蝦腸) - it only takes one look to know things have gone off. These rolls were much too thick, and they've been steamed for much too long. Cheung fun (腸粉) should never been this mushy.

Steamed prawn dumplings (七福鮮蝦餃) - once again, it was obvious just by looking at these that the kitchen had left the steamers in for too long. The wrappers were all wrong.

Deep-fried taro puffs with chicken (雞粒荔芋角) - a little surprised to find yellowed chives (韭黃) in the filling as it makes for a totally different flavor profile. The taro mash was a little more wet than expected, but I was really happy not to have tasted any baking soda.

Fried wontons with crab and chives (韮王炸蟹盒) - crispy and tasty as usual.

Deep-fried egg custard with chicken testicles (雞子戈渣) - FINALLY! After years - or is it decades? - of deceiving their non-Chinese literate customers, the restaurant finally had the cojones (pun fully-intended) to spell out the once-secret ingredient on the menu. Still as tasty as ever.

Shrimp toasts (窩貼明蝦) - it's been a while since I last tasted these here, and I wanted to see if they were still good. Not bad, but the toast base was a slightly too soft and could have been crispier.

Stir-fried rice flat noodle with beef and satay sauce (沙嗲時菜炒牛河) - we needed a little more food, and I was hankering for some of that satay beef flavor. I probably should have ordrered up a veggie dish, but hey, we've got some kailan (芥蘭) in here at least...

It's good to be back here, and they've recently gotten their first Michelin star - something that probably should have happened years ago. Maybe one of these days we can come back for dinner.