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S hasn't been in town for 6 years so, naturally, there is a long list of places she wants to hit. She rattled off the names of a few places, and I made the executive decision to book us a table at
Wing (永). It has been much too long since I last visited Vicky's restaurant, and I feel a little indebted from that last visit as it ended up being just three of us in the room. Tonight, though, we would be squeezing 9 of us around that table thanks to a late addition. It was gonna be a cozy evening.
Our visitor was stunned by the balcony attached to our private room, and that wicker hanging chair that Foursheets loves so much. I do have to admit that I myself find it a really nice perk, to be able to step out and take in the view of the city... and also enjoy a cigar after dinner. That will come later.
As always, I left everything in the hands of Chef Vicky Cheng. I know there would be a lot of tasty goodies, and it would finally be my turn to taste that abalone. I was also wondering at what point I would see some gold...
Coastal glehnia root and longan tea (北沙參桂圓茶) - we are now in the season of "white dew (白露)", and we started with our seasonal drink. I have no idea what glehnia root tastes like, but the longan flavors were certainly prominent and recognizable.
Botan shrimp • fish sauce (潮式牡丹蝦) - definitely interesting to marinate the raw shrimp with something Chiuchow-style that's based on fish sauce.
Since Foursheets doesn't do well with shrimp heads, guess who gets a second one? Slurp.
Smoked eggplant • housemade sour sauce (煙燻酸汁茄子) - this is always interesting, which is probably why it has stayed on the menu since the restaurant's early days.
Chili Japanese oyster • golden crystal egg (香辣日本蠔伴自製黃金皮蛋) - the restaurant preserve their own eggs, which is why these egg whites aren't pitch black but golden instead. I do like the housemade
mala (麻辣) sauce, which really wasn't that spicy.
Vicky took note of the fact that
someone - who shall remain nameless - did not wish to have spicy dishes, so he only served up 8 oysters with 8 wedges of century eggs. In fact, he took care to prepare a deep-fried lobster claw for this person. However, this was not communicated to us at the table, so this person ended up eating this dish anyway... After everyone had taken their turn, I came to the realization that there was nothing left for
moi... so the kitchen quickly sent me my portion, already plated just for me.
We each got a small pile of housemade noodles so that the leftover
mala sauce could be put to good use. I gave my leftover sauce to Foursheets.
Stone crab • garlic vinegar (蒜醋石蟹) - the rock crab was served cold with a garlic vinegar dip on the side. I chose to take it 'as is'.
Geoduck • winter melon soup (象拔蚌冬瓜湯) - the chunk of winter melon simmered with some white marinade (白鹵水) was wrapped with bamboo pith, but wouldn't it have been more amazing had it been caul fat instead? Anyway... I loved the spring and the crunch from those tiny slices of geoduck, and of course I've always loved tonkin jasmine (夜香花) and the peas that floated to the top after the soup was poured into the bowl.
27 head Oma abalone • South African abalone • abalone sauce（廿七頭禾麻鮑魚併南非鮮鮑魚) - YASS!!! We all rushed to take videos of the claypot with the abalone, as the sauce bubbles away. We have half of a fresh abalone stuck with half of a rehydrated dried Oma abalone (禾麻鮑) from Oma (大間) in Aomori Prefecture (青森県). And that delicious abalone sauce which must be soaked up with some steamed rice.
But Swiss quickly realized that the other service staff had made a mistake. The plate in front of me was quickly given to my neighbor, because my serving had been prepared outside the room with... yes, GOLD! It made perfect sense
Definitely an interesting dish. The contrast in textures and flavors was very clear, and this made perfect sense after having tasted other dishes where two completely different ingredients were fused together. But boy... does that gold make the dish!
Vicky brought out this beautiful Macau sole (金邊方脷) to show us.
This is quite a rarity, and caught wild. Just look at the beautiful "gold"-colored fin.
Steamed wild Macao sole (清蒸金邊方脷) - the fish was served with the usual accoutrements of coriander together with fresh and deep-fried spring onions.
The fish was so tender and delicious. DaRC and I thought the soy sauce served with the fish tonight was a special one, as there were definitely fruity notes that could have come from aged tangerine peel or other stuff.
Dry aged roasted goose (熟成燒鵝) - this impressive-looking goose had been dry-aged for 21 days. Isn't that a beauty?!
We were served the head, back, and the legs of the goose. I had initially picked out a couple of pieces from the back, and left the rest to the others. At the end when there were just a couple of pieces left on the plate, I decided to take one.
I quickly realized my mistake once I bit into it. I had just bitten into a piece of ass. The gland in the goose's ass - which normally would already taste pretty strong - just got intensified after aging for 21 days. It was so strong I couldn't take it... and if it weren't impolite, I would have spat it back out onto my plate. Instead I just swallowed what was in my mouth and washed it down with some tea. And it took a few gulps. That was fucking nasty. While I was salivating over the look of the roast goose, this was not what I had expected.
Stir-fry Chinese kale • shrimp paste cured pork (蝦醬鹹白肉炒芥蘭) - that was a tasty piece of pork, with the exotic flavors of shrimp paste, working well with the sweetness from the veg.
Roasted goose • rice noodle (鵝絲瀨粉) - absolutely loved the milky broth from cooking the goose bones, with a wonderful smoky flavor. DaRC was right when he suggested that we add a pinch of white pepper to elevate it. Oh, and I was so happy that they served us rice flour noodles (瀨粉), and they cut them into short sections so we could pick them up with a spoon without splattering soup all over.
Baked black pepper bun (胡椒餅) - I do kinda recall seeing others post about these, and of course we were only too happy to see a whole row of these show up.
These were so, sooo tasty. Were they better than the famous ones found in Taiwan? I have no idea. But these made me happy, and that's all that matters. Piping hot when they arrived, I bit a small hole in the dough to let the hot air come out for a little... before really chomping down on it.
Gingko nut • bean curd sweet soup (銀杏腐竹露) - this was a nice variation on the classic Cantonese dessert, with a bloc of almond tofu (杏仁豆腐) in the middle.
One thing I am always grateful for is the level of service that Vicky, Swiss, and the team deliver... at least whenever we visit. They know very well that Foursheets wouldn't touch anything sweet, so they served her a bowl of hot and sour fish soup in lieu of dessert soup.
Finally, we have the mignardises... which are always a combination of seasonal fruits and sweets.
Thai red ruby pomelo
Nijisseiki pear (二十世紀梨) from Tottori Prefecture (鳥取県).
These persimmons were
Fuyugaki (富有柿) from Wakayama Prefecture (和歌山県).
Knowing that Foursheets would be unlikely to partake in the three autumn fruits on the platter, they brought her some guava - and tonight this was 胭脂紅.
Donuts with salted egg yolk cream (鹹蛋奶皇冬甩)
Black sesame mochi (黑芝麻麻糬)
The wino crowd actually didn't bring as much wine as expected, but that would soon be remedied by Vicky's generosity towards the end of the evening.
Ulysse Collin Rosé de Saignée Les Maillons, dégorgée en Mars 2021 - lovely notes of red fruits. This was so elegant, really nice and rounded on the palate.
1988 Maximin Grünhaüser Herrenberg Riesling Kabinett - this was really nice and fresh despite the age, and a good amount of acidity made it very lively on the palate. There was a bit of sweetness, of course, and the prominent notes of white flowers were very nice, too.
2016 Guiberteau Saumur Brézé - there was a huge, toasty nose, and also very fragrant. Pretty lean on the palate with grippy tannins and good acidity. Later on, though, the nose started to develop a buttery profile.
2005 Sandrone Barolo Cannubi Boschis - a really fragrant nose of spices and also somewhat smoky. It's still got the concentration but now the wine is ready, and drinking very nicely.
2007 Sassicaia - smoky, minty nose with wonderful fruit, where it's jammy but not sugary sweet on the nose, and a little fermented. Really good concentration on the palate. Beautiful wine from a great vintage.
1988 Maximin Grünhaüser Abstberg Riesling Spätlese - slightly more sweetness on the palate than the kabinett, but still got lots of acidity, and not surprisingly this was more rounded on the palate. Lots of white flowers on the nose, making it very nice and fragrant.
Vicky was gracious enough to come hang with us after dinner, and a few of us ended up taking cigars on the balcony. Amazingly, I decided that I had enough wine for the night and stopped after the last of our own bottles ran out. I just wanted some good conversation with people I enjoyed spending time with. Vicky is off to Bangkok tomorrow for the opening of his new restaurant
K by Vicky Cheng (麒), and we wished him good luck for his new venture.
Once again, very grateful to Vicky, Swiss, and the team for taking such good care of us. I hope S enjoyed herself, but the evening wasn't finished for this party girl... and she had another stop after hanging with us.
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