From Sai Wan Ho to Central

After a happy dinner last week hosted by the Mushroom Supplier, we received word that the Tea Supplier - who was a few seats away from me - was inviting us to dinner at Hop Sze (合時小廚). I was somewhat surprised by the invitation, but decided to respond positively to the kind gesture.

Hop Sze used to be a simple restaurant in a residential neighborhood which served decent classic Cantonese fare at a reasonable price. Foursheets and I used to drop by for lunch after we took Kuma the Asshole for his bath, and while we thought the dishes we had were well-made, we never thought about organizing big meals there with groups of friends. We did hear stories of other friends who didn't live in the neighborhood starting to gather there, and the place started to get a reputation among the foodie crowd in the latter half of 2019. We didn't join those meals, and our last visit was a lunch in October 2019.

Then the pandemic hit and the place became one of the place that were impossible to book. I never understood why, but my usual reaction to watching places like that go up in popularity was to stop patronizing them. There are very few places in the world where I feel that I must dine at, and if lots of people are tripping over themselves to book seats somewhere, well, I'd rather give my business to others whose cuisine I like and who genuinely need my business. So I watched with passing curiosity as they opened a second, larger outlet near our old apartment, but still never bothered to try and book.

Tonight turned out to be a great opportunity for us to try many dishes that this place was known for. The original location in Sai Wan Ho had closed and will be rebranded, while Brother Kuen and his team have relocated to Central and now serve the members of Club Batard. Operations began 10 days ago, and the Tea Supplier has booked the largest private room - where the original signage is now hung, and which is set up for people to enjoy karaoke.

We started with some mooncakes very kindly shared by Dashijie. These made for an interesting amuse bouche.

Chilled geoduck (冰鎮象拔蚌) - served with a sesame sauce that was probably the ubiquitous Japanese gomadare (胡麻だれ)...

Pork collar char siu (脢頭叉燒) - very nicely done. OF COURSE I chose a piece that was very marbled.

Stuffed shrimp toast (百花炸釀蝦多士) - I LOVE shrimp toast, and the sight of a whole plate of these golden brown babies got me salivating.

Look at the amount of shrimp mousse piled on top of the fried toast! So bouncy, so good.

Deep-fried tofu (黃金脆豆腐) - this was surprisingly bland, considering they sprinkled pork floss on top. There really wasn't much flavor without the Worcestershire sauce on the side.

Tea-smoked chicken (極品茶皇雞) - we got half a chicken, and this came with nice, smoky flavors.

Soya chicken (秘製豉油雞) - to be honest... I wouldn't have been able to tell the difference between the two different chicken dishes had it not been for the addition of some soy sauce on this plate... This chicken also had some smoky flavors.

So... this is one of my biggest pet peeves on dining at a Chinese restaurant. In a long meal with many dishes, there is a certain order in which dishes are meant to be served. One of the mistakes made by the vast majority of restaurants is to forget that vegetables are meant to come late in the meal, just before the carb dishes. Of course, most kitchens couldn't care less about what is "proper" and just send out whatever dishes they feel like, and veggies often get served early because they are the easiest dishes to cook. Well... these guys may have upgraded their surroundings, but they haven't upgraded their service. SIGH.

Stir-fried Chinese lettuce with fermented tofu sauce (椒絲腐乳唐生菜) - pretty classic preparation with some chopped chilis.

Scrambled eggs with bitter gourd (涼瓜炒滑蛋) - pretty nice and fluffy eggs. The bitter gourd wasn't too bitter.

Eggplant with salted fish in clay pot (魚香茄子煲) - clearly a Canto adaptation of the original Sichuan dish with the use of salted fish, but I don't mind as long as it's delicious. And it was delicious, indeed, with the minced pork and diced shiitake.

Pan-fried grouper fillet with three onions (頭抽三蔥龍躉球) - we have onions, spring onions, and leeks bringing their different fragrances to the mix. This was very nicely executed, with dry and crispy batter coated around the fish, and it's easy to smell and taste the wok hei (鑊氣).

Steamed threadfin with chicken fat and Huadiao wine (雞油花雕蒸馬友) - pretty nice, and I really do this particular way of cooking the fourfinger threadfin.

We were all a little surprised when the soup 'dregs' showed up, and the whole plate was BLACK! I don't think I've ever seen black pig's intestines before...

Pork, kelp, and seaweed soup (昆布海藻豬𦟌湯) - the reason why everything was dyed black was because of the different seaweeds thrown in, and the soup looked as dark as a bowl of Chinese medicine. Thankfully it's not at all bitter, but came with a sweet aftertaste.

Baked mud crab in ginger and spring onion with pan-fried rice flour rolls (薑蔥焗肉蟹煎腸粉) - the fragrance that came out of the clay pot when the lid got lifted was pretty nice.

The cheung fun (腸粉) came with a light charring and was pretty tasty, after absorbing the sauce with the flavors of the crabs.

Young Master's baked pork chop rice (焗少爺豬扒飯) - a few places in town pride themselves on their baked pork chop rice, and it seems that this is one of them. We each got our own fried egg to go with our rice.

I must say that the pork chop was pretty tasty despite being flavored with rosemary, and there was plenty of tomato flavor for acidity.

Baked lotus seed paste pudding with sago (焗蓮蓉西米布甸) - sadly we were so full that no one even touched this...

Sago cream with pumpkin and taro (南瓜芋頭西米露) - our host misunderstood our server, and asked for this to be served when the baked pudding was already on the table...

This cheesecake was baked by one of the guests at the table, and was a big hit. Even Foursheets really liked this, and that's saying a lot! Dense and rich enough, but at the same time soft enough compared to the classic New York versions. Lots of fragrance and acidity from lemon.

The same guest also brought along green tea brownies made with Cognac. I definitely tasted both the alcohol and the very strong matcha flavors.

Finally, we also had chocolate brownies made with Whiskey...

Our generous host had chosen a thoughtful range of wines to pair with this menu:

Chartogne-Taillet Hors Série, dégorgée Juin 2022 - a nice nose with a little bit of yeast. The acidity on the palate was higher than expected, more lean and certainly crisp.

2014 Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey Chassagne-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Caillerets - started with a huge nose of toast but also a little pungent, smells a little plasticky and waxy, which was not so pleasant. After warming up for about an hour, the plastic notes were mostly gone. The wine remained lean on the palate with high acidity.

2014 Méo-Camuzet Clos de Vougeot - lovely fruit with a little leather on the nose. A little dry on the palate considering the fruity nose.

2017 Comte Lafon Meursault Clos de la Barre - the nose was buttery and toasty. There was good acidity on the palate.

2014 Denis Mortet Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru Lavaux St-Jacques - really sweet and fruity nose, with a lovely fragrance.

2012 Biondi-Santi Brunello di Montalcino Riserva - apparently the wine was opened the night before to breath. Nose was minty with spices and a little bit of smoke. The acidity was high on the palate, but the wine was very clean. Later on here was more stewed fruit on the nose, and then suddenly the wine was more Burgundian...

2006 La Mission Haut-Brion - served more than 3 hours after opening. Nose showed a little soy sauce and savory notes, along with pencil lead.

2010 La Conseillante - popped and poured. Nose was very earthy and smoky, with some ripe fruit. Really minty, too.

1967 Glenugie, bottled in 1995 by Gordon and MacPhail - showing notes of orange zest, smoke, and light amount of peat.

This was a wonderful evening enjoyed with great company and conversation. I'm glad I finally got a chance to try out more dishes from Brother Kuen, who came to join us towards the end and, as we would find out once the karaoke started, a Canto-pop star hiding in the kitchen. Very grateful to the Tea Supplier for the treat, and look forward to returning the favor soon.