Leisurely dim sum lunch

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I'm doing my small part in helping my friend eat her way around Hong Kong, and today we're at Forum Restaurant (富臨飯店) for some dim sum. It's something that my friend has sorely missed while being away from Hong Kong, and she's finally getting her fix. The restaurant was surprisingly full at lunch today, with all tables occupied in the main dining room downstairs, and Jacky busy pouring wines for a big wine crowd in one of the private rooms, a few of which were also full.

Seeing there were just two of us and that we wanted to try as many dishes as possible, the staff informed the kitchen and for most of the dishes, we were served only one piece for each of us. This was very thoughtful.

Deep-fried radish cake stuffed with preserved meat (蘿蔔絲酥餅) - I love ordering this for visitors, as the crispy and delicate pastry shell can be fantastic. The shell wasn't as perfect today, but still a nice experience.

The shredded radish and diced ham inside were very, very flavorful. The radish was particularly sweet.

Steamed rice roll with hairy crab meat and crab roe (大閘蟹粉腸粉) - I was curious after seeing this on the menu and decided the try it. The filling was OK, but the combination with the rice rolls wasn't as satisfying as I had hoped.

Steamed pork soup dumpling with crab meat and crab roe (蟹粉小籠包) - a seasonal specialty I look forward to every year around this time, the meat and roe of the Shanghainese hairy crab just make this so tasty. Better than the one I had two years ago with mom. I should have ordered a second one!

Pan-fried dumpling stuffed with lamb (甘肅羊肉鍋貼) - this was pretty tasty, and the flavors from the cumin was just perfect with the minced mutton.

Pan-fried white pepper beef pie with sesame (胡椒牛肉餅) - these were OK. The flavors weren't as powerful as the baked buns that are prevalent in Taiwan, and the wrapper was still kinda wet and slightly sticky.

Deep-fried spring roll with abalone and shredded chicken (鮑魚雞絲春卷) - I love spring rolls with their crispy and crunchy shells, and these had much deeper flavors compared to ones elsewhere thanks to the rich abalone sauce. You almost don't need the Worcestershire sauce on the side.

Ah Yat steamed premium shrimp dumpling (阿一蝦餃皇) - I can't believe it's only the second time I've ordered har gau (蝦餃) here, and they were sooooo good! The shrimp was very springy and dripping with juice. Gotta remember to get these again next time.

My friend brought along a bottle for our meal:

Wachtenburg Muskateller Trocker Edition SL, vintage unknown - nice nose of green apple and muscat grapes because... well, it WAS made from muscat grapes! Good acidity on the palate, and very fresh.

This was a very pleasant lunch, and I'm glad to have shared this meal with my friend. Hope to see her back in Hong Kong again soon.