Old favorites get better

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I was casually chatting with one of My Favorite Cousin's friends a few weeks ago when she mentioned that she's never been able to dine at The Chairman (大班樓). This isn't particularly surprising, since a booking is difficult to come by unless you're a regular customer. I happened to have booked a table for tonight, and hadn't asked anyone else to join me, so I extended an invitation, and also reached out to other friends of My Favorite Cousin's to fill our little table of 4.

As I am, once again, taking someone here for the very first time, I had to overrule someone's wish to have an off-menu crab so that our newbie could have THAT crab. It's just one of those things.

Ginger and vinegar pig trotter terrine (甜醋子薑豬手豬耳凍) - I really, really love this starter. It's got the acidity from the vinegar and the slight kick from pickled ginger to help whet the appetite. It's also got the rich flavors from the diced pig trotter and pig's ears. I wonder if some of my dining companions realize this is based on the Cantonese dish of 豬腳薑？

Crispy taro cake with smoked duck (茘甫鴨盒) - another perennial favorite for me. I could never resist the lure of deep-fried taro mash, especially the way it delivers that crispy, fluffy top. The filling of diced duck was smoky as always which, when combined with the fried taro mash, is just a beautiful combination.

Barbecued lamb belly and abalone roll (串燒羊腩鮑魚卷) - Danny very kindly had the kitchen send us this dish for us to try, as it's relatively new. OBVIOUSLY not Cantonese just by looking at that red chili powder sprinkled on top...

But it was very delicious. As someone who LOVES lamb, that thin strip of lamb belly wrapped on the outside was really, really tasty after grilling on the barbecue... complemented by the cumin and chili. The strip of abalone in the middle was fine, and provided a nice, springy texture to contrast with the lamb.

Char grill sun cured pigeon in soybean BBQ sauce (醬燒生晒臘乳鴿) - another extra from the kitchen, and something I've had a few times before. The flavors are pretty heavy, thanks to the concentration of flavors through drying the bird as well as the sauce. I do love it, though, because I grew up enjoying cured ducks (臘鴨). Our resident Nanjing girl was also pretty happy, as the flavors were reminiscent of Nanjing pressed duck (南京板鴨).

Deep fried fermented beancurd filled with salted fish and Taiwanese preserved tofu (台式老腐乳鹹魚臭豆腐) - it's been a while since I last tasted this, and it remains one of only two stinky tofu I would willing eat. I did think, though, and the flavors were a little stronger than what I remembered, which was thankfully mitigated with the addition of the salted fish sauce on top.

Cleansing soup (一口湯) - the soup of the day was jointed wax gourd (節瓜) and (dried) octopus. Very nice.

Hokkaido fan scallop steamed with 20 year pickled lemon (二十年鹹檸檬香草蒸北海道帆立貝) - a new dish, but a variation of an old favorite. The Hokkaido scallop was pretty sweet to the taste, which was really nice. While the use of the 20-year pickled lemon has been drastically reduced to a minimum - something I completely understand given the limited inventory of this precious ingredient - the distinctive fragrance was still instantly recognizable once it has been released after biting down into the lemon peel.

Steamed fresh flowery crab with aged Shaoxing wine, fragrant chicken oil and flat rice noodles (雞油花雕蒸花蟹配陳村粉) - well... I think I made a few people very happy with this. Someone remarked that it was the best version they've ever had here. I'm not sure I can remember all the ones I've had over the years to be able to say for certain, but it was very tasty.

Crispy skin chicken with red bean curd marinate (南乳麵醬炸子雞) - OK, this was pretty fucking tasty. The meat was tender, the skin was paper-thin and crispy, and that sauce on the side based on red bean curd (南乳)... MUAH! I've had this dish a few times, and this was probably the best version that's come out of the kitchen so far.

Stir fried seasonal vegetables with XO sauce (XO醬炒時菜) - I love the quality of their vegetables, and these kailan (芥蘭) were so sweet.

Crispy aged eel and salted pork belly claypot rice (瑤柱咸肉燒鱔煲仔飯) - this has now become the version of claypot rice that I request most, thanks to those chunks of aged and slightly fermented eel.

We've also got all the crispy shreds of dried conpoy on top, plus a thin, tiny, tiny slice of salted pork belly. The eel aged with the fermented bean paste, though, was undoubtedly the star. It was so, sooo good! I didn't taste the muddy flavors in the eel that I dislike so much.

The claypot rice here is famous for their beautiful rice crispies, and tonight this was really, really crunchy. Just beautiful.

Desserts trio (甜品三味):

Wolfberry ice cream (杞子雪糕)

Red date pudding (紅棗糕)

Almond cream (杏仁茶)

We brought along a few bottles to go with our meal...

2017 Domaines des Perdrix Echezeaux - nice and fragrant with a nose of leather and a little wood. Good acidity on the palate.

2009 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Kabinett - big nose of polyurethane and petrol, white flowers. A slight amount of residual sugar. So classic.

2015 Dom Pérignon - nice and toasty nose. Good acidity balance on the palate. Classic Dom.

I gotta say... this was a very, very good meal. Some of the dishes tonight were real standouts in terms of execution, and I've had those dishes quite a few times already. Really happy to be back for this, and look forward to my next visit - where I'll probably be bringing another cousin of mine for his first visit.