Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant

> Location : Alpha House Basement 27-33 Nathan Road
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Shanghainese
> Tel. # : (852) 2366-7244
> Website : http://www.wukong.com.hk/

> Update (12/04/06): Visited the Wu Kong at Casueway Bay recently. I wanted to report two new dishes I had and the consistency of both restaurants. Overall, the quality / taste of the Tsim Sha Tsui compared to the Causeway Bay outlet is just as good. There's a slight difference in the menu (plus/subtract certain dishes) but the popular ones are intact.

One of the new dishes I had is the stewed pork in brown sauce. It's a very popular dish in Shanghai. Basically it's very soft and tender pork meat that melts in your mouth with a tasty/sweet brown sauce. With some vegetables on the bottom. Definitely great stuff with rice!

The other dish I had is the Fried yellow croaker cooked in wine sauce. This is an amazing dish. The fried fish is basically dipped in wine sauce before served. You still get a slight fried texture in your mouth, that common fish taste and that extra sensation of wine in your mouth. It is kind of like chicken in wine sauce but a bit more exciting!

I am definitely a fan of this place now! So check it out if you ever get a chance. I can safely give this place half an extra point now because of the consistency and the new dishes impressed me. I actually had xiao long bao again. The quality this time is a tad bit better than last. Anyhow, my verdict this time is...

< 4 1/2 out of 5 >

> Original Review: Shanghai cuisine can vary in taste because it derives a lot of its dishes from its surrounding neighbors. Yet, through the decades of the cuisine's evolution, naturally, it has become a cuisine of its own! From xiao long bao to sweet and sour spare ribs to various siu sik and wine flavored dishes, Shanghai cuisine definitely touches every part of one's taste bud. Recently, I visited one of the top-rated Shanghai restaraunt here in Hong Kong. This place is called Wu Kong! Wu Kong has two locations in Hong Kong: The main location is in Causeway Bay at Times Square's food forum and the second location is at Tsim Sha Tsui which is where I ate at.

Wu Kong's Tsim Sha Tsui location is located on the basement floor. The entrance is small and somewhat hidden but once inside, it is actually bigger than you would expect. The Ceiling of the place is kind of low (maybe just to me since i'm taller than the average asian, haha) but that shouldn't be a problem because the food will make it up! The service at Wu Kong is great and the menu is plentiful. In addition to all this, there place at night was packed! No empty seats and people still waiting outside to get in.

Now lets go straight to the dishes I had! First up we have some siu sik or in english, small dishes (dim sum). Braised Shanghai Wheat-Bran is the first to come. The wheat-bran contained a sweet-like flavor. On the side, there are some black fungus which is a good healthy pair just like the wheat-bran. Overall, this is a healthy and interesting dish with a nice sweet flavor to it.

Next siu sik dish is the supreme jelly fish. Other visable ingredients are black vinegar, green onions, and sesame oil. The flavor of the dish is lightly salty with a define black vinegar taste. The jelly fish is crisp. Overall, this is a good dish to try out!

Now for one of the most attractive shanghai cuisine dishes! Wine chicken, wine fish and other wine marinaded dishes is quite a delicacy. For my experience, I had the chicken wing in wine sauce. Usually, these dishes are served cold or at room temeperature. The chicken in our case was served at room temperature, tender and the taste was somewhat salty with a define taste of wine. My educated guess would tell me rice wine is used to marinate this dish. The combination of the chicken taste, marinate ingredients and the wine flavor makes it quite an experience. It is truly something that is hard to describe. If you try this dish in other Shanghai/Chinese restaurants, it might be called drunken chicken as this is the common literally translated name from chinese. When this dish is served cold, usually gelatins are formed from the sauce. Anyways, definitely recommended!

Continuing with siu sik dishes, we now have the mixed shreds seaweed and jelly fish with legume. This dish is served cold with shreds of four season string beans which is "legume" in the dish title. The taste has a slight sesame oil flavor to it also. Similar to the last jelly fish dish, the highlighting factor from the last dish (vinegar) now in this dish is replaced by the seaweed and the string bean flavors. In the end, it is a nice dish again but if I had to choose, I would definitely go with this one because of the variety of ingredients.

Ending the siu sik dishes, we have the deep fried bean curd rolls stuffed with mushrooms. This rolls are slightly crispy and mild in taste. I was expecting a deep fried dish like this to have a stronger, definite flavor to it (sweet, salty, etc). Not much to say about this dish except that this is the only weak link of my entire experience which is good for the restaurant and but for this dish!

Beginning with the normal dishes, we have the steamed shanghai pork dumplings. Like the marinade wine dishes, steamed dumplings (xiao long bao) is another highlight of Shanghai cuisine. If you've read my Northern Chinese/Shanghai restaurant reviews, what makes a xiao long bao good is in three factors: the tenderness of the meat, the sweetness of the soup inside and the softness/durability of the dumpling skin. At Wu Kong's, the meat was tender, the juice was good but slightly salty and lastly, the skin was a tad bit hard. The slight hardness of the dumpling skin was a down point but naturally gave it its durability (skin not easily broken). But as I said, the best xiao long bao in my opinion is where the skin is nice and soft yet durable enough for you to pick up and not spill the soup within. Overall, the xiao long bao is good but definitely could be better.

Before I continue, let me educate you on how the soup gets into the dumpling. Gelatin is formed using steamed chicken stock and pork rind traditionally. Yet these days, a lot of xiao long bao are ready-made gelatin packets instead of hand made. The gelatin are usually cut into small pieces or cubes wrapped around with the meat and into the dumpling skin. For further and very specific information, check out Kuidaore's food website!

Next up is the stewed spare ribs with bean paste sauce in casserole. First off, another visable ingredient are green onions. This dish is the heaviest of the bunch seemingly. The taste is mildly sweet and the meat is tender for the most part. I was anticipating for a stronger flavor. It isn't bad but it definitely gets the job done for most eaters.

Okay, almost to the end! Next we have the Tofu skin dumpling. This has to be the most intriguing dish of the night! this "dumpling's" skin is made out of tofu. This tofu dumpling is filled with vegetables and mushrooms inside. This is a very light flavored dish yet due to its uniqueness and its emphasis on being a healthy dish, it is definitely a must for ordering! Also, the firm tofu dumpling is surrounded by a thick mildly flavored sauce.

Last but not least is the steam shad fish. Shad fish is a type of fish that contains a lot of small, thin bones. It is a must use fish for cooking this famous Shanghai fish dish. The sauce that surrounds the shad fish is a very fishy-sweet flavor. Most Chinese steamed fish would generally give you some type of salty flavor but this is different because the sweet flavor dominates your taste bud (of course, not candy like sweet). The dish is topped off with shrimp and smoked ham. Mostly for decorations in my opinion. The shad fish was tender overall and on a side note, this fish was frozen from northern China. This is definitely a must order if you enjoy fish and something totally unique!

In the end, Wu Kong Shanghai Restaurant is a great place to visit. Trying out so many dishes, 90% of what I had didn't disappoint me. My only complaints aren't big problems so it's very positive. I am undecisive with my final verdict because there's this hump that I don't think Wu Kong has gotten quite over yet. What exactly is it? Well, as a northen Chinese restaurant, it is important to know how to perfect your steamed dumplings! The skin as I mentioned before was hard. This probably was either due to it being left out for a bit after steaming or the skin used was thicker. Traditionally, the thinner the better yet being able to hold onto the meat and soup while picking it up with your chopsticks! Secondly, the soup was a tad bit salty and not sweet enough. Mainly due to this but I must tell you, not exactly the biggest problem if you're not a picky person like me =), my final verdict is...

< 4 out of 5 >

Modern China Restaurant

> Location : Shop # 1002, 10/F, Times Square, 1 Mantheson St.,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Northern Chinese
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : HERE

So this is the third installment of northern chinese food review. thanks for reading, much appreciate it and somehow i hope you find it useful =) but like i say to all, come visit, i'll take u! hey, i didn't say you need to pay ^^

so once again, i've tasted xiao long bao (siu long bao if pronouced in cantonese) from a different restaurant. this time, in causeway bay again, i visited modern china restaurant. not a very original english name huh? haha. that's what i thought the first time i noticed. but don't let the name fool you, let the food do the talking! modern china restaurant is right next to a few major restaurant chains on the 10th floor of time square plaza. the place gets pretty packed once it gets around 6:30 pm on weekdays and on the weekends, go as early as you can, 'cause the wait will take awhile!

there are a few notable dishes to mention about and a few i will briefly explain just for reference sake. we'll save the 'best for last' and go with the alright dishes first. like the last two northern chinese cusines i've reviewed, i ordered the sauteed bean curd sheet with salted snow cabbage and pea. it's a classic northern chinese dish. well, to be accurate, the restaurant at world trade centre wasn't exactly this dish, but similar (the one at ifc is the same though). as the title of the dish says, it has sheets of bean curd, snow cabbage and peas. the dish is very light, meaning not heavy on salt or taste. it's a healthy vegetarian dish but this time compared to ifc, it's served hot not cold. there is a noticable difference between the two though IF the ingredients are the same in the cooking process. the hot version tends to be more watery and cooked right off the bat therefore some of the taste is dropped into the liquid. the cold version is obviously been sitting around a little bit to cool it down and chefs tend to dump the liquid. however, in the process, some liquid is still absorbed therefore the saltiness is preserved to some extent which gives the cold version a bit more taste. it's a matter of preference which version you like, in the end, it's a healthy traditional dish one should try at least once!

the second dish is spicy sesame chicken ordered as a whole or half a chicken. it's not exactly very spicy. i would categorize it has being minor. when you first taste it, you'll notice the sauce is of like a sweet soy sauce with a blend of spiciness. sesame is sprinkled ontop all over the chicken. the chicken meat is nice and fresh and easy to bite into. the skin like most chinese chicken dishes is left on. it's one of those northern delicacy one should definitely try. sometimes the sweetness along with the spiciness does remind you of thai food sometimes. the sensation's combination that is. anyhow, lets move on.

next we have the tianjin cabbage in cream sauce. made using tianjin cabbage, the sauce ontop is salty yet sweet and also sprinkled ontop is some smoked ham bits. the cabbage isn't cut into small pieces but pretty much a whole cabbage cut in half horizontally. this dish kind of reminds me of the creamy bracolli in white sauce spagahetti. not a lot of typical occasion in chinese cusine where you get to eat vegetable this way. yet, the creaminess isn't incredibly thick but just enough where you can feel that creamy sensation. of course again, the cream is mildly sweeten, salted. in the end, it's a very unique dish in terms of chinese culture.

okay, things are getting better and better. now we have fried bun or in cantonese, we call it man tao. usually, man tao is either steamed or fried to golden brown with a glazed texture. sometimes when man tao is steamed, chinese people like to mix it with taro in the bread when steamed or during chinese year new or even a person's birthday, the chinese tends to steam man tao with some pink coloring on it. they are simply food coloring added on for the purpose of symbolizing good luck just like the color red in chinese culture. in the case of what i'm eating, it's just a fried man tao with some sweet condensed milk sauce. it is always eaten like this when man tao is fried and it tastes incredibly good! the outside has a nice slight crispiness and the inside is still white and semi-soft, filling the aroma of bread. in the end, it's the combination of the condensed milk and the golden brown texture that gives this simple delicacy its infamousy. a lot of chinese restaurants have this, so don't forget to ask when u're at one even when u're in the states!

so second to last is the lanzhou style tan-tan noodle in spicy sauce. lanzhou noodle are streched noodles that could be made wide or slim. it's most famously cooked as a beef noodle soup way back in the 1600's during the qing dynasty all the way up till now. the lanzhou noodle here is used in a spicy sesame (peanuty) soup base with some green onion. according to the restaurant's website, it is one of the chef's recommendation. the spiciness of the dish grows on you but overall it's not very spicy. the soup is not extremely thick but you can still definitely get the full taste of sesame, peanuty flavor. the noodle is round and slim, very easy to bite into but it's not the sensation of lets say, ramen noodle or even flat noodles. has a very flexible feeling to it. besides the soup base, the green onion, there are also ground pork bits within. kind of reminds you of chinese ja ja mien but with a soup base or even taiwanese style ground beef rice. the aroma of the sesame and the chewiness of the lanzhou noodles gives the eater a wonderful feeling. it's hard to describe you just simply have to try it for yourself!

last but not least, xiao long bao! every order contains 8 xiao long bao. there are a few different types which uses different meat filling such as crab meat but of course to do a comparison with the other places, i had to order the regular pork one. i ordered two orders (don't worry, i didn't eat all 16, there were others with me, haha). the first order came and the first thing i noticed when i bite a small hole on top, is that, the xiao long bao skin is very soft and thin. but obviously not enough where it'll break even when you gently pick it up with you chopstick. this is a good thing. this is probably the most thin out of all the places i've been so lately. the soup within was great, sweet and blending in with the taste of vinegar at the very end. the meat within was slightly stiff. which isn't a big problem. that's why there was a second order. so i tried it again. the skin, same. the soup, same. the meat, nice and cooked perfectly this time! seriously, it has to be the best place so far in hong kong for xiao long bao. the soup amount within the skin is perfect too. with the skin being so thin and looking the soup seemingly about to break through, but still don't is just good steam timing and the quality of the skin that's used. actually, this isn't the first time i've been here. haha. after trying a few places, i had to come back and reconfirm this is still the best and yes it is!

so that's it for this review. thanks much for reading. note in the pictures, there are two dishes i did not talk about. one of which is a free starter dish which is chicken with a salsa like substance ontop. the other is something my sister in law ordered which i didn't even get to taste so i left it out in my discussion. it's cooked like how bird's nest noodles are cooked with strips of meat and vegetable and thick sauce. from what i know, it's minor in taste and not anything too special.

anyways, i'm out and with my cliche i shall say, take care and good luck ~

< 4 out of 5 >

Lu Yang Cun

> Location : Shop P401-403, World Trade Centre, 280 Gloucester Rd.,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Shanghainese (Chinese)
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : HERE

Shanghainese cusine or more often people say northern chinese food tends to be more spicy, heavier, etc. but that doesn't mean it's bad, that's just the style. there can be lighter food too, but that's just how people tend to describe it. so today, i hit up a shanghainese restaurant with my sis in law, bro, dad and niece felicity at the world trade centre in causeway bay. the place is called, Lu Yang Cun. it was like a brunch meal around 11 am and the place was pretty empty when we got there 'cause it was pretty early. service wise, i recieve no bad vibes from all of the waiter/waitress' so that's a plus. they all served well. now moving on, there are six notable dishes i'll like to share. 1) sweet and sour pork spare ribs: now try not to think of sweet and sour as of in the typical 'fried rice, 2 items chinese places in america,' the sweetness to this dish (pictured in the top left) is just right. this means, it's not so sweet where it'll give u tooth aches. the sourness to it is light and the texture of the pork is perfect. u bite into it, goes into it easily, sweet, a tint of sourness, a good siu sik (look up a previous review for a definition of siu sik) if u like chinese style spare ribs! 2) minced indian kalimena herb and dried bean curd in seame oil (pictured top right): this dish is very similar to the one i ate at ifc the other day. but the vegetable used is different and it's more minced and delicate. it's a very interesting dish 'cause every spoon full of it, the sesame oil along with the herb stands out the most respectively. it's more of a room temperature/cold dish. it's not a strong dish (taste wise) but it's a definite healthy (to most extent) chinese delicacy. 3) drunken chicken (pictured middle left): some of u might wonder, drunken? did the chicken have a shot of 151 before it got its head chopped off? well, not exactly, pretty much, it's another cold dish where the chicken is cooked along with chinese rice wine. no frying involved, just all steamming. in the end of the process, dependin' on the cook, they will cool it down and somehow keep the chicken slightly cold but not too cold. it seems weird at first, but if u taste it, it's the greatest food with alkie besides chocolate with rum filling! 4) shanghai spring onion pancake (pictured middle right): when i was lookin' at the menu, i coulda swore i knew what it was going to taste like or maybe some of u people are thinkin' about that too, but when i bite into that thing, it was kinda like a crusty texture from a pie's crust. but when u look at it, it seems doughy but then again it's like kinda in between doughy and crusty. along with the onions in between, it was a unique onion pancake experience. 'cause throughout china, this dish is made differently. and i am sure some of u people can think of some now. the taste was just right, not too salty. thumbs up mos def. 5) xiao long bao (pictured buttom left): so, i have comparisons now! compared to the xiao long bao i had at ifc tower, the skin was a bit thicker. i'm not sure why, but either the skin was really thicker or i think steamming it just a little bit more coulda get rid of that mentality. meaning, a lot of xiao long bao skin are the same but steammin' it less could make it tougher/thicker. but just judging by what i ate, the thickness was a slight minus but that's like 1-2 pts out of 10 difference. i gotta give the plus to the place at ifc. but take nothing away from this place, everything else about the xiao long bao was very good still! 6) lastly with the last picture, we have the gluttious rice (sticky rice) with spare rib wrapped with lotus leaf: this is just a twist to typical cantonese dim sum. there's a dim sum dish called chicken with sticky rice. pretty much the same thing but with chicken, mushrooms and a few minor parts. but the one here was very simple. the spare rib here wasn't as strong in taste as the spare rib described above, but the most important factor was that the spare rib flavor is reflected upon the sticky rice and i believe they cooked it with the sauce they cooked the spare rib in. a sweetish, soy saucy sauce. which gives the sticky rice a dark brown color to it.

so yeah, wow, that took awhile to type! we ordered two other things, but they were more individual plates so i didn't really get to try much to type anything here. so there u have it, more food coma from me thru reading. haha. thanks for readin' and hope it was helpful! so afterwards, don't ask me why, i ended up literally 10 minutes later, in another restaurant. it's a place my family goes to very often in central. but i'll save that for next time. haha.

like always, until next time, take care and good luck ~

< 4 out of 5 >

Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao

> Location : International Finance Centre, Shop 2018-20,
Central, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Northern Chinese
> Tel. # : (check website)
> Website : HERE

Howdy! just like last time, a picture first! here's a picture of a giant xiao long bao using a straw to drink the soup from shanghai. more xiao long bao stuff in the next paragraph. anyways, yesterday (saturday) before my brother and i went to work, we hit up a local chinese diner right off the street in sheung wan, near wing kut street. there are a lot of these places in hong kong, a small place, usually seats outside also, somewhat old/ghetto lookin'. but if u pick the right place, your experience could be a miracle. ok, i didn't get the damn name of this place, but i'll figure it out and tell u next time. haha. so according to my brother, this place is famous for its porridge in the morning. so we both ordered a bowl of duck egg lean beef porridge. usually, lean beef is prepared simply salted or plain in this type of chinese porridge. they just add it into smaller pieces and boil it along with the rice. however, what makes this place different is that, they cook the lean beef seperatedly first in like a stew therefore becoming very soft after a long period of cooking time. since the lean beef is cooked in this stew, it now incorporates a nice sweet/slightly salty taste to it. to my believe, they take some of this and boil it with the rice and duck egg. the result? a very good bowl of porridge! on a hot morning with a hot bowl of porridge = a free workout. sweatin' like a dog, seriously. haha. overall, i had a great experience in such a simple environment. ask me and i'll show u where next time!

rewinding a little bit, two nights ago, i went to ifc to eat dinner with my bro, sis and niece. besides from shanghai, i don't have too many experiences with restaurants dedicated to xiao long bao. besides the one in time square in causeway bay (second floor), crystal jade la mian xiao long bao in ifc isn't too bad at all. we ordered the following: egg white with dried scallop, scallion oil la mien, two orders of regular xiao long bao, and tofu skin with green bean vegetable. the egg white, tofu skin dishes are all very common siu sik dishes. in cantonese, siu sik literally translates to "small eat." basically, they are small simple dishes. in a sense, if u ever had japanese yakitori, u'll understand what i mean. the two things i'll emphasize on is the scallion oil la mien and the xiao long bao. seriously, the la mien had nothing in it besides noodles and oil. but don't be fool, as simple as it sounds, it noodle is good base on its texture and taste from the scallion oil. but try to eat it somewhat quick 'cause from my experience, after leaving it out for a bit, the noodles absorbs the oil completely and somehow the noodle tasted really dry/somewhat hard. so if u want dry noodle, give this a try next time. so the main thing even the name of the restuarant is trying to convince us is the xiao long bao. first of all, xiao long bao is all about steaming it properly where the soup/juice is still within the skin along with the meat. places that aren't popular for things like this steam it too long therefore when u use your chopsticks to pick it up, the skin rips easily. so check, this place does it correctly. second of all, there has to be a 'good amount' of soup inside. sometimes, but rarely, some places when u eat their xiao long bao, there is barely any soup inside which is just horrible. this place? perfect, nice and juicy. thirdly, well, it's properly eating of the xiao long bao. or i should say, simon's proper way of eating xiao long bao, haha. first, hold your chopstick in one hand, a soup spoon in another, pick up the xiao long bao in your chopstick, put it ontop of the spoon. bite open slightly if it isn't open yet, the top of the xiao long bao so it creates an opening. suck up and drink the soup like a straw from this opening (becareful! it's hot!). now, after savoring the soup, take that spoon and shoove that bao into your mouth. good? yes, it was good. haha. so let me translate really quick, when we say 'xiao long bao,' it litereally means, small nest bun. u know those brown things made out of straws in dim sum places? well, that's a better way of explainin' nest. overall, i had a good time. until i go to more of these places, i will have a better personal comparison on what i believe is a good xiao long bao place.

well, i'm out to explore more of hong kong! until next time, take care and good luck ~

< 3 1/2 out 5 >