龍苑中菜廳 Loong Yuen Cantonese Restaurant
尖沙咀彌敦道50號金域假日酒店低層1樓
Basement 1, Holiday Inn Golden Mile, 50 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
https://www.openrice.com/zh/hongkong/review/the-place-for-retro-cantonese-hangzhou-dishes-e2307221
Thanks to Alex for inviting us all to this delicious dinner at Loong Yuen Restaurant which is located at Holiday Inn hotel in TST.
To be honest, I have never heard of this restaurant because it is not imediately visible, on the way out I discovered Delicatessen Corner which I will try later.
That night we were there to try the Hangzhou dishes and Cantonese food too.
The Hangzhou dishes are specials for this month (July 2013).
It was also nice hearing more about the restaurant from the chef because there was a human touch to it and how they cater for different customers.
The most touching story is the elderly diners, they actually removed the bones for them so that it would be easier for them to eat.
Whatever your needs, just ask and they are happy to accommodate if they can, and there are some off menu dishes they can serve too if you ask.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried diced bean curd in spicy salt:
These were my favourite and I ate loads of them because each cube of tofu was coated evenly and the tofu inside has strong bean taste.
The coating was great too and the salt and pepper was not too heavy.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed lotus root stuffed with glutinous rice in osmanthus syrup:
The lotus roots were thinly sliced and the holes were stuffed with glutinous rice and steamed.
It was covered in syrup which was not cloyingly sweet and the sweetness was quite soothing.
The taste of these lotus roots tasted like those lotus roots candies during Chinese New Year.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried dried bean curd skin rolls with sauce:
These tofu rolls were really crispy which made a lovely crisp noise when you ate them, they were paired with ketchup which were really nice because I often put ketchup on my tofu.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Braised ox-tail in tomato and red wine sauce served with steamed bun:
The ox-tail was soft and gelatinous, here it was served with steamed buns, but you can choose pasta or whatever pleases you.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed stuffed bamboo piths with asparagus and morel mushrooms:
I loved this because it was light and healthy.
It was probably my first time trying these morel mushrooms.
I felt that they were slimey and tasted similar to the bamboo piths.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried crispy chicken:
The chicken was surrounded by colourful prawn crackers, and apparently people love it because the prawn crackers are quite retro to them.
In UK, you see prawn crackers in almost every takeaway shop or restaurant in China Town so the expats will probably like this dish.
It was also reassuring the food would be good because there were quite a few expats dining there.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sautéed prawns with salty egg yolk and broccoli:
The size of the prawns were huge and springy!!!
I wish the salty egg yolk could taste stronger.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Steamed garoupa with crushed crispy bean:
I loved the fish because I have never tried anything like it.
The topping which I thought was pork floss was actually crushed crispy beans and it was delicious and flavoured the fish nicely.
The texture of the crispy bean was similar to crispy bacon bits.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Sweet and sour pork served in a pineapple:
It is hard to get good sweet and sour pork in Hong Kong.
The sweet and sour pork in UK tastes much better but the quality of the sweet and sour pork here was exceptionally good.
Each bite was lean and tender pork unlike other restaurants where they cover fatty and low grade pork pieces which end up unchewable.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Deep fried puff pastry topped with minced ham and mushroom:
I am not sure what they were, but they just tasted like puff pastry cones dusted with icing powder.
They did not seem to have minced ham and mushrooms on top according to the menu.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Water chestnut dessert with lemon:
I loved this dessert because it was not too sweet but the lemon could have been stronger.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Organic soya bean pudding with ginger in wooden tub:
The soya bean pudding was delicate and silky.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Double boiled whole pear with tangerine peel:
Initially I was not keen on this because I thought it would be sweet, but it was perfect.
It was not sweet at all and the sweetener was served separately.
★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★☆★
Thanks to Loong Yuen and Alex for this delicious dinner and the complimentary highlighter pen given to us!
