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506
For a restaurant that was within walking distance from my previous office, it was rather surprising that my ex colleagues and I had dined at Man Fu Yuan, the flagship Cantonese restaurant of Hotel Intercontinental, helmed by Executive Chef Sunny Kong.
Tucked in a bright and cheery corner on the 2nd level of this charming 5 star hotel, Man Fu Yuan's dining space is divided into 2 sections, separated by a short bridge. There is the main dining area which can probably house about 10 tables or so and the more exclusive portion where you have private rooms and semi private spaces for 2 pax or more. Decor is simple with a touch of class but other then that, not much differentiation from other upscale Chinese restaurants.
Baked Honey Glazed BBQ Pork Pie - We were off to a good start with the char siew sou, which had a crisp and sweet top crust, very much like bo luo bao. The BBQ pork filling was savoury while the flaky base made for delightful nibbling.
Roasted Platter - Things started going downhill pretty much with the roasted platter. The roast pork and BBQ pork had weight loss problems and were served cold while the roast duck's skin harboured no crispiness. But at least it didn't come across as too gamey.
Crystal Dumpling with Chicken and Pumpkin - Now this was interesting. Thin glutinous skin wrapped around crunchy pumpkin and chicken bits. First time I'm having it but too unexciting to probably have it again.
Prawn Dumpling with Asparagus - A quintessential dim sum order, the har gao had a sprinkling of chopped asparagus amidst fresh crunchy prawns. The skin did seem a little too elastic though.
Custard Bun - I have always used Peach Garden's custard buns as the yardstick to measure the characteristics of good custard buns. And that looks set to be displaced by Man Fu Yuan's. Small portions aside, the buns had a oozing egg yolk laden center with bits of sediment to show for it. And to top it off, it won't give you a toothache.
Honey Glazed Barbecued Pork Bun - Normal to say the least. And definitely a waste of stomach space and money. I remember quitting on it halfway through the chomping process.
Dumpling with Dried Scallop and Pea Shoot - I honestly don't remember much about this dish except that it tasted similar to the prawn dumpling, save for bits of vegetables (I don't remember the variant) that replaced the pea shoot. And I don't recall tasting or seeing any scallops.
Deep Fried Scallops and Prawns with Sugar Cane - To my limited knowledge, only the Vietnamese use sticks of sugarcane more commonly in their cooking so it was quite surprising/interesting to see it deep fried with scallops and prawns in a dim sum dish. That's not to say that this dish was any good. Overly salty and oily would be a good start in describing this nausea inducing deep fried lump of flour. Well at least the sugar cane was crunchy.
Beef Ball with Watercress - This has got to be one of, if not the worst beef ball I've eaten in a long long time. Cringingly soft without a trace of beefiness, almost to the extent of being gross. Way too much flour went into the beef and I could make out the taste of orange peel, which was probably the only reason why I didn't puke when I ate it.
Deep Fried Mango Prawn Roll with Wasabi - The mango prawn roll came across as flat. The mango slices weren't sweet and the wasabi sauce was weak. So that left the flour, which was well, fried.
Deep Fried Bean Curd Skin Roll with Shrimps - As with alot of previous dishes, the bean curd skin roll was drenched in oil and no the least bit crisp. I appreciated the generous serving of prawns though but thats just about it.
Minced Pork Dumpling with Shark's Fin - The siew mai didn't threaten to overwhelm with its porky taste which probably meant less fat meat. There was a hint of fishiness from the tiny fragment of shark's fin adorning the top. Very palatable.
Jin Chuan Dumpling - This honestly looked like jiaozi (饺子) to me and I personally thought that the skin was a wee bit too thick for my liking. The sauce was spicy, salty and slightly vinegary - rather appetising.
Baked Mini Fluffy Egg Tart - The egg tarts had sheer disappointment written all over them. For starters, the pastry wasn't flaky and seemed to be sorely lacking in butter. As for the custard, it had an oily aftertaste which was just plain distasteful.
Baked Lobster Cheese Balls - Strangely enough, the lobster cheese balls reminded me of very salty and crispy croutons. Did I mention oily as well? Definitely not something for the health conscious. And honestly I couldn't quite make out much lobster or cheese for that matter. Everything was just salty.
An unforgettably horrid lunch for 6 cost us to the tune of $250. The only scant consolation we could derive was the 20% discount on food given to us by virtue of a credit card promotion and of course the promise of a complimentary peking duck if we should ever return. Service was good but with such sub standard quality of food, I'll be hard pressed to find a reason to ever return.
See all my pictures here.
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I would have never imagine this; I froze at the mention of it, the sacred foie gras. And hold on a second, what were they saying, I thought I heard something like Juicy dumpling with foie gras. Wasn’t this supposed to be XLB, now where did the foie gras came into the picture?
Believe it or not, they actually contain the French delicacy within our XLB, well maybe just a morsel of it since there wasn’t any trace of the foie gras.
Fresh, is one of the word which has been over-used to describe food. How else would you use to depict the prawn within the crisp vermicelli, well maybe I would say juicy, succulent, and I ran out of vocabulary. Oh well. Deep-fried filo dough.
It was wet, a little moist inside, so I stuck my finger in, and poked it in a little further. I took a bite, beneath the crispy exterior, was duck shreds. Deep-fried yam croquette with minced duck.
I was caught by surprise when they told me this was called the Deep-fried scallops with sugar cane. I was happily biting it off the sugar cane (read: I use it), thinking it was very prawny, and there they were, telling me it was deep-fried scallop!
Naturally I was amused, how could scallop taste like prawn? Ignoring that, the slightly-sweet-slightly-sour sauce was most excellent - it was refreshing. And the sugar cane added some brownie points to the whole artistic value.
May I introduced to you, ladies and gentleman, the scarce Harm Soei Gok, or Deep-friend traditional chicken dumpling. Honestly, I did not know about its existence before this, since many places didn’t served it due to the complexity and effort needed to produce it.
The whole, Shark’s fin within the soup, it was so big! With an equally flavourful stock, all of us agreed that the Double-boiled dumpling with Shark’s fin was a delight, well maybe not for the sharks lovers.
I liked this. I’m a char siew sou man. And I was disappointed when there was no sight of it on the menu. And then the baked fluffy skin pie with chicken and mango came. Having the same (or almost) crispy, buttery pastry skin, the interior of the usual char siew was replaced by chicken and mango instead. And the marriage of chicken and mango was a good one, those two totally complimented each other well.
How can one reinvent a dish already done to death and found everywhere? Well, they either provide premium stuffing or reinvent the skin used to wrap the stuffing. For the steamed pork dumpling, they did neither but it was still a cut above the rest. The prawn was sweet and there wasn’t an overly-porky after-taste.
My, my. It was interesting to note, a mini version of claypot rice appearing in a restaurant. Call it a classic, the Mini pot rice with chicken was nothing mini in taste; the tasty Chinese sausages, the succulent mushrooms, and the tender chicken chunks. I had it a taste without any sauce initially, then I added some of the superior sauce that came along with it, and it did wonders - it literally enhanced the taste of the whole mini pot.
There was three different types of steamed rice roll served, but I just showed one photo since all rice rolls looked the same less the fillings. It was the standard-trio, scallops, char siew and prawn. And needless to say, most Chinese restaurants definitely uses fresh ingredients, so it was really down to the rice roll to determine the winner.
And I must say, Man Fu Yuan had silky smooth rice roll, and most importantly, they were not overly-thick.
I never liked beef balls, or for that matter, any type of meat balls. Just the sight of it made me full, I took a bite of the beef balls with bamboo pith, and unexpectedly, it wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. And there’s tripes at the bottom of the beef balls too.
It is a fine line between tradition and new, and I feel Man Fu Yuan balanced it very well. There are the traditional dim sum available for the purist who want their fix regularly, and not neglecting those who craved for innovation and excitement in their dining experience, the chefs played around with some other ingredients that are not commonly used in Chinese cuisine.
This marks the end of the dim sum marathon, and I must say I’ve enjoyed myself very much together with the rest; chatting and enjoying the good food. My appreciation to Sharon, the PR manager for hosting us, and Cuisine & Wine Asia for the invitation.
You are always welcome to visit ladyironchef for a full-up on this trip. Whatever written herein are my genuine feelings expressed in words. Food, my dear, is what they call an adventure!
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