Early Mother's Day dinner

For the first time in memory, the family decided not to wait till the last minute to figure out what to do for Mother's Day.  Mom decided that we should avoid the crowd and celebrate a week early, and tasked me to figure out the venue.  In the past we had always left it up to Last Minute Uncle… who would always decide at the last minute…

I was browsing through blogs for inspiration when I was suddenly reminded of Shanghai Restaurant (豫園上海湯包館) in the Capital Hotel (首都大飯店).  I had been there once for our company annual gathering, and I thought both the food and the setting were pretty decent.  It seemed like a good place to take the family, as we desperately need some new places to go for our gatherings…

I left the ordering to dad and Last Minute Uncle, and sat back and enjoyed the food.

Paying for home-cooked meal, AGAIN

On my first visit, I didn't find the food at D-Jen Food (鼎珍坊) to be anything to write home about.  The food wasn't bad, but honestly my mom could do as good of a job or better on many of the dishes.  For someone who is lucky enough to have a great cook at home, there's very little incentive to go out and pay for a meal like this…

But tonight Diplomatic Uncle is back in town, and decided to treat us to dinner there.  A rare opportunity for a family gathering.  I decided to keep my mouth shut and let others do the ordering.

Third and last visit

It was supposed to be a quiet evening at home, but I got called out by the parental units to have dinner with them and some friends.  Since there's nothing fancy around my run-down hood, dad suggested we go to Le Palais (頤宮) since it's the closest nice restaurant we could think of.

It was a late casual dinner, so we each ordered something.  I could detect that service was a little off today, as we were assigned to a very small table that wouldn't fit more than 3 dishes despite the restaurant being half-empty.  We were also not given any complimentary appetizers other than the fruit vinegar.  We did ask to switch to a bigger table and were much more comfortable afterwards.

Shanghainese Village New Year's Feast

It's the first day of the Year of the (Water) Dragon, and there was a rare occasion for the two sides of my family to gather for a meal.  You don't get a whole lotta choices when it comes to restaurants that open today, so dad booked Shanghai Kitchen (上海鄉村) and got us a room.  Unfortunately our table wasn't that big enough, so the 15 of us had to squeeze a little...

Stir-fried shrimp with freshwater eel (蝦爆鱔背) - I was expecting the eel to be deep-fried, but oh well...

Elves in my kitchen day 2: eating non-stop

I woke up this morning to the sound of something being slammed against a hard surface.  Thwack!  Thwack!  I opened the bedroom door and found Dyson 2000 hard at work, working one-handed on some dough.  I guess we'd be having some homemade bread for breakfast!

When I returned from voting in the presidential election, there were 3 little piles of dough in my oven, and the fragrance started the disperse through my kitchen to the rest of the apartment.  We could already see the large air bubbles...

Dumplings and hairy crab roe galore

Caught up on some sleep last night, but woke up at a pretty reasonable hour.  B has limited time in Shanghai, so we left our service apartment mid-morning to walk around town a little.  But first, we needed to add some fuel for the rest of the day, so breakfast was in order...

Linlong Fang (麟笼坊特色小笼包) is a good walk from where we were, and it was time to go downmarket today.  Xiaolongbao for breakfast doesn't sound like a bad idea when you're in Shanghai...  As we weren't far from lunchtime, I decided to stick to just a dozen of these babies for the two of us.

Pork and crab roe dumplings (鮮肉蟹粉小籠包) - not bad at all.  The sweetness from the pork mixed in with the delicious crab meat and tomalley.

My favorite braised pork in Shanghai

Today was the highlight of my trip: 2 meals at my favorite Shanghainese restaurants in Shanghai.  Honestly, I wouldn't come to Shanghai to eat much else... and I always return to my handful of favorite places.  There just aren't any new places that can do better!

As I walked up to the door at Jesse Restaurant, I was surprised that they had changed the name from 吉士酒家 to 老吉士.  I guess they just got tired of the confusion with Xinjishi (新吉士), which nowadays is probably more well-known to tourists thanks to the branch in Xintiandi.

My friend decided to order up a storm, even though there were only two of us for lunch.  Her excuse was that she could always pack the leftovers, so I had no more complaints...

French Concession in Hong Kong

I met up with some friends tonight who introduced me to a new private kitchen.  Fa Zu Jie (法租界) is in the heart of Lan Kwai Fong, accessed through a dark and narrow alley whose existence I never took note in all my years here.  My friend knows the partners and suggested we check it out.

We were the only table for this evening, and the place was nice and tastefully decked out.  The spiffy open kitchen - stocked with Siemens appliances and a large, marble island - looked less like a professional kitchen and more like it belongs in a luxury apartment.  The menu is folded inside a small picture book, and is read by opening the volume.  The descriptions are poetic.  Everything here screams artsy.

A very jaded palate

Jardin de Jade (蘇浙匯) is a fairly well-known restaurant in Shanghai, although I've never had opportunity to dine there on my previous trips.  Somehow we came up with this as tonight's dinner venue.  I had seen some of the reviews on the web so I kinda had an idea what I wanted to order.

Ko-fu (braised wheat bean, 本幫四喜烤麩) was pretty tough and chewy.  Given this consistency I can understand why the pieces are cut with a knife instead of being hand-torn.  Disappointing... Not a good start.

Marinated chicken with Shaoxing wine (花雕醉雞) - this was pretty decent.  Meat was tender without being too soft and mushy, although as others have noted, the taste of Shaoxing wine was pretty weak.

Sweet and sour ribs (特色糖醋小排) - meat was a little tough, and I was surprised by the prominent flavors of ginger.  Reminds me of the gingered pig trotters (豬腳薑) that Cantonese women use to restore their constitution after giving birth.

Thousand layers pork tower (寶塔千層肉) - looked impressive but execution was poor.  The thin layers of pork belly was, if you could believe it, tough and chewy.  The mound of marinated bamboo shoots was OK, but I was surprised at the big pieces of ginger in the mix.  Very disappointed.

Huangqiao sesame cake, salty (黃橋小燒餅,咸) - I asked for this to be served alongside the pork so that we could balance out the heavy flavors of the meat.  These were done very nicely, and were piping hot when served.

Soup with salted pork belly (腌篤鮮) - a very nice, wintery dish made with chunks of salted pork belly, bamboo shoots and knotted tofu skin (百葉結).  I've always loved this classic Shanghainese soup, and the salty flavors are perfect for the cold weather.

Stir-fried rosette bok choy, winter bamboo shoots and salted pork (塌菜冬筍咸肉) - I loooove rosette bok boy (烏塌菜) and will order it whenever I can find it during winter.  I can't get enough of that slightly-bitter flavor, although it was kinda covered up tonight with the saltiness from the pork.

Stewed pork belly with turnip, shrimps, mushroom and vegetables (紅燜賽人參) - this was one big piece of turnip!  It was stewed thoroughly but somehow retained a slight tangy taste.  It came a little too late and we were a little too full.

Pan fried pork buns (特色生煎包) - these were OK.  There was plenty of juice inside, but the skin was a bit too soft and the bottom wasn't thick nor charred enough.  A very, very far cry from Yang's Fried Dumplings (小楊生煎包) in Shanghai.

Pan fried jujube cake (棗泥鍋餅) - very nicely done actually.  The skin was crispy and yummy, and I love the taste of jujube paste.  A pretty nice way to finish.

The main event was actually wine, as usual, and we had 2 bottles of Burg.

1997 Baron Thénard Montrachet - I decanted this in the office 2 hours before dinner, and it showed a distinct nose of orange and minerals.  During dinner there were also notes of toasty corn and a little plastic.  For some reason I thought there was a shadow of German Riesling...  It was just a little sweet on the nose, with good acidity balance on the palate.  Later on it opened up a bit more and revealed tropical fruits like pineapple and floral notes which went along well with the chrysanthemum tea we were drinking.  With more aeration the nose got sweeter, and heavy minerals and toast became dominant.

1998 Mommessin Clos de Tart - initially the fruit was very subtle and the nose very elegant and soft.  A bit of smoked meats, forest, a little dusty.  When the wine sat in the glass for too long, the palate degenerated into something horrible.  Near the end of dinner the nose showed a little Chinese medicine... like American ginseng (花旗篸).

Honestly, I don't get what all the fuss is about.  For Shanghainese food, this place is average at best.  Some of the dishes failed pretty badly in my book.  I think I'll stick to my usual list for Shanghainese in town...

Knocking out the champ

I made a long-overdue return to Din Tai Feng (鼎泰豐) with the parental units today.  The original establishment, the place against which all other branches are measured.  It has long been said that the xiaolongbaos (小籠包) here reigned supreme over all other branches, even the ones elsewhere in Taipei.  As of today, I no longer hold this opinion.

As with any visit to DTF, we stuck to ordering the dumplings - mostly XLBs in particular - since it is what they do best... and also because these are the items which are difficult for the rest of us to make at home.

We started with the angled loofah and prawn xiaolongbao (絲瓜蝦仁小籠包).  Very, very yummy.  The loofah grown in Taiwan are so delicious...and summer is the peak season for this vegetable.  The diced bits are soooo full of the distinct flavors which exploded in my mouth.  I'm glad we ordered to baskets of these...

The steamed vegetable and mushroom dumplings (香菇蒸素餃) were OK, although mom never thought these were anything special...

The crab roe xiaolongbao (蟹粉小籠包) was where the trouble started.  I bit into the first one, and was completely underwhelmed.  Yes, I could taste the crab roe, but it was too mild.  I bite into a second dumpling, and once again tasted the crab oil but it wasn't fragrant enough.  Finally I decided to tear a hole in a third dumpling and take a look inside.  Sure enough, there wasn't a lot of roe to be found.  A quick review of the picture I took from my visit to the Causeway Bay branch of DTF in Hong Kong showed plenty of orange crab roe stuffed inside their crab roe XLB...  Mom also believes that the quality of crab roe which could be sourced in Hong Kong would, as a matter of course, be higher than what is obtainable in Taiwan - which would account for the lack of fragrance today.

Things didn't look up with the arrival of the black truffle xiaolongbao (黑松露小籠包).  The fragrance of black truffles was definitely there, but again there was none of the explosion I expected in my mouth.  I took a second dumpling and once again tore open a hole to peek inside.  What I found were shavings of truffles, as opposed to the fungus being finely diced in Hong Kong.  There was also the real possibility that the truffles used in Hong Kong were of higher quality.  After all Hong Kong charges a significant premium over Taipei for the same item.

So I couldn't help but come to the shocking conclusion that, for those of us who live in Hong Kong and are willing to pay the premium, there is absolutely no need to make the pilgrimage to DTF in Taipei.  I don't think that the execution in Taipei has suffered - the quality of the skin was still top-notch - but it's simply a matter of the quality of ingredients. Hong Kong is able to source better materials for the fillings, and the results speak for themselves.

Taipei has just been dealt a knock-out punch by Hong Kong.

Family dinner hell

It's Mid-Autumn Festival and that can only mean family gathering.  Four generations at the same dinner table, some of whom are not on speaking terms with each other.  A grandma (whom I love but) who has been increasingly annoying over the last 30 years; a younger cousin who's basically a vacuum cleaner for food and has zero regard for others at the table.  I was gonna have a good time... NOT!

I haven't stepped foot in Yin Yih Restaurant (銀翼餐廳) for ages.  During my childhood it was grandpa's favorite restaurant, and its proximity to their house meant it was a place we frequented.  Time for some more memories, only this time the memories weren't so happy...

We didn't order a set menu for the evening, but as usual there was just way too much food.

Stir-fried freshwater eel (炒鱓糊) - the first dish to arrive, and disappeared in no time.

Shredded tofu tossed with ham and bamboo shoots (拌豆腐絲)

Stir-fried dried tofu with shredded beef (豆干炒牛肉絲) - slightly spicier variation.

Braised sea cucumber and pork tendon (紅燒海參蹄筋) - I didn't have the sea cucumber but the tendons were pretty tasty.  The best thing about the dish was actually the leeks, since they were slightly charred on the outside and caramelized on the inside.

Marinated chicken (風雞?) - this was pretty good... enough flavor without being too heavy on the salt.

Tea-smoked duck (樟茶鴨) - pretty decent so I had a few pieces.

Xiaolongbao (小籠包) - nothing to write home about... Didn't even look appetizing.

Steamed vegetable dumplings (蒸素餃) - flavors were nice but they got a little too dry sitting underneath the basket of XLB...

Marinated hearts of Chinese cabbage (涼拌白菜心) - comped by the restaurant.  Not bad.

Noodles with freshwater eel (鱓糊拌麵) - this is the dish grandpa and I would always have all those years ago... still pretty yummy.

Candied lotus root with sticky rice and osmanthus sauce (桂花蓮藕) - very, very yummy... one of my favorite Chinese desserts.

While the food was pretty decent, the company tonight...left a lot to be desired.  Family bickering/nagging is never fun, and I tried hard to keep up my tolerance level tonight.  It also didn't help that we had neighbors who brought their dogs to their tables - with one of them sitting on a chair and putting its paws on the table.  I like dogs, but I don't think they belong at restaurant tables...

Let's hope for a happier family gathering next year... for me.

Paying for a home-cooked meal

I'm getting together with a few friends in Taipei, and the venue is usually "Western" because of the presence of wine.  Tonight, however, we met somewhere that seems to have gathered a fair amount of praise lately.  D-Jen Food (鼎珍坊) seemed like one of those restaurants I'd always complain about - mixing dishes from various cuisines together so it's no longer simply Cantonese, Shanghainese, or whatever.

The restaurant was busy, and the evening was pretty hectic in terms of the arrival of dishes.  We started with one of the signatures here - tongue-swallowing good (吞舌菜).  This combination of mushrooms, bamboo shoots, edamame (毛豆), black fungus and tofu (素雞) is supposed to be so good that one would accidentally swallow one's tongue while enjoying the dish.  I didn't.  And I didn't think it was anything special, either... It's a homey dish, and mom would definitely kick the chef's ass on this one.

Braised goose web (燉鵝掌) - pretty good in terms of the soft texture as well as the flavor.  Didn't see anything accompanying the webs, so a little plain...

Braised pig trotter (豬手) - these trotters weren't braised with soy sauce, and retained their pale, pinkish color.  A little on the salty side, but certainly soft and tender - unlike the chewier Taiwanese style trotters.

There were a series of dishes like stir-fried beef with scallions (蔥爆牛肉), stir-fried shredded cuttlefish (炒雙絲), steamed minced pork patty (蒸肉餅)... which were alright.

The house specialty beef noodle (牛肉麵) came but I didn't see the big bowl.  It was served to us in small bowls, but the waitress didn't tell me what it was, so I let it sit in the bowl for a long time...  The beef in clear broth (清燉牛肉) was tasty, but the handmade noodle squares - a little like the northern Chinese 饃 or 麵疙瘩 - had soaked up all the soup and became soggy.

A second round of orders went to the kitchen, and out came dishes like these deep-fried fish... Not sure which variety but they sure were yummy!  There was also some stir-fried omelette that was pretty good.

Finally, there were the pan-fried dumplings (生煎包).  These were definitely not OK.  Has the chef ever had an authentic one from Shanghai?  I think not.  These should be pan-fried until the skin on the contact side with the pan is golden brown and crispy.  Preferably, there should be enough meat juices inside the dumplings.  Definitely not the case here.  A very, very far cry from what I would get in Shanghai... or even in Hong Kong!

I should know better than to bring wine to a Chinese restaurant in Taipei... but we always drink wine, so we opened the 2004 Kistler Chardonnay McCrea Vineyard.  Classic Kistler Chard with that heavy, toasty oak and vanilla.  Rich and buttery.

The waitress took away the next two bottles of red and didn't come back for a long time.  When I offered to open the wines myself, she felt embarrassed and insisted on doing it, even though it should have been done half an hour before.  I should have insisted on opening the wine myself...  She ended up breaking the cork of the 2001 Kongsgaard Syrah, leaving half of it in the bottle.  She then tried to salvage the situation by pouring the wine into a pitcher, but somehow decided to use one that had just been washed in very hot water.  As if the room temperature wasn't warm enough, we would now be drinking hot wine...  I was livid.  I tried to get as much of the floating bits of broken cork as I could into my tiny glass.  The wine was still fairly fruity and sweet, with prominent cassis notes.

Finally there was the 2005 Chateau Montelena Cabernet Sauvnignon, which was nice and young, and typical Californian Cab.

I thought the food was decent, but more like a home-cooked meal than a real "foodie" or classy restaurant.  But the price was a little more than what one should be paying for food of this caliber.  Given that mom can do a better job on at least half the dishes we had tonight, what would be my incentive to return?

The finest XLB in the world

Yes, I'm talking about the xiaolongbaos (小籠包) from Din Tai Fung (鼎泰豐), the world-famous (or so I told Froggie) franchise from Taiwan. 

Froggie and I were going to the Le Creuset sale during lunch time, and I suggested that we grab ourselves some XLBs at DTF.  She had never heard of DTF (quelle horreur!!!) so of course she needed an education / introduction...

We didn't want to be too ambitious, so I started us with 3 baskets (of 6) along with a veggie...

Angled loofah and prawn xiaolongbao (絲瓜蝦仁小籠包) - one of DTF's signatures.  Loofah (絲瓜) is one of my favorite veggies, and the light flavor here complemented the prawns.

Crab roe xiaolongbao (蟹粉小籠包) - this was pretty damn good, and lived up to my expectations.  They were, of course, not as big as the ones I would normally get from places like Jiajia (佳家湯包) in Shanghai...

Black truffle xiaolongbao (黑松露小籠包) - how could we pass this up?!  No, the truffles weren't from Périgord, but no matter.  They were very fragrant, and Froggie was surprised by the amount of truffle in the dumplings.  Very yummy indeed...

After finishing off a plate of stir-fried veggies, Froggie decided there was still some room for more dumplings, so I ordered the specialty xiaolongbao (特色小籠包).  Of course the "original" flavor was still very, very good, and they disappeared in no time.  I kinda noticed that there was a hint of ginger in the pork.

It's been a while since I've had my fix of DTF XLBs, and no disappointment today.  The skins were paper-thin, molded to form the perfect shape with pretty folds on top, and steamed to perfection.  I picked them up gently with my chopsticks, and the skins would kinda get stuck.  But not a single one out of the 24 broke.  The skins were slightly drier than the other XLBs I had in Shanghai over the last year, but they were perfect.

Two happy campers today, who were even happier after fighting through the crowd for some Le Creuset...

Nothin' but hype

Another foodie gathering.  One that I was reluctant to join.  Apparently the chef here was formerly from Shanghai Fraternity Association (上海總會), which supposedly gives this place a certain amount of credibility.  I had my doubts when we discussed the menu a few days beforehand, but I decided to show up at Zhi Wei Shanghai Restaurant (知味舍) anyway.

The trio of starters arrived, and I smelled trouble immediately...

Vegetarian goose (素鵝) - Not crispy.  'Nuff said.  Oh and there weren't enough pieces for everyone.

Deep-fried crispy eel, Wuxi style (無錫脆鱓) - probably the best dish in the entire meal.  The eel was perfectly crunchy on the inside, even with the coating of yummy sauce on the outside.  And the sauce... perfect balance between the sugar and the acidity of the vinegar.

Soy-marinated gluten with mushrooms (四喜烤麩) - we noted that the gluten was sliced into pieces with a knife instead of having been torn by hand...  Nit-picking?  Perhaps...

Tea-smoked chicken (燻雞) - this tasted pretty good - lots of smoky flavor and even the piece of breast meat I had was soft and moist.  But it seems more Wenzhou (溫州) than Shanghai to me...

Steamed Reeve's shad with rice wine (清蒸鰣魚) - a disaster.  The fish was presented with slices of ham and mushrooms prominently displayed on top, then the same garnishes were placed on top of the individual servings.  Those garnishes are used to provide flavors to the fish... one doesn't really eat them... Either they don't get it, or they think we have no idea how Reeve's shad should be eaten.   The best part of eating this fish is the scales, which are served with the fish.  One is meant to suck on the scales and get the layer of skin and fat underneath.  Unfortunately the fat has been cooked away, and I was robbed of this pleasure.  I know that some people had heaped praised on this dish because of its "good value" - since it's roughly 2/3 of the price compared to some of the established restaurants... but so what?!

Stir-fried young hairy crab with rice cake (毛豆螃蟹炒年糕) - another disappointment.  For me the dish has never been about the crab, but the rice cakes in the yummy sauce infused with crab roe.  The rice cakes were flabby - there was simply no "bite".

We ordered steamed rolls (蒸銀絲卷) to wipe up the sauce, but I took one look at them and decided not to touch them.  The skin told me that they were very much over-steamed and unlikely to be yummy, and I wasn't wasting precious calorie quota on them.

Initially there was talk of ordering the steamed flower crab in chicken fat and Shaoxing wine.  Mrs. Hoover and I objected strenuously, as the dish simply isn't Shanghainese!  The fact that it's even on the menu is truly disturbing.

Crispy eight-treasure duck (脆皮八寳鴨) - skin wasn't crispy...they were soggy.  'Nuff said.

Double-boiled soup with Chinese cabbage and ham (火腿燉津白湯) - this was OK.  Didn't touch the ham but I think my fellow diners weren't too happy with it...

Braised pork with bean curd knot (百頁紅燒肉) - initially we were told by the restaurant not to order this dish, as it would be a duplication with Dong Po pork (東坡肉).  Mrs. Hoover and I were like... WTF?!  They may both be made with pork belly, but they are most definitely not the same.  We insisted on having the dish, and realized why the restaurant told us the two dishes would be the same.  While the pork is braised, this dish is supposed to taste savory.  The chef simply used way too much rock sugar and the dish now tasted sweet.  Sorry, chef...the Shanghainese may have a sweeter palate than most, but not every Shanghainese dish is supposed to be sweet. The bean curd knot was also too soft and not chewy enough.

Dong Po pork (東坡肉) - the pork had lots of soft, wobbly fat with very little lean meat.  Both the skin and fat melted in my mouth, which was nice.  But something about the color bothered me a little... the fat was just a little too pale, like it hadn't been marinated or braised enough.  Taste-wise this was sweet as I expected.

Stir-fried seasonal chili eggplants (油爆尖椒茄子) - not sure it's typically Shanghainese, but it tasted pretty good.  

Mini wontons (餛飩) - pretty dainty, and I'm starting to taste more of the skin than the filling.

Osmanthus jelly (桂花糕) - pretty nice and tasty.

The room was pretty warm and I was a little uncomfortable, which didn't help with the overall dining experience.  The meal was pretty disappointing, especially given the pedigree of the chef.  I guess I'll just go back to my regular Shanghainese joints...

Cowboys and French maids

I'm in Shanghai for one night, and I met up with a couple of friends to try out a restaurant.  I heard about Xijiao No. 5 (西郊5号) some time last year, and thought it was time to check it out.

The place was easy to miss, especially on a rainy night.  The place seemed hell bent on making an aesthetic statement of some sort, starting from the cowboy outfits of the valet, the butler/maid costumes of the wait staff, to the eclectic decor showing classical European as well as Gaudi influences.  The toilet bowl was literally on a wooden throne... whatever...

My friend and I debated whether to order a la carte or take one of the set menus.  I wanted to pick only the dishes I wanted to have; my friend thought it would be more economical to take the set menu; she insisted, and I relented.  Turned out to be a big mistake.

We had a few starters to begin with:

Crispy skin marinated chicken (脆皮咸鸡) - this was totally not what we expected.  The chicken wasn't fried at all...it was steamed.  The chicken was then dunked in ice water (or put into a freezer) so that the skin and the meat became very crunchy.  I commented that the skin had the consistency similar to jelly fish (海蜇).  There was a salad of shredded chicken and radish at the bottom.  I thought this was interesting, but it wasn't a crowd pleaser.

Homemade bean curd noodles (自制回味干丝) - much chewier than the 干丝 I find at most restaurants, which makes it interesting.

Chrysanthemum greens salad (生拌茼蒿菜) - this was very nice and refreshing, tossed with a vinaigrette that was just yummy.

Deep-fried fish in soy sauce (扬帆熏鱼) - nice presentation, with the fried tail curve upwards like a billowing sail (hence the name 扬帆).  Nice and crunchy on the outside, while the fish was moist and juicy (almost dripping) on the inside.  One thing that detracted from the experience was the soy sauce at the bottom of the plate, which was pretty salty.  This was almost the same as the version at Fu 1088, but loses out because of the salty soy sauce instead of sweet soy.

After this, the mains started to arrive in quick succession...even before we finished the starters.

I didn't want to eat raw oysters in China, even if they were imported from France...so I took the roast New Zealand leg of lamb (新西兰小羊腿).  This was huge... and the smell of cumin hits me immediately.  I must say that the meat was pretty nice, but there was just way too much cumin...I couldn't even figure out what the sauce was made of.  Needed to rinse my tongue with tea afterwards for fear of destroying my taste buds.

Stewed beef steak with pear (5号牛排) - this was the famous steak at the restaurant, which  is not cheap as an a la carte item.  My verdict?  Well... the beef itself was nice and tender, but that is because of this particular cut, and plenty of others do it just as well or better - 台塑王品牛排 for example.  But the sauce was a little weird to me... The poached pear was OK, and a refreshing balance to the rich beef.  There was a little bit of pear-flavored foam on the side...and a hint of molecular cuisine.

Peeled Risling shrimp (雷司令蝦仁) - this dish gave me a good laugh, and pretty much sounded the death knell of this restaurant in my book.  The shrimps were OK, although I thought there was a hint of baking soda - commonly used to make the shrimps crunchier to the bite.  There were some red "pearls" in a spoon, and I immediately thought of my disastrous meal at Tang in Dubai.  I tasted wine in the pearls, and asked the waiter what they were made of...

"This is molecular cuisine (分子料理).  This is made from Riesling, a type of red wine."
"Riesling?! But Riesling is a white grape!!!"
"Oh...I'm sorry..."

Boiled wild duck in soup (江鸭腌鲜汤) - not bad, but I was already pretty full at this point.

Steamed Hilsa herring with rice wine (糟香鲥鱼) - Hilsa herring is another name for Reeve's shad.  There is no way that the fish should be shared by the three of us...it's just too huge.  I had a piece from the belly, and it was pretty nice.

Braised mushrooms with honey (香蜜百灵菇) - they looked like stacks of rice cakes, but these were mushroom slices.  I took one slice, as it was all I could manage...

Stewed rice with sea cucumber and fish lips (海参鱼唇捞饭) - Actually the rice wasn't stewed in the claypot with the rest...you just add steamed rice into the pot.  This was one of the signature dishes of the restaurant, and I did like it.  The varied consistency between the soft fish lips and the slightly crunchier sea cucumber was kinda interesting.

Steamed veggie with soy sauce (豉油芹白) - not sure what this veggie was...looked like a cross between bean sprouts and yellowed chives.  But the taste was definitely celery.

Dessert was snow frog in pumpkin purée (南瓜露雪蛤) - I'm not normally a fan of this stuff, but it was OK tonight.

We were waaaay too stuffed, as the set menu just gives you too much food.  But maybe this is how Chinese people entertain these days... ordering too much food and pay for an expensive meal.  There were definitely a few tables of nouveau riches around us...showing off by talking about Ferraris.  I'm also turned off by the decision of the waiter not to allow me to take pictures of the menu.  I do it so I remember the dishes I had, not because I want to copy or steal any secrets from the restaurant.  While it was nice of him to deliver a full list of our dishes for me to take home, the overriding attitude of the restaurant bothers me.  These guys are just too full of themselves.

Well...now that I've been here and checked it off my list, I don't need to come back again. Most of the dishes can be found elsewhere, with similar or better quality and at cheaper price points.  That leaves very little reason for me to return...especially given the out-of-the-way location.