Having a ball

This would sound incredulous to many, but I had not one, but two groups of people bail on me for my dinner booking at The Chairman (大班樓) tonight. Thankfully I haven't run out of friends who would be excited to have the opportunity to dine here, so I managed to rope in a few more thanks to the Zhongmeister.

I was lucky we didn't have people with voracious appetites, so no extra dishes for us tonight. But on this visit, I insisted on getting the one dish I wasn't able to order on my last visit. A dish that was new at the time, which took me almost four months to be able to taste.

Crispy taro cake with smoked duck (茘甫鴨盒) - pretty tasty with that nice, smoky flavor in the filling. I wished the taro mash was more fluffy on top, though. That would have been even better.

Barbecued lamb belly and abalone roll (串燒羊腩鮑魚卷) - Danny very kindly sent us this additional dish, which I first tried earlier this year. The thin slice of lamb wrapped around the outside had plenty of gamey flavor thanks to the fat, and the sprinkle of chili and cumin powder was a nice touch. The abalone in the middle was very springy and fun to bite down on.

Smoked baby pigeon with Longjing tea and chrysanthemum (龍井菊花煙乳鴿) - this smoky pigeon reminded me a little of camphor wood and tea smoked duck (樟茶鴨).

The meat actually turned a reddish pink from marinating, and this now definitely reminded me of the famous Sichuan duck... or French duck confit, even. Very milky in terms of flavor, but with the added complexity of having been cured.

15-year aged tangerine peel beef ball (十五年陳皮牛肉獅子頭) - this is the new dish that I've been seeing all my friends post about. Lots of people have raved about it.

For me, though, this didn't quite do it. Yes, the beef was tender. Yes, the aged tangerine peel had a lovely fragrance that lingered in my mouth, along with the diced mushrooms. The broth was nice. But the texture was all wrong. This ball crumbled and fell apart too easily. There was no springiness to make it exciting, to make me want another one immediately.

This felt like an attempt to recreate the meatball at Tastng Court (天一閣) - a dish so good that even Alain Ducasse couldn't stop singing its praises. But that dish was magical precisely because it had so much bounce, and this here don't got it.

Cleansing soup (一口湯) - tonight this was mud carp (鯪魚), kudzu (粉葛), and rice bean (赤小豆) soup.

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) - unfortunately, this had to be done. I will never say this isn't tasty, but I'm so bored ot it...

Stir fried slipper lobsters with sweet peas and fresh river crab roe (蟛蜞膏豆仁炒琵琶蝦) - I must admit I don't order this enough, which is a shame since the slipper lobsters are always tasty, and of course the river crab roe (蟛蜞膏 or 禮雲子), too. And peas are always a good idea to add sweetness to it all.

Camphor wood smoked black foot goose (樟木煙燻黑腳鵝) - well, I guess this is the restaurant's version of 樟茶鴨... but it's goose instead of duck. It always looks so impressive when it comes to the table.

This is always tasty, but DAYAM! This lil' goose was sooooo fatty...

Stir fried jicama, snap peas, water lily seeds and gordon euryales seed (蜜糖豆仁沙葛炒雞頭米) - all good with different textures, but I do wish they wouldn't put ginger in there...

Beef short ribs Chinese cured liver sausages claypot rice (薑絲肥牛膶腸窩蛋煲仔飯) - we made a late change for the claypot rice this morning, and Danny suggested that we add some ganbajun (乾巴菌) - which I was only too happy to take up.

I've had this a number of times, but this was the first time with the amazingly fragrant fungus added into the mix. Sipping on the pinot gris with a little bit of the fungus left in the mouth just brought those flavors back but amplified, like rekindling a fire from the dying embers with a breath of oxygen.

The usual charred rice gets even better with the presence of ganbajun.

The real reason we made the switch, though, was that this particular pot comes with a second serving. We get clam soup added to the charred rice, and this is always so comforting and satisfying.

Desserts trio (甜品三味):

Wolfberry ice cream (杞子雪糕)

Red date pudding (紅棗糕)

Black sesame cream (芝麻糊)

This wasn't a heavy drinking crowd, but we didn't do too badly.

Emmanuel Brochet Rosé de Saignée - opened 2 hours earlier. The nose was VERY toasty, with red fruits. Very punchy nose. Underneath the toast there was perhaps a hint of bubblegum.

2013 Trimbach Pinot Gris Réserve Personnelle, en magnum - a little hint of plastic on the nose, also a little floral. Good acidity mid-palate and on the finish, but also slightly sweet. There was a hint of marmalade, and a little bitter, too.

2007 BOND Matriarch - started drinking 1 hour and 45 minutes after decanting. Really sweet fruit on the nose, with tons of vanilla and coconut butter. Nice, woodsy notes, too.

There were definitely happy campers around the table, so I was glad I had a hand in making that happen. I'll be back pretty soon, actually...