The team Chairman

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It's been a few months since my last trip to The Chairman (大班樓), and this time around I brought along people from my team - who normally don't have the opportunity. As some of them are visiting for the first time, once again I proposed a menu suitable for first-timers...

Crispy taro cake with smoked duck (茘甫鴨盒) - this was pretty good today. The smokiness was nice, and the diced Chinese celery inside was very fragrant.

Deep fried crab meat and mushroom dumplings (金錢蟹盒) - Danny very kindly offered us an extra appetizer. This is old school, and very tasty. Unfortunately it was also a little greasy... but I know it's not easy to get this one just right.

Thick cut Chairman style char siu (炭火厚切叉燒) - I started to hear cries of amazement when this showed up, but that's not unexpected, innit?! This is always just so, sooooo tender... almost like buttah with the marbling... Then there's the smoky, charred flavor profile... and it's also pretty porky and meaty. Just really satisfying to bite into.

Fresh water crab roes with pomelo skin and winter melon (蟛蜞膏柚皮冬瓜) - I wanted to introduce these crab roe to the team, and indeed it is something they've never had before. They are also not familiar with the concept of braised pomelo skin, so this was an educational course for them. The crab roe, though, seemed a bit more pungent tonight.

Cleansing soup (一口湯) - tonight the soup was made with watercress (西洋菜) and duck gizzard.

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) - well... the signature crab is de rigueur, so we made sure everyone took pictures... We didn't use nearly as much of the sauce as we should have.

Pork belly slow cooked in preserved Chinese vegetables with Chinese bun (梅乾菜陳皮扣肉配夾包) - one of my favorite dishes since childhood, and I can't say "no" to pork belly.

Camphor wood smoked black foot goose (樟木煙燻黑腳鵝) - I jokingly told my team that we were having chicken, and I could not imagine that one of them actually believed me... thinking I would not lie about this.

I do like this dish for all the smoky flavors, and my team agreed with me that this is similar to the classic tea-smoked duck (樟茶鴨)... but of course this is much fatter. Danny had apparently told the staff not to serve us the breast, so it was packed up in a takeout box along with the rest of our leftover goose.

Double boiled vegetables with fried pork skin and dried cherry blossom shrimps (豬皮櫻花蝦燉時菜) - this is always fun, combining fried pork skin that had been cooked till bouncy along with crunchy, dried sakura shrimp (桜海老) - throwing them together with vegetables. A lot more flavor and texture than just your regular veg dish.

Smoked threadfin and baby sardines steamed rice (煙燻馬友銀魚窩飯) - the fragrance emanating from the clay pot when the lid is lifted is incredible.

The smoked fourfinger threadfin (馬友) gets mashed and mixed thoroughly with the rice, to the point it basically disappears... but the unmistakable flavors remain. The rice is wet and a little mushy, but the crunchy baby sardines add plenty of texture.

Desserts trio (甜品三味)：

Almond milk (杏仁茶)

Jujube jelly (棗泥糕)

Salty lemon ice cream (鹹檸檬雪糕) - this was new, and pretty interesting. Very uniquely Cantonese.

I brought along a couple of bottles:

2007 Joh. Jos. Prüm Wehlener Sonnenuhr Riesling Spätlese - nice, classic nose with petrol and "truffle". Just a tad of sweetness to make the palate rounder.

2009 Pontet-Canet - decanted just before serving. Minty and smoky nose, with sweet and ripe black fruits. The became very nice and open after an hour in the decanter, with more fragrant, woodsy notes.

This would be the first of several meals here with virgins... and I'll be back in a couple of months with another group. We'll see what's on the menu then!