★★★★★
$$$
I was elated about tonight's dinner because first I had not seen my friends for a long time and second I wanted to try Sun Tung Lok for ages. Last year in 2011, Sun Tung Lok was rated 3-star Michelin, this year the rating went down to 2-star. Nonetheless Michelin is only a reference, it's always better to try and judge it yourself. :)
Although we dined on a Tuesday, the restaurant was quite empty given its fame. The decor was classy, so was the utensils on the table. The ivory chopsticks definitely signifies the status of this restaurant, but its different shape and coloured chopsticks did not seem to be appreciated by the younger generation. Anyhow, it is good to experience a real pair of ivory chopsticks as I don't think I have ever seen one before? Hm...not sure.
Although we dined on a Tuesday, the restaurant was quite empty given its fame. The decor was classy, so was the utensils on the table. The ivory chopsticks definitely signifies the status of this restaurant, but its different shape and coloured chopsticks did not seem to be appreciated by the younger generation. Anyhow, it is good to experience a real pair of ivory chopsticks as I don't think I have ever seen one before? Hm...not sure.
Roast suckling pig stuffed with minced shrimp ($30 ea) (8/10)
Nice presentation with impressive syrup garnishment. The piece was served in a mouth piece size which was smaller than I thought. The roast suckling pig was crispy but rather oily, so was the minced shrimp at the bottom. They both delivered vivid taste and the combining taste was delicious. I also reckon it would go very nice with the sweet seafood paste if they would offer some. 
Pan fried bean curd stuffed with minced shrimp
in abalone sauce topped with shredded ham ($32 ea) (4/10)
To be honest I was not a big fan of Pan Fried Bean Curd as it is usually rough and soggy, but Sun Tung Lok's Pan Fried Bean Curd was actually quite smooth! With a breath taking plate presentation, the dish was very appetising. The abalone sauce slightly brought up the simple taste of tofu. The nicely placed shredded ham disappointedly delivered no taste at all, what a waste! The plate was quite flat in taste overall.
Braised prime rib of beer with house gravy ($128 ea) (10/10)
My best dish of the night. The portion was unexpectedly huge when compared to the first two plates, fortunately we had it halved between two people. The rib was extremely tender and the meaty taste was brought up to the next level by the house gravy sauce. I would recommend to adjust the amount of gravy pour on top, it is a bit too much in my opinion.
Fragrant Shogun Oysters in Claypot ($68 ea) (4/10)
The giant Oyster was a shock to everyone on the table, it was juicy and mild. The oyster possessed no fishyness which might possibly be brought down by the large amount of basil in it? I was surprised that they added Sichuan Pepper(花椒) in the claypot, but the dish had no spiciness at all! There was also a generous portion of vermicelli but was soaked all brown with the sauce and hence tasted too salty and soggy. I dislike the dish because of the imbalance taste between the flat oyster and savoury vermicelli. If you like Chinese style oyster in claypot, I highly recommend you to try Kin's KItchen instead.
Baked stuffed sea conch with Portuguese sauce ($88 ea) (6/10)
The dish was one of the main highlight of the night as most people was excited about it. Presentation was again very nice especially with the conch shell itself being the food container. If you never had seafood in a shell with Portuguese sauce, you might find it nice and interesting. Personally I have had it once in a wedding banque, and I found this dish nothing special. The portugese sauce had overtaken the taste of conch, the dish eas rather filling overall.
Baked abalone puff ($60 ea) (8/10)
Puff is always one of my favourites in dim sum category, and Sun Tung Lok's Baked Abalone Puff definitely did not fail me. The puff was thousand layered, very light and fluffy. The abalone bits within the puff was flavourable and the sauce was at the right saltiness. Even with a sweet top layer, the dim sum tasted exceptionally nice.
FINAL COMMENT
Service was absolutely excellent in Sun Tung Lok in all aspect and definitely what a Michelin starred restaurant should have. They eagerly asked me twice to put my handbag on a chair which I had left it on the ground. The eagerness made an akward scene which kind of made me embarassed, so I ended up putting it on the chair next to me lol. Yet, the serving time was overly long, it took around 20 minutes for each of the first two dishes to arrive. Although the garnishing is nice, isn't 20 minutes per dish a bit too much when there was only 8 tables taken for the night? It is like eating French in a Chinese restaurant. All in all, I generally enjoy my experience here and will definitely come again to try out their dim sum!
DISHES RECOMMENDED
- Roast suckling pig stuffed with minced shrimp
- Braised prime rib of beer with house gravy
- Baked abalone puff
Sun Tung Lok Chinese Cuisine
Shop D, 4/F, Miramar Shopping Centre, 132 Nathan Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui
☏ 2152-1417
I guess one of the reasons for serving the dish late is not related to how many tables they have at that time. It's probably bcoz all their dishes are made-on-order which may take a longer time but make sure everything is freshly prepared. A lot of the restaurants might be serving in a quicker pace but at the same time most of their dishes are pre-made or par-boiled in advance in order to cut short their cooking time during service.
ReplyDeleteAlso sorry for the late reply.
DeleteDear,
DeleteI think the table number may not always be the main reason, but is one of the reasons for managing the dishes delivery. Take an example for rush hour vs non-rush hour, when it is full house, you need to prioritise what dishes, how many dishes and which table to deliver first, while for non-rush hour, you have more time to take care of the customers.
The dishes we had the night were all hot when served, so they must be made to order and I appreciate that. However I do reckon for good management, restaurant has to prepare food ahead at some point e.g. shredding veggies etc, which I think Sun Tung Lok should have done that too, since this is like the basic stuff? Anyway, perhaps I don't eat much, I was already full after the first two dishes (with small portions) which took almost an hour to deliver. Most of the girls at the night actually felt the same...but we enjoyed it anyhow. :)
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