Thursday 9 February 2012

Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant 竹園海鮮飯店 (Hong Kong)

This is our last lunch in Hong Kong. We did not have dim sum during this trip and were searching for a dim sum restaurant near our hotel. In the end, we found this restaurant called 'Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant' located 10 minutes walk away from Tsim Sha Tsui MTR.

Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant is a local seafood restaurant that has been around a long time. It is known for its fresh seafood at reasonable price and generous portions. As you enter the restaurant, you will notice many fish tanks filled with a variety of seafood such as lobsters, crabs, fishes, crayfish, calms, frogs and prawns.
Entrance of Chuk Yuen Seafood (Tsim Sha Tsui)
The entrance to Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant is easy to miss as it has just a small entrance. The restaurant is located at the basement and has a huge sitting capacity!
Dim Sum Menu (a)
Dim Sum Menu (b)
They have an English menu for customers which is not a common practise as most restaurants only have Chinese menu. All you would need to do is tick and indicate the number of plates of dim sum you wish to order. 
Hairy Crab Menu
As it is the hairy crab season, we were actively looking for hairy crab when we were in Hong Kong. Hence, when we saw that this restaurant serves hairy crab, we decided to order 3, half for each of us. We did not order 6 as we had already ordered too much food. (eating hairy crab in Singapore can burn a hole in your pocket. The best place to eat hairy crab is in China, where it is cheap and good!) 
Chicken Feet in Chinese Herbal Soup HK$30 (S$5)
I like eating chicken feet / claws. But I must admit this is the first time I had such a dish/dim sum; Chicken Feet in Chinese Herbal Soup. Surprisingly, this dish is a cold dish. I am a fan of herbal stuff and also chicken feet. Hence, of course, I would strongly recommend this dish! 
Look at the amount of herbals being used in the Chicken Feet in Chinese Herbal Soup. There was just a little amount of soup in the bowl (as shown in above picture). Nevertheless, I drank up almost all the soup. The soup was very strong in herbal taste. If you are not a fan of herbs, this is a dish to avoid. 
Steamed Rice Flour Roll with Barbecued Pork HK$19 (S$3.16)
The rice flour roll was thin and smooth, was an average dish. 
Steamed Rice Flour Roll Up Crispy Stick HK$19 (S$3.16)
The Steamed Rice Flour Roll Up Crispy Stick was delicious. Outside was soft and smooth. Inside was crispy and rough. 
Baked Barbecued Pork Pastry HK$22 (S$3.66)
Crispy pastry on the outside, inside filled with fragrant barbecued pork. 
Steamed Creamy Yolky Bun HK$16 (S$2.67)

The Steamed Creamy Yolky Bun was average. the custard inside was more solid than liquid (should be molten) and not aromatic. I prefer the Golden Egg Yolk Lava Bun at Victor's Kitchen in Singapore.
Pan Fried Turnip Cake with XO Sauce HK$19 (S$3.16)
The Pan Fried Turnip Cake with XO Sauce was on the oily end. Despite that, this dish was delicious! Slices of chilli was added to give it a slightly spicy taste. By the time this dish arrived, we were already quite full. 
Steamed Mini Meat Bun HK$19 (S$3.16)
The Steamed Mini Meat Bun or Xiao Long Bao (commonly called in China and Singapore) was disappointing. Not much soup in the bun. The skin was too thick. 
Steamed 'Siu Mai' Topped with Crab's Seed HK$22 (S$3.67)
The Steamed 'Siu Mai' Topped with Crab's Seed was also disappointing. In addition, the meat had a weird after-taste. 
Deluxe Shanghai's Crab HK$198 (S$33)
The Deluxe Shanghai's Crab is what we commonly call Hairy Crab (steamed). If you noticed, the picture above only shows half a crab. Well, the reason was because we ordered 3 hairy crabs, but there were 6 of us. When the waiter arrived with the crab he noticed this and immediately asked if we were sharing. We replied yes and the waiter took the dish back. When he came back, we noticed that there was 6 plates. In each plate, there was half a crab each. Each plate had the same number of legs (4), same number of pincer (1) and half the body! What a service! Everything has been cut up nicely. 

The roe of the hairy crab was good! Delicious and sinful! I am a fan of hairy crab! Although, I have tasted better ones from Shanghai, this was my first and only hairy crab in 2011. Hence, I was satisfied!
Moreover, each of us were given a set of 'tools' to assist us with eating the hairy crab.
Hot Face Towels
When we went into the toilet, we saw this (above photo) next to the sink. When we opened it, we saw that there were hot face towels in it! I am won over by the service in this restaurant, when the staff cut and spilt the hairy crab equally. With this hot towels, it blew me over! I am amazed over the little things the restaurant pay attention to give customers a good overall experience.

To conclude, Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant provides very good service and good food! The must order if you visit are Chicken Feet in Chinese Herbal Soup, Steamed Rice Flour Roll Up Crispy Stick, Pan Fried Turnip Cake with XO Sauce and  Deluxe Shanghai's Crab (if hairy crab is in the season). 

Food for thought: it has been a long time since I entered a restaurant in Singapore that provides good food and good service (to the extend of this restaurant). When was the last time hot towel was given to you in a restaurant? Hmmm, I can't recall.  

Chuk Yuen Seafood Restaurant 竹園海鮮飯店 (Hong Kong)
Basement, HK Pacific Centre
28 Hankow Road
Tsim Sha Tsui (Near Tsim Sha Tsui MTR, Exit C1)
Tel: (852) 2722 0633
Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 11am - 12mn
                          Sun 10am - 12mn
Website (for the rest of the outlets)
Location

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4 comments:

  1. Thks for your lovely comments @ Shirley's Luxury Haven!

    I visit HK almost every year & this is a good ref. Your hairy crab certainly caught my attention as I'm a huge fan. U can also find hairy crabs posts in my blog :) However, prices are a far cry from those in HK & China. U're right, S'pore is too ex! Lol!

    Nice mtg another S'pore blogger. I'm following u now & would love to have u follow me too. Looking fwd to more sharing!

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  2. testing for email subscription

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  3. Wow, you went to HK recently eh.

    Have to agree though that Sg restaurants rarely seems to offer extremely good service - the kind that is very considerate (like in this case, the hot towels).

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  4. Hi!
    Yes went during December. Overdue post took sometime to write. Even restaurants in China provide better service. well... I guess I am a typical Singaporean.. keep complaining =)

    ReplyDelete

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