House of Jasmine

The House of Jasmine (link to OpenRice.com) is one of the modernized or westernized Chinese restaurants in Hong Kong. Usually, many restaurants these days are renovated or modernized to attract more customers but the food quality may just be the same as before. It can be tempting to go inside and eventually you have to pay more for the still-the-same-average-quality food just because of the new decorations.

I went there for a relaxing lunch with my girlfriend after hearing some positive comments from our friends, and we hoped that the lunch was not just about the beautiful interior design. Surprisingly, the food was much better than I expected.

We ordered just dim sums without any big dishes (if you have more than 3 people, usually you have some dim sums first, and then order one or two big dishes like fried rice or noodle). The first dim sum arrived after 15-minute waiting, and it was the buns, the Buns with Molten Cream and Egg York Filling (奶皇包).

The inside was really molten, as it just spilled out and hurt you fi you were not careful enough. The filling was so creamy and smooth, well done! In some average restaurants, you might even get solid filling instead of molten due to the lack of skills, and so it is not easy to find a place with molten filling buns.

Then the Mini Rice Bucket (迷你桶飯) came.

Not bad, but something better arrived at the same time.

From the top they were Fried Rice Dumplings (鹹水角), Shao mai (燒賣) and Steamed Rice Rolls with Shrimps (腸粉). Yes, there is no exact English name for the second one and I have no idea how to describe them in taste, haha! Anyway, the rice rolls are delicious, as the rice layer outside was not too thick while the inside are fresh whole shrimps! And that is the first time I have seen such a plate holding the rolls, with three slots for each, interesting!

We also ordered a very interesting dim sum called Abalone Dumplings (飽魚餃), and in the past people did this in the shape of abalone so that the poor people could also enjoy "high-class food" in a cheap place! Today, the dumplings do have abalone slices inside, and the sauce is also made of abalones. Tasty!

Finally, the dessert came. The Egg Tart with Bird Nest (燕窩蛋撻) was a little bit fancy but it was not as good as we expected because of the fact that it was not hot enough when served. However, the pastry part was good and there was quite some bird nest on it. You know, in cheap restaurants you would be given only a tiny bit...

It has been some time since I have such a high-quality Chinese lunch, and I must say I am very satisfied. Together with the good service, I recommend  this place to anyone who is interested in Chinese restaurant and who is picky at eating environments.