Lung King Heen

Last year when Michelin unleashed its stars on the selected Hong Kong restuarants, much controversy prevailed in the town criticizing the fact that most of the awarded places were either western restaurants or expensive hotel places. Of course, not many people can spend a lot on one dish, but the truth is that Hong Kong is filled with so many international cuisines and seriously, some small and traditional shops do much better food.

Lung King Heen is located at Four Seasons, and it was the only restaurant awarded three stars in the Michelin food guide in 2009, and it still keeps the three stars for 2010 (while the other of the two three-star awards is Caprice, which is the French restaurant in Four Seasons). There is no doubt that this is an expensive Chinese restaurant, but I read reviews that the food is good too. I am testing it myself today.

The place was really beautiful, and all the details were taken with good care. The menu, the little flower pot and even the teapot were specially designed.

We started the lunch, or yumcha in precise terms, with this dimsum, steamed rice rolls. But instead of the typical beef or roasted pork or shrimp filling, this one had lobster meat inside.

I would not say that this was good just because it used some high-class ingredients, but this was quite nice. The roll was not thick but very chewy, and the lobster was nicely prepared too. However, I still prefer the original beef or roasted pork rice rolls because those are paste-like meat or very thin slices, and that actually fits better inside the roll. The lobster here are big chops and when you eat it, it moves inside the roll and finally falls apart.

Then it was the Tarts with Salmon and Cheese. Yeah, it was a strange dish.

It was clearly a fusion type of food, and if it was not my friend, I would not pick this one. The tarts were just so-so, probably because the salmon and cheese just didn't go well with the tart outer. After that one typical dim sum came, the shui mai.

There couldn't be any surprise from this dish I guess, and yes it was typical but at least it was well done and had real shrimps inside. There are many other restaurants only using pork and shrimp paste to make shui mai, but original shui mai actually has real and whole shrimps inside, and is always the best.

This looked very ordinary too, but turned out to be a little sweet surprise. This was the Mini Pineapple Buns with Roasted Pork Filling. The top was crispy and there were quite some filling inside instead of big empty space. Tasty.

This is the Shrimp Dumplings. I love the wrapper which was so thin as you can see from the photo. You may not know but the wrapper is actually the part that decides whether the dumpling is good or not. It should not be too thick and it should be translucent. It is thin but should not break easily, and should be chewy too.

The Vegetarian Buns came, which was pretty ordinary.

The most special dim sum came last, and it was the Baked Whole Abalone Puffs with Diced Chicken.

The "abalone" tasted really good and it was a real abalone on top! I don't know whether it was only illusion to say it was good, because everyone would agree that anything with things like abalone or shark fins would become high-class delicious food. In any case, just talking about the texture and taste, this puff was very well done. Nothing was overcooked and each ingredient did not overwhelm each other in the taste.

The dessert was a complimentary item, and it turned out to be a little disappointing. The two kinds of desserts were small sachima and coconut cakes. They were both tasty but not special at all, more like just up to typical standard.

The second dish of dessert was a complete letdown, because it was Sweet Osmanthus Cakes (or Guihua Cake), but the flower flavour was not strong at all. It tasted more like mango jelly, and even the colors suggested that. It was really poor to me, as I don't think such Chinese dessert could go wrong in such a prestigious Chinese restaurant.

In general, the food is above average, but is not extremely good and memorable like Michelin would say about it. The service is the key to its success. When I just walked in, several waiters came and served me, putting our bags and coats into place. They were more than happy to explain each item in the menu for you, and if you wanted to change a dish after ordering, the staff wouldn't complain at all. I believe that is the major reason why it was awarded three stars in the Michelin guide, and why it can keep it for two years.

If you wanted some extraordinary Chinese food, you might find some here in the menu but don't expect everything to be good. There are other places I would recommend you instead. if you want unbeatable service and beautifully decorated modern place on a relaxing weekend day, then this is a good choice. You know what I mean.