Man Yah is a strange place. Located in an "oriental" hotel selling Chinese food, this restaurant has more foreign customers than local people, and things are served in a foreign manner. However, the lack of typical Chinese tea restaurant characters, including the noise and fast movement, does not seem to be a big problem. I don't mind Chinese food served in a western way, as long as the food is excellent.
The place is not big, holding only 10 tables as far as I can see, but everything is elegantly decorated. It looks a little old with those scratched wood panels and metal teapots, but at the same time very modern with the sharp colors like pink table cloth. It is weird that Man Yah is only accessible through that tiny door next to the MO Bar, as if this is a secret hideout.
We did not come here for the Michelin star, as the stars don't mean anything to me now. We came here for only one reason: in search of good food.
Seriously, you can find all different kinds of Chinese food in Hong Kong. Great tea houses and Chinese restaurants are everywhere, so what is so good here that attracts both tourists and local people to come and eat?
The meal started with the typical honey barbecued pork (蜜汁叉燒皇). The amazingly well-prepared meat was so tender and contained nearly no fat, and I was already addicted to it.
The next dish was the must-eat Sweet and Sour Pork (on the menu it said US pork, not sure why it has to be emphasized) (懷舊咕嚕肉), something that the foreigners just love to order. It was amazingly light even with that kind of sauce, while the pork was still all juicy after the deep-frying.
The Deep Fried Spiced Prawns with Chili-garlic Sauce (醬燒脆蝦球) looked unsurprising, but you know it wasn't normal prawns. Inside the crispy layer was a huge prawn, big, fresh and crunchy. Nothing more nothing less, and that's why it is so good.
Then my favourite came, the Sliced Duck (half).
Again, it looked really ordinary, but below the thin crispy skin layer was just a tiny layer of fat, perfect for those who take health too seriously. The duck meat was not rough at all, and the portion was in the right size.
Finally, we wrapped up the dinner with this Braised Rice Casserole, with Conpoy, Octopus and Ka Mei chicken (瑤柱章魚嘉美雞粒窩仔飯). When it was opened, the air was filled with the smell of octopus and conpoy. It was indeed mouthwatering.
The best part of this rice was that it was not oily at all, and even with the heavy ingredients (conpoy and octopus can make some really heavy sauce), the rice was not too filling. Everything was blended in nicely. Following was the dessert, Sweetened ginger tea, with Glutinous Rice Dumplings with Peanut Filling (薑茶手搓湯丸). We also had the complimentery dessert set, a coffee jelly and a small cake.
Dining at Man Wah was a relaxing and high-class experience. Somehow I did not expect much from this kind of Chinese restaurants because I doubted if the big price tags was more related to the deco than the food. However, the quality of food is unquestionable, as seen from the food above. The food we ordered is not fancy at all, just ordinary Chinese food, but they still excite the diners with their care in preparing and cooking the food. It is like each dish is carefully tailored, and with just that kind of obsession, Man Wah is certainly one of the best in the town.
Mandarin Oriental Man Yah chinese restaurant