Sun Dou Kee

Sun Dou Ke 新斗記 may not receive that much attention like those popular high-class Chinese restaurants at the hotels, but you can always see a queue in Cheong Lok Street. Even more, its recent one Michelin star (2012) places it right under the spotlight, and now you can only get a table by making a reservation in advance.

There is nothing fancy here, from the items in the menu to the ambiance. The Hong-Kong-style glass fish tanks and the brick walls remind me of the old days of this town, and I wonder if they can bring back the great flavours from the past too.

However, nothing is completely old, because there are also some modernized Chinese cuisine. We started with the Marinated Goose Feet (涵水鵝掌) and the Baby Pigeons in Soy Sauce (鼓油皇乳鴿).

The baby pigeons, according to the menu, is the "heirloom" of this restaurant. This looks much bigger than a baby pigeon! The soy sauce did not overwhelming the dish at all, and the meat was very tender. Indeed a very traditional and well-done starter.

Sweet and Sour Pork (咕嚕肉() is no doubt equally popular among both local and foreign people, but this place did it just right.

The Big Fried Shrimps with Soy Sauce (鼓油炒蝦) took me by surprise. It was delicious as all the flavours went into the meat of the shrimps. The shell was fried so crispy that you so wanted to eat it together with the meat.

Pipa Tofu (琵琶豆腐) is also one of the common dishes for Chinese people like us, but the chefs here didn't do it sloppily. The pork mixed with the tofu was not tough and matched with the soft texture of tofu. It was deep fried but nothing felt oily. Same for the next dish, the Deep Fried Fish Fillet with Corn Sauce (粟米斑塊) was also tasty. It is rare to see such a big piece of fish these days, as many restaurants tend to reduce all the ingredients in size. Instead of pouring the sauce over the fillets, they were served separately, and that helped to keep the fillets dry and crispy.

The Roasted Suckling Pig (燒乳豬) cannot be missed. For those who are too scared of the fat under the crispy skin layer and of the lack of meat (some just have the skin layer with fat underneath), you can be sure that this pig will not disappoint you.

The Ginger Fried Rice with Crab and Egg White (蛋白花蟹炒薑飯) was surprisingly well done, and they managed to make it good without adding too much oil. The only thing is that they need to provide us some tools to finish the crab, as the chopsticks alone couldn't do the job, obviously.

Others were not bad, and we also had their famous Fried Noodle with Soy Sauce (鼓油皇炒麵). It was however overwhelmed by the pig lard, and I felt like throwing up afterwards.

Thank God the noodle didn't ruin the whole meal, as everything else was above standard. I like the fact that the restaurant didn't do fancy deco on the food, or any fusion that mix and mess up the food. What they do is merely cooking the ordinary dishes in a professional way. When a local like me tries them, I can immediately recognize it and feel excited about it. If you are not familiar with our local cuisine, you can be sure that this is the place to bring you the true taste of Cantonese food, and that you will be very much amazed.