Whenever I visit Hong Kong, I usually favour street food and local cheap eats. However, on this trip, I wanted to sample what this world-class city’s Michelin Starred Chinese restaurants had to offer. A friend took us to the Michelin 2-Star Restaurant Yan Toh Heen for its delectable Chinese dishes and views of Victoria Harbour.
Food
We ordered the Business Luncheon Menu, a 6-course feast for both the palette and the eyes! It was some of the best Chinese food I’ve ever had, which could be attributed to the quality, taste and presentation. I really enjoyed the perfect seasoning of the Cantonese dishes and the freshness of the ingredients came through with each bite. But unlike traditional Cantonese cooking, the dishes were not oily. The whole abalone was prepared in a way that preserved its tender quality that was oh-so-melt-in-your-mouth!
No ingredient was too extravagant for this lunch menu – there was black truffle, gold leaf, wagyu beef and abalone.
This is what I ate in the 6-course Business Luncheon Menu:
This soup resembles shark fin but it’s actually fish maw and bamboo piths. If you’ve never had fish maw, it doesn’t taste fishy when prepared properly and it’s texture is a little bit gelatinous and fluffy, and has a soft crunch. Bamboo piths look like pork rinds but are soft with airy pockets and also have a slight crunch. Bottom line: this double boiled soup was delicious!
This was THE best melt-in-your-mouth Cantonese-style abalone.
By this point, my appetite was quite replete and this wagyu beef put me over the top. The beefy flavours punctuated each bite and the sweetness of the figs complimented the dish. I could have this with some white rice for lunch everyday!
The dessert was quite the show piece. When the servers lifted the lids off the bowls of ice cream, the dry ice liquid nitrogen did it’s thing and after a lot of oohing and ahhing, we all dug into the ice cream!
The Other Stuff
A team-based approach made the service run smoothly throughout the meal. I had lunch in a party of 4 and all 4 dishes were placed before each guest at exactly the same time by 4 servers. As I’ve come to expect with Michelin Starred restaurants, the server took the time to review each dish served.
Each place setting included a pair of chopsticks, Western cutlery and a moist towelette. There was an array of sauces for the table including soy, hot sauce, and the ubiquitous Chinese XO sauce.
The InterContinental Hotel occupies prime real estate along Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour. Yan Toh Heen is located on the lower level of the hotel and its long panel of windows offer sweeping views of Victoria Harbour. We sat at a table away from the window. If you prefer a window seat, be sure to make this request when making reservations.
As you enter Yan Toh Heen, its exterior decor of dark lacquer wood opens up to a space filled with natural light. The restaurant’s jade partitions recall the lattice grid on wooden window panes of ancient Chinese temples. Don’t forget to look up at the gorgeous geometric ceiling.
Yan Toh Heen, InterContinental Hotel
Lunch: $888 HKD + service charge ($180 CAD)
Rating: 2 Michelin Stars
Location: InterContinental Hotel, Lower Level, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui
Planning Tip: The dress code is smart casual
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