Marking the famed restaurant’s 10 year anniversary, Hong Kong Cuisine has undergone a complete revamp led by its new chef, Silas Li. In his previous incarnation, he was ‘the’ private chef to the city’s most notable names with over two decades of experience under his belt – well, under his apron strings, if we could just amend the adage for a more apt ring.
The new contemporary concept marks the evolution of Chinese cuisine while paying homage to Hong Kong’s culinary heritage and development – or so said the invite to the tasting dinner, those nifty PRs lured us in with tempting words. To leave the busy-bodied streets of Central to the calmer not-so-distant Happy Valley, a mostly residential area not particularly known for haute plates, many a food critic has been reeled into the space and left satiated.
“Over the years, I noticed a lack of younger chefs entering the market and many of the stories and skills behind traditional recipes were slowly disappearing,” says Baldwin Cheng, Hong Kong Cuisine’s charismatic owner. “Due to the old guards’ habits of keeping their family recipes as trade secrets. This in turn created a lack of accessibility and interest for the younger generation to join the industry.”
As Hong Kong Cuisine hit the decade watermark, Cheng decided to overhaul not only the entire venue (erstwhile called Hong Kong Cuisine 1983), but revamp his existing concept to address some of the challenges he’s noted about the local dining culture. Having known Chef Silas for years, who shared his passion for the art of cuisine, the two joined forces to create a new contemporary Chinese concept fitting for the modern diner but would retain the essence of haute Chinese cuisine.
Inspired by the rather matter-of-fact name of the restaurant, Chef Silas wanted to pay homage to the city’s culinary heritage, which has always reflected its unique East meets colonial Western history.
Concurrently, he aims to preserve the art of Chinese cooking through the new restaurant concept by creating a platform for the next generation of chefs to learn, not only the time-honoured recipes behind traditional Chinese cuisine, but also the skills they need to innovate dishes and further evolve Hong Kong’s culinary culture.
Chef Silas himself is an example of how the meeting of myriad cultures and innovation can create opportunities for growth. Although trained in French gastronomy, he has travelled extensively throughout the vast expanse of China to learn from native chefs and suppliers on how to best use different indigenous ingredients. Silas also worked with a local culinary master who taught him traditional Chinese cooking skills and techniques – those diametrically opposite to his French culinary school lessons.
In many ways, its not just a kitchen but a platform where Chef Silas can pay it forward by encouraging chefs to think outside their stations, and work together across departments to create dishes and exchange vast knowledge garnered from years of experience. Plans are already on the way for a hands-on approach as the chef has opened his doors to aspiring chefs from local culinary institutes, encouraging the next generation of talents to join the industry.
For the humble diner and dinner guest, the restaurant offers both à la carte menus and tasting menus. While the à la carte menu upholds Hong Kong’s family meal sharing culture, those looking for a more fine dining experience can opt for the tasting menu.
On the pages, you’ll find a fine balance of tradition and modernity, including dishes that pay homage to traditional flavours and skills, creative combinations of ingredients that retain the essence of Chinese cooking, and innovative presentations infused with Western techniques. Hong Kong Cuisine’s sommelier Ringo Lam is also on board to recommend dedicated wine pairings, spirits, and Chinese liquors from the cellar.
Breathing fresh air into traditional classics, his signature Braised Boneless Duck Web Stuffed in Chicken Wings is a play on the Chinese idiom “chicken speaking with duck,” where two traditional and common ingredients that usually don’t mix, find those flavours dancing on a plate.
Fresh seafood from local markets are brought in wherever possible, combining fresh produce with premium dried seafood, for example in the Steamed Star Garoupa with Shredded Abalone, Chinese Mushroom, Fish Maw, Sea Cucumber, Preserved Vegetables, Red Dates, Cordyceps Flower and Dried Tangerine, served with Dried Tangerine Soy Sauce or the “Eight Treasures Star Garoupa.” This is yet another homage to a classic dish usually made with duck but served with a novel twist in this establishment.
Creative combinations of ingredients to produce imaginative presentations of familiar and traditional flavours are visible in the Bird’s Nest Stuffed Winter Melon Ball with Roasted Duck Sea Cucumber Sauce where bird’s nest, traditionally served as a dessert, is turned into a textural delight by stuffing it into a winter melon ball, and adding elements of roasted duck and sea cucumber. That might seem aberrations, a melange of sweet and savoury that shouldn’t work – and yet, it does and its exquisite.
The Bamboo Fungus Stuffed with Scallop Mousse with Homemade Premium X.O. Sauce combines ingredients from land and sea, for a dish filled with balanced umami flavours. Moreover, in the Crispy Sea Cucumber Stuffed with Tofu Fish Mousse, served with Mapo Minced Pork Sauce, Chef Silas transforms the humble sea cucumber with British Chinese takeaway shop inspired mapo tofu elements.
Guests can also expect unique dishes with a Western flair, such as the Layers of Steamed Egg White, Crab Meat with Hua-Diao Wine, Lily Flower Root Foam, served in Egg Shell from the tasting menu. An “umami bomb,” featuring four different crab preparations while the Steamed Cod Wrapped in Miso Fish Mousse, Zucchini, Beef Consomme and Carrot Bubbles highlights Chef Silas’ gastronomic background and echoes the Chinese surf and turf concept throughout the menu.
Hong Kong Cuisine
1/F, Elegance Court, 2-4 Tsoi Tak Street, Happy Valley.
Tel: (+852) 2893 3788.
Reservations recommended.
