Thursday, April 6, 2017

"Family" Dinner at Seventh Son

The last Sunday of March was a wrap with a trip to Seventh Son Restaurant in the evening. Well, I forgot how and when the conversation for the dinner started but anyway, we sorted out the date that we were all available and someone made a booking.

We went for a few home-styled dishes in addition to the whole roast suckling pig that we pre-ordered. It's probably a bit too much to share the whole pig with just the eight of us, but we managed to finished a most of it and packed the rest home. The paper-thin slice of crackling was served first with a piece of rice flour pancake and hoisin sauce while the rest was the pork was either pulled or served as bone-in chunks on the plate placed in the middle of the table. I was very impressed and thought the dish was well-deserved to be called their signature - the crackling was super crispy (best in town!) and the meat was tender and juicy.

The rest of the dishes were well cooked too. Both our appetizers were excellent - the "gold-coin chicken" was served with a thick slice of chicken liver on top of a piece of fatty pork with a rich and thick soy glaze. The honey-glazed eel came in good size with firm and bouncy meat and a balanced and subtly sweet taste from the glaze brushed on top whilst grilling.

The soup of the day was one made with pork, mud carp, kudzu and red rice beans. The portion was more than generous and packed with flavors. The scrambled eggs with shrimps may be a straight forward dish that one often has at home, but this version came as a variation with the fluffy eggs mixed with chopped green onions, wedges of thousand year eggs and the plump gei wai shrimps (some might argue the locally-farmed gei wai shrimps didn’t taste as good as the wild caught ones but I like its firm meat).

We debated between having the crispy roast chicken or the steamed one but decided for the latter given we already ordered the roast suckling pig. The chicken pieces were deboned and steamed with slices of Chinese Jinhua ham sandwiched in between, then finished with some sautéed vegetables and chicken broth gravy spooned on top. This dish – with a rather poetic name in Cantonese playing off the names of all ingredients that went in (金華玉樹雞) – was simply top class, just what I expected from this kitchen with all those old-school, classic Cantonese dishes.

We finished with the rice wrapped in lotus leaves. I personally prefer the rice to be a bit firmer (and fried rather than just steamed) but it’s well-infused with meaty flavor (duck?) with assorted meat and plenty of shredded dried conpoy mixed in. Their dessert menu was 2 pages long with a variety of traditional “sweet soups” and dim-sum snacks. The steamed date cake was not listed on the menu but the dish everyone in the know would pick. It’s my favorite dessert last time I was here and once again, I loved that soft chewy texture with subtle taste of the dates.

If anyone I know asked for recommendation for a presentable Cantonese restaurant in town, Seventh Son is definitely my choice without a doubt.

When? March 26 2017
Where? Seventh Son Restaurant, 3/F, The Wharney Guang Dong Hotel, 57-73 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Whole Roast Suckling Pig
Web: seventhson.hk


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