No-brainer Dimsum

I woke up one Saturday morning wanting dimsum. Seventh Son in Wanchai was not the first restaurant came to my mind, but a few phone calls later, we got a table there at noon and there we went. It’s probably our first time coming over for lunch and it’s surprisingly not crowded at all, unlike other Chinese restaurants at this time of the day.

They got an amazing menu of dimsum items available during the day – many of them classic dishes which were hard to find elsewhere these days. With just the two of us we didn’t manage to cover a lot of grounds but we had a satisfying meal with a few dimsum dishes and some others. First to arrive was the plate of char-siu (Cantonese barbecued pork). They were not the super fatty types made of Iberico pork like those offered at other high-end Cantonese restaurants around town, but one prepared in the traditional method using the pork shoulder cut. It has quite a bit of the charred crust, and I like the fat balance and came in generous portion. A tad too sweet for my taste, but otherwise it was perfect.

The deep-fried dumplings with superior broth were not so common as they were before, so when we saw this offered in the menu we felt we must order. It came with the order of three with the broth served on the side, which we used to dip in the dumpling briefly (like how one did with biscotti and coffee). The crispy dumpling became slightly soaked with the tasty broth giving it a softer texture which worked well with the meat filling. We also had the steamed siu-mai pork dumplings, which were just as good with ground pork, shiitake mushroom and shrimps.

It’s a bit of a stretch to finish one big plate of fried sticky rice with preserved sausages and meat but we ordered it anyway thinking we could doggie-bag any leftovers. The rice was excellent. It’s one of those dishes which really made a big difference depending on the preparation more so than the ingredients, and it’s evident in this version by the restaurant. Each grain of rice was filled with flavor of the soy marinate sauce added in bit by bit in the wok while cooking along with the preserved Chinese sausages cut into dices and mixed in at the end with the julienned green onion on top. We also finished the whole dish by ourselves on the spot.

They got a long list of dessert dimsums and sweet soups as well. Normally we would have gone for the cold sesame rolls, one of our childhood favorites, but this time I wanted something warm so we ordered the steamed buns with sesame paste filling. Many places did this way too sweet with more sugar than sesame, but the one here was just right, with good grounded sesame flavor with a hint of sweetness. They were fulfilling and overall this was one simple yet good, no-brainer lunch. Can someone tell me why the place still hasn't gotten its Michelin star?

When? January 27 2018
Where? Seventh Son Restaurant, 3/F, The Wharney Guang Dong Hotel, 57-73 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Fried Sticky Rice with Preserved Sausages
Web: www.seventhson.hk