It does feel like a whole new restaurant when Man Ho at JW Marriott went through months of refurbishments and re-opened a couple of months ago. And a new Chinese name too, more for the practical reason of differentiating with another restaurant under the Marriott banner
miles away.
The brief break also gave Chef Jayson an opportunity to re-work the menu at his restaurant, which I was able to try when we went for a casual family dinner a few weeks ago. The dinner went off an interesting start with the introduction of an amuse-bouche dish, which was a chunk of pickled papaya garnished with lime zest. More Thai style than Chinese, but it was refreshing.
A few appetizer dishes were served, including a pair of dim sum. I love the abalone puff with the whole abalone braised and cooked to the soft tender texture and served on top of a baked shortbread pastry shell for the rich and buttery flavor; the charsiu was served in thick piece as part of the appetizer trio with excellent texture and a slightly charred crust finished with a sweet honey glaze. The marinated cuttlefish was an old-school dish that I haven’t seen in a while, and the use of baby cuttlefish gave it a softer texture (after slow-cooked in the traditional lo sui marinate) and I also like the additional of kinome (young leaf of sancho pepper) on top for the slight tingling and refreshing flavor.
The fish soup was one tricky dish to make as it involved precision in steps and timing, but I thought the one I had at the restaurant was excellent. The soup was rich loaded with fresh fish flavor with a hint of ginger, and inside was fish maws and dried shrimps adding to the texture and umami taste. It’s especially hearty during the colder times. I like the concept of the lobster with steamed egg dish – Chef Jayson cleverly combined the traditional sautéed lobster served on a bed of silky steamed egg custard with a Mediterranean touch using a crystal gravy sauce infused with saffron and grated bottarga on top.
Braised pork belly was like a combination of Shanghainese and Cantonese versions of the stewed pork. The piece of pork belly was slow braised with a thickened sauce with black vinegar and soy sauce and finished with pickled garlic and dried raspberries to balance the acidity with some sweetness. The pork was done just right with well-balanced fatty texture and the presentation was great too, garnished with a piece of “leaf” that was made with potatoes. We finished our savory courses not with the traditional rice or noodles but a vegetarian dish, with steamed winter gourd stuffed with a mix of mushrooms and fox nuts.
All three desserts were beautifully presented – I particularly like the chilled egg custard “bun” that was in fact made of glutinous rice flour like a piece of wagashi mochi daifuku. I do appreciate what Jayson does in giving traditional dishes a modern touch with nice presentation that surely will appeal to the hotel crowd looking for something slightly fancier.
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