It’s hardly
a surprise that this new private kitchen called “Ding’s Kitchen” in Causeway
Bay became the talk of the town lately as owner/chef Steve Lee (aka Ding Yeh 鼎爺 or
Grandpa Ding) ran a hugely popular cooking show “Grandpa Kitchen” (阿爺廚房) on local TV,
showcasing some impressive techniques in old-school Cantonese cuisine. The menu
at his restaurant didn’t come cheap by any means, but tables were snapped up
quickly since it opened late last year, with many eager customers/fans/groupies
wanting to try the dishes they saw on the show and to see him cooking in
person.
The other
night we joined our friend C who managed to get a table at the restaurant in
rather short notice (who knows how he managed such a feat) To be real honest, I
didn’t come with particularly high expectation since I have heard a few mixed
reviews about the place and the food, and we have not watched a single episode
of Grandpa Ding’s show ourselves, but nonetheless, we were curious how this
hyped-up place fare against the other high-end Cantonese restaurants in town.
That plus Grandpa Ding was quite a character that we would love to meet, with a
colorful career stretching over a few decades behind the silver screen as an
actor and kung-fu master, an equestrian specialist and now, a celebrity chef.
The place is located in a new commercial building right at the heart of Causeway Bay. The décor was simple with a contemporary design, with a small dining area which can hold maybe 3-4 tables and then the private rooms – the set-up reminded me of Celebrity Cuisine in Central which we went a few months ago. We were seated in one of the private rooms, the one right next to the kitchen which we could have a peek of through the glass window inside the room with the "smoke screen effect" (we were told this is the most sought-after table – I can imagine why).
Menu has to
be pre-arranged and based on one of the many set choices available – the dishes
were said to be changing quite regularly based on seasonal ingredients, and we
had one of the 10-courses menu, including the appetizer platter and dessert,
plus two additional courses which made it a full dozen. To begin, four small appetizers
were served in a platter – among them the drunken abalone (秘製醉鮑魚) was my favorite with the whole piece of abalone slow-cooked with
infusion of the Guo Liang liquor for that rich taste with a hint of sweetness. Two
different cuts of char siu (barbecued pork) were prepared in the old-fashioned
way using local pork, and I prefer the thicker, belly cut for more fat and
better texture. The deep-fried carp meatballs were fine, mixed with kaffir lime
for the refreshing taste, coated with crispy rice and served with the fermented
clam sauce. The fourth one was cold jellyfish with pickled cucumber – I wasn’t
a fan of this really as it lacked flavor with just the crunchy texture to show
forth.
We then
moved on to a few seafood courses in a row. The spotted prawn stuffed in bamboo
pith (竹笙釀花竹蝦扒鮮拆蟹肉) was my favorite of the evening, and it’s
served with a light crystal gravy with picked crab meat. I loved that slightly
crunchy texture of the bamboo pith with the prawn stuffed in between, along
with the sauce made using superior soup, ham and goji berry with plenty of
crabmeat.
Immediately following was another crab dish, this time the classic
steamed egg white with crabmeat served in the flower crab shell (蟹蓋蒸蛋白). The presentation was beautiful, as you could imagine and it tasted
fine, with the silky egg white mixed with crab meat with a gentle brush of the
gravy sauce on top. But I thought the egg white was slightly overcooked and I
wish they took more time to remove all the non-edible innards from the shell
for a cleaner taste.
The soup
which arrived next was pleasant with a hearty flavor, with pork and sea conch
double-boiled with Chinese herbs and longan fruit (沙參玉竹圓肉燉螺頭湯). That’s
typical home-style soup in any Cantonese kitchen and it was comforting.
Just as
we finished up the soup, Chef Grandpa Ding made his appearance in the kitchen (with the window cleared up so we could see inside) and prepared our next dish which was a scrambled egg with chives, shrimps and
crab (鮮蟹肉蝦仁韭菜炒滑蛋) “in front of us” (which we could see through
the window from our table). Everyone was just happy to see him in person
cooking for us and stopped by for a curtain call in our room delivering the
dish to us so everyone could take a snap with him for the meet-and-greet moment.
And as the dish itself? It’s "okay la" I would say – it’s a straight forward dish
that would be really hard to wow people over, but chef did cook with a rather timid fire on the stove, leaving the eggs with a softer texture.
After this
we moved onto yet another seafood dish, this time the whole sole wrapped in
lotus leaf and steamed with shiitake mushrooms, julienned pork and dried
mandarin peel and pickles, the old-fashioned way (古法荷葉蒸方利). The fish
came in good size which was not common to find in the fish market, and the meat
has a delicate texture and I like the combination of the other ingredients. The
lamb casserole (黑草羊腩煲) was a typical winter dish and
unfortunately this was just average – I usually prefer this to be piping hot
but it only arrived lukewarm, and the lamb was overcooked in pressure cooker
leaving in with a tender, almost mushy texture (I like it a bit firm and bouncy)
and overall I think there’s tad bit more sugar added to the sauce making this
off-balance.
We then
have two desserts – first the "birthday buns" with lotus seed paste, followed
by the sweet almond soup with tofu and egg white. The buns were surprisingly
good, soft and steaming hot, and the filling has a good balance of sweetness. The
sweet soup was unlike the ordinary version, with a thin layer of steamed tofu
custard on top with the almond soup at the bottom along with egg white in the
bowl, giving this additional taste and texture.
With my lowered expectation, I think the meal actually fared better than I thought. Felt
right at home with a series of well-executed classic dishes in a comfortable space. Nothing over the
top but it was enjoyable. And to the million dollar question of whether the
meal’s worth the fuss of month-long waiting list and the premium, let’s
just say if one enjoyed Grandpa Ding’s TV show (which from I heard was actually
pretty good) and would like the opportunity to check out some of the dishes
showcased in the program and to see him in person, they won’t left disappointed and that to some could be a priceless experience.
And we did have a good time enjoying the food and wine and the company.
When?
February 24 2018
Where? Ding’s
Kitchen, 21/F V-Point, 18 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Menu
Highlights? Spotted Prawn-stuffed Bamboo Pith with Picked Crabmeat (竹笙釀花竹蝦扒鮮拆蟹肉)
Drinks?
Champagne
Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Brut NV
2006 Chateau
Grand-Puy-Lacoste, Pauillac AOC
2011
Chateau Lascombes, Margaux AOC
Web: dingskitchen.hk
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