Another Birthday Celebration

Courtesy of some cash coupons I received as part of my bank charge card, I thought we should visit One Harbour Road at Grand Hyatt Hong Kong for dinner some time so we could take advantage of the discount. And we have just the right occasion for this – to celebrate mom’s birthday over a meal there.

We didn’t come to the hotel often but coincidentally it’s my second visit of the week with a sumptuous dinner at Grand Hyatt Steakhouse just a few days ago. Since I met my friend E who’s working in the hotel’s PR team at the dinner, I also asked her for some recommendations at One Harbour Road and to make some arrangements for celebration of the special occasion.

Having a cocktail function immediately before the dinner, we arrived at the hotel and restaurant with a half-full stomach already so the fact that One Harbour Road offers many of their dishes in “Light Portion” was particularly welcomed by us. It’s also thoughtful for those smaller groups who wanted to have more variety as well (it’s perfect for 1-2 people or up to 4 in tasting portion I reckon)

We began with the appetizer of Deep-fried black mushrooms (shiitake) and osmanthus honey sauce. I loved the rich flavor from the mushroom and deep-frying with the refreshing touch of the sweet glaze. That also worked extremely well with the glass of bubbly poured comped by the restaurant manager with the floral nose and acidity. We ordered the barbecued pork in Light Portion, which had 8 thick slices. I could live with a bit more burnt ends on the pork, but overall it’s delicious with well-balanced fatty meat and very juicy.

We then went with a few more dishes recommended by E. The Deep-fried Patagonian toothfish stuffed with shrimp mousse and soya sauce was my favorite dish of the evening – the fish fillet was stuffed with steamed shrimp mousse, battered, deep-fried with a light soy glaze. The presentation was great with the golden color (almost like a gold bar) with great texture of the delicate fish plus the bouncy shrimp mousse after cooking. This is the one I regret not ordering the full portion instead because I wanted a second piece!

It could be a blessing in disguise when our original choice of slow-cooked chicken in aged fa du rice wine (Shanghainese rice wine) was sold out and we had the crispy “Loong Kong” chicken instead. It’s memorable with the perfectly crispy skin and really juicy meat – probably one of the best we have had recently. And to wrap our dinner up on the savory front it’s a simple dish of wok-fried kale with Chiuchow-style dried halibut – it’s served on a bed of crystal gravy as opposed to just a simple stir-fry as I expected.

And of course, our dessert was the traditional Chinese steamed birthday buns stuffed with sweet lotus seed paste. Good as one would expect from a restaurant of this caliber, and everyone enjoyed this and the dinner, chilling at our table by the window with the Kowloon skyline as backdrop. Will definitely come back more often some other time (and hopefully next time with more appetite for more food)

When? April 26 2018
Where? One Harbour Road, 7th and 8th Floors, Grand Hyatt Hong Kong, One Harbour Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Deep-fried Patagonian toothfish stuffed with shrimp mousse and soya sauce
Drink? Champagne Delamotte Brut
Web: www.hongkong.grand.hyattrestaurants.com/harbourroad/default-en.html