Another Winning Performance

I didn't realize it's been quite a while since I last visited VEA until I received a kind invitation from Chef Vicky and his team to check out their latest menu. I assured him the hiatus was unintentional - my few previous visits to the restaurant were nothing short of exceptional, and I did come to his restaurant a few months ago for one of the crossover meals he hosted (so that at least should count as half a visit).

Anyway, we were glad that they managed to accommodate us on a Saturday evening just before we went away for vacation. The team was in full swing already busy working in the open kitchen with many customers arriving before we did. We were seated at the end of the long counter facing directly at the hot station - that's the equivalent of a court-side seat in a stadium in my opinion. The ever present Chef Vicky was there moving around, chatting with the customers, supervising the team, managing the pass like a conductor in an orchestra. How he managed to do all that at the same time with such finesse was beyond me.

Chef Vicky is known to make use of unusual and traditional Chinese or Asian ingredients and integrated them using contemporary western cooking techniques, and before we began, the wait-staff was patient to explain some of the key ingredients using during the course of our tasting menu. That formed an important part of the unique dining experience here. There were a choice of dishes for two of the courses, but chef decided to send us all the options in slightly less portions so we got to taste them all.

This evening we started with a series of savory snacks - the smoked quail egg was the one carried over from the previous menu, marinated with Chinese rice vinegar and smoked with black tea leaves. Then there's the crispy "cannoli" roll stuffed with foie gras terrine and roselle jam, and the deep-fried oyster with caviar. Chef Vicky took a page from the Cantonese recipe for the oyster dish - dipped in alternate wet and dry ingredients (flour and baking soda, egg wash and panko) and deep fried. It's served with a dollop of osietra caviar and seaweed puree. Last in the snack line-up was a simple combination of Chinese bok-choy and salted fish, said to be inspired by an old Cantopop romance song. We had it last time in the form of a tartlet with finely chopped salted fish, bokchoy and rice puree, and the latest reiteration was presented in the form of a dehydrated leaf topped with salted fish espuma, served on a "music box" in the tune of the dish's namesake, and a small cup of broth made with dried bokchoy. While I thought there's improvement in presentation, I personally prefer the old version for a better balance of flavor.

We went on with 11 more courses served in tasting portion. There were traits of classic "moves" that Chef Vicky love to employ - acidity as accent balanced by sweetness, rich seafood umami flavor, clever use of local ingredients - in different shapes and forms, and in almost all cases, worked perfectly well to bring the dishes to the next level. We started with a couple cold appetizer, first the spot prawns with noodles dressed with dan-dan sauce, prawn and chili oil and the essence from the shrimp heads squeeze on top at table-side; next was a thick slice of Japanese sweet fruit tomato, done kombu-jime style (wrapped in sea weed to marinate for a few hours), then served with kiwi juice, ikura (salmon roes) and grated toast for the smoky hint. The raw prawn has excellent texture and the sauce has just the right level of spiciness to bring out the umami flavor of the prawn with a slight kick – my only complaint would be the noodles did tend to stick together when left slightly too long on the plate before served. The tomato was turned soft by the marinate process with good combination of sweet and sour tastes and a hint of sea flavor from the ikura.

The sea cucumber dish has become Vicky's signature dish, and rightfully so. The ingredient used for the dish changes season to season, and this time of year, it's the Shanghainese hairy crab, with crab mousseline served underneath the sea cucumber cooked in a long process with hot oil poured on top just before serving for the crispy texture. The spray of aged huadiao wine (from an old local brewery) on top and the addition of Shanghainese vinegar stayed true to the tradition of how hairy crab was served traditionally, and added to the pleasant aroma and flavor. This is truly a work of magic.

Ma Yau, or threadfin fish, was described as “his favorite local ingredient” to work with by the chef. It’s perfectly done in the simplest manner – the whole fillet was grilled over charcoal fire with the skin charred and crisped. On the side was a piece of steamed potato stuffed with the fish trimmings with the sauce made with fish broth infused with mandarin peel and fermented bean spooned over.

Fish maw was another new dish created by chef using an ingredient commonly found in local dried seafood shop and considered a delicacy in traditional Cantonese cuisine. A large piece of aged fish maw (from a male croaker) was carefully soaked and softened with superior broth to get that soft yet bouncy texture – that alone would have been an amazing feat for a chef trained in western techniques, but what’s even more impressive was the sauce, a beurre blanc sauce mixed with finely chopped chives, caviar and quinoa, and topped with julienned kaffir lime leaves for the touch of nice aroma. The rich creamy flavor of the sauce did work wonder with the fish maw.

I had a fair share of white truffles this season already with some interesting combinations, but this is yet another new one, with Chinese e-fu noodles and cheddar. I personally am more used to the traditional soft texture of the thin egg noodles instead of the firmer texture as this one, but I like the stronger cheddar sauce to go with the generous serving of Alba white truffles grated in front of us by Chef Vicky. The next course made use of simple ingredients to great effect – with a thick slice of daikon (white radish) sautéed in Chinese “lo sui” marinate then deep-fried for the crispy crust, and served with a sunny side-up taiyouran egg on a bed of sweet pea shoot tips and the thick gravy-like sauce made with rooster jus reduction.

Our main course was quail – and again, there were traits of East-meets-west cooking style. The quail breast half was roasted medium rare skin-on and smoked with earl grey tea leaves, with the leg served whole on the side with the punchy plum sauce. The last savory course was something I had before at one of the parties Vicky hosted at his restaurant, with a piece of wagyu tenderloin done char-siu style with a small cup of fried rice with fox nuts and homemade xo chili jam with a hint of sweetness and some bite from the bouncy fox nuts added in.

We finished with 2 desserts plus a few sweet snacks. The kyoho grape with meringues paired with a cup of cold brewed “dragon ball jasmine” tea worked well as a palate cleanser, and I love the seasonal flavor of the main dessert course, with candied chestnuts served in various forms with a quenelle of savory-sweet Chinese miso icecream on top. My another favorite was the coconut pancake – a tribute to the traditional street food in Hong Kong with the honeycomb-shaped crispy wafers stuffed with sugar and coconut semifreddo. That was served right before an array of mignardises selection, nicely displayed from a wooden box.

I went with the wine pairing this time while the missus opted for the cocktails by mixologist team headed by Antonio. Mainly French selections (with the exception of the red Valpolicella) and the more interesting one was the Aligote from Burgundy, done naturally with fresh, crisp acidity, lots of citrus and some green apples on the palate – the clean flavor worked well to counter the rich taste from the signature sea cucumber dish. Overall, another winning performance by Chef Vicky and his team and they seem to be better every time we came - we were happy to witness such transformation which added so much to the local dining scene.

More photos can be found here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/albums/72157711917828726/with/49116596442/

When? November 23 2019
Where? VEA Restaurant & Lounge, 29 & 30/F The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Roasted Sea Cucumber with Hairy Crab and 20-years Hong Kong yellow wine
Drinks?
Champagne Paul Dethune Grand Cru "Blanc de Noirs" Brut NV
2017 Domaine Yves Cuilleron Condrieu La Petite Cote, Rhone
2017 Domaine de Terres Blanches Pouilly-Fume, Loire
2015 Recrue des Sens Love and Pif Aligote, Burgundy
2016 Chateau Simone Palette Blanc, Provence
2016 Domaine Arnoux-Lachaux Bourgogne Pinot Fin
2016 Tenuta Santa Maria di Gaetano Bertani, Valpolicella DOC
2013 Clos Dady, Sauternes AOC
Web: www.vea.hk