This group of us got together regularly mainly for gossips over meals, but this time we tagged in another reason of celebrating with our friend GB, as if we need any other excuse to eat and drink. G graciously scored us a private room at West Villa when the restaurant in our original plan was shut because of typhoon – a blessing in disguise as it turned out.
It’s been a long long while since I last visited the Causeway Bay branch of West Villa Restaurant, one of the few long-standing Chinese Restaurants with a few other branches in town. Nothing much has changed in terms of the décor and menu and tonight we ended up with more than a dozen dishes.
We began with a pair of Cantonese barbecued dishes. The signature Char Siu was always the must-have – shoulder cut pork with the right fat balance was roasted and finished with a gently honey glaze, served in thick slices with slightly burnt crust. They ran out of the whole roast goose for the evening so we ended up having a smaller portion – the skin was not as crispy as I expected and probably a bit too lean to my liking, but I like the rich meat flavor.
Soup was another of their signature with chicken, ham, pork, honeydew melon (yes you heard it right) and sliced conch double boiled in a tall pot. The chicken and meat brought the soup base an rich comforting flavor, the conch a hint of umami and the honeydew melon, a touch of sweetness.
G described the Chungking Chicken Casserole as “F*cking awesome chicken” a few times when he pre-ordered the dish as soon as he made the dinner room reservation. And rightly so – the whole chicken was chopped into pieces and cooked in a large earthenware casserole with scores of condiments – lotus roots, shallots, coriander plus the spicy soybean paste. It’s sizzling hot when it’s served and the aroma filled the room as soon as the lid was raised. The spicy flavor was done just right - was toned down a bit we were told. The manager gave us a side-eye when we insisted to order the whole chicken, but we finished the dish in no time.
The last savory dish was their rice served in casserole with an assortment of Cantonese preserved meat. Early fall marked the beginning of the season for Lap Mei, or Cantonese preserved meat which usually involved pork and liver sausages, pork belly and duck leg. West Villa made some of the best Lap Mei in town in my opinion and they delivered right on par of my expectation with the rice cooked with the meat on top and the oil dripping down into the rice while cooking. All that was needed was a spoonful of soy sauce into the bowl of rice.
And in between there were still a few other dishes making an appearance and that was wiped clean in no time – that included the braised beef ribs, the sizzling shrimp and vermicelli casserole, the vegetables and tofu sheets with fish broth, and the pan-fried lotus root and pork patty. All were decent. After the rice was served, we ordered 4 different desserts. Can’t really tell which one was my favorite but the baked almond custard bun was perhaps the most memorable one - served fresh from the oven with the slightly sweetened and crispy bun filled with soft and sweet almond custard. The sweet red bean soup was easily overlooked in any meal but the one we had were good.
Definitely went light on wines in our standard – 2 champagnes, one white and one red for the whole night with 2 other bottles left unopened. Unbelievable, but that didn’t take away this being a great and fun night out on an otherwise dull typhoon day.
When? October 13 2020
Where? West Villa, 5/F Lee Garden One, 33 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Chungking Chicken Hotpot
Drinks?
2006 Champagne Krug Brut
Champagne Coessens Largillier Brut Blanc de Noirs NV
2016 Chateau Lynch-Bages Blanc de Lynch-Bages
2012 Domaine de la Mordoree Chateauneuf-du-Pape Cuvee de la Reine des Bois
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