I am sure not too many people have fond memories of food at their school canteen growing up – of course unless you happened to go to a culinary school or something – but for some random reasons the canteen of my old school has now turned into a sought-after private kitchen, which serves something slightly more elaborate than simple packed lunches and has a waiting list of over 3 months, and one could book only if you happened to be an alumni or know someone who is.
Haven’t been back for years since it’s almost impossible to secure a table, but then I ended up eating there on back-to-back evenings a few weeks ago, with different friends and with different menus for both nights. The place – which also doubles as the homestead of the alumni club - works as a normal canteen during the day serving students with unassuming takeaway lunch boxes and set meals, but at nights and on weekends, turned into a proper restaurant kitchen specializing in old-school Cantonese cuisine, with private rooms for meals and functions. I took up the responsibilities of sorting out the menu with the restaurant manager beforehand and we ended up with two almost totally different 9-course feasts.
For both nights we followed more or less the same flow, starting with soup and the lighter dishes such as seafood, then meat and poultry, and finish with rice and desserts – typical Cantonese banquet style order. If there’s one unique dish that one must order at this private kitchen, it’s going to be the glazed oysters. The huge oysters from Canada was battered, deep-fried and finished with a dark Osmanthus syrup. It has the perfect texture, plump and juicy with a slightly crispy crust and the syrup was tasty with just the right sweetness and a pleasant aroma. I certainly didn’t mind having that two nights in a row.
Other than the oyster dish, the highlights of first night included the abalones, pan-fried and baked with the rich soy sauce and the Eight Treasure duck, with a nice gamey flavor and delicious stuffing. I also loved the cashew cream dessert with sweet tongyuan dumplings, another of their signature dish, and before that, the fried rice in lotus leaf.
On second night with a smaller group, we went for something different. The double-boiled “Buddha Jumps Over the Wall” soup was great, prepared with the whole ham hock and scores of other ingredients including chicken, fish maw and abalones. While that didn’t beat the one at another private kitchen we went, I would say this came as a close second. The crispy chicken was another dish we enjoyed, done the old-fashioned way with the nice, tan-colored crispy skin and I also love the pickled young ginger served underneath.
The curry beef brisket was one dish highly recommended by one of my friends (who’s a regular here) and it was tasty, done local style with pan-fried rice vermicelli on the side to soak up the spicy sauce. Our last savory dish was the rice in casserole, done with the abalone sauce and bit of chicken, and plenty of green scallions on top. It’s well cooked with the slightly crispy bits at the bottom of the pot. I was expecting the dessert of baked sago pudding to be great, but it was slightly disappointing, with the slightly different version than the usual with mashed banana and taro rather than sweet lotus paste – I prefer the classic one.
But overall, good value and good execution of food. Hope we don’t need to wait for that long for our next booking at this place.
When? July 9 and 10 2021
Where? QCOBA Restaurant, 120 Causeway Road, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Osmanthus-glazed Oysters, Double-boiled "Buddha Jumps Over The Wall" Soup
Web: www.qcoba.hk/en/hall/restaurant/index.html
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