With no end in sight for the current evening dine-in ban, my first visit to the restaurant (by invitation) came on a weekday afternoon after the long Lunar New Year break. The menu was the same as they would normally serve during dinner service, with 9 courses of Asian-inspired dishes with some western cooking influence. 
We started with a beautiful presentation of soft tofu with Ossetra caviar served in a small square porcelain bowl, and on the side a few condiments inspired by the home-style Taiwanese Pei Dan Dau Fu 皮蛋豆腐 which includes duck floss, pickled radish and century egg. It is to be eaten the traditional way, with the condiments mixed in with the slightly mashed tofu, and I love the twist of the slightly unusual combination of having caviar in the mix. I also liked the fact that they opted to make most of the things from scratch including the time-consuming, labor-intensive tofu - those effort showed with the uniquely rich flavor. 
A few more cold dishes arrived. I love the texture of the shimaji tartare with "thousand" tofu sheet underneath, which reminds me of those served in tofu restaurants in Kyoto, and the salad with pickled woodear mushroom on the side added to the distinct acidity. Even the bread served has the theme of soy written on it, with the brioche served with soy espuma on the side.
We then moved to something warm. The stir-fried soy milk, based on the traditional Shuntak dish, was served with diced Hokkaido scallop done mi-cuit in a small celadon-glazed porcelain bowl. The minimal seasoning highlighted the original flavor from the ingredients themselves. Local threadfin fish seems to be the seafood of choice by just about every fine-dining chefs in town, but what's special for this version came with the sauce, the deceivingly clear but intense fish fumet cooked with tofu skin and served with dried Koya tofu and baby sakura shrimps. The contrast of the fatty fish fillet with the crispy skin and the almost creamy sauce was much enjoyable. 
"Three Yellow Chicken" was another local ingredient of choice by chefs. They certainly chose the best way to prepare this bird known for its fatty meat by deboning and deep-frying. And the best part of all was the sauce made with the rich and pungent red fermented tofu, so good that we had to ask for more. Before that, it's the Korean kong-guksu-inspired dish with cold chicken and soybean bouillon served with the thin threads of bouncy noodles and bean paste on top. 
The tasting menu always ended with Mapo Tofu Stew, just with a merry-go-round list of ingredients added in each time. For ours it was lobster. This version of the popular Sichuan dish has just the right level of spiciness with excellent complexity (not just one-way chili flavor like many do). It's the perfect dish for the winter with a bowl of rice to take up the sauce.
Never expected less of the dessert and they delivered with the well-presented sweet potato brulee with soy-milk vanilla icecream on the side plus the sweet potato chip on top. It was delicious. The menu came with the optional wine or tea pairing - both were precisely coordinated and definitely something added to the excellent dining experience overall at this lovely shop in the quiet enclave full of characters.
Fixating on the theme of soy for the restaurant and menu represents another confident move by chefs Vicky and Percy Lo, who headed the kitchen here. Well, true soy is a staple in Chinese cuisine and a versatile ingredient, but it's still a challenge regularly coming up with a full menu with a single ingredient theme. But the team did a brilliant job this time with the menu we had.
When? February 15 2022
Where? Mora, 40 Upper Lascar Row, Sheung Wan
Menu Highlights? One-sided Crispy Threadfin with Tofu Skin Fish Fumet
Drinks?
Champagne Billecart-Salmon Brut Reserve NV
2019 Cave Yves Cuilleron "Lyseras" Saint-Joseph AOC
2017 Domaine Nicolas Rossignol Savigny-les-Beaune AOC
Web: www.mora.com.hk
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