My 1st visit to Yung Kee in it’s current updated address was more than 35 years ago, I still remember the Gold Koi Fish 錦鯉 swimming in the pond and remember their smell, and back then my parents almost took me here weekly and I distinctly remember when as a kid I didn’t like their Century Year Old Eggs smell, but after all these years of mellowing I came to really appreciate them. Nothing has changed much from the design setting and the stair case remains pretty much static all these years. What really has changed majorly here is less tangible and involving the family re-structuring nowadays. Eldest 1st Brother 甘健成 & 2nd Brother 甘琨禮 somehow entered into an Ownerships struggle for controlling powers. It can hurt a lot especially when it’s your own Mom, Brothers and Sisters involved. Unfortunately crap will always happen in life, I could share a lot of my own personal experiences with you too. From what I have researched and gathered, the 3rd Generation of the Kam’s family have expressed wills to be amicable as 3 different restaurants nowadays and finally resolving the family problems. Crap does happen in life but when there’s a will, there’s a way, especially when all 3 places do a slightly different aim in concept
迎賓松花豔影 酸薑皮蛋 $85 - Preserved Eggs & Pickled Ginger
Half molten and transparent, I didn’t like this when I was a kid but I have to say I changed… I so highly appreciate this nowadays and it has no ammonia taste. Actually I have written from memory a bad review of Yung Kee before, but nowadays despite the Family fall out I think the quality has improved. Even the ginger is less sweetened nowadays.. ~ 10/10
Hung Aged Yunnan Ham -
No Iberico black hoof but still treasured for the Chinese food culture.
蜜汁吊燒鵝掌紮 - Charcoal Roasted Goose Web, Stuffed with Barbecued Charsiu Pork,
Goose Liver & Cured Sausage
This is a very very traditional Cantonese dish and I think Shunde micro-region influenced. Very lovely execution and sophisticated, in HK you will only find this dish at Tak Lung and the original 2 Fung Shing restaurants which does it right, may be also Lin Heung Kui if you reserve them in advance. Very rare traditional Cantonese recipes nowadays.. ~ 10/10
如意玉扣蝶雙飛 田雞扣 - Stir-fried Frog Stomach with Asparagus & Pine Nuts
Frog Stomachs. I have to admit even I haven’t seen a dish before which was centred around this concept as a Main Dish. This is said to be a very artisanal traditional dish, but may be I didn’t lived in this era so didn’t noticed. Can only report back that this was utterly amazing as a Concept. The French people also cook up a lot of frogs, but frog’s stomachs as a central theme and crunchily good. 1st for me and executed so well.. ~ 12/10
古法紅炆斑尾 - Braised Garoupa's Tail in Traditional Recipe
Cooked with Pork Belly too with the fish. Food is always subjective and although I have eaten this recipe many times before, I didn’t see much surprises here. Personally I think the too starchy sauce and too much pork did killed the fish taste. But it’s just me. I still liked it but it was about overall balance ~ 6.9/10
松子雲霧燻香肉 $400 - Smoked Pork Belly with Pine Nut
This is my Nth time having this. It was very smoky today and also very tender porky. Utterly a must order dish. This reminds me of Braised Pork Belly - Dong Po Rou/东坡肉 from up North totally, and HK just doesn’t make them right usually. However the Cantonese version here passes with distinct colours in flavour and texture. Super amazing as usual and smokily good. ~ 10/10
禮雲子配白玉芺蓉 $350 - Steamed Egg White with Mini Crab Roe
One of the Signature dishes here involving Mini Brackish Water Crab Roe, from my sensations for all these years I keep thinking this is a Vietnamese recipe for an unknown reason. The crustacean taste to me isn’t only about tomalley/crab roe, it seems to incorporate well pounded crab shells taste if you ask me like a Vietnamese Bun Rieu Cua using Paddy Crabs, which both are similar. Very addictive stuff and I like this better than their rolled prawn version. So addictive and so Cantonese in concept... ~ 12/10
鏞記炭燒燒鵝 $200 - Charcoal Roasted Goose
Roast Goose I have had this so many times, and it is always controversial. I have mentioned so many times that this version of Roast Goose isn’t meant to have crispy skin… it is part of Micro-Regional Cantonese cuisine where the sauce is poured on top to warm it up and it is served limpy. But if you know how to crack the system, you can always request the goose sauce to be served on the side. Certain Cantonese Chicken dishes are also served the same. Yat Lok Roast Goose down 1 street is more the crispy type by default, since it is a different type of cooking. (Honestly it bothers me a lot that people don’t understand their regional stylistic differences…) Having said that today’s Charcoal Roasted Goose was probably a little little over-cooked tough, and I deliberately didn’t order the sauce to be poured on the side instead because I wanted to re-judge it’s normal taste. Lined with dried oyster sauce beans underneath.. ~ 7.5/10
This Wonton Noodles is called by many foodies to be the best in HK. I think they have a reason. The wontons have a swallow tail and are buried under the soup, the thin eggy noodles are cooked well. The Soup has good flounder and prawn shells/roes taste with clarity. It doesn’t even have a clear rival in HK nowadays as a Cantonese concept. This is why Yung Kee all these years have tried to keeping being Traditional even despite the slight change of Family Ownership. ~ 9/10
水雲玄采糕 $22 - Chilled Black Sesame Pudding with Seaweed
Truth be told never understood this recipe with seaweed mozuku. One can’t taste it much in the recipe and it sounds more Japanese x Chinese as a concept. But surprisingly it has remained as 1 of the top signature desserts all these years. ~ N/A
Mango & Pomelo Sago Soup -
Was really full, this came out and I was so packed I could not even evaluate this anymore fairly.. N/A
陳皮紅豆沙 $24 - Red Bean Soup with Aged Tangerine Skin Peels
This has to me for all these decades the best Red Bean Soup in HK. Although recently I think the Aged Peels presence has made it a little too bitter to my liking. It is still good just needs more balance, always my perennial favourite item to order. I definitely liked it more before than now and wished it was less bitter nowadays… ~ 8/10
芝麻菲林卷 - Black Sesame Roll
Greatly done. Yee Tung Heen makes a great Black & White version, Hoi King Heen nowadays makes a Hawthorn berry version and more fruitier and less filling. But the Yung Kee version is as good as it tasted back then. So memorable and sticking to tradition.
Price: HKD $600 + 10%
Food: ♕♕♕♕ 1/2 to ♕♕♕♕♕♕
Address: 中環威靈頓街32-40號
32-40 Wellington Street, Central, HK
Ph: 2522 1624
stuffed bbq char siu looks interesting!
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