Tuesday, February 26, 2013

The Origin of Yeeshang & Lo Hei, 八月芳 Xi Yue - (Hong Kong)

 The Jasmine 八月 series of restaurants in Hong Kong are operated by the Maxim’s Group.   They focus on a slightly more upper-end of Cantonese cuisine but offered at a more reachable price point to the uber hotel and Michelin graded restaurants.   Having been to most of their outlets a number of times,  I think they aimed correctly at the niche market in-between thus far -  if you want decent HK and Cantonese food without breaking the bank,  come to the Jasmine series of restaurants definitely.   To me this Jasmine series hits all the right spots for what you would expect to eat even as a food snob.    An average dining meal will cost around $250 HKD or USD 30 including 8-10 courses,  what’s not to like about it and  it sets the perfect balance between quality vs money.   Classified under my Bang for Money category.

 

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三文魚撈起 - Salmon 'Lo Hei'
Originating from 九江 in the Canton region of Fo Shan 佛山,  this dish was originally made from Fresh Water Carp fish.  Malaysian and Singaporean Chinese re-interpreted the dish by adopting raw Salmon instead from the Japanese and helped to put it onto the global map.  The version here is mixed with lime juice and many different julienned vegetables.   Quite a sight indeed as Fo Shan is much close to Hong Kong,  but we don’t eat that version here as I think customers are a bit weary of serving fresh water fish raw.    ~   8/10

 

 

 

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醬燒琵琶金豬 - Roasted Suckling Pig with Sauce
This had a heavier sauce coating than usual. It was crispy but a little fatty though. ~6.9/10

 

 

 

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油泡鮮蝦仁 - Sauteed Prawns and Green Vegetables
Fresh crunchy prawns.   Nothing to complain about. ~ 7/10


 

 

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Goose Webs with Moss & Geoduck -
A typical Cantonese dish.   This was done correctly.  ~  8/10

 

 

 

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蟹黃雞茸燕窩 - Crab Roe, Chicken Mince and Swallow Nest
A lovely soup with Crab Roe, this was very natural tasting and had the right consistency.  Not something you take for granted these days   ~ 8/10

 

 

 

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清蒸沙巴龍躉 - Steamed Giant Grouper from Sabah Malaysia
Quite marbled inside, this was huge and the timing of the steaming was spot on.   I personally wouldn’t mind if the base soy sauce was more aromatic and sophisticated,  but the fish itself was definitely high quality ~ 8/10

 

 

 

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Mushrooms and Pea Sprouts -
This seems to be a Maxim’s Group veggies dish across the board.  It’s ok.  ~  6.9/10

 

 

 


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一品脆燒雞 - Fried Crispy Chicken
Not as great as the one I recently ate in their Sister restaurant 八月軒 Jasmine Garden, which over there was slightly more crystaline crispy. But over here the chicken taste was the same and quite moist. ~ 7/10

 

 

 

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錦繡糯米飯 - Fried Glutinous Rice with Chinese Sausages and Eggs
The rice could have been more stickier... but the cured meats were decent. Overall, acceptable quality for a mid-range tier restaurant. ~ 7/10

 

 

 

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湯圓南瓜露 - Tang Yuan Dumplings in Pumpkin Sweet Soup
This was super yummy as the pumpkin soup base was naturally sweet without added sugar, the Tang Yuan dumplings with sesame filling were cooked spot on and heavy in black sesame influence. ~ 9/10

 

 

 

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Also Congratulations to Brian Cha for his 8K12H Campaign,
hitting 8,000 Golf Balls in his 12 Hours Charity Event -

We ate a cake made by Maxim's Cake Shop to celebrate this unique event,  which Brian hopes he can enter his World Record into the Guinness Book of Records this year.  Good luck and hitting so many golf balls onto the targeted space in a non-stop 12 hours requires a lot of attention,  congratulations once again !   Brian is also a mentor and personal trainer,  contact him directly if you want to get motivated to reach your next target !

 

 

 

Price:   Around $250 – $300 HKD
Ease of Access:  3/5 
Food:  ♕♕♕♕  (Meal was by Invitation for their New Years Dishes!)

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sunday 07:00am - 10:30am,  12:00pm-15:00pm, 18:00pm-23:00pm

Address:  鰂魚涌英皇道979號太古坊康橋大廈1樓
1/F, Taikoo Place Cambridge House, 979 King's Road, Quarry Bay
Ph: (852) 2284 4868

1 comment:

  1. Hi HK Epicurious, just a minor correction to the origins of yusheng - what we know of as yusheng/lohei today was actually invented in Singapore by four chefs.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yusheng
    The original fish used was wolf herring, not a freshwater fish. Thanks for the blog though, I love the range of food reviewed and the frankness of the opinions. It has been really helpful in planning my food destinations in Hong Kong.

    ReplyDelete

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