Diner’s Diary | What top restaurateurs the Roca brothers think of Hong Kong dim sum and Chinese tea

WATCH: Mooncakes, steamed shrimp dumplings and barbecue pork puffs on menu for trio behind one of world’s best restaurants – who reveal to us the places they ate at on recent trip to Hong Kong

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Jordi Roca (left) and his brother Joan (centre) and Josep, of restaurant El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, sample tea with mooncakes and dim sum at Spring Moon, at The Peninsula Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP

Published: 11:49am, 15 Aug 2016Updated: 1:38pm, 15 Aug 2016

Every summer, the three brothers who run one of the world’s best restaurants, El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain, shut up shop and go on an extended five-week tour sponsored by a Spanish financial institution.

This year, after eight days in London, Joan, Josep and Jordi Roca landed in Hong Kong, and we had an opportunity to meet them at Spring Moon in The Peninsula Hong Kong.

Joan is the executive chef of the restaurant, currently rated No. 2 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants and previously No.1, youngest brother Jordi looks after desserts, and Josep is the sommelier. He has a keen interest in Chinese teas, which is why we arranged a Chinese tea tasting and food pairing for the trio.

Josep was excited to try the teas, taking pictures of the many clay teapots on the tea counter and smelling the dry leaves of the teas we would be sampling, prepared by Daniel Yeung, tea master at Spring Moon.

His brothers also enjoyed the teas, but took particular interest in how they paired with different dishes.

First up was oolong tea from Chaoan Mountain, paired with Spring Moon’s famous egg custard mooncakes. As the desserts man for El Celler de Can Roca, Jordi really enjoyed the mooncake, with its flaky pastry and custard centre.