Grand Hill
The menu at this Taiwanese restaurant is extensive and perhaps a tad too all-encompassing. You can choose from the usual meat and seafood dishes (including sashimi), but there are also dishes like intestines with sour cabbage and red pepper ($78), sliced pig heart fried with Taiwanese gravy ($65) or spicy duck tongues in Taiwanese style ($65) - and all at very reasonable prices.
We were up for a touch of adventure and decided to start with the Taiwanese platter with two choices ($108): shredded pig ears and mini egg yolk roll. The ears were crunchy and flavourful, mixed with shredded green onions and red peppers in a spicy sauce. The eggs - beautifully presented and served with mayonnaise - were great if you like preserved salted egg yolk.
The Taiwan crystal fu kwa (bitter melon) ($68) turned out to be a salad - slices of the clear melon served cold, and again, with mayonnaise. It was refreshing and not at all bitter.
For our hot dishes, we had to try the southern Taiwanese noodles ($15). A tiny one-portion bowl arrived piping hot in a rich broth, with shredded pork on top.
When the chef's suggestion arrived we weren't sure if the fresh abalone and mango tarts ($22 each) were desserts or main dishes. The mango was mixed with Thousand Island dressing to produce an unusual combination of tastes that did not complement the abalone set on top.
Luckily there was no problem distinguishing the ng mei (five spices) fresh prawns ($92) which lived up to their billing and were smothered in a rich, sweet and sour sauce.
The final speciality, 'A' vegetable with spicy pork cubes ($118), is not for those averse to fatty pork. But the vegetables benefited from having absorbed the zesty sauce.
Complimentary rice dumplings finished off a filling and satisfying meal, served by friendly waitresses in Taiwanese costumes. Dinner for two with Chinese tea ($9 per person) came to $520.
17 Percival Street, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2838 3232. Open: 11am-4.30am. $$$
