Fook Lam Moon
Stephen
DESPITE A GARISH neon sign spanning Kimberley Road, the upstairs room to which it refers is a holy place for devotees of Cantonese cuisine.
Fook Lam Moon looks modest. But it is the restaurant that Hong Kong?s gastronomes and billionaires come to when they want to sample the most expensive traditional Chinese ingredients in their purest forms. It is carpeted, the dining chairs are of hardwood, and there are yards of heavy white fabric for covering tables and for your lips. But no outsider should judge Fook?s reputation by looks alone. I tried a menu ($1,800) comprising shark?s fin two ways, braised abalone with a large mushroom and the stalk of a green Chinese vegetable, a small half of lobster, deep-fried crispy pigeon and bird?s nest in a hot sweet almond juice, not counting the special fried rice. In texture, it was super-refined all the way. Tastes were faint, but that is the way this sort of food is.
Note three important culinary words: texture, texture and texture.
Reggie
FOOK LAM MOON is a Hong Kong institution that has built its reputation on serving precious (but somewhat politically incorrect) shark?s fin, dried abalone and bird?s nest. I give the restaurant credit for having perfected dried abalone (which requires a lot of experience to get the consistency and flavour perfect).
Stephen, being Australian, was sceptical about the fin ? and I was too, but as a Chinese I can understand why people like it. I ordered a $1,800 menu for him and a $1,200 menu for myself. (The two menus differed mostly in the size of the abalone and the recipe for the shark?s fin.)
My braised shark?s fin with brown sauce was tasty but somewhat run-of-the-mill. Stephen?s braised shark?s fin with crab roe was a home run: the roe?s heady flavour lingered on the palate.
The two abalones had their individual virtues. Mine was smaller but tastier, while Stephen?s had a more gooey centre because of its size. The scampi was very fresh but it was overshadowed by the other excellent dishes.
The fried rice with local prawns was well done ? aromatic and full of ?wok air?, as the Chinese like to put it. The dessert of bird?s nest in coconut soup was sweet-smelling and large in size.
The meal was not cheap, but you felt you were getting your money?s worth.
Shop 3, G/F, Newman House, 35-45 Johnston Road, Wan Cha
Tel: 2866 0633
Shop 8, 1/F, 53 Kimberley Road, Tsim Sha Tsu
Tel: 23660286
