Michelin star Man Wah restaurant in Central: fresh dishes from new executive chef Wong Wing-keung
The fine-dining restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental hotel has a new chef and he is coming up with some creative dishes. Stand-outs included the sea urchin pudding and the signature pastry puffs
Dishes at Man Wah, the fine-dining Chinese restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong, are going to be more creative under the newly installed Chinese executive chef Wong Wing-keung.
Wong will also head the kitchen at Yee Tung Heen in The Excelsior Hong Kong, making him one very busy chef. But he has managed to find time to think up some interesting menu items for Man Wah, which we sampled at a recent media tasting.
One of them is sea urchin pudding, diamond shaped and deep-fried. Bite into the crunchy delicate layer and inside is a very creamy umami filling. Wong suggests we have a bit of sugar with it, but we were already impressed by the execution and taste.
When it comes to dim sum, there’s a pretty dumpling coloured with beetroot and chock full of mushrooms. We like the presentation of the beef dumplings wrapped up in a bean curd sheet and topped with roe for a bit of crunch to contrast with the minced beef.
The giant soup dumpling was a challenge to eat without creating a mess, but somehow Wong and his team managed to fill it with diced shrimp, scallop, pork, and shiitake mushrooms and still have room for lots of supreme broth.
Iberico pork char siu is commonplace in high-end Chinese restaurants, and here it isn’t too fatty; it’s very juicy and with a touch of sweetness from the longan honey.