Review | Restaurant review: Taste of Chuan and Yue in Causeway Bay – Sichuan and Cantonese dishes

Combination of subtle Guangdong and fiery Sichuan dishes is a common one in Hong Kong. At Chuan and Yue we went for the spicy Sichuan dishes

Sichuan-style stewed Angus sliced beef was a favourite, and the less fiery starters and dessert balanced the meal

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The interior of Taste of Chuan and Yue in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong. The restaurant serves Sichuan and Cantonese food. The dishes we ate were mostly good, though most of them arrived at once and starters came last. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 12:00pm, 1 Feb 2020Updated: 12:00pm, 1 Feb 2020

Taste of Chuan & Yuè in Causeway Bay specialises in the cuisines of the Chinese provinces of Sichuan and Guangdong. It’s a common pairing at Hong Kong restaurants, although the cuisines couldn’t be more different – the first is known for being spicy and numbing (the latter quality comes from Sichuan peppercorns), while Cantonese food is delicate and pure.

It was a fairly cool evening when we visited, and we were in the mood for spicy, so we ordered exclusively from the Sichuan part of the menu.

The restaurant was crowded but the noise level was fine, except when the door to one of the private rooms opened and the karaoke music blasted out. Our waiter was helpful and enthusiastic.

The dishes came too fast initially: one starter and three mains were placed on our table within five minutes of each other, with the two other starters we ordered coming at the end of the meal.

Marinated cold chicken in spicy sauce. Photo: Winson Wong

Marinated cold chicken in spicy sauce (HK$138) was a good start to the meal. The flavours of the sauce were a little muted, but they were balanced, and the moist chicken wasn’t fridge-cold.

They were out of razor clams for the dish of wild pickled pepper razor clams (HK$88 each) so our waiter suggested scallops (HK$108 each). This was my least favourite dish. The scallops, served in the shell, were tender, but their sweetness was obliterated by the chillies.