Food review: Yun Yan in Causeway Bay

Yun Yan
Shop 1001B, 10/F Times Square, 1 Matheson Street, Causeway Bay
Tel: 2375 0800
Open: noon-4pm, 6pm-11pm
Cuisine: Sichuan
Price: about HK$250, without drinks or the service charge

the restaurant, which used to be known as Yunyan Sichuan, has become hipper, more casual and colourful with the move from Tsim Sha Tsui to Causeway Bay. The white tablecloths are gone and there is now a communal table and chairs at a counter in front of an open kitchen.

the mandarin fish slices with crisp soya crumbs (HK$164 for half) went deliciously with rice, as did the mapo tofu (HK$88), which was our favourite dish of the night with its large chunks of tender bean curd and a slightly spicy sauce. Ants climbing a tree (HK$88) - so called because the pieces of minced beef in a tangle of mung bean vermicelli are said to resemble just that - was skilfully prepared; it's difficult to stir-fry this type of noodle so it's not too oily, soft or broken into small pieces.

Desserts were the surprise hit of the night. The only one we didn't like was the glutinous rice balls in wine soup (HK$30), which were too strong. The pan-fried glutinous rice cake (HK$30) was crusty, chewy and had small bits of walnuts for textural contrast, while the Sichuan peppercorn and drunken chocolate chilli ice creams (HK$48 per scoop) had lovely, distinctive flavours.

our waiter warned us we were ordering too much food. He was right.