Food review: Sun Tung Lok Chinese Cuisine in Central

We've been to Sun Tung Lok in Tsim Sha Tsui several times, always wondering if it really deserves all those Michelin stars (at one point it had three, now it has two). We've had some excellent dishes there and others so mediocre it made us wonder what Michelin was thinking (although that's often the case).

The same cannot be said for the new branch in Central.

The restaurant was surprisingly quiet on the weeknight we visited; there were only a few other diners in the tastefully decorated main dining room. We ignored the menu of expensive dried seafood and ordered from the seasonal and à la carte selections.

The ox tongue with XO chilli sauce (HK$88) had wonderfully tender cubes of meat in a mildly spicy sauce. The deep-fried crab claws with minced shrimp paste (HK$98 each) were dense and moist inside with a crisp coating. The braised pomelo skin with dried shrimp roe in abalone sauce (HK$88 each) didn't look tempting - the sauce had congealed as if it had been over-thickened with cornstarch - but it was better than it looked. The peel didn't taste bitter and the sauce was rich and savoury.

Our favourite dish of the night, by far, was the oxtail and shiitake mushrooms in casserole (HK$388). The meaty pieces of oxtail were cooked with the skin on, which, though unusual, helped give the dish a lip-smacking stickiness. The large casserole also contained chunks of fried gluten which helped soak up a sauce that was so delicious we ladled it over noodles (HK$68) so we wouldn't waste a drop of it. It was one of the best Chinese casserole dishes I've eaten in recent memory.

On the other hand, the aromatic crab in casserole (HK$560) was hugely disappointing. The crab itself was just okay - it was small for the price and not particularly meaty. But the fen si (mung bean vermicelli) that were simmered in the casserole with the crab were so overcooked they had practically turned to mush.