Plant-based, Michelin-starred Cantonese food? Try Tin Lung Heen’s eight-course vegan menu at The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong
- The premium appetisers – consisting of porcini mushrooms in black pepper sauce, deep-fried bean curd and wok-fried sweet and sour Omnipork – set the tone for the seven courses that followed
FARE Cantonese cuisine
AMBIENCE As can be expected from a restaurant operating in The Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong, the venue is spacious, with floor-to-ceiling windows giving an unobstructed view of the harbour below – quite a sight when you are on the 102nd floor. The decor is contemporary with elements of Chinese design – there’s a floor-to-ceiling display of ceramic pots – and the tables are spaced at a respectable distance, which is a nice change from Hong Kong’s usually crowded and tightly packed restaurants.
COST HK$980 per person for an eight-course vegan menu.
WHO TO BRING Family or that business partner you want to impress.
TURN-ONS An eight-course vegan menu done just right. Chinese cuisine has a long tradition of Buddhist dishes, and chefs are adept at preparing natural food devoid of any animal-derived products. We’re not saying that this Michelin-starred restaurant took inspiration from Buddhist cuisine but the balanced and delicate flavours of its creations are reminiscent of such food.
The clever use of different types of mushrooms – in dishes such as the double-boiled matsutake mushroom soup with red date, and the braised bamboo fungus with spinach and black truffle – makes you pause and savour each bite.