Just kicked off my HK trip at Forum with their “Michelin Three-Star Menu”. I know most people recommend their dim sum, but since I’m only here for a week I wanted to do the menu with some of their hits, namely the abalone and stuffed chicken wing.
Overall, personally found the food disappointing. I acknowledge that this is probably partially due to my western palate, but everything tasted fairly bland or unbalanced.
Very interested in other people’s thoughts on Forum. Is it just me? Or is this the general consensus?
Dishes:
Deep fried lobster with garlic and chili: this was ok. Anything fried with garlic tastes decent enough, but it overpowered the lobster.
Shark fin soup: A solid rendition, but nothing extraordinary.
Dried abalone and sea cucumber: Not my favorite, the sauce was fairly bland. The abalone itself was cooked well, but the taste isn’t for me. My first time eating sea cucumber. This was interesting, not a strong flavor with a bouncy texture.
Steamed egg white, bird’s nest, crab, and caviar: Again, not my favorite. The egg flavor overpowered the crab and overall not a pleasant combination for me.
Grouper in Ginger Wine: This was ok, the fish was cooked well but very light on flavor.
Chicken wing stuffed with pork: Good, but not a standout.
Vermicelli with fish maw: This was in the same sauce as the abalone and tasted similar.
Kiwi jelly with osmanthus, yellow ear fungus, and Lily bulb soup: Again, just fine.
by Current-You8223
11 Comments
Yeah i had a similar experience in Hong Kong and I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s indeed our westoid brains messing us up. You didnt use enough sauce I reckon.
If a french restaurant under-salts my food then I hold that against them, in china everything is under-salted on purpose because the soy sauce and chili sauce is right there just flavor it yourself. I do actually dislike this approach because dosing soy sauce seems impossible to me (although the chinese probably have no issues with it) one bite has no flavor and the next just tastes like soy.
Chinese cooking has a huge history with banquets as well which works well with the ‘sauce it yourself’ approach. My main issue with cantonese cooking is also a culture clash and that was texture. All the otherwise delicous buns were so fluffy that it kinda got anoying and multiple dishes had these sheets of slippery noodles (think lasagna sheets but like two feet long and made of rice or tapioca) that I got no enjoyment from eating. This too is more of a culture thing than a genuine critique though.
So yeah there wasn’t enough flavor because you didnt put it in i’m afraid. Happened to me too
High end traditional Cantonese cuisine is driven by ingredients and technique. Subtle and elegant flavor profiles are the name of the game here because the cuisine seeks to preserve the original flavor of the prized ingredients. Often these prized ingredients are acquired tastes (sea cucumber, fish maw, bird’s nest, shark fin, abalone, etc). So really it comes down to whether you like those expensive ingredients or not.
The punchier flavors in Cantonese cuisine are more often seen in the everyday cuisine where they use more strongly flavored seasoning (Black bean sauce, fermented bean curd, shrimp paste, etc)
Also going to T’ang Court tomorrow and would be interested in recommendations on what to order as a solo diner. I’m leaning away from the tasting menu, but open to it if that’s what people think is best!
Other restaurants I have booked this week:
-Ho Lee Fook
-Wing
-Duddell’s
-Vea
-Lung King Heen
-Godenya
-Mora
I am a Chinese person but I don’t typically enjoy Cantonese food. I mostly prefer Shanghai or northern Chinese. However, I dated a Cantonese lady whose parents owned a restaurant who fed me an insane variety of Cantonese food. With all that being said the sea cucumber and the soup the day I went in my opinion are remember the taste for life worthy of 3 Michelin stars.
But yes, very different techniques and flavours than “traditional” ones in the west.
Do you eat traditional Cantonese food regularly?
I found Forum good but didn’t think the food was bland.
I ate here last year and it was my least favorite Michelin meal by far. I ate lunch. 5 of their courses were soup including dessert. And some of them did not taste good.
Yeah probably a style of food that doesn’t quite sit properly with the Michelin taxonomy. I mean when I look at the pictures I see perfectly standard looking Cantonese food… with some caviar on top.
One observation I would make is that Chinese cuisine prizes textures a lot more than classic French (where everything apart from the odd tete de veau is basically either shattering-crisp or baby-food-soft). A lot of the prize ingredients featured here (abalone, fish maw, sea cucumber etc) are light on flavour but heavy on textural variation. Maybe something to try looking out for in the other meals on your trip.
That really doesn’t look appealing
Forum was one of the stranger starred meals I’ve had. Very subtle flavours with foreign textures. The wine pairing was stand-out, though.
Others have mentioned, Cantonese is very clearly a different style of food with a focus on subtle flavors and different textures. I have a friend who enjoys subtler flavors but couldn’t stand the goopiness that is often the preferred sauce or slurry in Cantonese dishes.
As far as balance goes, Chinese food is typically balanced across the meal, rather than each dish achieving balance within itself. Whether a Michelin 3 star tasting menu should still do that is a different story.
As another said, I am also curious about your reviews of the other places on your list as it should very much answer whether it’s a palate preference.
Just finished my meal at Ho Lee Fook. I got their fish of the day, which was a steamed sole with soy sauce, chilis, and scallions. It was very tasty and I thought the chilis added an interesting contrast with the lightness of the fish, but didn’t overpower.
I also ordered their dim sum platter because I was still hungry after. This was good, but nothing extraordinary.