BBQ stew
Tapenade with winter melon

Restaurant Review!

Club Qing l Central l Hong Kong

I was graciously invited to Connie’s birthday on the weekend and it seemed fitting that we would go to Hong Kong’s highest rated private kitchen to celebrate. After finally tracking down a flower arrangement that didn’t look like it was made of plastic, I headed upstream through the flow of dazed mainland tourists, gawking locals, and drunken Euro trash in Lan Kwai Fong. I slipped past a group of local Goths who looked more scared than disinterested, and headed into a skinny, nondescript office building. As I exited the elevator, I was immediately met by several large watercolor paintings and a room filled with Ching Dynasty furniture and traditional Chinese art. The staff was uniformed and the whole place had a polish which made me think that I had stumbled into a proper restaurant instead of someone’s personal hobby. The menu was well designed and printed with a description of tonight’s teas laid out in Chinese, Japanese and English.

Ordering the tea however, was a “choose your own adventure novel” all on its own. Would you like a strong tea or a weak tea? Would you like a green tea or a black tea? What kind of green tea would you like? What type of Iron Maiden tea would you like? I almost wanted to skip to the end and work backwards like when I was a kid. I do have to give them credit though for putting a great deal of thought behind the process and the tea was excellent. I especially liked the use of tea as a palate cleanser between courses.

How were the courses you ask? Very uneven. The braised winter melon with crab and black olives was inspirational and was hands down the best dish that evening. It worked remarkably well as an exercise in contrasts - very well thought out. The scallop and cream cheese spring rolls with a tart kiwi sauce and the bamboo shoots with sesame dressing both worked well with some interesting depth. The spring rolls were deep fried nicely and the tartness really cut through the rich filling. The asparagus and tobiko topped endive salad was a bit weak. For some reason, the endive came off as bland and the salmon filling was tasteless. We finished the meal with a braised ham hock that was truly abysmal. The hock was smoky while the braising liquid was a combination of sweet and spicy ingredients that made the whole thing taste like BBQ soup. All through the meal, the chef would come out, explain the courses and ask for our opinions as this was the first night of the new menu.

I’m not sure how this place was rated tops in Hong Kong but it was listed through a website specializing in private kitchens. That just goes to prove that anyone can post anything on the net.