廚藝 跑馬地

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Some friends and I tried out a private kitchen in my neighborhood tonight.The pedigree behind Palace Kitchen (廚藝) is very impressive, and it's interesting that they chose to open up around here.The dining room is in an old apartment building.My first impression upon arrival wasn't great.I was greeted with that stale, funky smell that I dread whenever I go to restaurants in mainland China a combination of humidity, alcohol and who knows what else...Three plates of appetizers were laid out on the table when we arrived pickled ginger, century eggs and marinated chicken gizzard and liver.I didn't try the ginger, and each of us only got a small slice of the century egg.The gizzard and liver were pretty nice, though... I could definitely taste the smokiness, especially in the liver.The doubleboiled stonefish soup (石頭魚湯) arrived without the usual plate of ingredients. The first spoonful showed that the flavors are delicate, with a sweet aftertaste. No doubt this is partly due to the Chinese yam (山藥).Not bad, but not exactly mindblowing.The empress chicken (唐皇太后雞) arrived looking pretty good.The chicken was lukewarm, and drizzled in a pretty sweet soy sauce.Definitely tasted the smokiness.In truth the chicken looked better than it tasted.While the leg was OK, the breast was a little tough. The fried pomfret (酥炸大英鯧) looked reasonably impressive, with some mayo on the side.While the skin and the fins were nice and crispy, the flesh inside was a different story.Honestly it was a little too soft and mushy.I think my favorite is still the smoked version at Fook Lam Moon (福臨門), where the flesh is moist enough but not mushy, making the texture a little more "flaky".The pig trotters in plum sauce (梅子豬手) was next.Love the trotter tips, and the hell with cholesterol... The plum sauce was a little tart and spicy.The pairing with taro was classic Canto.Classic vegetarian (原始風味齋) was pretty nice, with string beans, broccoli, baby corn, carrot, fried tofu skin... A welcome change to the string of heavy dishes."Not greasy" fried rice vermicelli (不油炒米粉) was exactly that.Probably my favorite dish of the evening.This was stirfried with high heat and you can definitely taste the 鑊氣. The rice vermicelli wasn't soggy reasonably chewy, without the usual pool of oil at the bottom of the plate. We were served some homemade wine made from raisins.Tasted a lot like the homemade grape wine mom used to make when I was a kid, except that this was made with raisins and hence was pretty cloudy, and was served unfiltered.The lemongrass and rose prawns (香茅紅玫焗中蝦) was OK.I, of course, was only too eager to suck out anything inside the head.The rose buds seemed more like decoration, though...Dessert came in the form of steamed egg custard (古法西施嫩嫩).This was more like the 水蒸蛋 in some Cantonese restaurants (such as Farm House 農圃飯店) rather than the Macanese style egg custard found in places like Yee Shun (義順牛奶公司).Definitely a lot more watery and not the dense custard many people may be used to.We definitely had too much food for our group I was kinda stuffed.The bill, as it turns out, wasn't so cheap for a private kitchen.While the food was not bad, I wasn't wowed.And there are certainly better deals in town.But I was kinda glad to have discovered a new place within a few minutes' walking distance from home!original blogpost with pictures:http://chihewanle.blogspot.com/2010/01/neighborhoodprivatekitchen.html

Full review with interview can be retrieved from http://geoffstwitchen.com/?p=897 Have yet to review a Private Kitchen in Hong Kong & I have always had an emotional bonding with such type of kitchens as I admire & respect the chef or chefs who wholeheartedly dedicate 110% of their heart towards food for their customers. A friend of mine recommended myself to visit Palace Kitchen (廚藝) for a true authentic Chinese meal & to be honest, I have never heard of this place after my years in visiting private kitchens in Hong Kong so I decided to do some homework prior & research on the background.Interestingly, I found her that the Executice Chef & now owner (Ms Onnei Yip)'s mother used to be an infamous chef in Hong Kong cooking up for the likes of Stanley Ho & other various local tycoons & Onnei herself decided to move into the Food & Beverage industry to inherit her mother's skills & to share it with the Hong Kong population. This itself was a very interesting point which persuaded my visit & am glad that I took this decision as it was an extremely plesant & enjoyable meal.Situated in the heart of Happy Valley, the smell of flavourful food was strong as you enter the Private Kitchen. First thing you notice about dining room, uncountable number of jars of home fermented Chinese ginger & Glutinous Rice Wine scattered & what an interesting opening scene to our dinner. In my mind, my first observation is that this is somebody that truly adores & appreciates food. Part of my homework prior visiting was that I found out that Onnei is a relatively reknowned local celebrity chef with the media & I did not expect a trimlooking lady in her early 30's appeared to meet & greet us which caught me by surprise. Unlike any other Chinese Chefs I have ever come across, Onnei is presentable & could well be Hong Kong's version of Nigella Lawson!This evening, Onnei specifically designed for us a 8course Chinese Menu which covers everything from soup, meat, seafood, a bit of carbs & dessert. The set menu for such 8 course menu was priced at $390 which was extremely reasonable considering most private kitchens in Hong Kong charge a very minimal of $400 onwards with extreme small portions. Our appetiser consisted of 3 miniplates of Millenium Egg, Palace Kitchen's Home Fermented Chinese Ginger & Soya Smoked Kidney & Liver.Special mention for the appetisers must be the Soya Smoked Kidney & Liver which was heavenly & the extremely intensive smokey flavour of the kidney & liver was a perfect appetiser to open up your palate. The homefermented ginger was also very unique as it was chopped up in large chunks giving it a crisp & crunchy texture & the zero added sugar in the fermentation process meant that you know you are eating the true & original flavours of the fermented ginger. Great start to the meal!Next up, we were treated to Onnei's mother's signature recipe Sweet Mother Queen Chicken. After just one bite at the chicken, I asked Onnei to give me her mother's mobile number for the recipe. The Sweet Mother Queen Chicken could well be one of the finest Chinese style chicken I have had in Hong Kong. The intense smoky flavour & taste of the chicken was overwhelming & the texture of the chicken meat was extremely tender. I scarily wish Onnei's mother was also my mother so that she can cook me this chicken week in, week out. Superb Dish and HIGH RECOMMENDED DISH!Onnei wanted to share with us her new recipe which was a Drunken Half Chicken & Half Pigeon (Chinese Glutinous Wine marinated Chicken & Pigeon served cold). Since this was a relatively new recipe, the only thaw from this was the Chinese Glutinous Rice Wine which was used to marinate the chicken & pigeon was slightly too sweet in comparsion to the typical Chinese Hua Diao Wine. However, I have to give credit to Onnei on this as all the Glutinous Rice Wine are all home fermented & you wonder how she has so much time to home ferment all these food items. Another slight improvement for this dish was that the chicken & pigeon was not marinated for long enough hours therefore the flavour of the wine did not infuse with the meat which was a real shame. On the brightside, the presentation was immaculate & every spoonful of the glutinous rice wine was a pleasure to sip on.I have never enjoyed Chinese soups ever in my entire life but you should always appreciate the time & effort the chefs put in to produce such masterpiece. This evening, Onnei prepared for us a Stone Fish Soup (石頭魚湯) which changed my view towards soup. First spoonful of the soup brought me memories to when my mother was preparing Chinese soup for myself when I was young, the soup was extremely sweet with a touch of apple flavour. Knowing the soup is sweet, this type of sweetness is not the usual soup you enjoy in other Chinese restaurants in town whereby it is loaded with MSG but it is a result of the soup being prepared for a good duration of hourswhereby the natural flavours of the stonefish combined with the soup.To Westerners, eels are somewhat of an unknown & strange type of seafood due to its slimey & snakelike texture, well, I can tell you that you are all missing out on a real treat as this is a very common dish in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Taiwan & Japan. My recommended methods to enjoy a fresh eel either Deep Fried, Hot Pot or Steamed just like what Onnei has prepared for us today. Steamed Black Bean with Chilli Fresh Eel with Golden Bean Curd was a simple yet delectable Chinese style steamed eel dish with pheomenal presentation & finishing of the dish. The eel cutlets were all stringed together forming a heart shape with the fried bean curd in the middle of the dish, a dish full of bright & beautiful colours. The eel was superb, fresh & slightly spicy flavoured with the texture steamed to ultimate perfection which was very chewy. Preparation of eels are not the easiest Chinese dish as if the eel is slightly overcooked, this can ruin the texture of the eel immediately. Good job Onnei in preparing such wonderful dish & we enjoyed every single part of this dish. HIGH RECOMMENDED DISH!By this course of the meal, I was relatively stuffed & Onnei, of whom is such a wonderful person with a wonderful character wanted us to try out as many of her dishes as possible. Geez, what was meant to be a tasting session is now turning out into a proper meal & the next course was a Beijing style San Choy Bao with Prawns & Assorted Vegetables. For those that do not know how to enjoy a San Choy Bao, you grab a lettuce and fill up with spoonfuls of the assorted vegetables & prawns, similar to how one will enjoy a Peking Duck. This course was relatively plain comparing to our previous courses as there were no surprises with a WOW factor to the dish. Crispy lettuce, fresh prawns & the seafood plum sauce pairing were the highlight of this dish.Forget your Italian restaurants in town for good pasta dishes, one often forgets the true authenticity & the quality of the Chinese Stir Fry Rice Noodles. Best Chinese Stir Fry noodles can normally be consumed in Chinese Dai Poing Dongs as the amount of MSG & oil which are used to enhance the quality of the dish. Most important, the intensive heat + the usage of Chinese Woks also help in a tremendous manner to cook up such simple yet hearty dish especially during the winter season. What I really respect about Onnei is that she has taken her mother's recipe & modified this to suit modern taste whereby our population are now much more alert to high calorie &high salt content dishes. At Palace Kitchen, you wonder how Onnei cooks up a stir fry rice noodle dish with no usage oil & henace the name of the dish is No Oil Stir Fry Rice Noodles. Surprisingly, without the usage of oil for this dish, the stir fry rice noodle arrived to the table with a WONDERFUL SMELL & is definitely a much better & healthier option. I will simply return to Palace Kitchen again just purely for this dish & will be very happy to enjoy this wonderful plate of Chinese noodles during my regular lunch hours. HIGH RECOMMENDED DISH! Alas, we have reached the final course of our evening which is the Traditional Sweet Egg Pudding which was also one of Onnei's mother's signature dish back in the old days but modified to suit the modern taste. The Egg pudding was not as sweet as I thought it will be & with a strong taste of fresh eggs which were used for this wonderful steamed egg dessert. My slight concern is that as I dont really have a sweettooth, some may find this dessert too plain as desserts should be a sweet & sugary ending to a wonderful meal. Unlike the Steamed Egg Puddings which you can get from Australia Dairy Company (http://geoffstwitchen.com/?p=763), this is definitely another healthier option.After our highly enjoyable meal, we sat down & had a very enjoyable conversation with Onnei regarding her cooking & her thoughts on food. You can find the interview in http://geoffstwitchen.com/?p=858. After around a 30 minute conversation with Onnei, she is definitely on my list as a local food hero alongside Monsieur Chatte (http://geoffstwitchen.com/?p=252) as her obsession & trust on local produces definitely shows that we have some truly fantastic local products in Hong Kong. Her vision to serve up authentic Chinese Cuisine by modifying her mother's recipes with low oil, low salt & no MSG proves her willingness to adapt & change to the modern trend. Thisis definitely one Private Kitchen in Hong Kong whereby I vow to return shortly! Who says that Chinese Cuisine are always high caloried & high salt content, this was a perfect meal to doubt such criticismsHappy EatingGeoff

廚藝餐單提供粵菜, 廣東等推介美食位於跑馬地區，餐廳座位數未知人均消費約$0，結賬可以用現金。

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廚藝餐廳詳細資料：

• 廚藝地址:
  跑馬地黄泥涌道63-65號(只接受訂座)
  Palace Kitchen, Flat D, M/ F,63-65 Wong Nai Chung Road( Reservationonly), Happy Valley
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• 廚藝價錢: $0
• 分類: 粵菜, 廣東
• 座位: 未知
• 付款: 現金
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