[/caption]About
Located in a slightly dingy Sheung Wan mall, this restaurant hasn’t really done much to distance its decor from the functionality of the shops around it. The owner greeted us enthusiastically in English honed during past years living in Canada, and overall the waistaff were eager to please.
Chongqing style barbecue fish is quite difficult to get in Hong Kong, so this restaurant already has one big draw. This dish looked magnificent when it arrived. The big fish was sunk into the deep red chili broth, a dark mass of Sichuan peppercorns, crushed peanuts, ginger and garlic piled over its back, promising that intense spiciness that only Sichuan food can deliver. The flavours didn’t quite live up to this bold display, but they still proved satisfying enough.
Gentle barbequing had given the fish skin a slightly ashen crispiness, going well with flesh which broke apart into soft chunks and tasted extremely fresh. Heated from beneath, the fish slowly sunk down into the chili broth around it, its spongy white flesh soaking up some of the powerful spice.
The broth wasn’t toned down into blandness like some imitation-Sichuan food can be. But even with the Sichuan peppercorns scattered into it, the flavour still wasn’t quite as wonderfully intense and bold as that of some versions. Getting the tingling ‘mouth numbing’ flavour meant eating a lot of the peppercorns with the broth. A few more of the slightly sparse Sichuan chili peppers might have added to the sauces power.
The sour Fish also made an extravagant entrance, scattered with a forest of fresh green coriander and big white rings of onion. Like the Chongqing dish, it gained in appeal as the different vegetables diffused their flavours into the broth and the fish soaked up the flavours. The fresh vegetables gave an intriguingly sour flavour to the broth, but this always remained too subtle. It was tempting to keep turning back to the Chongqing dish for its more powerful flavours.
Overall, the dishes offered fresh fish well prepared, but both were lacking something hard to define that would make them really spectacular. It was pleasing however to sit and pick pieces of tender flesh from the fish, watching as the broths bubbled and their flavours grew gradually more intense.
[caption id="attachment_200" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Sour Fish"]
[/caption]Directions
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Shop A18, 1/F Broadway Plaza, 2-12 Queen's Road West, Sheung Wan
Price
HK$ 150 per person
Notes
Tel: 2851 7397
