Lung King Heen (龍景軒), Hong Kong

Lung King Heen
Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong, 4th Floor
8 Finance Street
Central, Hong Kong

What’s it like to eat 3 Michelin star dim sum? Well truthfully, I already ate such at T’ang Court inside the Langham Hotel, which has received 3 Michelin Stars for the past 2 years. However, as great as that meal was, it wasn’t at Lung King Heen (龍景軒), the vaunted restaurant that has been known to be the first 3 Michelin star Cantonese establishment in the world. As such, it has been a years long dream for me to dine here and see if it was really worth all the plaudits bestowed on it.

Originally I hoped to go with my brother and sister-in-law, but their plans made them unable to go for the New Years Day reservation I had made in September. Fortunately, a spur of the moment decision to open up a dating app led me to meeting a fellow American tourist. After a successful breakfast date the day before, I changed my reservation to a table of two. The fortuitous series of events meant that I could try even more dim sum items at Lung King Heen.

I was slightly late for the reservation, but both the restaurant staff and date seemed to take it all fine. We were seated at a small table next to the window with a gorgeous view of Victoria Harbour and Tsim Sha Tsui. Afterwards we were presented a menu which included just a singular page of 18 dim sum items.

Lung King Heen dim sum menu

The menu wasn’t exactly filled with interesting, innovative items that I had come to expect at other fancy Cantonese restaurants in Hong Kong, like Yan Toh Heen. However, there were a lot of items that were slight twists on classic items as you can see from the menu above. After browsing the menu a little bit we decided to order the following five items:

Steamed Shrimp Dumpling with Wild Mushroom at Lung King Heen

• Steamed Shrimp Dumpling with Wild Mushroom (牛肝菌鮮蝦餃) – This version of har gow was interesting with a slight hint of umami from the bits of wild mushroom. The shrimp was plump and juicy with a nice snap. My one slight complaint would be the dumpling wrapper, which was a little thicker than it should be to hold the slightly larger filling. As such, biting into the dumpling wasn’t as easy and refined as those at Ming Court (which I still consider the high standard for what a har gow should be). Quibble aside, these were some of the best shrimp dumplings I have ever had.

Dim sum at Lung King Heen

• Steamed Rice Rolls with Beef Chuck and Enoki (金菇菜牛頸脊腸粉) – The rice rolls were pretty good with tender chunks of beef matching well with the slight crunch and flavor of the enoki mushrooms. The rice noodles were cooked pretty well, not falling apart or being too gummy. Surprisingly, though, the rice noodles weren’t as good as the shrimp rice noodle rolls that my family and I ordered at Tim Ho Wan.

• Steamed Lobster and Scallop Dumplings (龍太子蒸餃) – This is perhaps the most photographed dim sum item from Lung King Heen and is one of their signature items. Think of it as a siu mai that just put in lobster instead of pork. There was definitely a lot of scallop and lobster here, making these dumpling definitely worth their bang for the buck (even if it comes out to $7.75 USD a piece). However, my dumpling had scallop that was slightly overcooked, but not too overdone to detract from the dish.

Dim sum at Lung King Heen

• Steamed Shanghainese Pork Dumplings with Crab Meat (蟹肉小籠包) – I am normally very wary of ordering xiaolongbao at a Cantonese restaurant, as almost all Cantonese restaurants fail to execute this beloved Shanghainese/Jiangnan dish properly. But props to Lung King Heen for tasty dumplings filled with juicy pork, shreds of crab meat, a decent amount of soup, and a thin wrapper that never fell apart. Bonus points for the cute and creative way they served the dumplings. These were by far the best xiaolongbao I have had at a Cantonese restaurant and even beats a number of American Taiwanese/Shanghainese restaurants too.
• Steamed Shrimp and Pork Dumplings with Crab Roe (蟹籽蒸燒賣) – These bits of siu mai were excellent, with perfectly cooked shrimp and juicy portions of pork. The crab roe was a nice touch without being too much (like those at Lunasia). Overall, this was an exemplary version of the classic siu mai, being one of the best versions I have had.

Baked Barbecued Pork Buns with Pine Nuts at Lung King Heen

• Baked Barbecued Pork Buns with Pine Nuts (崧子叉燒菠蘿包) – Like many of Hong Kong’s dim sum parlors, these char siu baos were essentially “pineapple buns” (baked buns with a hardened sweet custard top) with a barbecue pork filling. Unlike those at (and imitating) Tim Ho Wan, these buns were more in traditional pineapple bun style where there is a thick layer of baked custard that surrounds most, but not all of the top side of the bun. The buns were great and the filling had tender pork with a slightly sweet and savory filling that balanced the sweet buns. I really loved these, though I think I prefer the ones at Tim Ho Wan slightly more at the end of the day.

So how was Lung King Heen overall? Pretty good. While I found the lack of truly innovative dishes to be disappointing, the overall execution of the dishes I did have ranged from above average to phenomenal. I’m not sure that it beat Yan Toh Heen in terms of the best overall dim sum experience I have had, but it certainly has all the hallmarks of modern luxury in Hong Kong: food that is exquisite but not flashy or showy and service that is attentive but not overbearing (very attentive about tea cup refills but no incessant questions of “and how is everything?”). Best of all, for upscale dim sum in Hong Kong it isn’t too comparatively pricey either. Definitely worth the wait, but it’s advised to book way in advance.

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FAVORITES of 2016, FORWARD to 2017

Like last year, this year I’ll be recapping the favorite 5 places I ate at and blogged about in the past year along with listing the 5 places I most look forward to eating this year.

As usual, I wasn’t able to make it to all of the places I was hoping to go to. However, I managed to go to three of them: Chengdu Taste, Lung King Heen, and Tita’s Kitchenette. All were pretty good and lived up their hype. I may have been surprised by Lung King Heen’s lack of innovation or Tita’s Kitchenette’s gargantuan servings, but they did little to detract from the quality of the food.

That said, there were plenty of restaurants which impressed me that were not on my list of top 5 eateries to go to in 2016. Some were spur of the moment choices while others were places on my bucket list and exceeded expectations. So without further ado, here they are:

Hot Oiled Seared Biang Biang Noodles at Biang!

Biang! – This year was the first time I ate Shaanxi cuisine (the cuisine of Xi’an). Of all the Shaanxi places that I ate at and blogged about, Biang! was the best. It might be a bit pricier than other places, but the food was excellent, especially their very flavorful hand pulled biang biang noodles.

Toothpick Lamb at Chengdu Taste

Chengdu Taste – The toothpick lamb and Mung Bean Jelly Noodle With Chilli Sauce were extraordinary, with an impeccable balance of flavors rarely found in other Sichuan restaurants in the United States. The balance of the spices that are just enough to accentuate the flavors of the ingredients without overpowering them is one of many reasons why it continues to reign in Southern California’s fiercely competitive Sichuan dining scene.

Si krong muu at Little Serow

Little Serow – Little Serow’s dinner set menu may be a little strict, but is a wonderful introduction to Northern Thai food. The quality and the execution of the dishes like the pork ribs are amazing and a set tasting menu of only $49 offers incredible value. If it weren’t for the many other great restaurants popping up in DC, I would eat here again. 

Wood Oven Roasted Branzino at the Slanted Door

The Slanted Door – I’m glad a half dozen of my friends decided that they also wanted to go with me and eat at the Slanted Door. Because of that, I was able to sample a larger amount of dishes than I normally would be able to. While some dishes were alright, others like the Wood Oven Roasted Branzino were amazing in their perfect execution. To boot, they also serve one of the best Hong Kong style milk teas I have had in the Bay Area (which is an impressive feat!).

Yan Toh Heen Superior Dumplings

Yan Toh Heen – It was hard to pick which dim sum place that I went to this past year was the best, but Yan Toh Heen narrowly tops out T’ang Court because its execution and service was more exceptional than T’ang Court, even if it doesn’t beat out in innovation (though please try the innovative Yan Toh Heen Superior Dumplings if you go). Of course, the view of Victoria Harbour from the windows of the restaurant doesn’t hurt as well. (Lung King Heen was out of the running as I have not blogged about it yet)

Forward to 2017

After a year of excellent food in 2016, what’s next for me in 2017? Given the continued proliferation of Shaanxi and Sichuan cuisine, especially in California, I’ll likely be blogging about other Chinese regional cuisines more and a little less about Cantonese cuisine. My travels will also be less Hong Kong centric this year, so this year you can expect food reports on what various East or Southeast Asian cuisines are like in London, Mexico City, and other cities across America like Albuquerque (my old home) and Atlanta. 

Given all of my different travels this year, here are the top 5 dining establishments I am aiming and looking forward to going to in 2017:

Bad Saint – During my last trip to DC, I literally missed the opening of this lauded Filipino restaurant by a matter of days. This time I will be sure to go sample the dishes that have garnered rave reviews from a 3.5 (of 4) star rating in the Washington Post to the Bib Gourmand recommendation in Michelin’s first guide of Washington, DC.

Din Tai Fung (Xinyi Road) – Okay, this is cheating a little bit as I have already gone here since the new year. However, this place was one of the top places I wanted to go to when I was in Taiwan. I have now been to the original location and am excited to blog about it soon!

HKK – This is the flagship restaurant of the international Hakkasan chain (yes, the same chain that has a Las Vegas location more known as a popular nightclub with well known EDM DJs). As such, I’m seeing if their food is as up to par with the refined decor and expensive prices, especially given that even the dim sum items are more expensive than the two and three Michelin starred Cantonese restaurants of Hong Kong.

Kowloon Delight – Let’s just say that this type of restaurant isn’t what I normally consider a place to go to. However, despite my low regard for Taishanese/Cantonese style dishes that have assimilated into the palates of North America, cafes de chino are a rich legacy of the Chinese diaspora in Mexico (although Kowloon delight isn’t quite a proper cafe de chino as those have all but disappeared). As such, I would be interested in going here to not only experience Chinese Mexican food but also how it compares or perhaps relates to Chinese American cuisine.

Char Siu Bao at Tim Ho Wan North Point

Tim Ho Wan (New York City) – Yes, I have been to Tim Ho Wan in Hong Kong, but they have just opened their first location in the United States. Of course I want to see how it stacks up to the locations in Hong Kong.