Page 86 - Hong_Kong_&_Macau's_Best_Restaurants_English_edition

HONG KONG RESTAURANTS
CA N TO NE SE

ABOVE & BEYOND CELESTIAL COURT FORUM
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28/F, Hotel Icon, 17 Science Museum Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong 2/F, Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & 1/F, Sino Plaza, 255-257 Gloucester
TEL: +852 3400 1318 Towers, 20 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
www.hotel-icon.com/dining Tsui, Hong Kong TEL: +852 2869 8282
TEL: +852 2369 1111 www.forumrestaurant1977.com
Above & Beyond breaks the general adage that restaurants with a great view www.sheratonhongkonghotel.com
tend not to be very good at anything else. Located at the top floor of Hotel Having operated for over four
Icon, the perch ensures that guests get a panoramic spread of city lights This Kowloon institution is decades in Hong Kong, Forum
during dinner time at the restaurant. The dining space may be elongated decidedly old school, from the has firmly established its
and narrow, but the establishment lets their menu prove their worthiness corridor of generic Chinese reputation as one of the city’s
as one of Hong Kong’s finest Chinese restaurants. Cantonese dishes fare antiques to the chairs and the best-celebrated Cantonese
well with modern interpretation, with novelty ingredients adding a delightful carpet which has seen better restaurants. The dining space is
surprise. Crispy five-spiced sliced Angus beef brisket is served warm as an days, but locals flock here for long and spacious, with private
appetiser; the thin but tender brisket packs a punch in flavour but is not the food. Classical Cantonese dining rooms at the back of
overpowered with spices. The fine-dining restaurant is popular for business cuisine is all about subtraction, the restaurant. Traditional
gatherings and dim sum lunch, but it also serves an afternoon set featuring and the ethereal dishes served Cantonese braised dishes with
treats inspired by international cuisines. The wine list is well-constructed here are on the subtle side, dried seafood reign supreme
with abundant wine by-the-glass selections. Come for an early dinner, which seasoned with restraint. The at Forum, especially their
is the best time to catch both the sunset and the city’s skyline with lined selection of double-boiled selection of premium abalone.
with lights. soups is sumptuous, from fish Most dishes are executed with
maw with conpoy and black traditional techniques, such as
mushrooms to sea whelk with in the popular deep-fried crispy
porcini mushroom and pigeon. chicken, with its thin and glossy
Forum remains Their signature roasted suckling skin, or braised mushroom and
a popular spot pig stuffed with black truffle and goose webs. Served bubbling in a
for classic Chinese pearl barley is out of this clay pot, the mushrooms are thick
cooking world, packs a glorious crunch, and goose webs meltingly tender.
and requires pre-ordering two The wine programme has been
days in advance and well worth upgraded, with even more prized
the wait. There are a few dim labels and better wine service
sum items heretically available by the resident sommelier, as
during dinner for tourists, well as servers with sound wine
but, as expected, dim sum is knowledge to help with
decidedly much more delicious serving and food
during lunchtime. The steamed pairing. If the
Celestial Court shrimp dumpling more elaborate
features giant bouncy prawns dishes are not
wrapped in a chewy, snow-white your thing, Forum
skin, seasoned with restraint. is a popular
Service is courteous, but might destination for
be a bit slow on busy days—and weekend dim sum as well. Distilling
it’s usually busy most days of the forty years of experience in the
week—so a firm hand and voice local restaurant scene proves
is sometimes needed to get the Forum a successful establishment
staff’s attention. with high standards.

CANTON POT GOLDEN LEAF

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2/F, Lodgewood by L’hotel Mongkok Hong Kong, 1131 Canton Road, Mong Kok, Lower Lobby, Conrad Hong Kong, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty,
Hong Kong Hong Kong
TEL: +852 3968 7888 TEL: +852 2822 8870
www.lhotelgroup.com www. conraddining.com
Hotpot restaurants in Hong Kong are a dime a dozen, but few offer an For Cantonese cooking done with sophistication and restraint, the Conrad’s
experience that is a cut above the norm. This Kowloon enclave is discreet signature Chinese restaurant remains a stalwart among families and
and hidden given its side street location, but it’s worth making the effort to business types. The dining room is not overtly opulent but feels refined;
seek it out. The private rooms offer comfort, with round tables that make lunch is a livelier affair with groups enjoying dim sum (the gold leaf-topped
easy work of communal dining; the comfotable upholstered chairs are also har gao is a perennial favourite despite the price tag) but come for dinner if
not the typical furniture associated with hotpot restaurants. Equally, the you prefer a more hushed—but not uncomfortable—vibe to impress a guest.
food is pitched at a higher level with ingredients such as morel mushrooms Clarity of flavour is highly prized in Cantonese cooking, and you’ll find it here
and Kurobuta pork making their way into juicy, generously proportioned in dishes such as chicken lightly poached and served in a glistening golden
dumplings, while the Korean Hanwoo beef is a must for meat lovers. If you layer of chicken essence—a dish that appears austere but is deceivingly
can’t decide between the various soup bases, the menu helpfully curates indulgent in flavour. Others, such as braised aubergine with minced prawn
a selection of themed sets: a Japanese version comes with a sukiyaki soup and chilli sauce are less attractive in presentation but dance on the palate.
base, with accoutrements such as Japanese tofu, Inaniwa udon and enoki Some may balk at handing over the dollars for dishes that are seemingly less
mushrooms. If you can, book the largest room for a group party as the space inventive than those at more contemporary restaurants, but we applaud
also comes with its own karaoke system. Golden Leaf’s confident rendition of traditional recipes with elegant refrain.

84 | T .DINING 2018