Hong Kong: Michelin Star Dim Sum at Yue, City Garden Hotel

My paternal grandfather hailed from Hong Kong before he settled here in London back in the sixties, and so whilst he is no longer with us, we have some family that remain in various parts of Hong Kong.

During our stay, we were invited by my Dad's two first cousins Wai Hung and Wai Lock and their wives invited us to join them, alongside my Grandad's two brothers, to visit the Michelin starred Cantonese restaurant, Yue at the City Garden Hotel in the Fortress Hill area.

As well as some of the more traditional dim sum dishes with which we are very familiar, such as sui mai and har gau (steamed crab and pork dumplings and pork dumplings) we also enjoyed something a little more unusual and experienced why Yue has that Michelin star. 

Sui Mai at Yue

Har Gau at Yue

One of the signature dishes we had was a beautiful looking confection that looked more like a dessert on first glance. It was a well-seasoned small piece of fried grouper with fish maw placed a top of a three layered blancmange-looking jelly; that was in actual fact, egg white with truffle sauce. As I don't eat egg, it was a shame, I did try the truffled egg white but it wasn't to my taste which was a shame as overall it looked very impressive. The grouper, however, was utterly delicious and the dish was awarded the Gold with Distinction Award, 2010 Best of the Culinary Awards by Hong Kong Tourism Board.

Seared Grouper with Fish Maw on Truffled Egg White

We also enjoyed some char sui - which we did most days during our stay in Hong Kong but this pork was exquisite. It was the perfect balance of sweet and umami and just beautifully melt-in-the-mouth tender too and sat upon some gorgeously seasoned soya beans - a definite stand out dish here.

Char Sui on Soya Beans

Equally delicious was a dish I was surprised to have in Hong Kong - crispy pork served with a dipping sauce of English mustard. Again the meat was fantastically tender and the crispy skin was addictively good. 

Crispy Roast Pork at Yue

We had crispy noodles with seafood - another of our favourites whenever we enjoy Chinese food, but this again was something extra special with gorgeous prawns, scallops and squid - everything was just so, seasoned really well and cooked perfectly.

Crispy Noodles with Seafood

Other new dishes we enjoyed at Yue included chicken & pineapple buns that sound like an odd combination but were actually really delicious; like so many exceptional Cantonese dishes, they combine the sweet with the savoury with great results. 

Chicken & Pineapple Buns

We also had a dish of which I'm unsure of the name of, the outside were rice rolls, like with Cheung Fun, but the inside was crispy fried noodles - a really lovely textural contrast. We had fried rice with XO sauce which was another winner, vegetable spring rolls, turnip paste, that was infinitely better than any I've tried in the UK, glutinous rice in lotus leaf and tried the steamed sponge cake for the first time at any dim sum, of which my daughter adored and we now get every time we have dim sum. 

Fried Rice with XO Sauce

Vegetable Spring Rolls

Turnip Paste at Yue

Glutinous Rice in Lotus Leaf at Yue, City Garden Hotel

This was a really great meal - an elevated experience from your average dim sum experience; and one of my favourite meals in Hong Kong - it was extra special as was spent with family members who we don't often see. If visiting Hong Kong make sure Yue is on your restaurant wish list.

The Cheung family