Coming back - Jade Garden, Causeway Bay, HK

Over the past few months, I have been visiting Jade Garden in Causeway Bay plaza II. In March, they renovated this branch and also changed all the staff except 1-2 captains. I no longer see that lady who just kept smiling to me without attending to my numerous points of complaints. So the below are a summary on the past few visits. I am thrilled in having seen Jade Garden come back to its quality line of food and services. Also, they are getting 70% full, as compared to less than half full of last year. Here we go....

1/2. the decor. becomes more contemporary. These photos were taken before the rush time.

3. snack. Something new and creative too. Crispy peanuts with soaked soft beans in sesame oil. Good that they mix it when serving it. So you can chew the crispy peanuts with tender beans. 4. Pan fried pork buns HK$48. Very nice pan frying for both sides. The filling is very juicy.

5. Sizzling morning glory with 3 shrimps (fresh shrimp, dried shrimp 蝦米and semi-dried shrimp 蝦乾) HK$78. Wow when they put those veggie and 3 shrimps into the hot pot. The sound and smell really get you take it right away. The 3 shrimps made it in various flavour, from salty, aromatic to fresh. Very innovative! Must try! 6. Dai Leung stir fried milk with scallop with crab roes 蟹粉帶子大良炒鮮奶 HK$128. Pretty good control of quick stir frying as it could be quite watery. The milk is very thick and smooth. Aromatic too, but quite stuffy.

7. Pork filet with apricot in black vinegar HK$68. Highly recommended. Actually I tried this dish from the Chinese restaurant of Harbour Plaza hotel Hung Hom (also run by Maxim's). Good sauce mix and the apricot does go well with the pork and sauce. 8. Pomelo peel in shrimp roe蝦子柚皮 HK$88. Well, some may think it's expensive since one pomelo is just HK$10-15. However, the cooking time and technique is expensive. It takes more than 2 days to prepare it and shimmer it. Besides, the shrimp roe and sauce need to be balanced well, as it will make it bitter. It's my most favourite dish. Jade Garden did it perfect this time!

9/10. Ling Nan beef 嶺南牛肉 HK$88. The sauce is a very nice onion sauce with nice dark soy sauce and oyster sauce. It serves with some flat steam bread to absorb the sauce. So good! The beef is massage very well to be very tender. Not a trace of any soda powder.

11. pan fried almond coated tender chicken in lemon sauce 西檸杏片煎軟鷄 HK$88. I often try this dish to see how good a restaurant is. Quite a few major points. First the chicken needs to be pan fried at medium heat to make it not to dry out and so to have the juicy tender texture. Second is the lemon sauce. Can't be too sweet as it will overwhelm the zesty flavour. Lemon is also a selected one. Can't be too old nor unripe. This time it's coated with some crispy almond flakes which further gives the chicken a nice texture and even brings out the lemon aroma! So good! 12. Steamed fish filet with crunchy ginger in basket 籠仔蒸脆薑魚柳 HK$88. I was puzzled as to how to make the crunchy ginger on fish filet. So it's baked first and put on the fish filet when serving. Further surprised is that they use garoupa filet though it's a farm fish. Then a lotus leaf is put underneath. They even used some very selected choy sum. Check the stems are cut. This way it can absorb the aroma of the fish filet in the basket. A minor flaw is that the filet was steamed a bit over time, but I can put that up from the idea of crunchy ginger and the veggie. BTW, all the dishes are in quite a big portion.

13. Steamed egg plants in preserved (rock sugar) plum and minced pork 冰梅肉碎蒸茄子. When I noted they use preserved (rock sugar) plum, I ordered it without a second thought. This kind of preserved plum is so good for steaming with pork. Besides, it's not that sweet as rock sugar is not that "dry" sweet like white sugar. As the egg plant has a kind of "rough" flavour 削, the plum's sour can balance that out and further make the egg plant taste sweeter. Highly recommended to try this one! This is the essence of Cantonese cooking. Balancing of taste and flavour. Sweet vs salty. Sour to sweet. 14. Salmon egg white rice in mini basket HK$20. I am happy to see Jade Garden cook the rice to a perfect texture but not hard-to-chew. Now they really come back! This should be the Cantonese cuisine!