Yu Chuan Club, Wan Chai
I adore Yu Chuan, simply because it does the best Sichuan food in Hong Kong. It is a private kitchen hidden away on the first floor of a commercial building in the heart of Wan Chai, just behind the Southron basketball court.
There is something unusual and interesting about this place - I remember phoning to make the reservation, the lady who picked up the phone just said ‘Wei?’ (meaning ‘Hello’) without mentioning the restaurant’s name. I did wonder if I had got the right number for a second. Once I enquired about a reservation, the booking process went pretty smoothly. I also nearly missed the restaurant on my first visit, as the building is on a quiet street with few lights, and there was only a small sign pointing up to the first floor of the building. All of these things made me very curious, and eager to try their food.
I could smell the unique Sichuan peppercorn aroma as soon as I stepped out from the lift. ‘Members only’ was written on the door of the restaurant, but I was never asked to apply. We were greeted by the same lady who I had spoken to on the phone. She patiently explained the menu, and recommended some dishes according to the ingredients which they had been able to buy fresh from Wan Chai market that day.
The menu (available in English) consists of six sections - cold starters, ‘home style’, non-spicy, pickled pepper, fish, and shellfish, each section containing five to thirty dishes. There is a set price of HKD200 per person, the number of cold (涼菜) and main dishes (熱菜) you can order depends on the number of guests. There were thirteen of us, so we were able to choose six cold starters and ten main dishes.
Here are the highlights...
Century eggs - Century eggs are not everyone’s cup of tea, they are preserved in ash, salt and rice, etc (NOT horse urine as some people believe!) for months to develop a distinct alkaline flavour. You may find the dark green egg yolk discouraging, but I just could not fault the rich and creamy texture. You have to try it at least once in your life :) In Yu Chuan, the eggs were served with chopped green and red peppers, spring onions and a drizzle of sesame oil.
Sichuan cold noodles - This mountain of egg noodles was dressed lightly with Sichuan pepper, chilli oil and soy sauce, then topped with a mixture of toasted peanuts, spring onion and plenty of garlic. It was not spicy but slightly numbing, which was the perfect ‘warm up’ before the main dishes arrived.
Husband and wife lung slices - They are actually slices of beef and offal, in fact lung is rarely used these days. I like the combination of the toothsome tripe and the tender beef, which together with the crunchy celery stalks gave this dish a variety of textures.
Pickled green chillies and beef - It had the most normal look, but this could not have been more misleading. My tongue started to burn a few seconds after the first mouthful, giving me just enough time to taste the beef. If you want a challenge, this is the one to order.
Sweet and sour pork - We ordered this dish from the non-spicy section of the menu. Although it was a pleasant break from all the crazy hotness, I could hardly find anything exciting about it. The sauce was a tiny bit too sweet, and there was too much of it.
Ma Po tofu - A powerfully spiced dish made with silky smooth tofu, minced pork, and a sauce made from fermented bean paste, red chillies and Sichuan peppercorns.
Water braised fish - This is always the ‘wow’ dish of a meal in a Sichuan restaurant, there are countless red chillies and Sichuan peppercorns swimming in a large serving bowl. The fish was first poached in a broth, and then placed on top of a bed of Chinese cabbage. The peppercorns and chillies, along with star anise and cinnamon sticks were thrown into almost-boiling vegetable oil to generate an incredible aroma, before pouring into the bowl to serve. It was not as spicy as it looks, but the numbing sensation was insane. The fun part was to avoid the peppercorns when you try to get the fish out of the bowl. Some say the cabbage at the bottom is the best bit, do you dare to try it?
Spicy deep fried chicken with dried red chillies - The volume of the dish looked exactly the same before and after eating as there were so much chilli in it. The chicken pieces were deep fried on the bone until crispy, and although it was a relatively dry dish, the chicken was tender and juicy.
Do not be put off by the oily dishes, the flavour of the spices is infused within the oil, which brings the food to life. Our meal at Yu Chuan was thoroughly enjoyable, we were able to try authentic Sichuan cuisine at a very reasonable price. If you want to try a style of Chinese food which is totally different from the local Cantonese one, this is the place to go.
渝川菜館 Yu Chuan Club, 1st Floor, Hundred City Centre, 7 - 17 Amoy Street, Wan Chai
I adore Yu Chuan, simply because it does the best Sichuan food in Hong Kong. It is a private kitchen hidden away on the first floor of a commercial building in the heart of Wan Chai, just behind the Southron basketball court.
There is something unusual and interesting about this place - I remember phoning to make the reservation, the lady who picked up the phone just said ‘Wei?’ (meaning ‘Hello’) without mentioning the restaurant’s name. I did wonder if I had got the right number for a second. Once I enquired about a reservation, the booking process went pretty smoothly. I also nearly missed the restaurant on my first visit, as the building is on a quiet street with few lights, and there was only a small sign pointing up to the first floor of the building. All of these things made me very curious, and eager to try their food.
I could smell the unique Sichuan peppercorn aroma as soon as I stepped out from the lift. ‘Members only’ was written on the door of the restaurant, but I was never asked to apply. We were greeted by the same lady who I had spoken to on the phone. She patiently explained the menu, and recommended some dishes according to the ingredients which they had been able to buy fresh from Wan Chai market that day.
The menu (available in English) consists of six sections - cold starters, ‘home style’, non-spicy, pickled pepper, fish, and shellfish, each section containing five to thirty dishes. There is a set price of HKD200 per person, the number of cold (涼菜) and main dishes (熱菜) you can order depends on the number of guests. There were thirteen of us, so we were able to choose six cold starters and ten main dishes.
Here are the highlights...
Century eggs - Century eggs are not everyone’s cup of tea, they are preserved in ash, salt and rice, etc (NOT horse urine as some people believe!) for months to develop a distinct alkaline flavour. You may find the dark green egg yolk discouraging, but I just could not fault the rich and creamy texture. You have to try it at least once in your life :) In Yu Chuan, the eggs were served with chopped green and red peppers, spring onions and a drizzle of sesame oil.
Sichuan cold noodles - This mountain of egg noodles was dressed lightly with Sichuan pepper, chilli oil and soy sauce, then topped with a mixture of toasted peanuts, spring onion and plenty of garlic. It was not spicy but slightly numbing, which was the perfect ‘warm up’ before the main dishes arrived.
Husband and wife lung slices - They are actually slices of beef and offal, in fact lung is rarely used these days. I like the combination of the toothsome tripe and the tender beef, which together with the crunchy celery stalks gave this dish a variety of textures.
Pickled green chillies and beef - It had the most normal look, but this could not have been more misleading. My tongue started to burn a few seconds after the first mouthful, giving me just enough time to taste the beef. If you want a challenge, this is the one to order.
Sweet and sour pork - We ordered this dish from the non-spicy section of the menu. Although it was a pleasant break from all the crazy hotness, I could hardly find anything exciting about it. The sauce was a tiny bit too sweet, and there was too much of it.
Ma Po tofu - A powerfully spiced dish made with silky smooth tofu, minced pork, and a sauce made from fermented bean paste, red chillies and Sichuan peppercorns.
Water braised fish - This is always the ‘wow’ dish of a meal in a Sichuan restaurant, there are countless red chillies and Sichuan peppercorns swimming in a large serving bowl. The fish was first poached in a broth, and then placed on top of a bed of Chinese cabbage. The peppercorns and chillies, along with star anise and cinnamon sticks were thrown into almost-boiling vegetable oil to generate an incredible aroma, before pouring into the bowl to serve. It was not as spicy as it looks, but the numbing sensation was insane. The fun part was to avoid the peppercorns when you try to get the fish out of the bowl. Some say the cabbage at the bottom is the best bit, do you dare to try it?
Spicy deep fried chicken with dried red chillies - The volume of the dish looked exactly the same before and after eating as there were so much chilli in it. The chicken pieces were deep fried on the bone until crispy, and although it was a relatively dry dish, the chicken was tender and juicy.
Do not be put off by the oily dishes, the flavour of the spices is infused within the oil, which brings the food to life. Our meal at Yu Chuan was thoroughly enjoyable, we were able to try authentic Sichuan cuisine at a very reasonable price. If you want to try a style of Chinese food which is totally different from the local Cantonese one, this is the place to go.
渝川菜館 Yu Chuan Club, 1st Floor, Hundred City Centre, 7 - 17 Amoy Street, Wan Chai
Rather shamefully, I've never been to a 'private kitchen'. This one looks good, and nice to see my old favourite: spicy deep fried chicken aka la zi ji.
ReplyDelete@Mr NoodlesI've only been to a couple of 'private kitchen'. Some were overly pretentious but this one wasn't. My favourite was the 'Water Braised Fish'!
ReplyDelete