Tiny Urban Kitchen

Exploring Food from Boston to Hong Kong and Beyond

  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About Me
  • Travel
  • Recipes
  • Michelin
  • Subscribe
  • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About Me
    • Travel
    • Recipes
    • Michelin
    • Subscribe
    • Taiwanese
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×
    • Ciccio Yountville California
      Ciccio Yountville
    • Charter Oak St. Helena Napa Valley California
      Charter Oak St. Helena Napa Valley California
    • Cole’s Chop House Napa California
      Cole's Chop House Napa California
    • Compline Restaurant Napa California
      Compline Restaurant + Wine Shop Napa
    • Napa, California
      Thomas Keller's La Calenda: A Tribute {Now Closed}
    • Ad Hoc Thomas Keller Brunch Yountville California
      Thomas Keller Ad Hoc + Addendum + Bouchon Bakery
    • Mandalay San Francisco
      Mandalay San Francisco (Burmese Food)
    • Boulettes Larder Ferry Building San Francisco
      Boulette Larder (Ferry Building) San Francisco
    • Bodega SF California (Vietnamese)
      Bodega SF (Modern Vietnamese)
    • Tselog Daly City California
      Tselogs (Filipino food) Daly City California
    • Mesa by José Avillez Macau
      Mesa by José Avillez Macau
    • Restaurante Litoral Taipa Macau
      Restaurante Litoral Taipa Macau
    Home » Restaurant

    Madame Ching Hong Kong

    Published: Nov 20, 2018 by Jennifer Che

    Madame Ching Hong Kong

    Madame Ching Hong Kong

    The Pirata Group is at it again, this time with a modern Chinese concept called Madame Ching. Madame Ching Hong Kong is located on Star Street on the Northern section of Wan Chai not too far from Admiralty. The concept is Chinese food with a "surprising twist", inspired by the powerful pirate Madame Ching Shih who terrorized the China Seas during the Qing Dynasty (commanding over 300 junk boats!).
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    Madame Ching focuses on various types of roast meats, a Hong Kong specialty. The head chef, Chef Son, trained under Cantonese celebrity chef Suser Lee (whom I've met before!) before coming to Hong Kong to oversee this restaurant.Madame Ching Hong Kong
    The menu has several fun cocktails made with interesting Asian-esque ingredients like galangal, umeshu, dragon fruit, and kaffir lime leaves.
    Madame Ching Hong Kong Madame Ching Hong Kong
    This fun cocktail is called Thick Soul [HKD110] and includes infused fresh figs, bitters, umeshu, and sake. Love the smoke!
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    So elegant!

    All Pirata Group restaurants offer a family-style "tasting" menu for HKD350 a person that allows a diner to sample some of the restaurant's best signature dishes. In general, we enjoy doing these tastings at Pirata Group restaurants, so we decided to do it here at Madame Ching as well.
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    General Son's Chicken [HKD 95] is clearly a nod to the traditional "General Gau" or "General Tso" chicken that graces every single Chinese restaurant in America.

    This version - presumably named after Chef Son - has a slight twist in that it's seasoned with sansho pepper. Furthermore, the chicken is just slightly glazed and very crispy, yet not the least bit greasy or soggy.Frankly, I think it is worlds better than the typical restaurant version of this dish. The flavors are excellent.
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    Pork Wontons [HKD 100] served with a mala vinaigrette and crispy garlic were pleasant though not that spicy.
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    Typhoon Shelter Tofu HKD [HKD 90] is clearly inspired by the famous Hong Kong classic typhoon shelter crabs which are showered with a mound of fried garlic, chili, and scallions. This version uses lightly deep fried tofu instead. I really enjoyed the texture of the tofu (reminded me of Japanese agedashi tofu texture).

    However, I thought the crispy garlic was less fragrant than the ones I've enjoyed on the original crab version. These garlic "crunchies" were harder in texture, reminding me almost of something other than garlic (I did wonder whether they were some sort of hybrid breadcrumb/cereal/garlic mixture). They were less fragrant, but also less greasy.  The dish was still enjoyable, but if you've had the real thing, you might feel like something's lacking.
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    Next we had Roasted Chicken [HKD 170] with pickled daikon (likely inspired from Korean food). The chicken was tender and juicy.
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    Burnt Ends Fried Rice [HKD 95] included roast pork, eggs, and pickled vegetable topped with deep fried onion strings.
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    Brussels Sprouts [HKD 85] roast jus were fine but nothing particularly special. They came with just the slightest char on the edge. I am a huge fan of properly charred Brussels Sprouts (they give off such a nice aromatic flavor!). Alas, these were more like sauteed or steamed Brussels Sprouts.
    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    I was excited about the Brown Sugar Steamed Cake because that is one of my favorite desserts at Tim Ho Wan. This version came with an ovaltine ice cream. Unfortunately, the steamed cake was terribly dry, nothing like the beautiful moist brown sugar steamed cake that I was imagining. Eating it with the ice cream helped, but overall I was disappointed.

    General Thoughts - Madame Ching Hong Kong

    We came here a day after the biggest typhoon of the year (Typhoon Mangkhut) hit Hong Kong. Most restaurants had closed the day of the typhoon, so most restaurants were just getting back on their feet.

    I have mixed feelings about this restaurant. On the one hand, I really enjoyed some of the dishes we had at the beginning, such as the General Son's chicken (fantastic!), roast chicken, and pork dumplings. The fried rice and even the typhoon shelter tofu was good, even if it wasn't quite what I was expecting. On the other hand, I really didn't love the Brussels Sprouts, and I was quite disappointed with the dessert.

    In general, I like the concept again that I would go back to try more dishes. My guess is that they play a pretty strong meat game, and I should try some of their other roast meats, like roast goose or roast pork. It's probably worth coming back and just ordering a la carte next time to focus in on specific dishes I really want to try.

    Madame Ching Hong Kong
    5 Star St, Wan Chai
    Hong Kong

    This is the thirtieth post in the updated #50Postsin50Days – Take 2 Challenge. Other posts in this series will be added to the bottom of the original post.

    More Restaurant

    • Forbidden Duck Causeway Bay
      Forbidden Duck Causeway Bay
    • Kunming China
      Kardia Cafe Kunming China 從心開始
    • 凹糟管 Aozao Restaurant
      Aozao Guan 凹糟館 - Modern Yunnan Cuisine in Kunming, China
    • chocolate
      La Dame de Pic - Paris France

    Recent Posts

    • Ciccio Yountville May 11, 2025
    • Charter Oak St. Helena Napa Valley California May 8, 2025
    • Cole's Chop House Napa California May 5, 2025
    • Compline Restaurant + Wine Shop Napa May 2, 2025
    • Thomas Keller's La Calenda: A Tribute {Now Closed} April 30, 2025
    • Thomas Keller Ad Hoc + Addendum + Bouchon Bakery April 27, 2025
    • Mandalay San Francisco (Burmese Food) April 24, 2025
    • Boulette Larder (Ferry Building) San Francisco April 21, 2025
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen
    Jennifer Che Tiny Urban Kitchen

    Hi, my name's Jen and welcome to my cooking, eating, and travel site! I am an expat who moved from Boston to Hong Kong 5 years ago. Born and raised in Ohio to Taiwanese immigrant parents, I am a chemistry nerd, patent attorney by day, blogger by night, church musician on weekends, and food enthusiast always. Feel free to explore away, maybe starting with the Recipe Index or one of the travel pages! I hope you enjoy this site!

    More about me →

    logo
    Food Advertisements by

    Explore

    • Recipe
    • Restaurant
    • US Travel
    • World Travel

    Popular Posts

    • Antonio Macau Taipa
      Antonio Macau Taipa
    • Vienna Opera House
      Vienna Austria Trip Report
    • Steirereck Vienna Austria
      Steirereck Vienna Austria
    • Meierei im Stadtpark Vienna Austria
      Meierei im Stadtpark Vienna Austria

    Recipes

    • Appetizer
    • Snacks
    • Meat
    • Vegetables
    • Soup
    • Salad
    • Seafood
    • Noodles

    Recently Traveled

    • Hong Kong
    • France
    • Belgium
    • Boston
    • California
    • United Kingdom
    • Germany
    • Spain

    Support Us

    Support Tiny Urban Kitchen by making purchases on Amazon through our affiliate link:

    Recognition


    Featured on the front page
    of the FOOD Section: 2015

    Best Food Blog Awards:
    Restaurant & Dining 2012

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Me
    • My Equipment
    • In the Press
    • Project Food Blog
    • Privacy Policy

    Eating Guides!

    Eating & Travel Guides
    Trip Reports
    "Kawaii" (Cute Foods)
    Around the World

    • Pinterest
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Twitter
    • LinkedIn
    • YouTube
    • Mail
    • RSS Feed

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Shop at Amazon

    Copyright © 2024 Tiny Urban Kitchen