Seventh Son Wan Chai

This is post #45, part of my #50PostsIn50Days personal challenge to document my first 100 days in Hong Kong. Other posts in this series may be found at the bottom of the original post.

Fook La Moon is a well-known, very established upscale Cantonese restaurant that has been in Hong Kong for quite some time. The city's rich and famous regularly dine there, and it has many locations throughout Asia. Seventh Son is one of several restaurants in the Wan Chai neighborhood that came out of the Fook La Moon family following a dispute some years back. Seventh Son is named such because it is opened by the youngest (seventh!) son in the family. Several of the chefs at the restaurant originally worked at other Fook La Moon locations before coming to Seventh Son.

The Michelin Guide recommends this restaurant as a "good standard" of cooking.

We came here as strangers, new to Hong Kong and new to our own neighborhood. A seasoned local who had lived in Hong Kong for over 20 years was our host, and ordered many of his favorite dishes for our table of eight to share. It was nice not to worry about what to order, and instead to trust in our host.
We started with a deep fried cubes that were filled with a creamy egg custard, chicken stock, chicken fat, and "a little something extra." The menu translates this extra ingredient as kidney, but those at the table who could read Chinese told me that it was actually chicken testicles. You can't really tell since everything is blended together. In general, the cubes were delicious, having an intense chicken flavor.
 
Left: inside of fried chicken custard; Right: crispy roast pork

Next came char grilled crispy roast pork (siu yok) with a lovely crackling skin. I thought it was beautifully executed, but just a *tad* on the dry side. I think I've had better elsewhere, but this version was still quite solid.

We then moved onto one of my favorite dishes of the evening, stir fried fresh bamboo shoots with shrimp roe. This is a classic Cantonese dish, and Seventh Son does it very well. I loved the crunchy fresh bamboo shoots and the rich umami from the shrimp roe.

The masterpiece of the evening was the suckling pig, a restaurant signature dish (needs to be ordered in advance). The skin was perfect - flat, crispy, and exquisitely cut into perfect square for us each to enjoy with our steamed bread, hoisin sauce, and accoutrements.
 
After we each took a piece of crispy skin, the server took the pig away and cut the rest up for us to enjoy.

The meat was tender, very flavorful, and excellent overall, This was probably my other favorite dish of the evening. We had tons of leftovers, and took home yet another bag of additional bones and other parts (yay soup!).

But the meal wasn't over yet. There were still many dishes to come!

Beef steamed with orange peel was interesting. The beef was soft, seemingly pounded until it was really, really tender. This wasn't my favorite dish, but it was interesting to try once.

Shrimp toast was excellent, though a bit on the heavier side.

Simple yet delicious, I really enjoyed these eggs scrambled with century eggs, shrimp, and scallions.

Fried rice with bits of Chinese sausage was our last savory course. It was a nice way to end the meal.

We concluded with several different desserts. I tried the classic creamy almond soup (not pictured), to which you can optionally add egg white. The soup has the consistency of egg drop soup but was sweet and creamy. The overall effect reminded me a bit of bird's nest soup, but a poor man's version. It was delicious and not at all too sweet. The walnut soup (pictured) was thick, creamy, and nicely fragrant.

We also tried a black sesame roll, affectionately called "film roll" because it looked a roll of film! The black sesame flavor was present but not overpowering. It was a nice, light dessert with a pleasant springy texture that reminded me a bit of soft mochi (if you ate it all in one bite). Bryan rolled it out, which I'm sure makes it taste different!

The walnut cookies were brittle and crumbly and had a pleasant nut flavor.

General Thoughts - Seventh Son

Its definitely nice to visit a restaurant with an expert who knows what to order. We very much enjoyed our dinner highlighting some of Seventh Sons most well-known dishes. My favorites were the suckling pig and the stir fried bamboo shoots, though in general I found the quality of the food to be very good. I have yet to try Fook La Moon, so I can't really compare the two. According to our friend, the two restaurants are quite similar and comparable in quality. If you can't get into one, you can try booking the other. They are geographically close to each other, which makes it easier.

Our meal came to around $900 HKD per person, so this is definitely more of a splurge meal. It's worth coming with a larger group so that you can enjoy specials like the suckling pig.

Seventh Son Wan Chai
3/F, 57-73 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai
Tel: +852 2892 2888