Xihe Ya Yuan Hong Kong
Bryan and I lived in a serviced apartment right above Harbour City, a HUGE shopping megaplex in Tsim Sha Tsui, for several months before moving to Wan Chai. At the time, I don’t think I fully realized or appreciated how much of a mecca Harbour City (together with Ocean Terminal and Ocean Centre) is for its concentration of world famous restaurants. It is almost mind-boggling how many globally renowned chefs have a presence in this one shopping complex . . . Joel Robuchon, Gordon Ramsey, Michael White, just to name a few.
On top of that, you also have lots of famous restaurant imports from all over the world, especially from Asia, such as Crystal Jade from Singapore, Tsuta Japanese Soba Noodle from Tokyo, Du Hsiao Yueh from Taiwan, and on and on. It’s sort of like the Strip in Vegas, but condensed into one walkable set of buildings.
Xihe Yayuan falls into the second category. It is a very famous Peking duck restaurant from Beijing, China. The location in Hong Kong is right at Ocean Terminal and has gorgeous views of Victoria Harbour. The restaurant mostly focuses on traditional Chinese dishes but adds a slight, creative touch of modernity to certain dishes.
Bryan loves Peking duck, so he was quite curious to try this new place that was located so close to his workplace.
We started with the sautéed elm fungus, glazed walnut, and mixed vegetables [HKD 128] which I loved. The quality of the ingredients was evident, and the execution was perfect.
Our party of three decided to order one whole Peking duck, which costs HKD598 including a “condiment box” and wheat pancakes.
Tne duck is carved table-side and presented as three different “courses.”
First, eat the skin by dipping it into blueberry sauce and a powder that really resembled pop rocks. The final experience in your mouth is definitely a modern interpretation of the traditional sugar that is used. Personally, it tasted a lot like a dessert. I typically don’t like dipping the first course in sugar, but that is a popular way of eating the skin.
The other two portions, the dark meat and the white meat, are meant to go into the wheat wrappers. Guests each design and make their own rolls using the various ingredients in the condiment box.
Mustard was a fun and less typical condiment that was included in the box. Traditional items such as scallions, cucumber, and hoisin sauce were included too.
We also ordered a Shrimp Noodle Soup to supplement our meal. It was great. The shrimp was cooked perfectly (still tender and “popped”) and the noodles were good.
Xihe Ya Yuan Hong Kong – General Thoughts
Xihe Ya Yuan is a lovely place to enjoy a really pleasant meal. The setting is beautiful and the food is enjoyable. We brought a visiting friend from the US and we all had a really good time.
Is it the best Peking duck I’ve had in Hong Kong? No. Places like Mott32 and Man Wah are far superior. However, it does a pretty respectable job on the duck, and the dining space is hard to beat. Furthermore, their other dishes were quite good as well. I haven’t tried enough to give a full assessment, but in general the kitchen knows what it’s doing and we liked both of the other two dishes.
Xihe Ya Yuan Hong Kong
Shop OTE 203
2/F Ocean Terminal
Harbour City, 3-27 Canton Road,
Tsim Sha Tsui
This is the thirty-fifth post in the updated #50Postsin50Days – Take 2 Challenge. Other posts in this series will be added to the bottom of the original post.
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