Eating Hong Kong one BNET & RGD at a time

On the left: Birds' Nest Egg Tart (BNET) from Seranade Garden
On the right: Birds' Nest Egg Tart (BNET) from GuangZhou Garden

Sunday saw a bright and early start. The sun rises as early as 530am during the summer time here! By 8, we were getting a tan in bed and decided to go for an early brunch.
This time fully prepared with an exact address, good reviews and as always, empty growling stomachs, we hopped on the MTR down to Seranade Garden at the Hong Kong Cultural Center.

Most of the reviews rated this restaurant as one of the top choices for inexpensive dim sum with a panoramic view of the Victoria harbour. When we got there, we were treated to a table with a truly scenic view. Apart from a spattering of early patrons, the restaurant was fairly empty, making their service prompt and efficient. The dim sum, also left nothing much to be desired.

Since we are creatures of habit, it's always back to the usual classics. No complaints here, the siew mai, chicken feet and char siew pau were all good. But my absolute favourites had to be the birds' nest egg tarts and baked sago dessert - I was born with a sweet tooth after all. They were indeed generous with the birds nest and the subtle sweetness of the delicacy balanced the egg custard and crispy flakes of the tart.

The first time I tried this baked custard with sago and pumpkin was in Melbourne while studying there and I simply fell in love with this, clearly fattening, but sooooooo yummy dessert. The crystallized caramel was sweet but did not overpower the smooth and fragrant custard studded with the sago and pumpkin chunks. Oh, so heavy, but absolute heaven.

Breakfast was gratifying and lunch time felt so dispensable by the end of the morning. But around 3pm, we were starting to feel unbelievably hungry again. Since we were quite exhausted from a whole morning of walking and fruit-less shopping, we decided to eat somewhere near the hotel. We missed the last serving the day before at Guangzhou garden and decided to give it another shot. This time, we made it, and were we contended.

Apart from the dim sum, we also ordered a roast goose drumstick (RGD). Slightly varied from this morning's selection, the carrot cake and black bean pork ribs reminded us a little of home.

The goose liver meat balls and roasted goose meat, reminded us this was Hong Kong. The roast goose meat was without a hint of a "goose smell" that puts one off eating fowl and had such a crispy fragrant skin. This is probably where most roast meats in Singapore fail. Paired with traditional plum sauce, the resulting combination, an explosion of sweet, juicy and crispy tasty meat. Drooling already....

All in all, it was a very good day. A very stomach-bursting and contented good day. Now I can't wait to try the famous roast goose in Hong Kong. If regular goose served in a normal dim sum restaurant tastes so good, what more the lauded bird at Yung Kee. Oh Yum!

Seranade Garden

Hong Kong Cultural Center Level 1 Restaurant Block, Salisbury Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui
tel. 852/2722 0932.
Mon-Fri 11am-4:30pm, Sat-Sun and holidays 9am-4:30pm

GuangZhou Garden
LangHam Place Mall Level 3
Mong Kok