LUCKY ON LANTAU?
tao heung - tung chung
When I said I would meet a friend for dinner in Tung Chung I never thought it would end up being a hotpot dinner! Life’s funny like that. Serendipitous I would call it (nom nom). Tao Heung as it turns out is a chain of restaurants in HK specialising in Cantonese cuisine, dim sum and hotpot!
Pros
- For a Wednesday night it was relatively busy but it still felt pretty relaxed and lacked the frenzy of similar establishments. A generous window seat for four gave the two of us room to maneuver and cook easily. There was a family to one side and another couple to the other but we hardly noticed them.
- The staff were very friendly and helpful. They explained the specials, told us what wasn’t in season and were pretty attentive throughout.
- The menu was BILLINGUAL! Always a plus in my books meaning we could happily order whatever we fancied rather than what morsels we could muster. Tell a lie – my dining companion is fluent in Cantonese, but what I’m saying is a non-Cantonese speaking person could happily have ordered here.
- Beautifully crafted dumplings – ‘gau choi gau’ (pork and chive dumplings) – tasted pretty good too!
- After 9pm – most items drop in price by 50%.
'gau choi gau'
Cons
- The soup – unfortunately not their strong point. We asked for a yin yeung – half pork bone/winter melon (came with CORN!) half má là. Both very watery and lacking in substance. The má là wasn’t even oily! The pork bones gray and dirty looking – we took them straight out.
disappointing
- The beef – we ordered the ‘premium US beef’ (the best I could see on the menu) but at $48 per order I shouldn’t have held out much hope. It was fine but only consisted of about 8 very thin slices.
- No loh bat OR dong gua – are you kidding me?
- Worked out more expensive than I was expecting. I know hotpot for two is seldom economical but $500 for 1 plate of beef, 1 plate of dumplings, tofu, veggies, mushrooms, noodles etc seemed steep at the end of it.
Would I go again – sure – it was easy and pleasant and if I were in Tung Chung again and in need of dinner I would certainly head back.
FYI – Wow – just found out the Tao Heung Group has over 60 different restaurants in HK!
No.3, Podium Level 1, Coastal Skyline, 12 Tung Chung Waterfront Road, Tung Chung 2947 7488 http://www.taoheung.com.hk
Lady Má Là Regrets... 