Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Hong Kong Pears at the Orient

I'm glad that my first blog week is filled with more eating out than usual.
Last night I went to the Orient (Melrose Arch), where the hostesses dain to work, for dinner with the family.

To our surprise we were greeted by the hostesses with warm smiles and promptly seated at our requested table upstairs.Our waiter was good, he had two big tables to attend to and managed them well.

For Starters: we had a selection of Dim Sum:
Hong Kong Pears (3) R55 - A must try!!Potato dumplings stuffed with duck, chicken and prawn. It has a crisp exterior, followed by soft mashed potato and a stuffing centre of tasty duck, chicken and prawn. Wonderful!
Prawn Gao (4) R42 - never disappoints
There's something special about the prawn, rice flour wrapper and soya sauce combination with a hint of celery. I have to stop myself from eating them as a meal!
Sui Mai chicken & mushroom (4) R42 - The item most enjoyed by the group, it has a sausage stuffing type texture and has a great salty taste. All those with low blood pressure will love it! Well the saltiness at least
Chi Chee Gao (4) R58 - Was not my taste. It has a sour cream like filling, which isn't mentioned on the menu and was quite off putting.
I'm glad I tried it first and had the other magnificent dumplings to follow.

Mains:
Sashimi combo (Salmon & Tuna)R90 - seared tuna, plain tuna & salmon
Bang Bang Duck R99 - Great but not for the faint hearted
Half roast duck asian style R172 - Wonderfully sweet & tender complimented well by the bok choy
Seafood Green curry R98 - I didn't taste it but my mum enjoyed it

We shared a Berry meringue for dessert. I order this almost everytime I visit the Orient. It's a great end to the meal the meringue, offset by the tart berries and rounded off by the yoghurt cream.

I've tried to replicate this dessert at home and I'm close, I just can't get the yoghurt cream right. If you know the secret do share.

Overall a wonderful dinner but comes with a "nice" price.
http://www.eatout.co.za/restaurants/4012/search/johannesburg/seafood-grills-sushi-asian-thai/orient

Hope to go to So Yum (Hyde Park) soon to compare their Dim Sum to the Orient, all I need is a Dim Sum enthusiast to join me.

4 comments:

  1. Nice Blog on Orient :)
    I had dinner at So Yum on Sunday evening, and was very impressed with the food.
    The Bang Bang Duck was great, but my favorite was the Crab and Cream Cheese dumplings (to die for).
    We also had the Meringue desert, which was excellent.

    Would love to see your review ;)

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  2. Now that you mention it the crab anad cream cheese dumpling may be similar to the Chi Chee Gao we had. Please describe what it tasted like Leanne

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  3. Kong, cedar square is also goo, love the spicy lamb dim sum, Hong Kong pears, absolutely delicious, and of course the prawn and celery dim sum. That dipping sauce with the chilli is simply divine! love love love it!

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