We arrived around 6:30pm for an early
seating so we get both day and night views of the city. The floor was divided
into private dining rooms, a bar area and the main dining room with a
bonsai-style tree in the middle. Despite the natural light Papa Chan kept
asking if they were going to switch the lights on – fair enough it was a groggy
day. Turns out they dim the lights even further as night falls.
Thinly
cut pork belly with cucumber slices
marinated in chilli and garlic sauce
The cooled belly slices were crunchy
and greaseless, its cleanness amplified by the crisp cool cucumber. The essence
of the dish is the chilli and garlic sauce on the side; extremely garlicky and
pungent at first, then the heat and spiciness slowly creeps in to take over but
disappears before it becomes a tastebud-numbing overkill. It was perfectly
measured.
Dim
Sum Platter: Rose Champagne dumpling, scallop and pumpkin
dumpling, crystal crab meat dumpling & mushroom and vegetables dumpling (2
each)
These sound much more exciting on
paper. Pretty regular stuff - the prawns were full of bounce and crunch; scallops
were sweet and tender; crab was the best of the lot with the soft shredded
meat. The shells, however, were too sticky and moist – could have been better. Red
Farm in New York would have blown these out of the water. Easy.
Roasted
Peking Duck served in 2 stages
Chef skilfully carved the thin, crispy skin from the whole roasted duck at the table, with just a modest layer of duck fat attached to the skin to give it the nutty fragrance. There were also a few meaty slices to beef up the pancakes, which were brilliant.
The remainder of the duck was diced and
stir-fried with some onions and peppers, served with lettuce leaves. Quite a
simple dish but very well done with just enough crunch and gamey flavours.
Aromatic
beef rib braised in lotus leaf
This was a massive dish, not the prettiest I know, but the rib initially arrived wrapped in lotus leaves. Then our server effortlessly tore the meat
off the bone at the table, with the sauce served on the side.
The meat was exceptionally tender, but
it was lacking the beefy flavours we usually get from slow-cook cuts. Not sure where the juices leaked to, or the
lotus leaves aroma… The sauce resembled a thin peppercorn and mushroom sauce and
clung nicely onto the meat. Good effort.
Golden
jade tofu pan-fried tofu with leek and coriander sauce
It’s possibly the sloppiest dish of
the evening – one could tell from the blasé bunch of coriander garnish. The
pan-fried tofu soaked up the viscous sauce, which was oozing out of the puffy
shell as I bit into it. The tofu itself was okay, not the silky, fragile
Japanese ones, but better than the cheap, firm, porous blocks. It was alright.
Seafood
fried rice with dried salty fish and ginger
This was excellent. Not only were the basics
(rice, moisture, grease, ratios etc.) spot-on, the salty fish gave it the
authenticity stamp; its distinctive pungent aroma brought back great childhood
memories. It’s probably marmite material, as westerners may find salty fish a
tad offensive on the nose.
Hutong
Dan Dan Noodle with minced pork and peanut sauce in chilli
soup
Similarly I was very impressed by the
dan dan noodle (aka Tantanmen for those who have been following the ramen trend).
The thick broth was a concentration of peanut and sesame essence, with an
undertone of chilli heat that gradually builds up. Noodles were silky and
al-dente – great slurp. At £10 a pop (priced per person portion), it’s extortionate
by any standard. That said I thought it was well worth a try.
Pan-fried
Red bean Paste Pancake & Mango Pancake Roll
The desserts were weak, not to mention
miniscule. The pancake itself was thin, unfortunately the red bean paste layer
was even thinner, as if the kitchen had ran out of paste and made do with whatever
they could scrap from the side of the tin. But it was not as pathetic as the
mango pancake roll. I wasn’t expecting the HK-style cream-filled pancakes packed
with generous cubes of sweet, juicy Pilipino mangoes, but this was taking the
piss - a bland sheet with four tiny dices of tasteless Australian mangoes
hidden in the folds, by tiny I mean 0.5cm x 0.5cm x 0.5cm. I know because the
roll fell apart instantly to reveal the (lack of) filling. At £6.50 surely your
fat margin could afford you to do better.
I did mention it to our server; she
apologised and said would reflect it to the manager. That was that.
Most would agree that we were paying
for the view and location. The food was good, not mind-blowing, and sorely
overpriced as expected. Similar to my opinion on most fine-dining Chinese
restaurants, there is something forced about ‘posh-ifying’ Chinese cuisine. Hutong
has done it better than most; at least the traditional dishes were done well.
Out of the Hutong, Oblix and Aqua, I
would say Hutong is best value for money & quality for dining at the Shard.
Aqua is great for a drink but my lunch there was mediocre and quite small;
Oblix is ridiculously priced with limited tables with a good view. Oh and the
toilets at Hutong were breath-taking.
Level 33
The Shard
31 St. Thomas Street
London
SE1 9RY
Tel: 0203 011 1257

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The blog and its picture are mouth watering. The Hungton is a lovely place for dinner in London. I have visited it with my family after nyc to acadia national park tour. We reached there at 8 o clock. The atmosphere, services and the tastes of all foods were amazing and delicious. We ordered for Vegetarian Spring Rolls, Roasted Pecking Duck, Grouper Fillet with Black Bean Sauce, Wunan Style Cod Fillet and Ma Fo Toffu. We had a great time there. I would love to visit it again during my next visit.
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