Master Hung BBQ 油雞洪
Master Hung is rather famous in the Chinese community for its delectable Chinese BBQ dishes. I've heard good things about the restaurant from several family friends, so I happily seconded Sab's suggestion to dine here last night. Luckily she had made a reservation several days before, because the place was packed full and all walk-in customers were turned away. The best deal on the menu was the set combo with a choice of 2 to 10 dishes and complimentary soup and dessert:
- combo for two ($23.80)
- combo for three ($35.80)
- combo for four ($47.20)
- combo for five ($59.00)
- combo for six ($70.80)
- combo for seven ($82.60)
- combo for eight ($94.40)
- combo for nine ($106.20)
- combo for ten ($118.00)
We decided to get the combo for four ($47.20) since 4 dishes would be more than enough for the 5 of us. The soup of the day was a clear broth of lotus roots that was very soothing to the throat. And best of all... it was bottomless! We only refilled it once though; we didn't want to get full on soup before the main courses arrived.
Sab had called in ahead of time and pre-ordered a strip of BBQ roast pork. Since I also wanted to try the BBQ duck, we got the BBQ roast pork and duck combo (燒肉燒鴨拼盤) as one of our dishes. Note that BBQ roast pork is not the same as BBQ pork (cha siu). Roast pork comes from a whole pig that is first roasted before it's chopped into pieces, while BBQ pork is a cut of pork roasted by itself. Roast pork should have a thin and crispy layer of skin followed by equal portions of juicy fat and tender lean meat. Unfortunately the strip we got was more fat than anything, and the meat rub was a bit too salty for my liking. I much preferred the succulent pink-tinged duck meat, which was particularly enjoyable with the sweet and sour sauce on the side.
I was a bit surprised that rice was not included as part of the combo. We had to pay $4 for this bucket of steamed white rice. I should also mention that the next 3 dishes took a long time to arrive, so we had to wait for quite a while after polishing off the BBQ meat.
Our veggie dish was pea shoots in soup (上湯浸豆苗) (+$3). I rarely get to eat pea shoots at home, so I always enjoy having them when I eat out. I appreciated the simplicity of refreshing greens in a light broth.
The cod fillet and tofu hot pot (斑腩豆腐煲) (+$2) was a lot better than the one at Hoy's. The cod was soft and tender with a lightly battered skin, but my favourite part was the well-marinated tofu that had absorbed all the flavour of the dish.
The "steamed three kinds of egg" (三色蒸滑蛋) was unexpectedly the highlight of the meal. I ordered it as the last dish of our 4-course combo since we had already decided on a meat dish, a veggie dish, and a fish/tofu dish. I didn't think it would be that great and I was actually a bit hesitant to get it at first because I thought it could easily be reproduced at home. But the texture of the steamed egg was unbelievably smooth, and the chunks of salty duck egg and preserved egg inside were incredibly savoury and flavourful.
I was really glad that the complimentary sweet soup was green bean and not red bean. Green bean sweet soup is one of my favourite Chinese desserts! There's nothing like a warm and satisfying bowl of nectar to round out a meal.
Overall the food was above average and I was quite happy with the experience. Master Hung is undeniably one of the better Chinese restaurants in Richmond, but I don't think the meal was worth the price we paid with all the extra costs. As I always say, there are many other food options in town that are better value, so it'll be a while before I come back again.
- combo for two ($23.80)
- combo for three ($35.80)
- combo for four ($47.20)
- combo for five ($59.00)
- combo for six ($70.80)
- combo for seven ($82.60)
- combo for eight ($94.40)
- combo for nine ($106.20)
- combo for ten ($118.00)
We decided to get the combo for four ($47.20) since 4 dishes would be more than enough for the 5 of us. The soup of the day was a clear broth of lotus roots that was very soothing to the throat. And best of all... it was bottomless! We only refilled it once though; we didn't want to get full on soup before the main courses arrived.
Sab had called in ahead of time and pre-ordered a strip of BBQ roast pork. Since I also wanted to try the BBQ duck, we got the BBQ roast pork and duck combo (燒肉燒鴨拼盤) as one of our dishes. Note that BBQ roast pork is not the same as BBQ pork (cha siu). Roast pork comes from a whole pig that is first roasted before it's chopped into pieces, while BBQ pork is a cut of pork roasted by itself. Roast pork should have a thin and crispy layer of skin followed by equal portions of juicy fat and tender lean meat. Unfortunately the strip we got was more fat than anything, and the meat rub was a bit too salty for my liking. I much preferred the succulent pink-tinged duck meat, which was particularly enjoyable with the sweet and sour sauce on the side.
I was a bit surprised that rice was not included as part of the combo. We had to pay $4 for this bucket of steamed white rice. I should also mention that the next 3 dishes took a long time to arrive, so we had to wait for quite a while after polishing off the BBQ meat.
Our veggie dish was pea shoots in soup (上湯浸豆苗) (+$3). I rarely get to eat pea shoots at home, so I always enjoy having them when I eat out. I appreciated the simplicity of refreshing greens in a light broth.
The cod fillet and tofu hot pot (斑腩豆腐煲) (+$2) was a lot better than the one at Hoy's. The cod was soft and tender with a lightly battered skin, but my favourite part was the well-marinated tofu that had absorbed all the flavour of the dish.
The "steamed three kinds of egg" (三色蒸滑蛋) was unexpectedly the highlight of the meal. I ordered it as the last dish of our 4-course combo since we had already decided on a meat dish, a veggie dish, and a fish/tofu dish. I didn't think it would be that great and I was actually a bit hesitant to get it at first because I thought it could easily be reproduced at home. But the texture of the steamed egg was unbelievably smooth, and the chunks of salty duck egg and preserved egg inside were incredibly savoury and flavourful.
I was really glad that the complimentary sweet soup was green bean and not red bean. Green bean sweet soup is one of my favourite Chinese desserts! There's nothing like a warm and satisfying bowl of nectar to round out a meal.
Overall the food was above average and I was quite happy with the experience. Master Hung is undeniably one of the better Chinese restaurants in Richmond, but I don't think the meal was worth the price we paid with all the extra costs. As I always say, there are many other food options in town that are better value, so it'll be a while before I come back again.
wow! Look at all that delicacy! I'm getting so hungry right now just reading your blog and seeing your pictures! haha.. and yeah, for some reason, steamed eggs at restaurants just seem impossibly flawless!
ReplyDelete@sweetsamsations: I know! Steamed egg at home always has some air bubbles inside. It's never flawlessly smooth like this one. I want to know the secret to making perfect steamed egg!
ReplyDelete