Island Tang
China Club: the sequel
We usually like to give newcomers a couple of ‘courtesy’ weeks after opening before reviewing them, while they get their food and service sorted. But when we got word that Island Tang, the newest concoction conceptualised by flamboyant tycoon David Tang, financed by Media Asia boss Peter Lam, had quietly opened in Central, we pounced: the ratio of restaurant seats to businessmen is so alarmingly low we felt compelled to tell our readers asap (ask any banker who works in Central and they will vouched that lunch is musical chairs between Zuma, Robuchon, Mandarin Grill and the China Club).
Located on the second floor of 9 Queen's Road Central, the unassuming façade is a retro wooden door with glass panels that features a tiny cartoon character of a chef – an easy blink-and-miss. We entered bearing high expectations for Sir David, the brains behind China Club and China Tang in London, and a glance at the spacious, airy dining room immediately impressed. With antique chandeliers and ceiling fans spinning lazily above, rich wood panels with mirrors, Island Tang is a much subtler cousin of China Club. Whereas the former is reminiscent of a Shanghainese club lounge, Island Tang oozes nostalgia for Hong Kong in the 1940s.
Settling down at one of the bright yellow bench seats, we noticed the details – antique condiments tray, chopsticks made with bone, silver teapots. The menu is ambitious to say the least – extensive dim sum, shark's fin, seven bird’s nest items, a range of comfort foods including congee, and even Peking duck. We had even higher expectations of the food, prepared by the former chef of Island Shangri-la. Cantonese food may be the main fare of Hong Kong – certainly the most varied and colourful of Chinese cuisine – but it's always been one of the trickiest cuisines to master. And few restaurants do everything well.
We wanted to sample the full range of Island Tang's offerings so we settled on the Executive Lunch for two and rounded it out with classical dim sum. First up were staples Char Siu Bao, Har Gow (shrimp dumplings), Spring Rolls with Prawns, and Fun Gor (vegetable dumplings). While the shrimps in the Har Gow and the Spring Rolls were on the small side, the taste of the dumpling was delicate enough with a thin but chewy skin. The Cheung Fun (rice flour rolls with minced beef) had a kick from the chives. The wrap could be more luminous, but the thin texture without breakage scored points. So far, so decent. Even the Char Siu Bao, served in pairs instead of the customary triples, had a sublime filling with soft, fresh pork instead of the usual dried, left-over stuff.
We continued with the executive lunch, which proves to be one of the best value fine dining sets in Central. Its $398 price tag buys you a dim sum selection, a bowl of shark's fin with shredded chicken, a choice of three stir-fried dishes from an extended menu, rice wrapped in lotus leaf and dessert of almond soup with egg white.
While we wish we could spring for the ultra-decadent Hai Fu shark's fin in brown sauce for $688, the bowl of shark’s fin we had was excellent. The rich brown soup was savoury, flavourful from the generous use of superior stock and easy to swallow (no liberal use of corn starch as a thickener like the cheats). There was just a small amount of shark’s fins swimming in the soup but they were of the thick needle-like quality. The use of fine cognac in the soup left a pleasant aftertaste, so that we skipped the usual accompanying vinegar.
With our stomachs half full, we went on to try three home-style dishes as our main. The stir-fried beef with black pepper sauce had a nice kick, and the meat, although not the premium rib-eye cube steak used in some fine restaurants, was tender. The scallops with bitter gourd was large and succulent, and my personal homemade favourite, minced pork with preserved turnip in egg batter, was shaped and sliced like a pizza for easy sharing. The fluffy texture reminded us of the Korean pancake Pajeon, while the crunchy turnip was diced into tiny pieces. The rice wrapped in lotus leaf was probably the most lacklustre, the rice lacking the fragrant aroma and steamed with little stuffing. And while we are at it, the Shao Mei tea was also too weak, even when we poured after infusing for 10 minutes.
The service seems attentive enough for a new eatery. Waiters kept their eyes on the customers and walked swiftly and quietly. Response time was quick, less than 20 seconds, although the dining room was only half full at the time.
We will need to review the more complicated classic offerings like Buddha Jump Over the Wall, the steamed garoupa and the crispy skin fried chicken to offer Island Tang a final verdict. But for lunch, the restaurant’s solid quality and luxurious décor will no doubt pack crowds once word gets around.
Shop 222, The Galleria, 9 Queen’s Rd, Central, Central, 2526 8798. Daily Noon-10.30pm.
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Dear Timeout, I am incredibly disappointed when I read this article. While your literary skills are excellent and almost faultless in this article, I cringed when I read the author describing his experience with the sharks' fin soup. In this day and age when this delicate species are so critically endangered, it is baffling, distasteful and incredibly offensive to write a review on sharks' fins. Sharks keep the fragile marine eco-system in control and they are so important to our dependence on the oceans for fish. Shark-finning is also very inhumane; do I need to remind you how these animals are caught - their fins sliced off and the bodies dumped back into the sea? Shame on you, Timeout. You are an international magazine, one with a good standing and loyal fan base. After reading this article, I cannot help but throw out my Timeout magazines in disgust. While I still have a tiny shred of hope and faith in this magazine, the ball is now in your court and I sincerely hope you will rectify this grievous mistake before more people realize that all Timeout care about are profits and indulgence, with not a care about our precious earth. Regards, Denvy
I can only concur with Denvy Lo's horror at what one can only assume is either Time Out's 1) lack of ethics or 2) pure ignorance over shark finning. Time Out is generally well regarded as a food critic, however I would have expected the magazine to have done its research a little more thoroughly before allowing such an article to go to print. Global shark populations are in significant decline with 20% of these and related species threatened with extinction - a trend which is driven very signficantly by the demand for shark fins from Asia . As preadators at the top of the food chain, sharks are fundamental to maintaining the balance within marine ecosystems. Thus the decline of these species has far reaching effects on ecosystem dynamics, leading to overpopulation of some marine species while others decline dramatically. These effects as they cascade throught the marine ecosytem not surprisingly have devastating effects on human populations globally which depend on the marine environment for protein. I am utterly baffled how Time Out can write with such enthusiasm about a product that has such dire global implications.
It is sad to see the review in TimeOut but heartening to see the response of the readers. There is nothing wrong with eating shark if the practice were sustainable, which is not. As explained by the previous two readers, shark populations are declining at alarming rates worldwide due to excessive exploitation. Sharks are top predators that help to maintain the balance of marine ecosystems. Their removal will have serious consequences for these ecosystems and ultimately for us. There are a number of shark species already designated as endangered and more species are added every year to this list. Shark consumption must be halted until there is a management plan and these species are fished in a sustainable and non-wasteful manner. WWF encourages TimeOut to engage their readers in sustainable dining which does not only apply to sharks but many other popular species like prawns, bluefin tuna, humphead wrasse, species that are either poorly or not managed, or that are caught by destructive methods such as trawling which is leading to their disappearance from our oceans. Social and environmental responsibility are now important parts of any corporate strategy and need to be incorporated, particularly in those organizations, like your magazine, that have the capacity to influence people’s attitudes and behaviours. WWF has two initiatives (Shark Fin and Seafood Choice) where the aim is to educate consumers about making sustainable choices when dining out or eating at home.(http://www.wwf.org.hk/eng/conservation/seafood/sharkfin/, http://www.wwf.org.hk/eng/conservation/seafood/)
Sharks are dangerous to humans, and not the cuddly creatures these commentators seem to think. I like shark fin soup and have it as often as possible. Non-Chinese eaters (who are probably vegans from Lamma) have no right to complain about a traditional Chinese favourite dish!
I feel sad about Matt Chan's comments. First of all, sharks are graceful animals and should be respected. As I understood from many documentary programs, sharks don't initiate attack to humans under normal circumstances but might be if they are stirred. I am a diver and have seen sharks underwater quite a few times. They were friendly indeed. I think Sophie le Clue and G. Moreno have explained the situation and the consequences quite clearly. One shouldn't put his personal liking over social responsibility. Besides, shark fins are quite tasteless, it's really the other ingredients that make the soup tasty. They have very little nutritional value and may even be harmful to health over the long time as they have been found to contain high levels of mercury. I sincerely hope the HK government will do something in this respect.
Matt - It has nothing to do with niceness or cuddliness. It has to do with basic environmental protection. Do we only protect plants that look nice on the living room table? Do we stop protecting tigers because they're not as cuddly as house cats? So, because I don't personally like hanging out around glaciers, I shouldn't care about global warming? Sorry -- but your comment is idiotic. Chinese eat shark's fin only because of face -- if is were cheap and easily available, it would lose all of its clout. Kitty's right. It's just soft bone. It has no taste. It's just an old Chinese superstition that it's somehow great. By the way, I'm definitely Chinese and I definitely eat meat. How stupid to say that anyone who criticizes "traditional Chinese" anything has to be some clueless "non-Chinese".
Matt - It has nothing to do with niceness or cuddliness. It has to do with basic environmental protection. Do we only protect plants that look nice on the living room table? Do we stop protecting tigers because they're not as cuddly as house cats? So, because I don't personally like hanging out around glaciers, I shouldn't care about global warming? Sorry -- but your comment is idiotic. Chinese eat shark's fin only because of face -- if is were cheap and easily available, it would lose all of its clout. Kitty's right. It's just soft bone. It has no taste. It's just an old Chinese superstition that it's somehow great. By the way, I'm definitely Chinese and I definitely eat meat. How stupid to say that anyone who criticizes "traditional Chinese" anything has to be some clueless "non-Chinese".
I'd like to hear the reply comments of Time Out's Leslie Chan or management on this, especially as it was their decision to allow this dish to be part of the review in the first place. Will we get your reply?
I'd like to hear the reply comments of Time Out's Leslie Chan or management on this, especially as it was their decision to allow this dish to be part of the review in the first place. Will we get your reply?
I'd like to hear the reply comments of Time Out's Leslie Chan or management on this, especially as it was their decision to allow this dish to be part of the review in the first place. Will we get your reply?
I second all comments against shark-fin eating. As for Mr Matt Chan, judging by his comments he obviously has no interest in reading, thereby educating himself and his family around him, other people's views and knowledge about the issues at hand; translating 'keeping eco-system in balance' as 'cuddly'. We should all aim not just to feed one's stomach, but one's mind too. Time Out - here's an opportunity to acknowledge the issue, and maybe do a balanced article near the run up to the festivities?
Sharks are endangered species and are killed inhumanely. Yes. Something should be done about this and the public should be more aware of this issue. Yes. But please discuss this in like the National Geographic website or something. This discussion is analogous to let's say reading an article on the new Blackberry Javelin and subequently criticising the author because he does not acknowledge the fact that the machines that assemble the Blackberries were produced by factories in China that use child labour.
I could not agree with Komz more!
I could not agree with Komz more!
No disrespect to Komz, but this is the perfect place to comment/discuss this issue. The whole idea is to encourage people to think about what they are eating... where better than on a food review site? I, for one, can leave the sharkfin alone.
We arrvived at island tang promptly at 7:45 to find the place pleasantly fulll but not over crowded. The decor and atmosphere similiar to its sister restaurant, the acoustics perfect allowing for conversation with ease and without the need for hushed voices. By far the highligh was when we flipped through the menu to arrive at the dimsum section ordering a vast array of bbq pork buns, crab and egg white dumplings to name a few all of which were mouth wateringly sumptious. Dim Sum in the evening now why hasnt anyone else thought of this! A lovely meal in a relaxed environment, attentive waiters do make you feel slightly uncomfortable whilst there audio levels were extremley low. However dismissing this Island Tang is blend of traditional chinese food and colonial decor with modern and exceptional standards of service.
Sharks are delicious animals. No one complains about the pigs in the char siu and the pork buns. Or the cows or chickens or fish or shrimps. So shut up about sharks already. Or I eat your dog.
I cannot understand some of the comments posted above. If you are a vegetarian, be responsible and only read the reviews on vegetarian restaurant - nobody forces you to eat meat but at the same time you don't have jurisdiction over meat-lovers. Similarly, if you are an shark lover, i presume you should ignore the reviews for restaurants which serve shark-fin, instead of saying 'oh, we are right and you are wrong'. This is non-sense.
If traditions are so important to Chinese, why do we not wear our hair in a queue, beat our wives, and bind our daughters' feet to make them more attractive? If we could drop those 'traditions', why can't we stop eating sharks fins? 'Tradition' is used by those who are too dull or stupid to change their behaviour to suit the times and circumstances they find themselves in.
I completely agree with John Koh. It's high time to show that people in HK actually have a conscience about protecting our wildlife.
Irresponbile reporting. Extremely irresponsible food choice. Shame!
I share the strong anti-shark fin sentiments already expressed here. Shark fin is toxic due to incredibly high levels of mercury. It is harvested in an extremely cruel manner and it is rapidly wiping out worldwide populations of our oceans essential apex predators. Hiding behind "tradition" as an excuse is extremely dissapointing. Shame on Time Out HK.
I am totally against the finning of Sharks and serving of shark fin soup. It is cruel and inhumane and a total waste to kill a shark for it's fins. Shark population is on sharp decline, and something needs to be done! I hope that as people become aware of the cruelty involved that more will NOT eat at any of the restaurants who serve this soup. What a tragedy for these poor sharks.
I find it amazing in the 21st century that a)an international magazine of Time Out's standing would publish an article advocating Sharks Fin in such a way, and b) that there are still people out there that think the tired 'cultural' excuse or the comparisons to eating dog or pig are even a close comparison to the reality of the situation. I stand amazed, yet again, at the ignorance of so called intelligent people.
plus no nutritional value but lots of profit in Sharks fin. There should be more shame on the people eating it as in a few years time ownly the very rich will be able to afford it when the oceans have no Sharks left. The shark is not a the same as a cow or a pig.... they are not farmed and not bread to consume. They also are not the man hunters of myth.
Obviously, the pro shark fin soup advocates don't know what they're talking about. They are the essence of arrogance. They sure as hell don't understand the connection between our ecosystems of both ocean and land, and the life each supports.
Chinese, English, Norvegian or South American cannot claim ignorance anymore, especially if they have a computer. Everyone can educate himself on the consequences of killing sharks for their fins and the damage it does to our planet inhabitants ...(all of them!!!)and future generations. Shame on Time Out globally !!!
Those who defend shark fin soup as traditional, therefore O.K. to eat in today's world need to rremember that for some cultures eating thewarriors you defeated was a tradition at one time, so was killing female infants. We know better today; people who cannot live with today's knowledge and ethics are barbarians -- simply put.
Well, another restaurant to avoid. The activity of shark-finning is so wasteful, it would be like breeding cattle just for their ears! On a planet where food resources are becoming an issue shark fin soup has no place.
The owners of this restaurant should be aware of these comments and educate themselves by watching the movie Sharkwater. This film explains why this practice of fining is so harmful to our ecosystem and quite frankly, to all of our existence. This practice is horrible and for what? So someone can have a bowl of soup? The mercury content in the shark fin is so high it is actually harmful to the consumer! Please educate yourself and others on this topic and stop consuming this marine animal!
I cant't believe you are talking about eating endangered species?
...really that the Chinese are getting very very rich. A Chinese friend of mine asked me 'how is this different than you eating foie gras', fair enough, I understand the comparison...but farmed ducks are not apex predators in the wild. Meanwhile, sheer numbers of Chinese getting wealthy suggests the problem will spiral out of control quickly. Kind of surprised Time Out's editors didn't pick up on this review w/ Shark's fin soup, but then again, its so common in HK. I was there recently, had a hell of a time finding a hotel that didn't serve it (bagged the Four Seasons and stayed at the new W instead, best I could tell it was SFS free).
Interesting that TimeOut have not responded...
ok i actually find this kind of funny. all this uproar is like Vogue readers saying shame on Vogue worldwide for featuring fur in their latest fall/winter issue, advocating animal cruelty! or shame on Vogue featuring featuring hand beaded in india fashion, which are most probably done at home by children in remote villages. why don't you boycott the restaurants themselves? or get the HK gov't to ban serving of sharks fin in HK? Timeout is just reporting what is served in restaurants and usually order what the restaurant deem as their signature dishes. btw, did you notice the writer only commented on the soup base's taste? i didn't see any mention on how wonderful the shark's fin tastes, how it is cooked just right so the texture bounces off your teeth, or how after having the shark's fin, feel immediate benefits on the skin and libido. now that kind of writing would be promoting shark's fin eating! i wonder if the michelin inspectors had any shark's fin soup...
You can fight about this topic all you want...but what you can't fight about is that sharks are endangered, and in the past 30 years most species have seen up to a 90% decline in population. This is statistics - you can't argue with that. Stop Shark Finning Now!
Stop shark finning now and shame on anyone who is stupid enough to support it or greedy enough to profit from it!!!
With much respect to the environment, environment-lovers, shark lovers or shark-fin loathers, I think you're all missing the point: the article is not promoting shark finning, the article is a FOOD review, and unfortunately, shark's fin is a source of food, whether you like it or not. Any magazine or publication with a column dedicated to food will, believe it or not, comment on food, and the essence of enjoying food. I suppose that's how we all learn about new foods, customs and understand new cultures. Food reviews are, I'll bet, where the majority of people in HK will go to before finding their next destination to eat. Excuse the sarcasm, but I really think the discussions on this page have been rather off topic. Mr Lo, your chest-beating rant about how you couldn't help but "throw out [your] Timeout magazines in disgust" after reading an article you have wrongly perceived to be an attack on your personal morals, only goes to show your ignorance and downright unwillingness to embrace new knowledge. It's also rather self-absorbed.
i find everything i read equally bewildering.. i was surfing for a review on Island Tang and i must say i like the review pretty much. i had one go at Island Tang 3 weeks back and just want to confirm it's worth recommending. Reading through the review, my eyes rested more on the har-gau, siew mai and thin dumpling skin.. i probably read one line about how the set lunch which includes sharks fin soup is great value for money, even though it's not an a la carte order.. and that the service was attentive enough... Reading Lo's review gave me the first huhhh and the rest were all huhhhhhsss? it's a review about the food in the restaurant, not the sharks fin in the restaurant... And Timeout is simply doing a review of Restaurants and Bars in HK... exactly what they said they'd do..
I'm not against hunting or fishing - they are key to human success. However with age comes responsibility and when a vital species is wasted just for a tasteless soup stock and ego massage it really is pathetically immature. Not that the west has set a good example either but I really had hoped for better than this.
if its not illegal to do it let ppl who want to eat it eat it. There are many arguments for many things no one will win. We shouldnt eat imported food as the carbon footprint is massive, we shouldnt drive and walk everywhere, we shouldnt eat meat, we should all believe in god ...there are millions of thing we shouldnt do. We shouldnt smoke, we shouldnt swear ..im sure we can go on all day. Let them eat all the sharks in the world when there is none left they will stop. Its like them chopping trees down in the amazon so lets all not use toilet paper infact dont use any paper at all. I dont eat shark fin but who cares if sharks are treated cruelly and become extinct, afterall humans are the most cruel animals of all. We will kill other humans for what we think is right or to protect ourselves thats why even this day and age we goto war .....how we justify that?
Oh so it's alright for some to go fox hunting but not fishing for sharks?
honestly, a lot of people in the world owns more fur than a number of people who has actually eaten a shark's fin soup. i didn't find anything wrong with this article because the critic is rating a CHINESE restaurant, its just a JOB and of course the reason to give it's credits is tasting the restaurant's own rendition of it's native dishes and yes specifically shark's fin soup. i just encourage readers not to put too much blame for the near extinction of sharks due to consumptions of it's soup as the fact is that not everyone has actually eaten shark's fin soup, i believe only the chinese consume this on a frequent basis as they believe it has health benefits and the other fact is a bowl of this soup cost a fortune. i believe the critic has been quite sensitive on reviewing this "issue" and didn't really elaborate more on the shark itself, just merely discribed it's consistency and how it ranks among other restaurant. he didn't mention that the fins were scrumptious and sharks are the delicious beings there is. i don't believe the critic was being ignorant while writing this article, he just wrote what he ate and how he thinks of it. Shark extinction is caused by a variety of different issues, like pollution, natural causes (like tsunamis or volcanic eruptions, etc under the sea as it happens quite often nowadays), even fertility issues (i heard that when sharks conceived, the youngs actually eat each other in the womb so only a few are born from what was naturally conceived). Let us ask ourselves this, dolphins and whales are near to extinction too and in a much worse state than sharks but no one actually eats dolphins, so what is actually causing this, might be affecting the sharks and other wildlifes as well. Don't put too much pressure on someone who is just doing their job. Thanks the time for reading.
To the last 2 commenters – maybe it's the fact that the sharks have their appendages cut off and then are left to drown. And I don't think anyone here is condoning fox hunts. Where did you pull that one from? Here's a recent slaughter in the Philippines where a Whale shark was left to drown (still hungry for it?): http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100217-253647/Divers-find-whale-shark-with-fins-tail-sliced-off Is it delicious?
Point taken RF but the real deal here is some commentators are ganging up on the magazine itself because they think this article is "insensitive" and asking for a formal apology or some feedback from the editors or something..this is totally far different from the Chip article incident where he be-littled and discriminated minorities such as Filipinos and discrimination is against the law here but not shark finning of any sort and TIMEOUT wasn't the one who killed all these SHARKS, you can urge TIMEOUT to let readers be aware of the calamity of these situation and simply not judge the critic "insensitive" and "lack of ethics" just basing upon on the review, we may have the right to protect earth and everything around it but we don't have the right to judge people let along critics based on what they say!!...if you wanna get the word out then urge to send a public awareness message..if this is offensive to a majority of you..why isn't this article shut down..and no people stampeding around TIMEOUT's office.. and again RF, the critic didn't say the soup was delicious!!...
Never thought my one comment will prompt so many responses... AR - I am surprised you say that the critic didn't say the soup was delicious. This paragraph is nothing short of saying that he had a delicious bowl of sharks fin soup: "...the bowl of shark’s fin we had was excellent. The rich brown soup was savoury, flavourful from the generous use of superior stock and easy to swallow (no liberal use of corn starch as a thickener like the cheats). There was just a small amount of shark’s fins swimming in the soup but they were of the thick needle-like quality…" As for Judy, Peter Idol, Rachael, Sharen: I would like to point out that I am fully aware that TimeOut's food review is exactly that, a food review. Yes you may argue that it is the writer's job to write about shark's fin soup but in this day and age, one cannot possibly remain ignorant on the implications of eating sharks' fins. Sharks are crucially important to the oceans. As apex predators, they keep the marine ecosystem in order. Wipe out the apex predators in any ecosystem and you will get a huge imbalance of certain populations which can eventually mean a loss of many type of fish. I am a big foodie, big enough to go to the top restaurants in the world to experience great food. But there is a line to be drawn because by continuing to eat sharks' fins, there is a very big chance that twenty years later we will not even have our fish n chips (or steamed Garoupa if that's your cup of tea). By writing about how delicious the sharks’ fin soup was, readers will be encouraged to have a bowl at Island Tang Restaurant. By NOT writing about it, there will be less demand. It’s that simple. It is the customer’s choice to order sharks’ fin or not but to INCLUDE it in a food review is irresponsible. And by the way, I have tried other avenues to boycott sharks’ fin soup – I have sent countless letters to Donald Tsang, writing in to various restaurants and companies to stop selling it, etc. Let’s top it off with some good news: Shark Rescue had reached an understanding with TimeOut that the magazine will no longer publish reviews and articles that endorse the eating of shark and other endangered species. In other words, this is the last article you will ever see in TimeOut with a review on sharks’ fin.
Thank you Denvy for your good work, some efforts should really be made to curb sharks fin eating, as its so widespread that the impact on environment is huge.
Lol, while i agree with aguements all around the fact that you are blasting the writer for eating sharks fin is kind of funny. The arguement is that sharks are endangered. True but if you feel so strongly about it then do something about it rather than just write and say oh its wrong to eat it. more importantly i dare say unless you live a completely sustainable lifestyle you are also guilty of destroying the earth's resources and habitat so look at yourself first rather than criticize other people's lifestyles
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