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2014-08-21
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Legendary Hong Kong is the only F&B tenant within the Mongkok-themed area. It is more like a restaurant per-se, as despite having four different stalls occupying the area, patrons have to queue to get seated and write their orders on forms to place orders. The sprawling 300 seater restaurant also boasts different themes in its different sectors, so patrons could be dining in a setting of a Chinese restaurant in a meal but come back another day to find themselves in a traditional tea room the nex
Legendary Hong Kong is the only F&B tenant within the Mongkok-themed area. It is more like a restaurant per-se, as despite having four different stalls occupying the area, patrons have to queue to get seated and write their orders on forms to place orders. The sprawling 300 seater restaurant also boasts different themes in its different sectors, so patrons could be dining in a setting of a Chinese restaurant in a meal but come back another day to find themselves in a traditional tea room the next visit. Currently Legendary Hong Kong is undergoing its soft launch period, only three out of four of its stalls are open; namely Kou Yu Roast, Lung Fung Dim Sum and Hong Kong Congee & Noodle. While the full menu is also not available, there is already quite a spread ready to be ordered on the temporary ordering chit.
First to arrive the table was the Traditional Glutinous Rice Dumpling with Assorted Meats ($5.50++). For a non Glutinous Rice lover like me, the light tastes were just to my liking as it did not feel to jelak on my first take. It also did not carry the strong peppery flavour that local renditions has. Salted egg and sausage were also added to the glutinous rice apart from the meat, which all contributed their flavour as they get soaked into the Glutinous Rice which made it really tasty.
The Custard Crust Bun ($2.50++) had an option of being served plain, but we ordered ours with butter at an additional cost. Soft and fluffy bun coupled with the milky crust on the top, this was simply something that was simple, but really satisfying.
Steamed Sponge Cake ($4.00++) was also light, soft and fluffy, but it was not sticky enough so it crumbled rather easily. What we loved was the subtle sweetness that it carried, light and aromatic. It also felt significantly less dense and felt barely filling; a good thing since we could get more items to share this way.
Aesthetically, the Deep-Fried Prawn Wantons ($6.80++) looked more Malaysian than Hong Kong because they reminded me of the ones I would get from the Pontian Wanton Mee stall in coffeeshops and hawker centers. Ignoring that fact however, the dumplings were well-filled with a fresh whole prawn, which was succulent and sweet too.
We found the Steam Pork Dumplings ($5.00++) rather run-off-the-mill. Firm pork with prawns in between. Those who prefer to meatier Siew Mai May have a liking for this, though honestly there is not much to comment about this one.
Legendary Hong Kong seems to serve one of the smallest Steamed BBQ Pork Buns ($4.00++) amongst Hong Kong inspires eateries. We were honestly not too impressed by the thickness of its skin, which is made worse when we realized that the filling contained more charsiew sauce instead of meat. We did not mind about the well-balanced sweet and savoury flavour of the sauce, but the bite of fatty meat or even stray pieces of meat was barely there.
In comparison, the Rice Rolls with Fried Shrimp Spring Rolls ($5.50++) won the hearts of everyone on the table. It was a mistake on my part as I was trying to order the Rice Rolls with Prawns & Chives but I got too trigger-happy when I saw the word “prawn” and ordered the wrong item. While the rice roll did not come swimming in soy sauce, it came with an ample amount that was enough to made every piece savoury. Wrapped inside the silky smooth rice rolls were a spring roll with a prawn in them. The light tempura-like batter used for the spring roll and the sweetness of the prawn and its succulent meat just provided a well-matched combination of taste and texture for this dish which all of us just cannot get enough of.
I have a weak spot when it comes to carrot cake in XO sauce, so the Sautéed Turnip Cake with XO Sauce ($5.50++) was a clear winner for me. Each Turnip Cake was slightly charred to invoke a bit of crispness along the edges, which is a sweet-savoury combination with the addition of XO sauce. Even better was the fact it came with beansprouts, which quite evened out the greasiness of dish so it feels cleaner to have.
Wanting to try something different, my dining partner and I also decided to try their London Roast Duck ($14.80++) which we had been tempted by since when we were in the queue. It comes in three sizes, portion (pictured), half and whole. According to one of the wait staff, the portion size is “a little more than a quarter, a little less than a third”, so use that as a gauge if you want to order this. Each slice of duck was succulent and tender, and because it was marinated in honey it was also slightly sweeter than your average roast duck with a bit of smokiness. Accompanying it was a Citron dip, which gives the duck a slight tang which makes it even more addictive. We were so impressed we wished there was more, but we were already were almost full from the other orders that we had.
While there were some hits and some misses with the food, the beverages are undoubtedly bad. Our Hong Kong Style Milk Tea & Coffee Mix ($2.20++) tasted no different from the Hong Kong styled Coffee, which was really diluted that it felt like plain water and having a weird aftertaste of 3-in-1 coffee. Go for the Green Bean or Red Bean Ice when you are there; it definitely looks a lot more promising than what we had.For more photos and the full review, please visit: http://jiaksimipng.wordpress.com/2014/08/03/legendary-hong-kong-jurong-point/
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