Dimsum in a Szechuan restaurant? Don’t doubt it, San Xi Lou is good for dimsum too.
Very rarely you get good Szechuan outside of China. They have either been adapted for local palates or they just don’t get the same ingredients as Sichuan.
San Xi Lou managed to retain the original fiery tastes of Szechuan cuisine and at the same time, improved the cuisine with local produce. Like this Mixed seafood casserole 雞油花雕蝦兵蟹將 – they used chicken fats to cook the clams, prawns and crab that came from the ports of Hong Kong. This would not be possible in an inland region like Sichuan.
We ordered a couple of Szechuan appetisers like 蒜泥白肉 Cold Sliced Pork with Mashed Garlic and 夫妻肺片 Marinated Ox’s Tripe with Chilli Sauce, both were outstanding and reminded me of Chengdu.
Enough said about their Sichuan food. Their dimsum was equally excellent. The pig liver siumai was even better than Lin Heung by the introduction of Huadiao, a very fragrant yellow wine from China. While they offer a better variety than Lin Heung, sometimes the liver (and other ingredients) may be overcooked. However the dimsum selection compensated for the occasional mistake. Their cheong fun, especially their rice rolls with fritters 炸兩, and even their fried and baked stuff were quite delicious. And because of their Szechuan roots, you can also get Sichuan dimsum one the menu, like Sichuan Dumplings 抄手. I would count this as one of my favourite dimsum places in Hong Kong.
Because of the awkward location, the place was popular only with locals who would travel the distance for the food. Not anymore, the advent of Dianping meant that more and more knew about this place, so please reserve before you come.
They have a branch in Times Square CWB, even more crowded during peak hours than Coda Plaza, but the location is better and food, in my opinion, about the same.
San Xi Lou 三希樓
Coda Plaza, 7/F, 51 Garden Rd, Central, Hong Kong
Tel : +852 2838 8811
https://topstandard.com.hk/en/13-english/sxl/69-2013-08-12-09-59-18
Date Visited : Dec 2013
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