With its extensive menu offering Chaozhou-style cuisine and Cantonese dim sum, Chao Pin Chi (潮品集) at San Want Hotel is a place for serious foodies to enjoy Chinese banquet meals in a sophisticated setting.
Originating in China’s Guangdong Province, Chaozhou cuisine is renowned for its seafood dishes, meticulous preparation and emphasis on flavors that are light and fresh. Under the adept hand of Hong Kong native and head chef He Ping-mu (何炳木), Chao Pin Chi is well known for its line of traditional Chaozhou specialties.
One of Chao Pin Chi’s signature dishes is its marinated goose slices (滷水鵝肉片, NT$420). Unlike Taiwanese marinated dishes, which tend to be strongly flavored, the goose has only a hint of seasoning and comes with a small plate of vinegar to ameliorate the gamey tang.
Seasoned gastronomes come for Chao Pin Chi’s marinated goose feet, wings, liver, gizzard, intestine and congealed blood, which can be selected to make a combination platter.
Preserved Chinese kale, or “cabbage” as it’s called on the restaurant’s menu, is another signature element used to add aroma to various Chaozhou dishes, as in the stir-fried green beans with preserved cabbage and minced pork (欖菜四季豆, NT$420), which on a recent visit were too oily.
Though offensive to marine conservationists and animal rights activists, shark’s fin soup is the restaurant’s most popular specialty and shows just how deep diners’ pockets are. Braised, boiled or stir-fired with shark’s belly, chicken or crab meat, the politically incorrect delicacy can fetch up to NT$2,980 per bowl. Other burn-a-hole-in-your-pocket options include braised abalone and shark’s belly with oyster sauce (花膠鮮禾鮑, NT$1,980 per person) and double-boiled bird’s nest soup with crab meat (蟹肉燉官燕, NT$1,800 per person).
A wide selection of dim sum tidbits can be found on the more wallet-friendly side of the menu. Chaozhou style steamed dumpling (潮州蒸粉粿, NT$98) contains peanuts, minced pork, chives and dried shrimp wrapped in glutinous rice and served with a small plate of chili oil.
Must-tries include the steamed shrimp rice roll (蝦仁蒸粉腸, NT$108) and steamed prawn and spinach dumpling (鮮蝦菠菜餃, NT$108).
Other non-shrimp morsels are equally above par. Among the dozen dim sum dishes my dining partners and I have tried, the only disappointment was the sauteed rice roll with XO chili sauce (XO醬煎腸粉, NT$138), which was filling but boring.
Chao Pin Chi can comfortably accommodate 200 or so diners. Food is served at a surprisingly swift pace, and every few minutes, staff members return to take away empty plates and refill teacups. The only problem with the efficient service is that diners who take longer than five minutes to peruse the menu may feel pressured to order.
The restaurant has lunch sets that cost NT$980 to NT$1,280 per person, while dinner set menus are NT$1,780 to NT$3,980. Premium meals feature fancy dishes such as shark’s fin soup and bird’s nest soup. Chao Pin Chi is also currently offering an all-you-can-eat dim-sum menu with some 40 dishes to choose from (NT$599 for lunch on weekdays, NT$699 for dinner and on weekends). Reservations are required this promotion, which runs through Oct. 31.
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