I had a business dinner at the summer palace 夏宮 at shangri-la hotel tonight.. and pardon my ignorance.. I had no idea that it's a michelin star restaurant.. not that I care about the michelin ratings for chinese restaurants... is the fact that it's been rated as 2 stars made me pay more attention to the quality of food and services they got to offer.
Actually other than mandarin oriental I would say I visited the shangri-la hotel most often.. either for business luncheons.. for conferences... for coffee breaks. But I normally spent most of my time at Nadaman, and have only been to the summer palace for just a few times.
We were being placed in a small function room with a handful of people. A waitress was assigned to our dinner table. I was impressed by her swift and mechanical movement.. it seemed like she has been trained for doing the exact same thing for thousands times. With no mistakes, pouring tea and drinks at the same angles, placing plates in the exact order.
What we had for the night:
Barbecue pork and suckling pig
Winter-melon soup - this is my favorite item throughout the night, and it was just "lovely". the soup base was clear and light to taste, the ingredients are placed in tiers and filled up more than half of the bowl, including bamboo fungus, duck meat, winter melon, etc..
Scallops with spring onions - scallops are pan-fried to perfection.
Fillet of grouper with broccoli - big pieces of grouper fillets, floured and deep fried with a crystal sauce.
Mushroom and cabbage - to my surprise, mushrooms were crunchy in texture.
Crispy chicken - skin was thin and crispy. chicken was lean and tasty... I was really full at this point of the dinner...
Egg white fried rice - I actually like the fried rice a lot.. but I was too full to finish the whole thing.
Sago cream with mango juice and pomelo - I like they mixed in pieces of pomelo into the sago cream to add another layer of texture.
When you visit a western restaurant which has earned the prestigious michelin stars, you would look for innovation and surprise for your palette, something different about the chef's execution that make it worthwhile to wait for months and pay the big bucks. I don't really know if the chinese restaurants are that much defined by chef (considering chinese chefs tend to be very mobile), and not especially innovative with flavors. So... is summer palace michelin star worthy? I really doubted it, other than it is situated in a hotel and offers above average service, I can easily name multiple places that churn out the same quality of food with a lower price tag.
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