Sing Yin Cantonese Dining – W Hong Kong
Monica Tindall
On my way to check into W Hong Kong, the tall entryway to Sing Yin, the hotel’s Cantonese dining restaurant, beckoned, making me eager to return later that evening. Despite being located in a 5-star property, the façade seemed to offer a promise of discovering something new, similar to those back alleys and laneways I’ve had fun exploring on this trip to Hong Kong.
The restaurant’s design fuses traditional Chinese elements and modern aesthetics, creating a stylish and luxurious atmosphere. The expansive dining space has various seating options, including private dining rooms, booths, and tables with panoramic city skyline views. The interior is adorned with intricate Chinese latticework, antique mirrors, and tasteful artwork, creating a sophisticated and refined ambience. Lighting is subtle, with low-hanging chandeliers and warm-coloured lamps casting a soft glow throughout the dining space. The colour scheme is primarily black, white, and gold, creating a sleek and elegant feel.
Sing Yin Cantonese Dining Menu
Sing Yin Cantonese Dining specializes in Cantonese cuisine, known for its delicate flavours, fresh ingredients, and sophisticated cooking techniques. The menu features a wide range of dishes, including dim sum, seafood, roasted meats, and other classic Chinese dishes. Executive Chinese chef, Simon Wong, is well-reputed for using high-quality ingredients, authentic flavours and plating with great attention to detail. Tonight, I’m dining on a set menu, “Chef Simon’s Gastronomic Journey,” which I think is a wise way to discover a restaurant for the first time – leaving the choosing in the hands of the chef.
“Chef Simon’s Gastronomic Journey” with Yoichi Whisky
Not only am I trying Chef Simon’s famed Cantonese cuisine tonight, but I’m also appreciating it with various pairings of Yoichi Whisky. The Japanese label produced by Nikka is a single-malt whisky with a strong smoky presence thanks to the coal-fired distillation process. If you taste it neat, you might also detect some sea saltiness in the profile.
To Begin – Sing Yin Cantonese Dining
Duck breast, tomato, and a bowl of XO chilli sauce (enhanced with dried and shredded seafood) are immediately placed on the table, standard inclusions at Sing Yin Cantonese Dining. They warm up the palate by introducing umami, sweet, smoky, salty and mildly spicy – like nimbling up pre-workout, every tastebud is ready for action.
Iced Smoked Abalone Marinated with Whisky
Iced Smoked Abalone Marinated with Whisky arrives in a dome of dry-ice smoke. Unveiled, a glass bowl holds meaty abalone with a gold leaf and parsley garnish. Underneath is quartered eggplant, cold, soft and smoky. The abalone is surprisingly tender. I must admit to not having had many positive experiences with the sea creature in the past. I’ve always found it to be too chewy and unpalatable. However, Chef Simon has mastered this preparation.
And the cocktail? Osmanthus Wine and Yoichi Whisky Sour is a phenomenal pairing! I’m not usually partial to sweet beverages, but this mix works in delicious harmony with the smoky mollusc. Two thumbs up to the bartender and the chef!
Double-Boiled Conch Soup with Chinese Cabbage
The next dish, Double-Boiled Conch Soup with Chinese Cabbage, is warm and comforting. The fresh almond milk base is smooth containment for the sweet conch, cabbage, and pigeon’s egg. Every spoonful feels nourishing.
Wok-fried Spotted Garoupa Fillet Stuffed with Shrimp Paste & Scallions
Wok-fried Spotted Garoupa Fillet Stuffed with Shrimp Paste and Scallions is surrounded by crispy-fried scallions that bring an additional sweetness to the recipe. Shrimp paste adds bounce to the fish, making the serving feel heartier than your average fish course. But there’s not only fish here; there’s a substantial meaty prawn on the side that ups the protein content. It sits on mashed potato, acting not only as a placeholder but as a delicious companion. Now is the perfect time to pull out the XO chilli sauce, livening the crustacean.
The older I get, the more I appreciate a good highball, and the Yoichi Whisky Highball exemplifies all the reasons I love it. It’s light, refreshing, and cleansing and has no added sweetness.
Fried Japanese Wagyu Beef with Spring Bamboo Shoots
Fried Japanese Wagyu Beef with Spring Bamboo Shoots in XO Chilli Sauce and Whisky is superbly tender and full-flavoured. Contained in a deep-fried nest of anchovies with crisp veg such as red and yellow capsicum and bamboo shoots, there are complex flavours at work here.
Silkie Chicken Fried Rice in Casserole with Whisky
As is Chinese tradition, the rice dish, in this case, Silkie Chicken Fried Rice in Casserole with Whisky, ensures no one leaves hungry. I warn you, don’t Google “silkie chicken” before eating this dish. They are the cutest, quirkiest, fluffiest birds you’ll ever see. They also sport the unusual trait of having black flesh, skin and bones. Those are the darker elements you see in the fried rice. The gentle flavours of this recipe provide another opportunity to add that signature Hong Kong XO sauce.
We’ve enjoyed Yoichi Whisky in cocktails, and this course offers the opportunity to taste it unadulterated on the rocks. The single malt whisky has attractive peaty notes, smokiness and a hint of sea salinity. It’s an excellent mate to the more profound flavours in the rice, and I like it with that XO sauce, too.
Sweets – Sing Yin Cantonese Dining
Sweets are delivered as a trio of different colours and shapes on a white rectangular platter. The Chilled Sago Cream with Pomelo and Pomegranate Juice is my favourite for its bright, refreshing bursts of juiciness. The Purple Sweet Potato Pastry is an incredibly light, flaky and flossy pasty with the sweet root paste in the middle, along with something green and bitter. Is it honeydew melon? Yes! Lastly, Steamed Pumpkin and Lotus Seed Paste and Pine Nuts is the texture of mochi but are only mildly sweet. The pine nuts furnish a light crunch.
Sing Yin Cantonese Dining Price
“Chef Simon’s Gastronomic Journey” with Yoichi Whisky is available from March 1 until April 30, 2023. It’s priced at HK $1088 per person. Include three glasses of Yoichi Whisky for an additional HK$ 200 per person. All prices are subject to a 10% service charge. Considering the upscale location and quality of the food, beverage and service, it seems reasonably priced and quite competitive with similar offerings on the market.
Reasons to visit Sing Yin Cantonese Dining: gracious service, unique setting, excellent Yoichi Whisky-themed menu (available until the end of April) – highly recommend including the beverage pairing.
Sing Yin Cantonese Dining
W Hong Kong
6/F, W Hong Kong, 1 Austin Road West,
Kowloon Station, Kowloon, Hong Kong
+852 3717 2848
[email protected]
Sing Yin Cantonese Dining Opening Hours
Monday to Friday: 11:30 am – 11:00 pm
Saturday & Sunday: 11:00 am – 11 pm
Find more recommendations for gourmet travel to Hong Kong here, and stay up-to-date on the latest culinary happenings around Malaysia here and here.
This is why Hong Kong is renowned for its Chinese food – Cantonese cuisine is among the best, if not the best, of all Chinese cuisines.
Wow, my mouth is watering looking at these plates. I agree Abalone is generally chewy so I would love to try this. Now I wonder how he gets them tender????
Have a good week, cheers Diane
I looks very welcoming.