A friend told me about Serenade Chinese Restaurant located at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Imagine I live a stone’s throw away and I never knew about it.
Sure I’ve watched Mama Mia and Phantom of the Opera at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre but I didn’t know they had restaurants too.
Just follow the arrow.
And up the stairs.
Look at the view!!
Serenade was part of the popular Maxim group of restaurants.
I was so excited to discover a huge Chinese restaurant with an amazing view of the Hong Kong harbour and the famous skyline.
They had an extensive dim sum menu too.
Just tick your selections and give it to the waiter.
Prices for the dim sum were ok. Small – HK$18, Medium – HK$26 and Large – HK$30
They had the most dessert choices I’ve seen so far.
peanuts
As nice as the restaurant, view, menu and plating was the food was very disappointing. The only positive thing was the service was extremely fast. This barbecue pork pastry was cold and the pastry was not flaky at all.
barbecued pork pastry HK$26
This was the most disappointing of all. The pastry was super sweet and there was hardly any filling inside. I’m sure I didn’t taste any goose at all.
baked pastry with mushroom & goose meat HK$38
Our usual favorite, ham sui kok, was cold and oily. I kept thinking about my favorite dim sum place, Chuk Yuen that was in a basement and didn’t have a view but their ham sui kok comes out piping hot and filled with lots of meat.
deep fried sticky dumpling filled with minced pork & dried shrimp HK$18
No wonder the service was fast. The waiters seemed to just grab plates of cold dim sum to serve.
baked turnip & Yunnan ham pastry HK$26
I was really impressed with their presentation though.
pan fried minced pork, beef & pepper buns HK$48
But then you can’t eat presentation. The pork bun had little filling and was more bun.
The steamed pork spareribs was at least warm and fared better than the baked dim sum selections.
steamed spareribs with pomelo peel & black beans HK$30
On the other hand their desserts were yummy and definitely made up for the unsatisfactory meal. I loved the coffee gelatin balls and together with fresh fruit, tapioca and coconut milk it was a very refreshing dessert.
chilled sweetened sago cream with fresh fruits, coffee & taro puddings HK$26
I was curious about the sweet glutinous dumplings which I’ve never encountered before.
glutinous dumplings stuffed with candied fruits, coconut & nuts HK$26
I really liked the contrast in texture between the soft and sticky exterior and the crunchy filling of coconut and candied fruits. I would definitely go back just for their desserts. Maybe I’ll give their a la carte menu another try since the pictures looked good. Take a gander of their menu complete with pictures here.
If you want really, really good dim sum then go to Chuk Yuen seafood restaurant. It’s my favorite!
Serenade Chinese Restaurant’s menu
Serenade Chinese Restaurant
1-2/F, Hong Kong Cultural Centre,
10 Salisbury Rd. Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
telephone:2722 0932
website
Shoot First Eat Later 
Leslie, I heard of this dim sum tea house but did’nt feel like trying it out. Now you and I too will stick to Chuk Yuen better dim sums. The sweet rice flour balls in bamboo leaves I use to make it at home all the time. It called Ip jai (little leave) very easy to make. It sweet rice flour, water. Shape in a bowl shape and add make ever filling cut up winter melon, peanut, coconut. Roll into ball and place on to bamboo leaves grease and steam for 10 to 15 min.
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