Review | Hong Kong restaurant review: Mian in Central – delicious Chinese dishes and great service at former Guo Fu Lou site in The Murray
- A well-balanced sauce for the boneless silky fowl and chicken fillets elevated the dish to something special
- Braised bitter melon in broth was very unusual yet perfectly executed, its rich, thick broth tempering the vegetable’s bitter flavours
We weren’t sure what to expect when we stepped into Mian, the spacious and elegant Chinese restaurant at The Murray in Central that replaced the Cantonese establishment Guo Fu Lou. It had been receiving a lot of hype on social media, with posts showing the same press photos over and over again, but we wondered if it was going to be just another flash in the pan.
If it is (which would be a shame), it won’t be because of the food or service.
We had a difficult time deciding what to eat because there were only three of us and so much of the menu sounded tempting. We were helped by our waiter, who enthusiastically recommended several items, prevented us from ordering too much, made an off-menu suggestion and offered to serve a half-portion of another dish.
From the list of appetisers, we chose the boneless silky fowl and chicken fillets with spring onions and dan dan sauce (HK$188/US$24). It was attractively presented, and the poultry itself was tender and subtle. But the well-balanced sauce elevated the dish to something special. It was only slightly spicy, so didn’t overwhelm the taste of the chicken.
We had one really expensive dish, the lobster with tofu and Sichuan chilli pepper sauce (HK$898). As with the cold appetiser, the sauce, which had small pieces of preserved vegetable, wasn’t so spicy that it overwhelmed the lobster’s sweet meat or the cubes of soft bean curd.