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Reviewer: Foodnut.com The Chairman G/F, 18 Kau U Fong, Central Hong Kong, China SAR 852 2555-2202 |
We recently visited Hong Kong and dined on excellent Cantonese Chinese food and more. Hong Kong is a modern city like New York, that is progressive, packed with energy, and filled with top-notch restaurants.
Buffets: Conrad Nicolini’s Sunday Brunch Buffet, Harbourside Buffet,, JW Marriott Hong Kong, Tiffen Buffet Grand Hyatt Hong Kong.
Other Hong Kong Reviews: Lung King Heen, Chuen Kee Seafood,Crystal Jade La Mian Xiao Long Bao, Fook Lam Moon, Lei Garden, Ming Court, Sai Kung Seafood Market, Sun Tung Lok, Yung Kee.
The Chairman is a popular restaurant that we had wanted to dine at last year, but simply did not find the time. Some call this restaurant new and trendy, but they focus on the finest local, organic, and sustainable ingredients and they stress – No MSG or stuff like baking soda. This place has been praised on many food blogs, helping to intensify the buzz and so did the celebrities. This place is not listed in the Michelin 2011 Guide, perhaps in 2012? Our visit was for dinner. They don’t have items that need advanced ordering.
Chinese Name: 大班樓
Summary – The Chairman serves up old school classic styled dishes, highlighting high quality ingredients.
Insider Tip – Book reservations early, they accept reservations by e-mail in English. Lunch is a lot cheaper..
Cuisine – Modern Chinese Cantonese
Location – Central, Hong Kong, China
Opened – 2009
Decor, Vibe – The Chairman has a simple clean white color scheme, table cloths and modern chairs. This is not a super fancy hotel restaurant like Lung King Heen, but the atmosphere here is quiet and humble.
Menu
The Chairman’s weekly changing menu features an extensive à la carte menu along with a nice looking set menu. It was nice to see vegetarian items clearly labeled.
We wanted to order the Croaker, but it was not available.
Signature Dishes – Crispy Small Yellow Croaker served with Balsamic Dressing, shaoxing crab, century egg, pigeon
Picks:
Soup of the day (HK$68) happen to be chicken’s feet with peanut. Simple, pure, home style goodness.
Smoked Baby Pigeon with Longjing Tea & Chrysanthemum (1 pc) (HK$98) was pretty small, but typical of squab in Hong Kong that is hormone free, unlike the United States. A good version with some Very smoky tea flavor.
Steamed Fresh Flowery Crab with Aged ShaoXing Wine, Fragrant Chicken Oil & Flat Rice Noodles (Market Price HK$530) is expensive, but a signature dish we had to order. The Rice noodles are meant to get confused by all the crab goodness. The sauce was very rich and ‘winey’, and there was not much meat to the crab. All in all this was a nice dish that shows off their The Chairman’s philosophy.
The Chairman’s Soy Sauce Chicken (HK$148) is also a signature dish that is served hot. The chicken was cooked perfectly, and the high-quality soy sauce and they brag about was clearly evident.
Braised Layered Beancurd with Morel & Chinese Mushrooms (HK$138) feature 5 types of fungus including wood ear, cooked in a simple manner. No funky thick sauces here.
Steamed Kai Lan with Picked Chinese Vegetables (HK$98) utilized organic greens that were cooked just right. The preserved Chinese vegetables were not overly salty but slightly sweet. Again no thick oyster sauce.
OK: (Order if you like this dish)
None
Pans: (We would not reorder these dishes)
None
Service – The Chairman have knowledgeable waiters, who weren’t the least bit stuffy, but service wasn’t in the same league as a top restaurants.
Value – Prices are reasonable and a lot cheaper than most Michelin star restaurants in Hong Kong.
Alternatives – Nearby restaurants include legendary Kau Kee noodle.
Verdict – Did The Chairman live up to our high expectations? After having eaten at several high-end establishments, The Chairman was a nice low key change of pace. The care they put into the simple classic dishes and ingredients selection is evident.
Fairly long walk from MTR Station: Sheung Wan Exit E2
Open Rice page – Rating 4.2
Restaurant Map:The Chairman Overall Rating: 
(Excellent
Come Back? 
| Food Rating: |  (Super) |
| Service Rating: | (Good) |
| Atmosphere Rating: | (Very Good) |
| Value Rating: | (Very Good) |
Guide: 0 = poor, 1 = Below/Average, 2 = Good, 2.5 = Very Good, 3 = Excellent , 4 = Extraordinary
| Alcohol: | Beer, Wine |
| Attire: | Casual |
| Hours: | Monday-Sunday 1215-1500, 1800-0000 |
| Parking: | Street |
| Reservations: | Yes |
| Prices: | HK$38 - HK$578 +10% service charge |
2 Comments
Ben S.
May 9, 2011 at 5:58 pmCame here for lunch and sat on the bottom floor. I see you got to sit upstairs, which looks nicer. Still, very calm relaxing lunch. I felt their dishes lets you get the taste of classic Cantonese cuisine with a very clean presentation. The crab noodle dish sounds interesting, but probably too much for one person! 🙂
Food Nut
May 10, 2011 at 8:48 amWe are always ordering far too much. So many interesting things on the menu and so few mouths.. I need to invite more people so I can order more!
I expected The Chairman to be more fancy, yet it ended up being a nice quiet, tranquil dinner setting. We hit several of the Michelin starred big boys Lung King Heen, Sun Tung Lok, Fook lam Moon, and Ming Court, where the environment and the service were an order of magnitude nicer.