I went to China Room, a Chinese restaurant at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo, after hearing that they had invited a head chef from Yue Jing Xuan at Park Hyatt Guangzhou in China to serve a special menu for a limited time until May 5st.
Jacob Huang, head chef of Yue Jing Xuan at Park Hyatt Guangzhou, is a talented chef who has been awarded one diamond for eight consecutive years in the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide, a famous restaurant guide in China that rivals the Michelin Guide. One diamond is equivalent to one star in the Michelin Guide.
He is also famous as a chef who prepares dishes with an international sensibility while preserving the traditions of Cantonese cuisine, and has been selected as a Michelin Guide selected restaurant for seven consecutive years.
This time, we had the dinner course where we could enjoy the signature dishes of Yue Jing Xuan at Park Hyatt Guangzhou. As this was Mr. Huang's first visit to Japan, he had put special effort into creating the menu.
Chef Huang's Chinese cuisine with a fusion touch
First, we started with six colorful appetizers, including the signature crispy grilled pork. The unexpected combinations and cooking methods, such as century egg jelly and fennel marinated in black vinegar, made us go "Oh, so that's how it is!" with Chinese cuisine full of fusion sensations! The appetizers immediately exceeded my expectations.
In the center of the bottom row is century egg jelly, and to the left of that is fennel marinated in black vinegar, among six unique and fun appetizers.
Next came three dim sum dishes. I followed the chef's instructions to "start with the shumai." I ate the shumai, mustard greens dumplings, and crab meat pie in that order, enjoying the different textures of each. My favorite was the crab meat pie. The pie crust was very light and crispy, or should I say crumbly.
Three dim sum dishes. Xiaolongbao with mustard greens, crab meat pie, and three-color shumai with pork and onion topped with flying fish roe. The crab meat pie was small, so I thought I could eat another one.
Sekkoku Tamatake Lotus seed soup will defy your imagination again with one sip. It's a very clear and clean soup, so you'd think it would be lighter, but it has a punchy, concentrated flavor from chicken and pork bones. I know it's chicken and pork, but apparently there's one more thing that adds crucial umami to it, and that's the fish swim bladder! Ah, now that you mention it, I can vaguely taste the fat of the fish...maybe. Interesting.
Sekkoku Tamatake lotus seed soup is packed with richness and flavor.
Crossover Chinese cuisine. A variety of main dishes with an international flair
Ise lobster Italian noodles with cheese flavor are also surprising. The lobster, rolled up Italian noodles, are floating in a sea of cheese sauce. But the cheese flavor doesn't come to the forefront. The flavor center is the lobster broth. The Italian noodles are very thin noodles, about the same as the so-called Capellini pasta. These noodles are not al dente, but have a softness similar to that of somen noodles. This makes them stick well to the sauce.
Shrimp Ise Italian noodles stewed with cheese flavor. I thought it was Italian, but the cheese sauce was definitely Chinese.
The main meat dish is domestic beef sirloin in black pepper sauce. The sirloin has just the right amount of firmness and fat, and the spiciness of the black pepper fills your mouth. It's my first time to try such a spicy steak. I would definitely recommend pairing it with red wine.
Domestic beef sirloin with black pepper sauce. The guests at the table in front of me had the same menu, but they paired this steak with Chateau Figeac from Bordeaux... I guess the red wine soothes the black pepper in your mouth.
The final dish is fried rice with beef and truffles. The rice is long and fluffy, and well fried. Contrary to its appearance, it has a relatively light taste. With a fragrant flavor, it is sure to be irresistible for fried rice lovers.
For dessert, there were two dishes: a pie with mango milk and red bean paste. The mellow, rich sweetness of the mango milk and the soft, sour soup mixed with the tapioca was very delicious. The sourness was actually pink grapefruit pulp. The moderate sourness brought a refreshing feeling.
The red bean paste pie, like the pie served with the dim sum, had a perfect texture. It wasn't greasy at all, and after just two bites it was crispy and crumbled in my mouth. Chef Hoang is good at making pies, and it's no surprise.
The fried rice with beef and truffles is light and fluffy, and contrary to its appearance, it has a light taste. It is fried rice that you can enjoy for its aroma.
For dessert, we had two items: mango milk pie and red bean paste pie. I really liked Chef Hoang's pie. The crunchiness and crumbliness of the pie are addictive. Delicious.
Chef Huang creates a variety of unique Chinese dishes, and I think he is a talented chef with the ability to fuse tradition with new sensibilities.
Chef Huang has already returned to Guangzhou, but the China Room at the Grand Hyatt Tokyo will be serving a limited menu of Yue Jing Xuan created by Chef Huang until Saturday, May 5st. There is one lunch course (31 yen*) and one dinner course (1 yen*). We recommend the dinner course, where you can try a variety of signature dishes.
There was a wide selection of wines by the glass, and I enjoyed pairing them with my food. The dinner was perfectly suited to the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the China Room. I thought that hotel dining was great.
*All prices include tax and 15% service charge.
Chef Jacob Huang has a charming smile. The Park Hyatt Guangzhou restaurant is known for using carefully selected ingredients, such as fresh vegetables from eco-farms that incorporate natural farming methods and seafood caught using sustainable methods. He was a nice guy who greeted me with a smile, saying, "If you come to Guangzhou, you should definitely come to Yue Jing Heen!"
Chisa Nakajima
Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Premium Japan. He loves watching Japanese movies from the 1950s and 60s and drinking wine.
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