Yin Yang, private kitchen, Hong Kong

  Yin Yang entrance  

My talented friend, a food blogger, travel writer and budding cooking show host all rolled into one, Nanamoose has already written about the owner and chef of Yin Yang, Margaret Xu in this article in Muse magazine, so I will not go into Margaret's background and her foray into private kitchen cooking.  What I will do is describe our experience at her little speakeasy in the heart of Wanchai.

Nanamoose and I had been planning to go there for lunch for the past year but always ended up cancelling for one reason or another.  It came close to the month that I was leaving Hong Kong: it was quite difficult to get a booking at Yin Yang at short notice, so we were lucky that Nanamoose managed to pull some strings to get us a table for dinner one Saturday night.  As she does with all guests, Margaret sent us the menu in advance so that we could pick a few of the dishes from the various options.

As my 10-7 job (yes those were the hours I worked) was in Wanchai, I had passed Yin Yang in a cab or walked past it many a time and never noticed it.  It is housed in an old Chinese building, with a sign of "Yuen Hap" construction co., above the restaurant. You would miss it except for the black and white flag hanging above (what appears to be) the doorway.  The decor is homely and eclectic, with jars and pots tucked in one corner and colourful shopping bags on the landing near the kitchen.  On another corner is a basket of organic vegetables which have come from Margaret's garden in Yuen Long. 

The dining room is made up of two rooms, one on the ground floor with an open counter / bar area, complete with a SMEG fridge that walked out of a 50s TV show, and a 2nd floor with a small balcony that looks onto Ship street.  The old "tang lau" windows have been kept intact.

Smokey roast chicken

The restaurant had received mixed reviews so I was slightly apprehensive.  Once the banquet started, it was a feast.  The food is gorgeous to look at, Margaret's obviously had fun preparing the colourful range of bite sized appetizers.  There's no fighting required cos there's enough for each guest to sample each and every one of them.  Some concoctions are a little strange, I can't say its fusion, I guess its a modern style of cooking using traditional methods.  Then the main courses follow, Margaret comes to our table to rip up the roast chicken with pride.  It was very good: crispy on the outside with moist and smokey meat.  We had razor clams which had been satisfying large and cooked till tender, then came the deep fried whole mandarin fish which was then lit on a bed of salt for that extra zing.  The flavours were all there ... I'd say the only thing which could be improved is the table service, some of the food was cold by the time it reached our table. 
Otherwise a really lovely dining experience that I like to relieve again, soon.

Yin Yang
18 Ship Street
Wanchai
Telephone +852 2866 0868
Cost: set menu starts from HK$550 per head