Crystal Jade 翡翠拉麵小籠包 - Best Xiao Lung Bao Yet

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

This is my first time visiting this Crystal Jade since they reopened their restaurant in WTC. The new location is on the 4th floor now and is smaller than their previous location on the 2nd floor. They still have a nice view of the harbor but the floor plan is now an L shape, which makes it harder to flag down a staff as you basically have to wait for them to walk by your area. Still, the restaurant is bright and airy which makes for a nice and comfortable place to have a meal. 

We came here for lunch as we usually do. We like this location as there usually isn't any lines and the seating here is spacious and tidy. There were still plently of spots at 12:30pm so maybe people don't know that they have reopended already. The menu is still the same. For lunch, we usually like to order some appetizers and one of their handmade "la mian" noodles. On this day, we ordered the xiao lung bao, drunken chicken, and the la mian noodles with beef in spicy soup.

Drunken Chicken ($60) - the drunken chicken came first. While I thought the temperature was a bit too cold even though it's supposed to be a cold dish, the flavor made up for it in that you can taste the Shaoxing wine but yet it was not overpowering. The wine was well soaked into the chicken meat and skin so it was quite flavorful in general. Only complaint is that the portion is a tad small for $60 bucks. 

"La Mian" Noodles with Beef in Spicy Soup ($65) - beware this is a 3 stars spicy! It's actually pretty spicy so only order this dish if you can usually eat spicy food. The bowl of noodle soup was actually big enough to share between 2 people or for 1 person if you do not order appetizers. The soup base for this noodle was similar to Szechuan beef in hot chili oil. The beef was soft and tender while the soup was spicy and numbing. The noodles were thin yet chewy and was cooked just right. It had also soaked up a bit of the spicy soup so it was very delicious to eat. (A little trick I use to combat the spiciness to add a bit of the vinegar for the xiao lung bao to the soup. Actually made the soup tastier!) 

Steamed Pork Dumplings "Shanghai" Style ($36) - The xiao lung bao arrived piping hot. I love the xiao lung bao here and I think it's one of the best in HK - much better than Ding Tai Fung as I thought the ones at DTF were a bit small, skin was thicker, and with less soup. The ones here are all around excellent - decent in size, the skin is thin yet strong enough to hold the soup (never had an incident of spilling the soup because of ripped skin yet!), and lots of soup. The pork inside was soft and tender, and the soup was rich and flavorful. 

See the soup?

Verdict - the dishes arrives very fast so it's perfect for a quick lunch or if you would like to take your time as well. The service is prompt and courteous, and the prices are reasonable for the atmosphere and cleanliness. You can also find a cheaper spot but sometimes it's worth to pay more so you can eat comfortably. 

Crystal Jade
Shop P416-418, 4/F, World Trade Centre, 280 Gloucester Road,Causeway Bay 
2915 6988