You know what they say about buses. One never comes, then two come along at once. Well that’s rather like my experience with Henry Wong in Harborne. Having never been to this stalwart on the Harborne dining scene, two visits have come along in a matter of weeks. Lee & I popped along for dinner a few Mondays ago and they very next day an invite arrived to attend a VIP bloggers event there. And after two visits in close succession I can say that their food really is delicious. So to start lets catch up with what we tried on our visit just he two of us, often a truer test of how good the food is than a large event in my opinion.
First of all a nod to the service which was brisk and efficient, particular plaudits to one of the waiters that managed to silver serve me some Singapore noodles. A tricky task!
I chose a Crispy duck salad for my starter. Imagine crispy duck and pancakes, minus the pancakes! There was a generous portion of duck and the hoisin and plum sauce was thick and rich and delicious. Lee started with a Chinese favorite of his Hot & Sour Soup. He declared this one of the best he’d tried; packed full of ingredients and with a great balance.
For mains we shared a couple of dishes along with some Singapore Noodles and Spring Onion Rice. My favorite was the Crispy Beef in Oriental Sauce, whilst Lees was the Char Sui Pork. I couldn’t get enough of the sauce on the beef – absolutely delicious and right up there with my favorite variation of this dish in Birmingham.
So far so good! So how did things compare when they were catering for 20+ hungry food bloggers? Well, we were truly spoilt with luxurious food & drink that night, which included a Trio of King Prawns. Lobster in Chilli & Pepper, Teriyaki Sirloin Steak, Seabass in Sweet Chilli Sauce and Crispy Cantonese chicken. I have to say my favourites were the steak and lobster. (Not expensive tastes at all me!)
Wines were selected to complement the food, and although I only had a few sips as I was driving, I’m told they went really well. Service was a tad slow from the food point of view, but given they had a full restaurant plus us to deal with, I think we will forgive them and I know that the service is usually very quick so it’s hardly worth mentioning.
The hospitality throughout the night was top-notch and it was lovely to chat to Parm, their director. A really fabulous night was had by all.
Overall I found it really high quality Cantonese cuisine and given that there are so many rubbish Chinese restaurants and takeaways out there would definitely recommend it. If I was local to the area I’m in no doubt I would be there all the time!!
Disclosure: We paid in full for our first meal but the bloggers event was complimentary. Event photos come courtesy of the fabulous Jas Sansi, and our meal photos by me…..you can’t tell the difference can you!? (Ha!)
