Nanhai No1 is the latest restaurant from the Elite Concepts restaurant group. According to the restaurant's fact sheet it serves contemporary Chinese cuisine, although I would add with some Asian influences. I had read one or two positive reviews of the restaurant before having dinner and after my meal I wondered if those reviewers had actually eaten there or had merely written glowing reviews based on press materials.

Maybe those reviewers made better choices, or perhaps the dishes had been better executed. Maybe we were unlucky that some of our choices were not available and made poor second choices. Before you decide not to read on there were a couple of dishes that I would go back for and remember that food is subjective as my experience of eating duck tongue showed.

Lost in Translation

Like most Chinese restaurants the menu is extensive. One dish that we wanted to order to start was a signature dish curiously described in English as Four-Angled Beans, better known as Winged Beans. Despite the waiter saying nothing when we ordered this dish, the manager later came to us and told us that this dish was not available as the restaurant's only supplier for the beans was based in Thailand and due to the Red Shirts problem they did not have supply, and had not had any available since opening three weeks previously! I found it strange that the waiter was not aware of this. So instead we ordered the Spicy Coriander Leaves and Herbs. I think this is another dish that was lost in translation because the green, crunchy, partly hollow stems that we were served in no way resembled coriander or leaves. I have since been told that a more accurate translation would be "spicy vegetables". Despite this it was an enjoyable dish with plenty of chilli spice and wonderful texture; a fresh dish to begin the meal.

We also ordered the Duck's Tongue served in XO Sauce. I had never tried duck's tongue before but had always been curious as many people I know love them. We did not enjoy them and I wondered what would be appealing about a gelatinous, largely flavourless morsel of food with a bone in the middle. As I had no point of reference for comparison I asked a fan after the meal and he found it difficult to describe what he enjoyed about them, but did agree that they are gelatinous and don't have much flavour. So I guess if you like duck tongue you will find this dish an accurate representation.

Crispy Skin Pork Belly was our third choice for appetiser. While I have nothing to complain about I don't have anything good to say either as while there was nothing wrong with the dish, and the mustard sauce packed a punch and cleverly cut through the richness, I have had better.

All Sold Out

Ordering mains was a much more difficult process than it should have been. One of the chef's specials (not on main menu) was a scallop dish. My friend had told me about a recent spate of illnesses related to scallops so we checked with the manager. He assured us that the scallops were of the highest quality and he had enjoyed some only earlier that evening. So we ordered them. Not too long after we did he returned to tell us the scallops were all sold out. To me this says that there is not enough communication between the kitchen and the front-of-house or there was something fishy going on.

Speaking of fish we thought instead of scallops we would have steamed fresh fish, the menu lists 13 fish varieties, of which five are a type of grouper. My dining companion is trying to eat consciously and sustainably, not easy in Hong Kong, and so grouper is off the menu for him, but with eight other choices we should have been OK, or so I thought. Turns out that night the only fresh fish available was grouper. This had me puzzled, especially as I had just read a review that said, "the restaurant offers a wide array of freshly caught fish". Not true on our visit.

We ended up ordering the signature King Prawn served in Bang Sauce (one piece), and Grilled Big Head River Prawn (one piece), and the recommended signature dish, Deep Fried Flower Crab in Spring Onion Oil Flavour. We stuck with the seafood as the menu says the restaurant has a focus on seafood as the star attraction.

Best for Last

Both prawns looked wonderful but were let down by being overcooked in one case and undercooked in the other. A shame because the Indonesian flavours of the Bang sauce, with notes of curry, coconut, lime leaf and chilli was tasty, as was the Thai influenced dipping sauce served with the grilled prawn.

The crab was the opposite, with its gloppy, glue-like, pale sauce it looked like a 1970s disaster, but the crab itself was fab, easily the second best dish of the night. The crab was coated before being deep-fried and the crunchy outer contrasted with the succulent flesh of the crab while providing a further taste dimension in the mouth.

We were also recommended to try the signature Crispy and Steamed Rice served in Lobster Consomme. This was by far the best dish of the night and in our minds a must-try. There was something intriguing about having two different textures of rice in the mouth at the same time, with the fried granules of rice adding a sensation of "fizz" that was almost magical. The flavourful lobster consomme with bits of perfectly cooked lobster meat elevated the dish's homeyness into restaurant fare. It was a dish that I wanted to merge with, I wanted to climb into the bowl and be enraptured by its elegant comforting-ness.

I liked the ambience and interesting views from Nanhai No 1, but when it came to just focusing on the food my overall conclusion is that I have certainly had better Chinese food elsewhere in Hong Kong. Although I can still feel the pleasure the rice dish gave me and might be tempted back once the balcony in the "eyebar" area, with its impressive view, is open.

Prices in order of the dishes described above: $38, $58, $98, $88, $80, $288, $128.