Daily TribuneA lunch at Ming Pavilion in Island Shangri-La Hong Kong offers a closer look at Hokkien cooking — seafood-led, tea-driven and quietly familiar to Filipino-Chinese palates.
MING Pavilion at Island Shangri-La Hong Kong.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARBEE SHING-GO FOR DAILY TRIBUNE
DEEP-FRIED hand-chopped prawn roll.
SIMMERED tomato broth with matsutake mushroom and bamboo fungus.
BRAISED tofu with king crab meat, tiger prawn and scallop.
STEAMED razor clam with Fujian pickled vegetable and garlic sauce.
SHAN Su, a seasonal vegetable was one of the most memorable plates of the meal.
XIAPU seaweed and dried mushroom fried rice.
FUJIAN-style chicken.
There are restaurants you discover because they’re trending, and then there are those you’re gently pointed toward by friends who know how you eat, travel, how you linger at a table. Ming Pavilion fell firmly into the second category.
When friends found out I was staying at Island Shangri-La Hong Kong, messages came quickly: Don’t miss Ming Pavilion. One friend was very specific: Go for lunch — the room is beautiful in daylight. Another added, “And look for their tea sommelier. They have an excellent collection.” That specificity usually signals something thoughtful rather than flashy, and it made me curious.
Tucked within the hotel, Ming Pavilion offers something you don’t often come across in a city shaped so strongly by Cantonese cuisine: a dedicated focus on Hokkien, or Fujian, cooking. We’re familiar with Szechuan for its heat, Hunan for its boldness, Guangdong for its finesse. Hokkien rarely enters the conversation. Which is interesting, because for many Filipino-Chinese families back home, Hokkien food and language are part of everyday life. The flavors feel familiar in a way that’s hard to explain but easy to recognize.
Lunch, it turns out, really is the right time to go. Daylight filters softly into the dining room, picking up the green tones, curved banquettes and relaxed elegance of the space. It’s calm without feeling hushed, polished without being stiff. Tea arrives early and keeps coming — fragrant, warm, grounding. It frames the meal gently, exactly as my friend promised.
The menu offers a clear look into Fujian Province, particularly the coastal cooking of Fuzhou and Xiamen. We began with the Fujian Appetisers Platter, which included Deep-Fried Hand Chopped Prawn Roll and Chilled Sweet and Sour Water Bamboo Strips with Pomelo. Crisp, cool and refreshing, it set a relaxed pace for what followed.
The soup course — Simmered Tomato Broth with Matsutake Mushroom and Bamboo Fungus — was clean and comforting, the kind of dish that reminds you how satisfying clarity can be. Nothing overstated or heavy.
Seafood naturally plays a leading role in Hokkien cooking. The Braised Tofu with King Crab Meat, Tiger Prawn and Scallop stood out for its balance — silky tofu absorbing the sweetness of the seafood without being weighed down by sauce. Alongside it, the Steamed Razor Clam with Fujian Pickled Vegetable and Garlic Sauce delivered brightness and depth, with the pickled vegetables adding lift rather than sharpness.
What surprised me most, though, was the vegetable dish. Fuzhou-Style Stir-Fried Shan Su Vegetable with Garlic, it was a seasonal special imported from Taiwan — glossy, earthy, perfectly cooked and easily one of the most memorable plates of the meal.
From the Minnan signatures, the Fujian-Style Chicken echoed the quiet presence of tea throughout the meal — aromatic and comforting. The Xiapu Seaweed and Dried Mushroom Fried Rice followed, understated but deeply savory, the kind of dish that makes you keep reaching for another spoonful without thinking about it.
Dessert came in the form of Gelidium Jelly with Honey — light, gently sweet and refreshing. Just enough to close the meal without pulling focus.
What stays with you after dining at Ming Pavilion isn’t a dramatic flourish or a showstopper dish. It’s the way lunch stretches naturally into conversation. The steady pouring of tea. The sense that no one is rushing you out the door.
If you’re curious about a Chinese regional cuisine that doesn’t often take center stage, Ming Pavilion is a quiet and rewarding introduction. Order the tea. Don’t skip the vegetables. And give the meal the time it deserves. And yes — bring your parents and children. Some meals are meant to be shared across generations.
