<a target="_blank" href="http://duddells.co/home/en/">Duddell’s</a>

1 Duddell
Street

Central, Hong
Kong

Tel: +852 2525 9191&nbsp;The food:Vegetarian
dumpling, Matsutake mushroomBean curd sheet roll, shrimp, black
truffleChicken bun, gingerBraised bean curd, spicy sauceSeafood rice roll, coriander





























Barbecued Iberico
pork, honey glaze&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp; 

&nbsp;The wines:

















<table>
 <tbody><tr>
 <td>
 2013 Kilikanoon Clare Valley Riesling Mort’s Block
 </td>
 <td>
 90
 </td>
 </tr>
 <tr>
 <td>
 2007 J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Auslese
 Goldkapsel
 </td>
 <td>
 93+&nbsp;</td></tr></tbody></table>

Located in the heart of Central, Hong
Kong’s booming art and business area, Duddell’s offers some of the city’s best,
most precise two Michelin star cuisine. The refined, austere setting consists
of an elegant downstairs seating area, a more casual upstairs section (the two
are joined by a travertine staircase), a member’s only library, and a 200 square
foot garden terrace. Owned by Yen Wong and designed by acclaimed British
designer Ilse Crawford, the spacious dining room is pale cream and earth tone
colored, with tables placed at reasonable distances from each other; it’s also
reasonably quiet, oozing a refined charm that the many well heeled Hong Kong
regulars eating more or less silently no doubt contribute to.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1468503905734-sauce+service.png"> 















The Head Chef is Siu Hin Chi, previously
of T’ang Court fame; those who had frequented the latter institution will
recognize his touch in Duddell’s outstanding dishes. I have rarely had
similarly precise, simply prepared Cantonese cuisine dishes that so resonate in
flavor: and while the ingredients each sing their own tune, they end up being
in harmony with the whole. The vegetarian dumpling with Matsutake mushroom is a
delicate but flavorful way to start, the bean curd sheet roll, shrimp, black
truffle creation airy and delightful (I could have downed nine or ten of these
all by myself in a matter of seconds, and remorselessly at that), the chicken
bun with ginger appropriately gummy and flavorful, and the braised bean curd
with spicy sauce and the seafood rice roll with coriander are also very pure
and characterized by outstanding clarity and perfume.

 <img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1468503885408-Veg+Dumplings+Roll.png"> 















Asparagus with mushrooms and the vegetarian dumpling

I matched all of the above with two
delicious wines. The 2013 Kilikanoon
Clare Valley Riesling Mort’s Block was clean and crisp, with varietally
accurate aromas and flavors plus the lime note that is so typical of Clare
Valley Rieslings. Razor sharp acidity and extremely intense notes of lime and
chalk dust made for a memorable drinking experience. However, as good as the wine
was, it was not a great choice for Duddell’s cuisine, as it proved too austere
for the nuanced, sweet and sour, savory flavors that imbue the Chef’s creations.
I should have known better too: when, upon hearing my selection to start things
off with, my very polite oriental guest wryly observed: “Uhm… very dry!”. He
was right of course, for a little sweetness would have made this a much better
match for the dishes we had chosen (a Mosel Spätlese for instance, not a bone
dry Aussie example). And so I made amends with the 2007 J.J. Prum Graacher Himmelreich Auslese Goldkapsel, an
outstanding Auslese of a depth and richness a notch or two above most other
Ausleses. Though it lacked the complexity of a Beerenauslese, this Auslese’s
laser-like acidity really lifted this wine’s very sweet, viscous honeyed stone
fruit, candied citrus and crystallized ginger aromas and flavors making it a
more than successful match with the food. And I’m glad to report that the
acidity was such the wine didn’t prove too sweet or overcome any of our dishes.<img alt="" src="https://allgrapes.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads%2F1468503927834-Wine.jpg"> 















Alhough I am in Asia roughly five
times a year, and get to visit Duddell’s often (at least three different times
in the last year alone), I’m still not entirely sure what to make of the place.
Clearly the food is stellar, of a precision and refinement in texture and use
of ingredients that is uncommon elsewhere, even in other single and multi
Michelin star Chinese food dining establishments you may have tried over the
years. And the clientele is exceptional: all extremely well behaved men and
women who know a thing or two about proper restaurant etiquette, even the small
children eating at the tables are quiet and well behaved. So while the food is
great and the atmosphere relaxing and pleasant for sure, the wine list is
expensive, and a little hard to get excited about. The press releases read
“classic hand selected wines”, but in truth, the names listed look to have been
chosen to impress the eye and not the palate. Yes, there’s a vertical of Château
Mouton-Rothschild and numerous top-end Burgundies, but really, are these the
wines most knowledgeable wine and food lovers are looking to have with their
Cantonese cuisine? In fairness, the wine list has been improved. From the only three
dry Alsatian and German Rieslings present on the list last fall, I counted five
or six from those same regions this last February (but there’s still something
like thirty different white Burgundies listed). Clearly, it’s not Chardonnay
that matches best with the wonderful dishes served at Duddell’s, but perhaps
it’s all just a matter of these being the sort of wines that the crowd of
expense account and glitterati types want and yearn for. And if such is the
case, you can’t blame Duddell’s for giving people what they want.

In any case, despite a wine list
that could and should be improved with a larger range of more sensible wine
options, I look forward to going back to Duddell’s again and again. In fact, I
can hardly wait, for the food is really that
good and the setting outstanding; and if you look hard enough, you will find enough decent to excellent bottles
to have made driving over to Duddell’s in the Kong’s nightmarish traffic more
than worthwhile.

-- Ian D’Agata

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