Date Night: Mott 32 presents classic Chinese cuisine with a flair

I can’t dive into the food without first mentioning the incredible interior. So much detail and fine tuning went into the décor of the entire restaurant. Think hand-picked vintage pieces, custom lighting and beautiful paintings right on the walls (courtesy of local artist Joe Joe). Whether you’re seated in the main dining area, one of the many private rooms or at the bar, your eyes are treated to an array of unique furnishings and one-of-a-kind art pieces.

But enough about that, on to the pièce de résistance, the food! I started off with the On Leong Tea cooler which was a refreshing drink and a unique twist to the usual cup of hot tea you would get at dim sum.

The first dish I had was their signature Crispy Sugar Coated BBQ Spanish Teruel Pork Buns (a mouthful, no pun intended!). The soft bun was filled with a decadent barbecue pork with a sweet crust at the top. Not your traditional char siu bao to say the least! De-licious and best enjoyed warm!

Now siu mai is probably one of my favourite dishes to order at dim sum and I was definitely blown away by Mott’s twist featuring Kurobuta Pork with black truffles and a soft boiled quail egg. Oh. My. Word. I don’t know if I can ever go back to the original siu mai after this scrumptious version!

Next we sampled the steamed cheung fun (rice roll) that was filled with sliced garoupa and black truffles, followed by deep fried squid with sweet chilli and lime zest sauce. Both excellent! The fried squid had this perfectly light, crisp coating that melted away to the juicy squid meat inside.

The dish that followed had to be my absolute favourite of the entire meal: the Barbecue Prime Iberico Pork with Yellow Mountain Honey. Be warned, they only make eight portions a day, so make sure you call ahead to reserve this mouthwatering dish. They take the two portions of the back of the pork’s neck which is marbled with fatty goodness and marinate it for 48 hours. After barbecuing the meat, you’re left with an amazing melt-in-your-mouth, charred-but-sweet piece of char siu. I could eat an entire plate all to myself and be satisfied for the day. It was incredible and definitely has the Sassy Mama stamp of approval!

The last two dishes are found on the main à la carte menu. To be perfectly honest, I was already so stuffed at this point but once the dishes arrived, I couldn’t resist! The first dish was the Australian Wagyu Beef Stir Fry with Vegetables. It had enormous flavour with plenty of Sichuan peppers to give it a good kick. The meat was cooked medium rare (the best doneness in my opinion) and the vegetables were coated in a nice spice mix.

The final savoury dish was the Traditional 12 Hour Slow Cooked Sticky Pork Belly. The sticky pork belly was beyond indulgent. The recipe hails from one of the culinary director’s great grandmothers in Taiwan. Talk about finding treasures in your family! The meat literally dissolves in your mouth, at the same time washing away all traces of that diet or juice cleanse you had planned to do… but trust me, it’s worth it!

There is always room for dessert and in my case, a small sweet chocolate mousse encased in a green tea chocolate shell — the perfect sweet ending to a luxurious meal.

If you love indulgent yet simple at the roots Chinese cooking using only the most decadent ingredients, then Mott 32 is the place for you! The food and the atmosphere is a total experience that you must try for a lunch date with friends or a date night with hubby. This is definitely a place where the little ones stay at home for the evening and you indulge in some adult conversation and quality time with your significant other.

Mott 32 is open for lunch from 11:30am-3pm and for dinner from 6-11pm. Calling ahead for reservations (and the BBQ char siu) is highly recommended. 

Mott 32, 4-4a Des Voeux Road, Central, Hong Kong, 2885 8688

www.mott32.com