This is pretty much a restaurant-review-free-zone (apart from once, maybe), but a few comments on Tanya Chan’s Taipei private kitchen Red Cotton…
As a pro-democracy politician, the former Civic Party lawmaker was last heard of in Hong Kong being hounded by the newly patriotism-minded Bar Association over her activity during the 2014 Umbrella Protests. By that time two years ago, following health problems and a suspended prison sentence, she had relocated to Taiwan and started culinary training. Like more than a few Hongkongers who have moved overseas, she now celebrates her home town through food.
Red Cotton, where she is head chef, produces Cantonese cuisine served banquet-style, as many of us have had at weddings or corporate dinners. Gastronomic-level Cantonese fare, with its light seasonings (or ‘emphasis on freshness’) might not always appeal to fans of more dazzling Sichuan, Thai, Vietnamese and other cuisines. And not everyone likes the multi-course format, with its endless procession of face-giving, even pretentious, dishes. But for such people, Red Cotton will be something of a revelation.
Tanya uses the best local ingredients, and has obviously worked hard honing her cooking skills. The result is rich and addictive braised beef and roast chicken, one of the best steamed fish dishes I’ve ever had, and often-iffy delicacies like abalone and goose foot done so well that you want more of them. (Portions are more than adequate: a Hong Kong emigre family in our party went away with boxes of leftovers.) Even the red bean soup – so often drab sugary goo – was more-ish, presumably because of superior cane sugar and the inclusion of orange peel.
In short, Red Cotton has achieved something that’s more in the Fook Lam Moon class (I’d guess – never been) than the predictable verging-on-dismal Cantonese onslaught we get at tiresome functions. The surroundings have some suitable Hong Kong nostalgia, and the music includes Anita Mui.
You can’t just walk in. Booking is via this site.
At a meeting with Tanya, when she still had the long hair, she mentioned that she might cut it short, to escape the ‘lightweight’ stereotype. Since my comment seemed invited, I counselled firmly against, saying that long hair suited her (in that catch-all justification that avoids being too explicit about how attractive you find a person or style). A few days later, her new crop-haired look was revealed to the world.
Fook Lam Moon was a clubhouse for regulars. The food was good and the service was fine but, generally speaking, it was overrated, especially if one visited without a regular.
Given it’s high-price policy to discourage casual visitors, who needs that shit?