Judging from the crowd and the various Chinese accents, we thought we’d be in good hands, since the Chinese have chosen Xinjiang Bai Yi restaurant as their home kitchen away from home.
Unfortunately, we probably set our expectations too high, having lived in Beijing and eaten lots and lots of tasty （羊肉串） lamb skewers by the Xinjiang migrants, the food here really pales in comparison. I don’t think it’s even authentic Xinjiang food—sweet ketchup lamb chops, anyone? Few publications have raved about this place and most recently HK magazine where we were so excited to find the recommendation.
Lamb pancakes came in the form of minced lamb that could do with more seasoning and Peking duck sort of rice flour pancakes. We were expecting a lamb stuffed 煎饼。oh well.
I was in good company with fellow food explorer, Mackie and we both agreed, our favourite bit was the giant silk route map painted on the wall, the large jar of yogurt and our starter cold dish, tofu with century egg.
Service was friendly, but the acoustic was bad and ambience completely Chinese, loud, boisterous and unruly. I probably won’t come back a second time. Unless someone promises me that chicken stew we really wanted to order is really good.
Ba Yi
43 Water Street
Sai Ying Pun
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2484 9981
