Hainan ProvGov: Nothing Too Fishy About this Place

Margaux Schreurs | Dec 13, 2015 5:00 pm | Add a comment | 2908 reads

With my dining companions wearing thin as I dragged them from one mediocre restaurant to another even-less-than-mediocre restaurant, I prayed to all deities that the Hainan Provincial Government Restaurant would be better than the ones that came before it alphabetically.

Upon entering, operation Hainan seemed to be running more smoothly than any previous government-run provincial restaurant: the staff were friendly without being over bearing as they guided us to a suitable and clean table. There were even crispy white table cloths on the tables and they poured us cups of water without having to ask.

We flicked past the first few pages because they were a mix of abalone, sea cucumber, and other expensive but not very tasty dishes. The menu was bastardized with Sichuan dishes, and the cold dishes were mostly the typical Chinese liangcai, nothing particularly Hainanese.

We settled on a popular Hainan dish, in fact the one that Singaporean Hainanese chicken rice is based on: Wenchang crispy chicken (脆皮文昌鸡, RMB 188 for whole, RMB 98 for half). While this is not one for the lazy or picky eater due to a large number of bones, the chicken was exceptionally tender and the skin certainly crispy.

The second meat dish was the stir-fried beef with pineapple (鲜菠萝炒牛肉, RMB 68), containing tasty and thin slices of beef. The pineapple was a bit too sweet when coupled with the sauce, and was mostly left behind, but it did add a nice tropical touch for the one or two slices we did eat. The dish could definitely do with more beef and less pineapple.

Our sides of steamed greens with olive vegetable (笼仔榄菜蒸菜心, RMB 38) and braised eggplant with sauce in casserole (陵水蛋家茄子煲, RMB 58) were both very flavorful. The greens were served in a little dim sum-style basket, retained their crunch, and had a dash of oyster sauce for flavor, while the eggplant was cooked thoroughly and topped off with mince in a dark sauce.

Perhaps this one is almost worth coming back to, especially for the crispy chicken, of which we could’ve easily ordered an entire one between three people.

Hainan Prov Gov
Daily 11am-9pm. 188 Andingmen Waidajie, Dongcheng District (6426 9558)
海南美食：东城区安定门外大街188号海南大厦1层