Good cha xui (Chinese BBQ Pork) can be difficult to come by, with many being overly fatty, not flavourful enough or excessively dry and with almost every Chinese restaurant serving it in one form or another, chances are you will have a bad experience. Before arriving for my holiday, some of my reading had included some great food bloggers, and I discovered a few great recommendations from Hong Kong local blgger Cha Xiu Bao but unfortunately couldn’t get to every place that had been listed.

The West Villa Restaurant, located in the Cityplaza II mall slightly out on Hong Kong Island from Causeway Bay is pretty easy to get to with the ever efficient MTR. The restaurant is large by Hong Kong standards with my quick calculations estimating it capable of easily holding 200 people. The décor is bright and the tables spacious with a focus being the traditional fishtank holding large fish out back. For a late lunch it was still pretty heaving and filled with families, was a good sign it was a good local.

Although the staff have difficulty speaking English, getting by with the English menu, a bit and a bit of pointing seemed to the do the job and my order for cha xiu in the three different styles including sliced, steamed and baked buns was on its way. As you can tell from the pictures, the sliced version is the best indicator for the quality of the cha xiu in its original form.

The chared edges are a good indicator that it had been cooked with care, the fat not out of proportion with the meat, and the red colouring at least indicating the presence of some marinating instead of simply being basted. Oddly enough, the succulent flesh was not overly sweet, and so they served it in an orange marmalade sauce to which you could overdose on the sugar if you wished.

The steamed and baked bun varieties of the cha xiu did not disappoint at all either. It was the first time in Hong Kong that the cha xiu bao filling had something other than the cha xiu (in this case onions), but they had been cooked well and so only added to the overall sweetness.

The steamed bun dough was superb, and was probably the lightest steamed bun dough that I’d had for quite some time, literally melting in your mouth. The dough was white, sweet and went well with the filling. The baked variety was slightly stranger, combining both the uncommon onion-cha xiu filling with a bun that was topped with the sweet crunchy crust of the “…” buns you commonly find in Chinese bakeries.

After almost overdosing on cha xiu in one sitting, I was still overly satisfied that I had made the extra effort to visit this restaurant. I will say though, that even not being especially close (i.e. walking distance) to any major tourist attractions, the MTR line leading directly into the heart of the mall still makes it especially accessible. The restaurant probably serves mean dim sum, and is a nice atmosphere to dine in, especially if you are after cha xiu.

Details: West Villa Restaurant
Found On: Shop 208, 2nd Floor, Cityplaza II, Taikoo Shing (easily accessible via the MTR)
Contactable On: (852) 2522 1624
Highlights: Fantastic char xiu of especially high quality
The Kua Rating:8 out of 10