We honestly weren’t expecting much from a tourist attraction lunch-bundled-admission-ticket restaurant. But Weilong Restaurant 围龙食府, located within Yannanfei Tea Plantation Resort 雁南飞茶田景区 blew us away with some pretty authentic and most importantly, super delicious Hakka cuisine. 

The theater restaurant with evening cultural performances is huuuge; and easily seats up to a thousand people! Decked in shades of auspicious reds, countless brightly lit lantern lights and wall to wall glass windows, Weilong Restaurant awes you with its vastness and grandeur the moment you step through the doors. We ordered local Hakka classics from the region , and were dumbfounded by the quality of every single dish on the table. 

Everyone agreed the Mei Cai Kou Rou 梅菜扣肉 (Braised Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens) at Weilong was the best amongst the many we’ve had during our trip. The pork belly was uniformly melt-in-mouth tender without any greasiness. The preserved mustard leaves were tender throughout. Everything deeply braised in a balanced sweet savory sauce. Not too salty on its own, yet not underwhelming with rice. The sauce was the perfect viscosity over rice and was good as a meal by itself. This was flawless. 

Possibly the most famous of Hakka cuisine, Hakka Yong Tau Foo 客家酿豆腐 (Stuffed Tofu) seemingly simple, could make or break, with the slightest off execution. Whilst the tofu’s freshness mustn’t be compromised, the filling is more than just plain old salted pork mince. In true Hakka tradition, Weilong’s Hakka Tofu checked all the boxes. The soft tofu is triangled and stuffed lavishly with a filling involving ground pork, fish paste, salted fish and seasoning. The filling is handled with mastery to create a texture that is bouncy, soft and juicy. Together with the tofu that’s first panfried, then braised in a brown soybean sauce, the finished product is an explosion of warm-nutty-soy-savory-saucy-meaty sensation in the mouth. Again, flawless! 

Lesser known Glutionous Meatball 蒸肉粉derives from the Hokkien version. Hand chopped pork belly meat seasoned and blended with sweet potato starch to form a firm meatball. It is then rolled in glutinous rice and steamed. Unlike regular meatballs, these give layers of textures and flavors when you bite into it. The savory minced meat is juicy together with the chewy sticky rice, and makes a satisfying hearty snack or meal.

Roast Pigeons 烧乳鸽 is more Cantonese than Hakka, though both dialect groups come from the same Southern China region. These birds are one thing I’m happy to get my fingers dirty for. The meat may be lean, but it is also extremely juicy. The skin is roasted crisp with a good amount of salt pepper spices for flavor.

For soup, we had a deep pepper infused Pigs Stomach Soup 猪肚汤 which came with an abundance of other ingredients. But first, the pig’s stomach slices were simmered to breakaway soft sponginess. There were earthy beancurd sheets which cleverly soaked up the clear peppery soup for flavor. Gingko nuts add sweet gummy bites in between. This soup can’t be any more perfect on the drizzly afternoon.

We only ordered some greens out of health obligations! Yet these also-tasty leafy vegetables were done so nicely, clean with strong hints of garlic, we polished it clean as well.

For dessert, an unconventional Sweet Mountain Yam 糖山药 ; unassumingly plain yet utterly delicious. Soft warm starchy yam nuggets balance the sugar crystallized exterior, giving an unexpected appeal that gets better with every bite. We thought it might be get overly rich and filling , but this turned out to be light and sweet. No regrets ending with this!

After lunch, we took a mini van up the mountains for a stroll around the tea plantation. The cool weather made it really enjoyable walking off the calories we’d just ingested! Yannanfei Tea Plantation spreads across an area of 667 hectares. It boasts a beautiful landscape of tea trees, mountains and clear waters. The rain had just stopped when we began our walk and the fresh clean air felt refreshing on our minds, thoughts and skins. I highly recommend it if you haven’t been to an actual tea plantation. Of course, the bonus is the meal at Weilong while you’re there!

Weilong Restaurant 围龙食府 @ 99JF+22P, Meixian District, Meizhou, Guangdong Province,China, 514761 Phone +86 7532 828888

Disclaimer ~ This is not a sponsored post!