Renowned for her original and bold take on traditional recipes, private kitchen chef extraordinaire Margaret Xu Yuan is about to cook up another storm in her new restaurant Yin Yang for those who crave a healthy and delicious taste.

A Unique Blend of East and West
The restaurant is named after the local-favourite beverage Yin Yang, a mixture of coffee and tea with milk. “We serve local Hong Kong as well as colonial style cuisines here, it’s a mixture of two different things, like a cup of Yin Yang,’ explains Xu, “it’s a miniature version of Hong Kong’s culinary history.”

The 3-storey restaurant is stylishly arranged in a casual dining area, a colonial dining area and a kitchen between the two. It has a touch of the early 20th century that guarantees to offer an impressive dining experience you will never forget.

Reinventing Tradition
“I’m not professionally-trained as a chef, but I get lots of inspiration from my Hakka neighbour and those old housewives in rural villages I visited,” states Xu, “they taught me how to prepare authentic ancient cuisines, and I reinvented the recipes into something different.” The restaurant offers traditional fisherman menu with items like steamed sea urchin custard, and colonial recipes such as lemon chicken. “It’s Hong Kong cuisine with an international style,” she enthuses.

A Taste of Distinction
When it comes to cooking, Xu is keen to stick to ancient methods. In the kitchen sits a giant clay oven that she built out of a set of enormous Italian earthware pots, a traditional stone grind to make flour, and, unlike any other organic restaurants in town, she grows her own vegetables and herbs in her organic farm.

“Ancient cooking methods can really bring out rich natural flavours,” says Xu, “you’ll know what I’m talking about if you’ve tasted stone-ground rice flour.”

The restaurant is also known for its homemade sauces and delicacies. From oyster sauce, olive oil, the refreshing star fruit sashimi sauce and homemade bread, healthy cooking and healthy eating have never been tastier.