Where:
Lei garden – 利苑
No. 358-362 HeYuan Road, Yinzhou District, Ningbo – 民安东路国际金融中心E栋1座2楼 (Pinned on Monsieur Baozi Map)
Ⓜ️ Haiyan North road (1)
💵 +/- 140¥ / pers for brunch. Double for dinner.
https://www.leigarden.hk

Lei Garden is a Cantonese restaurant chain from Hong Kong. The group owns 24 restaurants in Mainland-China, Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore, among which 5 own a Michelin star.
Lucky: Ningbo is one of the 5 cities where the group has decided to settle in Mainland-China, with Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou.

The restaurant is located in the east of Ningbo, near the International Finance Center. Installed in an office building on the second floor, this is not a restaurant on which you would come across “by chance”. However, on my two visits, the main room was full, and I never frequent restaurants at local rush hour (11:30 and 18:30), but as late as possible

The service is quite thoughtful and fast. It’s more of a high-end restaurant with white table cloth, big tables and a hushed atmosphere.

Today I came for their Cantonese brunch. If you don’t know the principle, this is a traditional Cantonese meal during which are served “Dim-Sum” (sort of steamed bites) in bamboo dishes, all washed down with proper tea throughout the meal. It’s a relaxing formula, and if it’s well-executed, a real treat.

Steamed shrimp & celery rollx3, 29¥: the waiter gently pours a fine soy sauce over these slightly trembling rice peel rolls. The rolls are literally pearly, filled with large whole shrimp and slightly crunchy celery

Chicken and mushrooms fried spring roll x3, 29¥: Small bites generously stuffed with chicken, mushrooms and finely chopped taro, under a crispy rice paste wrap. The taro brings a little sweet touch that balances the whole. Beware of burns, it’s very hot!

Xiao Long Bao x4, 29¥: The ravioli are of great quality at Lei Garden. Rather small in size, they contain a stuffing of pork and ginger bathed in a rich and steaming broth that gives off its aromas after opening the hat.

Hagao x4, 33RMB: When the waiter drops off the bamboo basket containing the Hagao, I can see the large shrimps hidden under their slightly transparent rice skin. Another classic very well executed, which we come to dip in a delicate soy sauce to reveal all the aromas.

Char siew bao x3 (steamed BBQ pork buns), 29¥: one of my favourite steamed snacks. A BaoZi stuffed with confit-ed pork, oyster sauce, slightly sweetened with honey.

Pork rice porridge & century eggs x1, 30¥: for me, a Cantonese brunch must end with a soup or a porridge. That’s the way it should be. They had only one porridge on the menu, with pork and century eggs. Frankly, I was not excited but I really like to end up with a “hot” note so we went for it… And it turned out to be excellent.

I usually find century eggs too “powerful” the previous time I tried, but cooked in porridge, they spread some of their power in the liquid, and really raise the flavours of the whole. Certainly, this porridge was a nice surprise.

Pu’Er tea, 48¥ for several servings: I tend to like Pu’Er Tea very much. This black tea from Yunnan has subtle notes of ground and oxidation.

Conclusion:
If you are looking for a good Chinese restaurant to invite friends or customers in Ningbo: this is the ideal place. The service there is very decent, the food really good and well presented. We take advantage of the excellence of a group with several restaurants Michelin-star restaurants, without necessarily breaking the bank account either. The Brunch option is especially worth it if you want to discover or re-discover Cantonese cuisine.