Archive | April, 2011

Shakey’s Pizza

28 Apr

I knew this place wasn’t going to be amazing, but there was something about it that had been trying to draw me towards it for some time, not merely because this branch of the chain with other restaurants across North America, Mexico, Japan, Philippines, China and of course Hong Kong, also resides in Stanley 11 and I have made it my mission to try every restaurant in that building. I have gone past it in the lift a few times and for some reason am always intrigued by it. I’m not sure if it’s the diner-style look, the greasy looking pizza, or the fact that it is always buzzing with people, but I have been talking about trying it for a while now.

Today, one of my colleagues stated that she wanted pizza. I concurred but said, however, that I didn’t want anything overly priced, so the decision was made to try Shakey’s Pizza.

We arrived just after 1.30, so the restaurant (if it can go by that name. It definitely is more like an American diner) was starting to empty out. We were still made to wait a little while for them to clear a table for us. While we waited, I thought I might as well start having a look at the set lunch menu, but before I even managed to glance at it, it was snatched out of my hand by our miserable waiter who led us, sour-faced, to our table at the back of the restaurant and we were not given the set lunch menus again until I had to ask for them.

We wanted to have a couple of pizzas and appetizers to share between five of us, but the same sour-faced waiter told us that we could not have a 12-inch Parma ham pizza (even though there was a 7-inch one on the set lunch menu). Surely if they can make a 7-inch one, they are capable of making a 12-inch one, but my favourite word, ‘cannot’, came into play once again and that was the end of that argument. So we settled for one of the Parma ham ‘gourmet’ (really??) pizzas, a 12-inch ‘Shakey’s Special’ pizza (featuring everything but the kitchen sink, but we specified no pineapple. Why do people think it is a good idea to add pineapple to pizza?), the famous ‘Shakey’s Special Mojo’, and as there was pretty much nothing else on the menu which tickled our fancy, we decided to leave it at that, and save space for a dessert.

After a very long wait (by which point we were one of the very few tables remaining so I’m not sure exactly what we were waiting for), we did not receive our appetizer (I’m sure this is usually served first, right?!) but our ‘Shakey’s Special’ pizza. Having been disappointed by the service and the menu, I was expecting to be disappointed by the pizza, but I was actually pleasantly surprised. We had opted for the thin as opposed to the hand-tossed crust which meant it was not quite as greasy nor heavy as I had anticipated. I will admit here that I actually only began liking pizza around four years ago – prior to this I had always been forced to eat Pizza Hut or Domino’s pizzas which never agreed with my bread-sensitive stomach and on several occasions even made me sick. I’m sure some of you know my brother’s nickname for me? This stems in part from my former dislike of pizza. I still, therefore, remain a bit of a pizza snob, but this one wasn’t too awful. Next up, we were served our gourmet pizza (still not sure what part of this pizza qualifies this name but perhaps the fact that it is rectangular rather than round) which was, again, better than anticipated but very salty. Finally our ‘mojo’ was served. I frequently use the term ”better late than never,” but actually on this occasion, perhaps not: slices of fried potato, still dripping in oil, smothered in sour cream, cheese, onions and tomatoes. Sounds like a dream but very disappointing and so small that, had we wanted more, we could each only have a couple of slithers.

Those measly three dishes, divided by five, still came to $80 each, and a combination of the unwillingness to give Shakey’s more business for the poor service they offered and the fear of being disappointed by their ice cream sundae, we made the decision to leave without dessert and go to Holly Brown in the opposite building for ice cream/fro-yo/coffee.

I believe that the decision to go to Holly Brown was, for me at least, a worse decision than Shakey’s Pizza. I ordered frozen yoghurt with Oreo, one of my favourite combinations. For $38 (outrageous) I was given a cup of not very tasty fro-yo with one, yes ONE Oreo, broken into about five pieces on top. I looked at it in disbelief, asked the lady (politely) if she was serious, if that was really it, to which I received a scowl and was told that if I wanted more oreo pieces I would have to pay. I did not step away and accept her ridiculous answer, but told her that that was unacceptable, that every other fro-yo place in HK gives a generous helping of oreo pieces for a cheaper price and that I would not be returning. She continued to stare at me, said nothing and walked away to serve the next poor customer. Note to self: stick to Yo Fresh on Caine Road.

Shakey’s Pizza

2/F Stanley 11
11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2525 3083

Date visited: Thursday 28th April 2011

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The Night Market

27 Apr

I’m afraid this post goes slightly against my plan to only try out restaurants I have never previously visited. There is a reason for this, however: every Lent, I like to challenge myself by giving up something (food related of course) which I love. I’ve done the clichéd chocolate before and (I can’t believe I’m saying this) it isn’t actually that hard once you’ve managed to get past the first four days or so (in these first four days, believe me, you see chocolate EVERYWHERE). Last year I gave up cheese which was torture. This year, living in Asia, I thought it most fitting and even more of a challenge to give up Asia’s staple diet – rice. Aiyaaa it was hard! I would even dream about rice. With frequency. Most people thought I was crazy: “How can you give up rice when you live in Hong Kong? What on earth do you eat?!” The most difficult thing about it was that it wasn’t just rice, but all rice-related foods; so no rice noodles, no cheung fan. In fact I had to miss out on several dim sum classics. Nightmare.

The first time I tried out this Taiwanese restaurant, The Night Market (also located in the amazing building on Stanley Street that is almost completely dedicated to restaurants, which by the way I still haven’t completed my task of trying every single one, so if anyone fancies helping me, please do get in touch), was a few days after Lent had started, and pretty much everything on the menu involves rice or rice noodles! Fortunately I was with a girl who speaks Cantonese, so she explained my situation to the waiter who arranged a special dish for me with egg noodles. It was fine, but the whole table around me, or in fact the whole restaurant around me was eating rice and I cannot deny the serious food envy I suffered.

Needless to say I made a vow to come back once Lent was over. I don’t think I can explain my excitement without once again referring to the child-like state I revert to on Christmas Eve. My stomach was howling, my eyes were bulging and I had a ridiculously cheesy grin I just couldn’t wipe off my face. I had already decided (am I predictable?! Just a little bit) what I was going to order: the dish that caused me to suffer the most food envy on my previous visit, which also happens to be one of the house specialities - stir-fried fillet mignon in sha cha sauce.

The lunchtime set menu offers a bento-box with your choice of main dish served on a bed of rice (yay!) and three little side dishes (which you can’t choose). On this occasion they were: tofu with spring onions, grilled aubergine, and a kind of scrambled egg with tomato. All a little oily but at least they don’t use any MSG. Other mains include fried pork chop (a little plain and the fact that it’s fried in batter might make it less appealing for some. My friend devoured it though), three cup chicken (cooked in equal measures of rice wine, sesame oil and soy sauce – also apparently a success as my other friend didn’t even offer me any!), stewed pork belly and spicy sweet and sour kung pao prawns. My fillet mignon was perfectly tender, without a trace of fat and the sha cha sauce with lots of ginger, chilli and yummy chinese vegetables was delicious, although, again, very oily and left me feeling uncomfortably full all afternoon. By no means gourmet food, but (as suggested by the name of the resto) they are aiming for the kind of food which is typical of Taiwanese street markets. I have never been to Taiwan, let alone a Taiwanese street market, so am not sure how near the head they hit the nail, but it works fine for a simple lunch.

Decor-wise, The Night Market is fairly minimalist, with bare wooden tables and unfinished clay pots on the 6th floor, whilst the 7th floor is brighter, with aqua-coloured walls and more stylish lighting. The one interesting design point on the 6th floor is the lamp-shades: above the long tables hang huge lampshades made up of bits of rolled up magazines. Interesting to look at and a great way to recycle methinks.

Service was basic and they served each meal a five-minute interval from the next. Fortunately mine arrived first but unfortunately I’ve been brought up not to start until everyone has their food. Damn you, manners! Our meal, including a drink (a selection of several different types of tea, the signature being the Taiwanese bubble tea) came to $105 each including a charge for the basic service. I can now cross it off my list of places to try (or try properly) but it will stay on my list of places to go back to for a simple, hearty lunch, particularly when I’m craving rice.

The Night Market also offers an a la carte menu in the evenings and has just started a delivery service for those lazy evenings when you don’t want to move from your sofa.

The Night Market

6-7/F Stanley 11
11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2810 1121

Date visited: Wednesday 27th April 2011

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Bouchon Bistro Français

25 Apr

Another fairly newcomer to Elgin Street, Bouchon Bistro Français opened in January this year. From the outside, it looks like your typical French bistro, but once you get inside, this is even more apparent; with an array of vintage French posters lining the walls, hung amidst various blackboards and a shelf full of oddly shaped glass bottles, reminiscent of a French apothecary. A little Parisian window in the heart of Soho.

We originally had the intention of having a light lunch at a place called Pop Bites on Old Bailey Street but it appears to have metamorphosed into yet another Toni & Guy.  Although it offers good hair cuts, I wouldn’t suspect it offers good lunches. Or even bad lunches at that. The point I’m trying to make is that, as Bouchon was a last minute plan B choice (not because it was lower on my iPhone notes list than our plan A, but merely because I did not want the huge meal which I ended up having), I hadn’t had the chance to scope out the menu, which I’m sure many of you know by now is what I always like to do.

Nevertheless, they did offer a good menu, albeit with pricier options than necessary: braised beef cheeks bourguignon for $238, roasted chicken bistro for $328 – not the kind of money I like to spend on the average lunch, but there is always a trusty set lunch menu: $108 for a starter and a main. All the dishes are very simple but also very traditionally French, with options such as country paté with toasted baguette, Bayonne ham with cornichons, or (my selection) onion soup gratinée. 

We were sat on a table overlooking the very small kitchen, led by French chef Jerome Billot, and we watched as one of the chefs sliced more onions than I have ever seen in my life and slid them into a saucepan big enough to hide me in. I then watched with a big excited smile on my face, as the chef layered not one, not two but three slices of gruyere on top of my soup before putting it under the grill so that I was served a beautifully golden, perfectly cheesy soup in an iron pot. It was a little on the heavy side and I couldn’t manage it all, as I feared it might mean not being able to eat anything else, but it tasted good and the mild creamy cheese helped to counteract the strong taste of the onion. My friend ordered the tomato salad with goat’s cheese, which was apparently very nice but I think my soup was the winner.

For our main course, having seen another table being served the roast of the day with French fries, we were unable to turn the same down. It was roast pork on this particular day, served in a beer sauce. It definitely wouldn’t win top marks for presentation, as I would describe it more as very simple home-cooked comfort food, but it would score fairly highly on taste and the beer sauce was the perfect complement.

Almost unable to find the dessert compartment in our tummies, we very nearly walked away without one, until we looked at the menu and were intrigued by the chocolate marquisse with pistachio, which we ordered to share. A melt-in-the-mouth chocolate mousse cake, served on a pistachio sauce, this dessert was delectable. Ever so slightly too sweet and rich, I definitely couldn’t have managed it solo, but I wouldn’t decline ordering it to share again.

The service was very good and the waiters frequently asked if we were happy with our meal. I wouldn’t say the food was as amazing as your typical Parisian bistro, but they certainly make an effort in trying to make it so and it seems to be very popular even amongst HK’s abundant French crowd.

Our meal for two, without drinks and a shared dessert came to about $140 each. The wine list is reasonably priced and offers some great French wines from across the country, but I think the food coma alone was enough to make me struggle through my afternoon; a glass of wine would have certainly made me fall asleep at my desk!

Bouchon Bistro Français
49 Elgin Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2525 9300

Date visited: Tuesday 19th April 2011

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Le Marron

21 Apr

On Saturday, my friend celebrated one of her last nights of freedom before her big day to be held this summer. After a beautiful day out on a catamaran in the South China Sea, her hen party of 18 girls went to Le Marron in Causeway Bay for dinner. This private kitchen, similar to its sister restaurant, Le Blanc, aims to make the diner feel like they are in someone’s very ornately decorated dining room, littered with photo frames, candelabras and all sorts of knick-knacks dotted around on every possible surface area.

The tables (for between 2 and 30 diners) are semi-curtained off with translucent screens, allowing for a bit of privacy if you want it, or they can just as easily be pushed aside to allow drunken men to come in and taunt/tempt the bride-to-be! Or likewise if other parties were outraged by our hen games, they were free to close themselves off too.  Each sectioned-off area is slightly different, with mismatching wallpaper and furniture, giving the impression that each party has their very own dining room, different to the next. Mind you, the noise levels remind you that you are indeed sharing the restaurant with A LOT of other people, so be prepared to shout in order to make yourself heard.

Although there is a reasonably priced wine-list, the restaurant offers a BYO service, without a corkage charge, which helps to bring down the cost. This is particularly useful if you’re celebrating with champagne for 18 thirsty girls. The attentive waiters make this experience even more worthwhile by insisting that your glass is never empty (although I think all of us cursed the waiters the following morning!).

A set menu of four courses, with a few choices for each course, awaited us. The overriding theme of the month (the menu changes monthly) seemed to be FUNGUS. There were mushrooms everywhere: wild mushroom quiche, wild mushroom soup, angel-hair pasta with….wild mushrooms and black truffle cream sauce. As I have mentioned previously, I never used to be a fungus person, so this many mushrooms on one menu did frighten me a little bit and I was grateful that we had the choice to opt out. I did decide to try the wild mushroom quiche, however, as it was the starter which jumped out at me the most. So, as (after a surprisingly long time) the other girls received a huuuuge plate of Caesar salad, or a decent portion of foie gras, I was served a sliver of quiche. At the time, I grumbled and probably even muttered under my breath to the waiter “where’s the rest of it?” but, considering I still had three courses to follow, it was probably a jolly good thing it wasn’t any bigger! The quiche was good, very flavoursome, but did leave me wanting more. Apparently the foie gras was the opposite – very good flavour but far too rich and any more would have been torture. I didn’t try the salad, although I did try one of the croutons which I believe I described as “outrageously garlicky.”

Unwilling, like I said, to have an overload of wild mushrooms, I chose the only other soup option – crab bisque – which I wasn’t too bothered about ordering and didn’t allow myself to eat much of as I had a big plate of beef to follow. It was a lot better than I had imagined and I particularly enjoyed the chunks of crabmeat. Don’t risk it if you don’t like crab though, as it is… well, very crabby! Mushroom soup was apparently rather watery but a good level of mushroominess.

A taste of sorbet to clean the palatte was very well received after my crabby crab bisque.

I didn’t really know exactly what I had ordered for main course. I simply went with it as it sounded better than the other options and the waiter recommended it: Grilled Angus short rib mille feuille with perigueux sauce. It was beautifully presented and wafer-thinly sliced, so that, had there not been so many fatty bits, it would have melted in the mouth. Unfortunately, there were quite a few said fatty bits which had to be discarded, leaving me with little edible meat (again probably not a bad thing as I was already becoming replete). Looking around the table, the duck was said to have very good flavour but was very dry and would have benefitted from a little jus. I tried the angel hair pasta and was blown away by the mushroominess: it was insanely powerful and one small mouthful was enough to make me down my glass of Sauvignon Blanc!

There were three desserts to choose from: Baked apple and cinnamon crumble, warm chocolate pudding or crème brulée. I ordered the choc pud but was very disappointed. Not nearly as good as Watermark‘s one, and nowhere near as good as the M&S food porn one, needless to say I took a couple of mouthfuls, pushed it aside and tried the other two desserts. Crème brulée – not amazing and the shell on top did not have that satisfactory crack when knocked with a fork. Apple crumble however, parfait! Tart apple with crisp, delicious crumble. Hands down star of the show. Well done crumble.

All in all a very enjoyable evening. The food can definitely not be described as out of this world, but it was tasty and I don’t think there are many other restaurants in HK where we could seat 18 over-excited girls on one long table and where it would be acceptable to whip out all sorts of phallic-themed accessories. Although at first sight a few of us mentioned to each other that this could be an ideal date restaurant, judging by the noise levels and the fact that, although titled a ‘private kitchen’, it is definitely not so private, it is perhaps only best kept for large groups. There is a minimum spend of $380 per head, but our bill reached $510 each with a couple of additional bottles. For a very fun evening, this wasn’t a bad price at all and I definitely think our hen had a good time as we all stumbled onwards to Wyndham Street carrying our food babies.

Le Marron

12/F Ying Kong Mansion
2-6 Yee Wo Street
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2881 6662

Date visited: Saturday 16th April 2011

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JAR

20 Apr

JAR, which humbly stands for Just a Restaurant, is another new addition to up and coming Lyndhurst 8. It opened in December and has since created quite a following, meaning it is near impossible to get a table without a reservation. Serving European cuisine in a modern, very simply designed setting, I guess it would be fair to say that it is, in fact, just a restaurant; the walls are white-washed brick, the floor is stripped wood, the tables are bare (at least at lunchtime – it appears that they dress the tables with a table cloth for dinner), and the chairs are mis-matched. One touch I particularly like are the numerous bare lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling, with all cables exposed.  With their motto being “no fuss, no frills – just a restaurant,” they seem to be going for minimalist design, in order that their customers focus on what is most important in any restaurant: the food. I wholeheartedly agree.

I got a little over-excited by the way they serve their bread. I had read about it online and was actually like a young child (or even my 23-year-old self) on Christmas Eve. They serve you little herby rolls in a cloth bag which has hot stones hidden in the bottom of it to keep the rolls warm. Ingenious idea and would have made me happy even if the bread was stale and mouldy – which of course (thankfully) it wasn’t.

There are two set menu options for lunch which change seasonally: “Just a lunch” at $128 or “Just another lunch” at $98. Both offer a three course meal plus tea or coffee, but obviously the dishes on the pricier side of the menu are a little bit fancier and larger, with options such as baby lamb with sweet corn mashed potato, or slow-braised ox-tail with cauliflower mash. Steak frites demands a $50 supplement which seems a little unnecessary. The other side of the menu, which was our selection, offered smaller and more down to earth options. The starter (on both menus in fact) was either soup of the day (leek and potato in this case) or some salad from the buffet. The soup, although at first sight appeared watered down, was actually rather tasty. I wouldn’t put it on the same scale as Covent Garden soup but it’s up there. The salad buffet was fine, where strangely for me, the beetroot won top trumps. It was only really fine because I knew I had more food coming. Had that been it, however, I think I would have been disappointed. 

Main course for me was grilled flatbread with caramelised onions, taleggio cheese and chorizo, served, very rustically, on a wooden board. It was a little bit rich as there was a LOT of caramelised onion, but had a nice flavour and I particularly enjoyed the taleggio. I’m glad I tried it, as I was completely torn over what to choose (the menu online is not their up to date version, so my original choice of smoked ham, asparagus and ricotta quiche was sadly not an option. Naturally I did have a little grumble about this), but I’m not certain I would order it again. My opinion was the opposite of my friends’ however, who both ordered the “mac and 4 cheese” (fontina, gruyere, emmenthal and cheddar) and thought it was so deliciously wonderful that they said they would come back and order it again and again. I don’t know what they’ll do if it is removed from the set menu. There was a small case of food envy, however, as one looked beautifully golden, whilst the other, slightly anaemic.

For dessert we had a choice of “yoghurt flavoured ice-cream” (do you mean frozen yoghurt?!) or mango and raspberry torte. Although when the waitress told us the options, I was a little put out by the lack of anything chocolatey, both desserts were actually delicious. The frozen yoghurt was very tart in comparison to the kind you buy in the average froyo place (by the way, Yo Fresh on Caine Road gives you an extra free topping every Monday!). I love sour things so this was exactly to my liking, but I guess if you don’t then it might not be your cup of tea. The mango and raspberry torte looked artificial and overly sweet but was surprisingly fresh and more-ish. Personally I felt that the two desserts went hand in hand, and as the yoghurt was a measly one small scoop, I don’t see why they don’t serve them together as one dessert. Perhaps I’m being greedy.

Including service (which was pretty poor, although they did apologise at the end without being prompted), total bill came to $108 per person. For three courses and given the central location of this new spot, I think that is absolutely pas mal du tout. From what I can see, the dinner menu seems to double in price, although it does offer pancetta wrapped rainbow trout with mint almond dressing which sounds spectacular. My mouth is watering… hmm perhaps I will dine there tomorrow…

 JAR
2/F 8 Lyndhurst Terrace
Central
Hong Kong
Tel: +852 2543 8000

Date visited: Monday 11th April 2011

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Mostaccioli Brothers

20 Apr

At the far end of Elgin Street, tucked away around the back of the buildings, you’ll find this sweet little restaurant. A newcomer to Soho, Mostaccioli Brothers (AKA Mo Bros) arrived on the scene a mere three months ago, yet if it’s as busy as it was a couple of Fridays ago every day, then it appears to have hit the ground running.

I have seen it mentioned online and wanted to give it a shot, but have actually never noticed it whenever I’ve walked past. You have to look up for a green sign saying ‘Mo Bros’ hanging above a little alley way. At first glance, this alley way looks somewhat dodgy and you’d never guess that it would lead to this quaint little spot. In fact we almost decided to give it a miss and stick to one of our regular haunts. Down the alley and round the corner, you come first to Mo Bros Bar, consisting of mostly alfresco seating with a nice little bar inside. Down a few steps and you reach the actual restaurant. We managed to get the last table available, outside on the terrace, which was ideal as it was such a beautiful day. It’s also a bit of a novelty to find somewhere in Soho (not including rooftops) where you can actually sit outside. The terrace is made to look like a pretty little Italian walled garden, albeit with very fake looking ivy and windows with scenic landscapes painted in. However, regardless of the fake accessories, it still feels like you could be somewhere other than Hong Kong. At least until you look up and see the buildings towering overhead. I love people watching, but it was a nice change to have no people to watch, and no traffic disrupting our conversation.

The interior of the restaurant is very small and cosy, with attention drawn to a large painting of an Italian countryside. To give you an idea of the size of the restaurant, there was a large birthday party of about 12 diners who took up the length of the room. There is amazingly cheesy American-Italian music blaring out, even through speakers in the loo (but unfortunately not in the terrace) which for some reason immediately brought to mind the scene in Beauty and the Beast where Gaston and his friends are drinking beer in a tavern! Everyone loves a good Disney film, so, although the particular song that was playing whilst I was in the little girls room had absolutely nothing to do with a Disney film, it still put a smile on my face and made me want to sing along (regardless of not knowing the lyrics).

Image courtesy of the wonderful Karen Fong

The attentive staff immediately served us a delicious loaf of warm ciabatta with a tomato and garlic dip whilst we decided on our food. There was the option of an “all you can eat” set lunch which includes a free-flowing supply of bread, soup, salad, a signature pasta dish and a drink for $128, which seemed a reasonable price but far more food than we could stomach. Instead we decided to share the buffalo mozzarella and order a plate of pasta each. The mozzarella was beautifully fresh, imported from Italy like most of their ingredients, drizzled in olive oil and pesto and served with only three cherry tomatoes (very stingy!) and, rather bizarrely, Carr’s water biscuits. Two of us ordered the signature ‘baked Mostaccioli’ and our third diner tried the cream-free spaghetti carbonara. The signature dish, which is apparently ‘Chicago style’ (definitely Chicago style portions!) was a variation of penne pasta with sausages and red onions in a tomato sauce, generously covered in mozzarella and baked. The ideal comfort food. I was feeling fresh as a daisy, but I can imagine this being incredible hangover food, particularly with the amount of salt they used. The first few bites were delicious but the saltiness became a little overwhelming and I could only manage half of the enormous serving. The cream-free carbonara looked and tasted rather dry, which is, I suspect, why most people nowadays use cream when preparing this dish. I like that they put in the effort to make an original carbonara by replacing the cream with eggs, but unfortunately it was not a successful dish and my friend actually ended up finishing my dish instead of hers!

The dessert menu is rather disappointing, with only three options: tiramisu, cannoli or ice cream served with chocolate or whisky, none of which particularly appealed to us. I would have liked to have had a few other choices like perhaps a ricotta cake or anything to do with chocolate. Unimpressed with the selection, we opted instead for a frozen yoghurt en route back to the office! 

Total bill was $135 each which didn’t include a drink. A great new addition to Elgin Street which I would come back to for some unpretentious home-style cooking. If you’re looking for some alfresco dining in the heart of Soho, this little place is just the ticket… but make sure you come with an appetite as they serve American portions! 

 

Mostaccioli Brothers

B/F & G/F 16 Elgin Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2525 5770  

Date visited: Friday 8th April 2011         

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Tango

20 Apr

Having spent numerous holidays in Uruguay and Argentina and having eaten a ridiculous number of their delicious cows, Tango had a lot to live up to in my eyes. I had been recommended it by several people and was eager to try it to see how it compared to the real deal. My expectations were not very high as there is no way that a restaurant overlooking Wyndham Street could even come close to a restaurant on a cobbled street in San Telmo, Buenos Aires. No chance. But we can’t have it all, can we? We live in HK, not BA, so I told myself to forget about the location and let Tango become my Argentina for the night.

 It definitely made a great attempt at doing this. We walked in to a typically Argentine wine cellar: the walls in the reception area were stacked floor to ceiling with a huge array of wine bottles – mostly all Argentinean with a few Italians and Spanish thrown into the mix, staying true to the Argentine roots. Bare brick walls and wooden floors give it that rustic look common to many Argentine parrilla restaurants. Not to mention the parrilla itself, which is always the centre of attraction at any Argentinean meat restaurant and is very much the case at Tango: a huge wood-fire barbeque where they usually cook literally everything they serve you – meat, vegetables, cheese, you name it, the Argentines can barbeque it.

 As usual, I had a sneaky peek at the menu online (which, I might add, is actually quite difficult to track down. I had to Google ‘Dining Concepts HK’ after a search of ‘Tango restaurant HK’ only came up with the usual suspects of review forums). The menu made me immediately nostalgic and excited and of course I started to plan my meal. I insisted on ordering a few starters to share and didn’t really give my fellow diners much of a choice in the matter. We had octopus ceviche, which was supposed to be spicy but definitely wasn’t. It was good….but I’ve had better. Peruvian ceviche is the best there is, so finding anything comparable is never easy. We also had a selection of empanadas, one with hand-cut beef, a second with goat’s cheese and sun-dried tomatoes, and a third with sweet corn. I LOVE empanadas. Little parcels of delight. These were great, but again… I’ve definitely had better. Most countries in South America have their own version of empanadas, and I would say that Argentinean ones are up there on my ‘best empanadas’ list. Although not always, they are usually baked rather than fried, and the pastry is so light and delicate that it simply melts in your mouth. These ones were fried and a little heavy on the pastry. 60 bucks an empanada also seems to me an absurd price. The chorizo we ordered was very tasty but there was nowhere near enough of it: there were four small pieces. Luckily there were only four of us eating, so we each had a piece but it left us wanting more, especially as there was still so much delicious chimichurri sauce left over. The last (but by no means least) of our starters was calamari with a green salad and lemon aioli. This. Was. A-mazing. Some people can get squid so wrong and cook it for too long so that you might as well be eating a wellington boot, but not Tango’s head chef, Argentine Ignacio Elizondo. The squid here is so tender that you barely even need to chew it, and that lemon aioli… wow.

 For mains, although there are lots of yummy looking dishes on the menu which aren’t cut from a cow, such as pasta, barbequed trout, chicken or lamb, we thought “when in Rome..” and went straight for the steak. After all those starters I wasn’t particularly hungry, but I had been to fitness training earlier in the evening and worked myself extra hard to make room for a big, juicy steak, so I ignored my nearly-full stomach and ordered a fillet steak, medium-rare, or, as I used to order in Uruguayan restaurants, “quemado afuera, jugoso adentro”. The steak (imported from Argentina of course) was incredible. As with the calamari, it was so tender that it barely needed chewing at all. I think the steak knives they provide you with are made for giants. The knife might have been bigger than my head! All it needed was a gentle push and it slid right through the tender steak. I would not want to get into an argument with anyone in this restaurant!

 In Argentina, steaks are generally not served in any kind of sauce. As delicious as black pepper sauce is on a steak, Argentine steak is so delicious on its own that it just doesn’t need it. It is almost considered an insult to smother the steak in sauce. So what you are served at Tango is a selection of six accompanying ‘salsas’: Criolla (which our waiter struggled to pronounce, so quickly mumbled over the word three times. It’s a combination of onions, olives and peppers), Chimichurri (the most typical accompaniment to Argentine steaks, consisting of olive oil, vinegar, chilli, garlic, onion, oregano, thyme, pepper and bay leaves – delicious), spicy tomato, Dijon mustard, whole-grain mustard and horseradish. The steak really was so amazing that it could have been eaten on its own without a problem, but these sauces served to enhance the flavour.

 The menu contains a range of ‘guarniciones’ – side dishes – which are big enough to share. We ordered roasted peppers marinated in garlic and olive oil (always one of my favourites), marinated eggplant escabeche and a very pleasing ‘rustic’ potato and spring onion mash. Rustic because the potatoes were still wearing their skin when they were mashed. There are several other choices including oven roasted sweet potatoes with rosemary which I would like to try next time. I’m certain that there will be a next time.

 The meal was teamed with a delicious Malbec from Argentina’s best wine-growing region, Mendoza. This fruity, velvety wine was the perfect companion to our beautiful steaks.

I know there is usually a separate compartment in my stomach for dessert, but on this occasion it was nowhere to be found. I actually couldn’t even finish my steak which upset me ever so slightly. Had there been room for dessert, however, I would have devoured the dulce de leche crepe, or the warm apple empanada. Or both. You can even buy a jar of dulce de leche to take home… I’m struggling to remember why I didn’t do this.

 I guess I must make a comment about the service. Even though we were bang smack in the centre of the restaurant, we were pretty much ignored by the waiters. Had we been in a rush, it would have bothered us, but I actually think the slow service added to the authenticity of the experience and made me feel like I could well have been in Argentina.

 It goes without saying that the prices here are ludicrously expensive compared to the real deal. On first sight I was outraged, as we could get incredible steaks in Uruguay which were sometimes cheaper than a loaf of bread (albeit a rather pricey loaf of bread!) If we consider, however, that all the meat, wine and even the chef are imported from Argentina (which is a jolly long way away!) it’s not as awful as it could be. Dinner for four, including two bottles of wine, came to around $800 per person. A little bit punchy but to be expected, and, for an almost authentic Argentinean experience on our very own Wyndham Street, definitely worth it. It seems that they do a great lunch set too (2 courses for $98) so I have every intention of trying that out very soon.

Tango
1/F 77 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 25255808

Date visited: Monday 4th April 2011

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Hide-Chan Ramen

20 Apr

Most people will have heard of Butao Ramen and its ridiculous hour-long queues for a very simple bowl of Japanese ramen noodles. I haven’t actually been myself because I’m not sure I see the point in queuing for hours for a very simple bowl of ramen. Unless I had snacks to keep me going, there would be no way of shutting up my grumbling stomach and I’m sure it would disturb the other customers. Actually maybe this would be a good idea – scare off the customers with my growling stomach and head straight to the front of the queue.

However, when there is Hide-Chan Ramen, on Wellington Street, there is no need to put this experiment to the test. We went for lunch after the mad rush, at around 1.30, walked straight in and were seated immediately. This was somewhat surprising, seeing as this particular link of the Hide-Chan Ramen chain with other restaurants in Tokyo and New York, only opened its doors a mere two weeks ago.

We were presented with three sheets of paper and three pencils, resulting in three very confused expressions. When I’ve ordered ramen before, there has never been so much choice – you have your standard ramen with beef or pork or vegetables etc. and that’s that. In Hide-Chan Ramen, however, you have a choice of what kind of soup base you’d like: Hakata Original Ramen, White Hide (apparently has lots of collagen in it(?)), Black Hide (with a charred garlic taste) or Red Hide (with an added touch of Korean sweet chilli sauce). The HCR team pride themselves on the fact that they use selected pork legs and boil them for a minimum of 24 hours to create their stock – all MSG-free! You can then choose the level of spiciness you would like: low, medium or high; what consistency you would like your noodles: soft, medium or hard; if you would like any extra garlic (I found this absolutely hilarious as they give you a small bowl filled with about six garlic cloves and a garlic crusher – never seen anything like it before in a restaurant!); and what part of the pig you would like your pork to have come from: shoulder, belly or neck (if you’re a vegetarian you can skip the pork, but there doesn’t seem to be an option for any non-vegetarians who are against eating pigs). In case you haven’t picked up on it yet, you use your little pencil to tick the box next to your selection. You then have the choice of adding extras such as bean sprouts, soft-boiled egg, dumplings, more pig, and a variety of sauces – I have no idea what these sauces are as they are just called “black sauce” or “red sauce” but I’m sure they are delicious. If you’re feeling extra hungry you can even tick the box for “noodle refills!” All of these extras come at an added cost but nothing to get your knickers in a twist over.

I selected Black Hide, medium spicy (I was told the Black Hide was not allowed to be spicy but I pleaded and was brought a small dish of spicy sauce on the side), medium consistency noodles, pork shoulder with soft-boiled egg and bean sprouts. I was having a bit of an off-day – part post-7s sickness, part mid-week blues – so this was the perfect comfort food and definitely brought my spirits up. For me, there’s always something about soup noodles that makes you feel like you’re being given a great big cuddle and all is well with the world. Is that weird?!

There is also the option of adding a side dish of 10 pan-seared Hakata dumplings, which we were unable to turn down. Guess what’s in the dumplings…. pork of course! To complement your dumplings, you may choose a range of rather strange toppings: cheese (really?!), cheese mayonnaise (excuse me?!), Tarako mayonnaise or (our selection) green onion mayonnaise which I promise tastes much better than it sounds. I could probably live off those dumplings. Although obviously I would need chocolate too.

 Total bill was just over $100 each not including drinks, so a little bit pricier than somewhere like Misocool but as you can completely customise your meal without someone saying “no, cannot,” it’s definitely worth that little bit extra. I’d like to try Butao Ramen as a comparison but not until they see to their lunchtime traffic problem.

 

 Hide-Chan Ramen

Upper Ground Floor
The Loop
33 Wellington Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2522 5990

Date visited: Thursday 31st March 2011

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Watermark

20 Apr

I had a friend from home visiting for the Rugby 7s and on her last night, although we were both suffering from the excesses of the weekend, we wanted to go for a nice chilled out meal in a scenic location. She had been up to the Peak earlier in the day and we weren’t in the mood to trek all the way over to “the dark side” to dine somewhere with a view of Hong Kong’s spectacular skyline. The next best thing was to go somewhere with a view of the TST harbour. Watermark, just above the Star Ferry, offers an unobstructed view of the harbour with huge glass windows giving you the feeling that you’re almost sitting on the water. You know it’s going to be a special place from the moment you walk in, with its long entrance way leading you to a large open space with high ceilings and, of course, the harbour view. Lest we forget that en route you must walk past several windows where you can peer into the kitchen and observe all the scrumptious meals being prepared. What immediately caught my eye was some sort of chocolate dessert which I knew I had to find on the menu and HAD to order no matter how full I was at the end of my meal!

 As we decided on our resto venue very last minute, we obviously hadn’t booked a table, so although there were tables available, none were right next to the windows. We could still see the harbour but had a few big heads in our way obstructing the “unobstructed view” so I would definitely recommend booking a table and requesting one close to the windows, especially if, like me, you are trying to show off our beautiful city and try to convince your friends to move out here too!

 The waiters were all very attentive and immediately brought us some warm bread with a delicious dipping sauce. Although our taste buds were certain there were hints of garlic and lemon in this dip, we were advised that it was merely Greek yoghurt with a touch of salt and pepper, sprinkled with parmesan. Maybe the 7s confused our taste buds but regardless it was delicious and a nice touch to replace the average slab of butter most restaurants serve you.

 As we weren’t outrageously starving, we passed on the starters, although they did look tempting – particularly the Iberian ham with roasted capsicum, crispy eggplant and aged manchego – and went straight for the mains. My friend ordered the spaghetti with seared langoustines and tomato concasse and, after asking our very helpful waitress what the most delicious dishes on the menu were, I opted for the chef’s speciality of Brittany cod with salsify, wild mushrooms and watercress. Both dishes were divine; neither were unnecessarily big portions, both were beautifully presented and our plates may as well have been licked clean as there was not a trace of food left over. I have grown up with the saying “waste not want not” drilled into my little brain, but this time I did not need to be reminded as I had no intention of leaving any of my delicious cod behind. I used to never be a fan of the fungus but these days I rather enjoy my mushrooms, and must say that these ones were particularly special. After the cod, they may have been the star of the main course. I won’t say they were the star of the show, however, as that award definitely goes to the delicious dessert which I had saved a little corner of my stomach for – I always say that there’s a separate compartment for dessert.

 We were pretty full after having asked for a second round of bread and dipping sauce, but I located the scrummy looking dessert which I had previously glimpsed through the window into the kitchen: it was a melting middle chocolate pudding served with vanilla bean ice cream. The kind that you just softly touch with the tip of your fork and it oozes all over your plate. The kind that Marks & Spencer used to include in their amazing food-porn adverts. The kind that even though I was absolutely stuffed, I couldn’t bear to leave a crumb of. Each of the desserts on the menu had its own little tagline underneath. For example, apparently the pear tart is “to impress your date”, and the chocolate pudding is “to be eaten without showing your teeth!” The cheese served with figs and walnut bread seemed to be one of their specialities “as an excuse to stay for longer” but unfortunately I couldn’t find the cheese compartment in my stomach. I think the pudding stole it.

 A little bit pricier than the average place but not out of this world prices and definitely worth every penny (sorry, cent. I live in the dollar world now), especially taking into consideration that you’re most likely also paying for the view. Mains ranged from $160 to $400.They also have a great wine list. New Zealand Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc was the most expensive one on the list but I couldn’t turn down a glass and it was delicious. Our bill came to $611 after a kind discount for paying with an HSBC card. I can picture my father who worked for HSBC from the age of 18 jumping for joy at this!

 Watermark

Central Pier 7
Top Level
Star Ferry
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2167 7251

Date visited: Tuesday 29th March 2011

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Veggie SF

20 Apr

What with it being the week leading up to the Rugby 7s which is always a ridiculous weekend where you simply cannot avoid drinking far too much and eating far too unhealthily, I had been trying my utmost to prepare for this by NOT drinking at all, and eating as healthily as I could without limiting myself to rabbit fodder… at least for a couple of days. So when planning a lunch date with a friend who is also of the same mind set, we had to take this into consideration. She suggested trying Veggie SF, which I admittedly had never heard of and therefore jumped at the idea so that I could kill two birds with one stone: my ever-present hunger and the need to try a new restaurant.

It’s located on Stanley Street in what I think is one of the most amazing buildings in HK. Not looks-wise. In fact I have no idea what it actually looks like from the outside as I’m always way too eager to get INside. But because of the fact that most of the building seems to be dedicated to just restaurants! A-MAZ-ING.

As soon as you step out of the lift on the 10th floor, you are immediately catapulted not only to an American diner, but also to the 1950s. I’ve never been to San Francisco, but that is the style it is going for, and according to people who have been there, it hits the nail bang on the head. Obviously I’ve never been to the 1950s either but… you know what I mean. There are car license plates, road signs, American flags and all sorts of retro bits and bobs on the walls. What I particularly liked was the mismatched chairs and stools which give it a really laid back feel and make you feel like you could actually be in someone’s home. It’s not too big either so has that kind of cosy feel to it.

I checked it out online first (obviously) and YES they do have a website! We’re starting strongly here, first two restos both have websites! The website actually shows pictures of some delicious looking meals (all vegetarian of course, but still yummy-looking) such as home-made veggie wanton with pumpkin sauce or a rather interestingly named rainbow bimbimbap (huh?!) but I’m not sure where they were on the menu. Definitely weren’t on the one we were offered, so I’m guessing either they didn’t like us or there’s a different evening menu. What we were offered was a double-sided menu with the set lunches on one side and the side dishes on the other. We wanted to have a soup each and a selection of side dishes to share, tapas style, but apparently this is not allowed. Sergeant waitress told us we had to have a minimum of one set lunch each (does anyone seriously order more than one?!) and then you’re allowed to order side dishes. I’ve lived here long enough to understand that this is not only this particular restaurant’s rules, but in fact, HK rules. If something isn’t on the menu it’s “No. Cannot. Sorry.” End of story. So we opted for the “Light Combo” kicking off with a broccoli soup which at first sight appeared somewhat watery and…green, but actually rather pleased my taste buds. We were then served some delicious warm seeded bread with pesto, which tasted scrumptiously home-made. I’m sure bread is usually served WITH soup, not after it, but the pesto was too good to complain. A little on the salty side but still wonderful. The star of the show was the garden salad featuring lettuce, raisins, cashew nuts, beetroot and cherry tomatoes in what they call a “mysterious dressing”. I assumed that given that title, it would be a secret recipe but was told straight out that it is a balsamic and honey dressing. I personally usually prefer my salads naked (actually, what am I saying? I rarely actually even opt for a salad) but rather enjoyed this mysterious-but-not-so-mysterious dressing. As we ordered the set lunch and we were then “allowed” a side dish, we chose the curry veggie balls. They lied to us on two accounts here though: 1. The waitress told us they were made of vegetables, which was not strictly true as it was some kind of tofu, and 2. the menu states eight pieces but we were only given six. This was more than enough though as, even though the curry sauce was delicious, the actual veggie ball when bitten into had the texture of a frankfurter which is possibly my least favourite type of sausage. I gave it a second and third chance but will definitely never give it a fourth.

Overall opinion on the food: it was fine but not wowee delish. I’d definitely go back though as I’m keen to try the yummy looking dishes which I never got the chance to order. At the very least I need to find out what a bimbimbap is! Maybe for dinner they aren’t so strict on the set menu – who knows. Total bill cost was $207. Bargain.

Great ambience and something a little different to your average vegetarian restaurant. One thing I must mention about this place is that along with herbal teas and other healthy fixes, they sell some really sweet vintage handbags and vintage jewellery. Wouldn’t necessarily wear much of the jewellery but it’s such a lovely idea and it reminded me of my favourite bar in Bath which sells all sorts of vintage knick-knacks. I miss you, Opium!

Veggie SF

10/F Stanley 11
11 Stanley Street
Central
Tel: +852 3902 3902     

Date visited: Tuesday 22nd March 2011

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