Archive | August, 2011

AVA Restaurant Slash Bar

29 Aug

I have been making the treacherous journey to the ‘dark side’ fairly frequently recently and have begun to think that it isn’t actually all that dark.

On Wednesday evening I was invited to represent Sassy HK at a media preview for the launch of Azure Restaurant Slash Bar’s little sister, AVA Restaurant Slash Bar, which will officially be ‘born’ on 1st September.

The whole experience, from travelling in the dangerously named ‘bullet lift’, watching the Hong Kong harbour get smaller and smaller; to arriving at the 38th floor of Hotel Panorama by Rhombus, admiring the spectacular 270° view; to eating Chef Mike Boyle’s incredible creations, is like no other.

With floor to ceiling windows and warm décor, AVA invites you to feast on international modern cuisine in true style, taking in the amazing skyline that our wonderful city has to offer.

Start the night with one of AVA’s signature cocktails, made by a highly trained mixologist before your very eyes. The AVA-tini is quite something; a blend of Absolut mandarin, Belvedere raspberry and Malibu with fresh fruit juices, topped off with liquid nitrogen, served actually smoking to the table – a feast for all the senses!

After the cocktail, move on to one of AVA’s high quality wines from the extensive wine list, with selections to perfectly match your chosen dishes. The Auntsfield Marlborough Chardonnay (2009), with only a subtle oakiness to complement the citrus notes is very good, or for an amazing red wine, try the MI Terruno Mayacaba Malbec (2007) from Mendoza, Argentina – a full-bodied wine made from 100 year old vines.

Crab salad on the beach

Each meal commences with a complimentary amuse bouche: Crab salad on the beach – a multi-tiered crab salad served atop a mini edible beach. From the moment I saw how much effort Chef Boyle had put into even his amuse bouche, I knew this was going to be a very special meal indeed.

The AVA team put together a tasting menu of about 8 signature dishes for us, including meat, seafood and vegetarian options to show the full range of their talent.

Boston lobster

The Boston lobster, served inside an ice crystal was sensational: layers of crab, avocado and tropical fruits with seriously tender lobster. The presentation was like nothing I have ever seen before, keeping the lobster both looking and tasting as cool as a cucumber.

Red pepper soup

Next came a red pepper and tomato soup with black garlic, served inside a beautiful little iron pot. I had never even heard of black garlic, let alone tasted it, so was surprised to notice the sweetness of the flavour, created by fermenting garlic at a very high temperature. Garlic is one of my favourite foods, and I think I fell in love all over again.

Duck foie gras

To follow came Duck foie gras with foie gras ‘pebbles’ served on a citrus-spiced waffle with orange vanilla gel. I have never been the biggest foie gras fan, but I think Chef Boyle’s dish may well have converted me.

The pan-roasted red snapper with orange ginger sauce, baby fennel and heirloom carrots on a bed of cauliflower risotto, showed Chef Boyle’s insistence on making the vegetables an integral part of any dish, rather than simply fading into the background. He likes his dishes to be colourful and aesthetically pleasing, hence his decision to use purple, yellow, white and orange carrots.

Salt-marsh lamb

The same was indicated in his Salt-marsh lamb from the Rhug Estate in Wales. Even though the lamb was hands-down the star of this dish, the carefully selected vegetables (Brussels sprouts, celery roots, potatoes, carrots and beans) served on a ribbon of beetroot purée, were also major players in this sensational dish.

As a special surprise not originally intended to be a part of our menu tasting, the butternut squash tortellini with light cinnamon butter and a fennel and orange salad was divine.

The Cap

Also from the Rhug Estate in Wales, the grilled Cap served with rosemary carrots and chunky smashed potatoes was possibly one of the best cuts of meat I have ever eaten. With absolutely no need for any kind of condiment, this tender, perfectly pink steak was a slice of heaven on earth.

Rosewater and raspberry ice cream

Knowing AVA’s dessert would not disappoint, we desperately located the special dessert space in our stomachs. Chef Boyle prepared a rose water and raspberry ice cream right in front of us, using liquid nitrogen. Paired with a berry compote, and served in a little shortbread basket, this dessert exceeded expectations.

AVA’s contemporary Sky Bar, with a live DJ from 10pm to 2am every Thursday to Saturday is the perfect place to relax and dance away the stress from a long week at work. For me, going to the same bars every weekend in Central is starting to lose its appeal, so a change of scenery is always appreciated. Alternatively, if you’re looking for something a little more chilled out, take the lift up to the 40th floor to the open-air Sky Garden to admire the view and relax with another of AVA’s amazing cocktails.

If you need a reason to brave your fears and visit the ‘dark side’, AVA is it. Once you get over the panic of stepping outside your comfort zone, you’ll realise that, sometimes, change can be a very wonderful thing.

AVA Restaurant Slash Bar

38/F Hotel Panorama by Rhombus
8A Hart Avenue
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 3550 0262

Date visited: Wednesday 24th August 2011

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Armani/Aqua

24 Aug

I was invited to the soft opening of the new Armani restaurant by Aqua on Monday evening and was utterly spoilt rotten.

As you approach the brand new restaurant, which officially opens today, you walk down a long red and black carpet-lined corridor sandwiched between two sets of sliding doors, giving the whole experience an edge of exclusivity and you truly feel like a celebrity.

Continuing with the exclusivity, although Armani/Aqua spans a 6,000 square foot space, it seats only 140 guests, avoiding any chance of the overcrowding we experience every day here in Hong Kong.

In the same way as the original Aqua restaurant in TST, Armani/Aqua offers a choice of Italian or Japanese cuisine, cooked in two separate kitchens, led by two very talented chefs. There is also a kaiten-sushi bar where you can watch the chefs preparing only the freshest and highest quality sushi before your very eyes.

Unable to decide what to choose from the never-ending, incredible menu, our very friendly waitress and the restaurant manager, Tony, said they would compose a delicious surprise menu for us, including dishes from both the Japanese and Italian sections of the menu. The only request we made was to avoid eggs and eel; the rest was in their hands.

A huge bowl of edamame and a basket of fresh bread were served while our excitement grew, preparing us for the epic platter of sushi and sashimi that was to follow: tuna, salmon and yellow fin sashimi that may as well have jumped straight from the sea onto our plates as it was so incredibly fresh; California rolls and fatty tuna rolls topped with seared tuna – little pieces of heaven.

Bone marrow risotto milanese

Gnocchi in vanilla bean and scampi sauce

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I probably could have done with just the platter, but did not complain when a beautiful risotto milanese with bone marrow and an irresistible homemade gnocchi in a vanilla bean and scampi sauce were set before us. Two dishes with completely different textures and ingredients you would never think would work together but were a perfect marriage. Apparently the risotto is actually Giorgio’s favourite dish!

Brandade di baccalà

Puy lentils with salsiccia and scampi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t over just yet as this time we were presented with a selection of brandade di baccalà perched atop three varieties of polenta, and puy lentils with steamed salsiccia and scampi with a sea urchin foam. The baccalà (salt cod) is an acquired taste, so wasn’t to everyone’s liking but I certainly enjoyed it. Tony explained to us that the dishes he had selected ranged from Southern Italy, moving up to the north of Italy.

 

 

When asked if we had room for dessert, I carelessly responded that there is always room for dessert. We were brought not one, not two, but three desserts, each a very generous sized portion!

Crema bavarese

First to arrive was crema bavarese with fresh berries, a dish slightly similar to a panna cotta but a million times better. With a subtle hint of lemon and little dollops of berry compote, this went down a treat.

Mille foglie

The mille foglie was spectacular. Certainly not something I would have thought to order but was very glad that Tony did.

4 chocolate delights

Last but by no means least, just as I was wondering if Tony was not a chocolate fan, a platter arrived with four chocolate desserts, each a different texture and temperature: white chocolate ice cream, dark chocolate parfait, chocolate mousse with freeze-dried raspberries and, my all-time favourite, warm chocolate fondant. I ignored my stomach telling me it was full and allowed myself to be transported to chocolate heaven.

For after dinner drinks or for dancing into the early hours, Armani have also opened a fantastic nightclub. Armani/Privé comprises of a club downstairs with live DJs three nights a week, and an incredible 6000 square foot terrace upstairs with DJs twice a week playing lounge music. This terrace, open from 3pm until the early hours, is bound to rival that of Sevva. The perfect location for after-work drinks or even just a cup of peppermint tea to aid digestion of the incredible food you have just eaten at Armani/Aqua. I will most definitely be returning on a slightly less full stomach to try some of their signature cocktails.

Armani/Aqua & Armani/Privé

2/F Chater House
8 Connaught Road
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 3583 2828

Date visited: Monday 22nd August 2011

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

The Grand Stage at Western Market

23 Aug

I am very aware that I call my blog The Dim Sum Diaries and yet there is not a single dim sum review on here. There isn’t really an excuse for it other than that I always go back to the same dim sum restaurants and it is generally against the ethos of my blog to write about an already visited restaurant. I have begun to rectify this by trying The Grand Stage at Western Market.

Western Market, completed in 1906, is the oldest surviving market building in Hong Kong. Obviously it has been renovated a couple of times, but it still maintains the beautiful Edwardian structure, with classical red brick and granite façades and a high ceiling.

The Grand Stage on the second floor is quite an amazing setting, looking out over the few market stalls still in existence. Apart from the all-important chandeliers, it is very different to any other dim sum restaurant in town. There is less hustle and bustle, no need to queue for a table (in fact we were given a table for seven without any delay), and the food is generally presented in a more fancy manner, though not at too much of a price difference.

I think we ordered enough food to serve an army, yet looking through the menu now, I notice things I wish we had ordered. This is always the case with dim sum as no matter how much you order, you never seem to even make a dent in the menu. I always prefer to go in a bigger group, however, as the waiters don’t give you as many dirty looks for ordering far too much food and not eating it (though more often than not, even in a small group, Gweilos will make a pretty good job of finishing it all!).

Highlights at The Grand Stage were poached pork and vegetable wontons in chilli oil, xiao long bao (always a winner), pan-fried turnip cake (essential choice), pan-fried pork buns in Japanese style and har cheong fun (in this case as individual portions with one whole prawn inside rather than pathetic little ones).

I wasn’t too impressed with their egg custard buns, even though they did attempt to make them fancy by adding a touch of grated coconut. The filling just didn’t ooze quite enough for my liking. I like a lot of ooze. The sautéed snap beans with minced pork weren’t wonderful either, as there was too much oil and not enough pork.

Just as in many HK dim sum eateries, the waiters don’t speak amazing English, although they do try their best, and service is passable. Including a tip, we paid $200 each. Obviously you can get dim sum for cheaper in other places, but the atmosphere at The Grand Stage is really worth it. I would recommend it to show off to visitors as an alternative to the fun and lively City Hall, another of my favourites.

Craving something sweet and unable to resist Honeymoon Desserts on the ground floor of Western Market, we popped in there for some mango pudding, mango dumplings and mango sago. So worth the extra calories. Although calories don’t count on a Sunday anyway.

The Grand Stage

2/F Western Market
323 Des Voeux Road
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +853 2815 2311

Date visited: Sunday 21st August 2011

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Magnolia

22 Aug

Since moving back to Hong Kong last year, I had heard a lot of hype about Lori Granito’s Magnolia, but had not had the chance to try it until this weekend for a very good friend’s birthday party. If you know how excited I get about food, you can only imagine the excitement that had been built up over the last year about trying Magnolia’s Creole cuisine.

I had been advised that a night at Magnolia involved a LOT of food, so purposefully chose to wear a very floaty dress, and I now understand that this was definitely a wise move. There is no point in going to Magnolia unless you are prepared to be very well fed. A good tip is to have a fairly light lunch and go for a run a couple of hours before dinner to make sure you are extra hungry and ready for a feast, as that is exactly what Magnolia is: a feast!

The idea is to arrive at 8pm sharp, where you are greeted by the Magnolia team with a welcome cocktail and some canapés. I unfortunately arrived at 8:25 so was not able to make the most of the reception, although I did head straight for the food table where the freshly baked bread with sundried tomato, cream cheese and pesto spread was calling out my name. I could have devoured the whole plate, but was quickly reminded that there was so much more to come.

We were led through the open kitchen, where the sights and aromas of southern American splendours made our mouths water, and upstairs into our private dining room.

The first dish to kick off the feast was a bowl of gumbo soup. With fresh prawns, crab claws, sausage, rice and a fair amount of chilli, this dish perfectly matched the standards I had been expecting for the night.

Fried green tomatoes with crayfish salad

Next we were each served a small plate of deep-fried green tomatoes with a crayfish salad. The little green tomatoes were incredible, coated in a Cajun batter, which was so good that I couldn’t care less how bad they were for me!

To follow these starters, an overwhelming variety of dishes were brought in and placed in the centre of the table to be shared, family style, including fried catfish strips, sweet potato mash, mustard greens with bacon, chicken etouffee with steamed rice, sausage jambalaya, Cajun BBQ ribs and cornbread muffins.

Cajun BBQ ribs

I particularly enjoyed the sausage jambalaya, always one of my favourite dishes, and the warm cornbread muffins were delicious. The dish that truly shone, however, was the BBQ ribs. The meat was so tender that it slid straight off the bone and melted in the mouth. Although I was almost reaching optimum fullness, I could not resist eating more of these ribs!

I had baked a carrot cake (for which the recipe can be found here), so after singing ‘Happy Birthday’, the cake was served alongside Magnolia’s famous pecan pie (pictured above). Obviously this was a little over-indulgent, but you can’t have a birthday without cake! If I may say so myself, my cake was pretty damn tasty, and several people mentioned that they actually preferred it to the pie. I do think that they were just being polite, however, as the pie was amazing! The glutton here polished off both desserts, meaning I was even more grateful to be wearing a floaty dress. Fortunately not everyone was as greedy as me, so a large doggy bag provided cake and pie for breakfast on Sunday.

Magnolia is completely BYOB, without corkage charge, and the attentive waiters are constantly on the lookout to top up empty wine and water glasses.

They request for the $450 per person (not bad at all for the amount of food on offer) to be paid prior to the meal, to avoid any cancellations, and as you do not part with any money on the actual night, it almost feels like you’re having a free meal!

Just in case you’re still hungry, as you leave, you are presented with a little gift box containing a yummy little cupcake from Lori’s cupcake company, Sprinkles. Even if the thought of ever eating again is unbearable, accept the cake, as you’ll be grateful the following day!

If you’re looking for a down to earth private kitchen that isn’t absurdly expensive yet serves deliciously wholesome food, then I would definitely recommend Magnolia. You may well roll out of there and it might not be the most conducive idea for a night out afterwards, but fight through it, and a couple of Jaeger bombs later, you’ll be right as rain!

Magnolia

Shop 5, G/F
17 Po Yan Street
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2530 9880

Date visited: Saturday 20th August 2011

Have a read of my mini-review of Magnolia on Localiiz too – you could find some other exciting restaurants on there worth trying!

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Le Chéri

22 Aug

I was recently asked by Timeout HK to do a review of a new French-Italian fusion restaurant in western Mid-Levels called Le Chéri. It’s one of those restaurants, like many others in Hong Kong, that has all the right ideas and has the potential to be a real success, but still has a lot to learn.

To begin with, the décor screams neither French nor Italian to me. The seats are red velvet and fake leather, the walls are painted a glittery black and there is one of those truly classy shiny mirror and tile mosaics behind the bar. With a couple of huge chandeliers, it would be the perfect Chinese restaurant.

Our first choice of white wine was sold out and apparently our second choice was not expected to be drunk as it was room temperature and only arrived at our table after we had already been served our starters.

Although we had each chosen one starter and one main for ourselves, each dish was served one at a time in the centre of the table, to be eaten in true Chinese fashion, shared between the two of us. I personally love sharing food as it means you get to taste everyone else’s food, leaving less chance of the evil food envy, but I know that not everyone is of this same mentality. What if, for example, one of the diners was a vegetarian?

Baked pumpkin cannelloni

The first of our shared starters, baked pumpkin cannelloni with pesto, was a complete disappointment. The pasta was certainly not fresh as it was rather chewy, and the pumpkin and pesto had no flavour at all.

Italian style calamari and broccoli salad

The second starter, however, Italian style calamari and broccoli salad with lemon vinaigrette, made up for the poor cannelloni. This was a really simple dish but all the flavours were so fresh and light, leaving us with the promise that this could actually turn out to be quite a decent meal.

Black cod with eggplant cream pasta

The pan-fried black cod fillet with eggplant cream sauce pasta was very good, although only after I had added a pinch of salt and some pepper. I particularly liked the creamy pasta sauce although the eggplant was not entirely evident.

Veal tenderloin with zucchini and bacon

The pan-fried Netherlands veal tenderloin with shallot cream sauce could have been the perfect dish except for the fact that the veal was slightly overcooked and chewy. Wrapped in courgette and bacon, and served with mashed potato, the great flavour almost made up for the fact that it was overcooked, but not quite.

Crème brulée

For dessert, we had the choice of crème brulée… or crème brulée (I think they need to work on their dessert menu to incorporate some chocolate options), so we asked for one to share. As we were the only people actually paying full price for our food (everyone else seemed to have pre-bought vouchers from Groupon), we were given an extra dessert free of charge. The top had a good crunch to it, but the actual crème part was stone cold, although still pretty tasty so I was grateful to have my own portion!

Service was a little slow: we were offered neither the wine list nor if we wanted a dessert, both of which we had to ask for. Nevertheless, the waiters are all very friendly and Terence, one of the founding partners, had a long conversation with us about his passion for European food and thus desire to open Le Chéri. It’s always refreshing to hear someone talk with such passion, especially about food!

Terence particularly loves oysters, and so has incorporated a raw oyster bar. Although we didn’t try the oysters, the other diners seemed to be thoroughly enjoying them.

The total bill came to $1027, rather expensive for what it was, and this perhaps could be one of the things they need to rethink if they really want to get this restaurant off the ground. Its now rather hidden location will soon be a highly sought after spot once the Centre Street escalator is completed, so perhaps by that time the kinks will have been ironed out and they’ll be herding in guests to try their hopefully perfectly cooked veal tenderloin.

Le Chéri

Shop 6, G/F Wah Fai Court
Ying Wa Terrace
Centre Street
Sai Ying Pun
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 3480 0717

Date visited: Friday 19th August 2011

Tags: , , , , , ,

Davis

18 Aug

 

For dinner on Wednesday night, we wanted to explore an area we had not ventured to before, somewhere easy to get to, relaxed and very casual. Davis in Kennedy Town ticked all these boxes.

Run by a lovely couple called Vivien and David, Davis classes itself as a wine and tapas bar. I personally would not categorise the food as tapas at all, as a lot of it is not really designed for sharing, but they certainly do offer some truly delicious down to earth food.

The first thing I was told about Davis was that their homemade cheesecake of the day was a Mars Bar cheesecake. Conveniently I was just on my way to Fiji Fitness when I heard this, so even though I was already stiff from the day before, I knew I had to push myself that little bit harder to make extra cheesecake-space.

The décor is very rustic and cosy: bare-brick walls, stone floor, stone-topped high tables and high wooden stools under a fairly dim light. The blackboard menu in the doorway is enough to draw you in for a very laid back dose of the kind of food that my aching muscles were craving: comfort food.

Between four of us, we decided to share three starters: Deep fried shrimp balls stuffed with blue cheese, Fresh Boston mussels in white wine cream sauce and Baked Portobello mushroom topped with spicy sausages and blue cheese.

Deep fried shrimp balls stuffed with blue cheese

The shrimp balls were definitely not something I would have thought to pair with blue cheese, yet I was pleasantly surprised. Obviously the blue cheese made them fairly salty, but this was balanced by the sweet chilli sauce and fresh watercress, making this really quite an interesting dish and leaving us craving more than just the one ball each.

Boston mussels in white wine cream sauce

This craving soon passed and was replaced by the incredible mussels. They were so fresh and full of flavour, soaked in the delicious creamy white wine sauce, which was the perfect dip for the accompanying garlic bread. I had to resist scooping up the sauce and eating it like a soup.

Baked Portobello mushroom with blue cheese and spicy sausage

The stuffed mushroom was just as delicious, served alongside a goat’s cheese and cherry tomato salad. Again, salty blue cheese, but it was evened out by the sweetness of the salad. My one complaint was that the table was too small for all these dishes, meaning we had to eat the mussels a little too quickly to be able to fully enjoy them before the mushroom stole all the available table space.

For mains, choices ranged from fish and chips, to lamb meatballs to crab, chicken or beef burgers, to a broad selection of pasta and accompanying sauces. Two people chose the penne pasta with chicken and red curry sauce. An interesting combination as the obvious choice for curry is rice, not pasta, but nevertheless a successful pairing and the sauce had a comforting kick to it.

 

Homemade wild mushroom ravioli

The homemade wild mushroom ravioli in a Pernod cream sauce was very fresh and light although a tad too salty for my liking. Fortunately the extra salt was a blessing for my friend who was suffering from a slight cold so her taste buds weren’t as responsive!

Linguini with prawns in spicy tomato sauce

My choice was the Linguini sautéed with prawns in a spicy tomato sauce. If you like a lot of garlic then look no further than this dish as there were a lot of whole lumps of garlic, which I thoroughly enjoyed. It could have done with being a little spicier for my liking but certainly had a little kick. The prawns were fresh but still had their tails on which delayed the eating process ever so slightly.

Portion sizes are very generous at Davis so definitely don’t bother coming if you’re not particularly hungry. Unless of course you are just after the cheesecake, as I would most definitely go again just for the cheesecake!

There were in fact three cheesecake options: butterscotch, amaretto or Mars bar. We were going to have two between the four of us but then realised that it might be rude not to try the third one, so we asked for a small slice of each (they ignored the ‘small’ request and brought us three regular slices!). In increasing order from least favourite to most favourite: the first mouthful of the amaretto one was pleasing but soon became overwhelmingly rich; the butterscotch one was incredible; but the Best Cheesecake Award definitely goes to…. (drum roll please) the Mars Bar one. It had an amazing caramel surprise at the bottom, which oozed out at the touch of a fork. At times like these it’s best not to even consider the caloric intake and just close your eyes and enjoy it. Until tomorrow when I would definitely suggest some hardcore exercise!

The winner: Mars bar cheesecake

Service was exceptional. Vivien came and spoke to us directly several times as she remembered my sister from another restaurant that they used to own on Gough Street. The familiarity and the fact that she even remembered my sister’s name about three years after having last seen her added a personal touch to a delicious and very relaxed meal.

The bill (including no wine but two beers) came to $300 a head, which isn’t cheap as chips but, seriously, those cheesecakes make it 100% worthwhile.

Davis

Shop 7, G/F
Grand Fortune Mansion
1 Davis Street
Kennedy Town
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 281 2727

Date visited: Wednesday 17th August 2011

 

Tags: , , , , , ,

FINDS

15 Aug

FINDS, Hong Kong’s only Nordic restaurant (the name stands for Finland Iceland Norway Denmark Sweden), has made a bold move over to ‘the dark side’. I unfortunately never actually visited it when it was right on our doorstep in LKF Tower, so won’t be able to make any comparisons with the old FINDS which I know was always very popular, but I can tell you that the new FINDS, now located in the very trendy boutique hotel, The Luxe Manor, is definitely something special and well worth the oh-so-treacherous journey across the harbour!

The fun, curvy lime green and wood interior entices, giving a fresh yet warm atmosphere, accentuated by the big projected image of a burning wood fire. The retro wooden beams are beautifully contrasted with the modern lime green and multi-coloured Missoni print chairs.

I was fortunate enough to be invited by the girls at Sassy HK to try the set lunch menu, which was absolutely divine. The flavours were all so fresh and light, that even though I had a three-course meal (which is not something I tend to do at lunchtime), I did not walk away with that uncomfortably full, comatose feeling.

FINDS is famous for its fresh and delicious seafood, the bestseller being their house-smoked salmon. We were in fact told that they go through over 6,000kg of salmon every year! That’s a LOT of salmon!

Salmon pastrami

Of course, their talent does not stop at smoked salmon, as celebrity Finnish chef Jaako Sorsa also conjures up some delicious meaty dishes and interesting vegetarian and even vegan-friendly dishes.

The set lunch menu changes every week, starting at $108 for one course, $128 for two or $148 for three. We had the choice of Roasted duck breast salad, Greek salad or Pumpkin soup for starters. I selected the duck salad, beautifully paired with slices of juicy mandarin, chunks of beetroot and crispy rocket in a honey balsamic dressing. If one could eat summertime, this is what it would taste like.

Roasted lemon and thyme sole fillet

For main course, it was a choice of Mixed mushroom linguini, Roasted lemon thyme sole fillet, Grilled beef sirloin steak or a large salad. Not wanting a hugely heavy dish and thinking I needed to see how good their seafood really was, I chose the sole fillet. Served on a bed of perfectly buttery asparagus risotto and topped with a cherry tomato, cucumber and dill salad, I could not get enough of this dish. The sole was incredible, so light and fluffy, perfectly complemented by the fresh dill. I find dill can often be a little overpowering, but in this case it helped to bring out the flavour of the sole rather than masking it. Had this not been so delicious, I think I would have had a bad case of food envy for the sirloin steak, which looked absolutely amazing, and the perfect sized portion so as not to be too heavy, as I had feared. I wish I had gone back on Friday just to try the steak! And then on Saturday to try the linguini, which also looked delicious!

Orange sorbet

Although we were all fairly full, we could not resist accepting a bowl of fresh orange sorbet served atop juicy mandarin slices. Heaven in a bowl. I’m going to find out how to make it and add it to my list of the perfect summer desserts.

For seven years, FINDS has been a success in Hong Kong, not only for its delectable Scandinavian cuisine, but also for its molecular cocktails – they have actually just launched a cocktail recipe book, which I am keen to see if I can try my hand at! The relocation has in no way made a dent in their success. If the thought of making the 10-minute journey from Central to TST seems a little scary, think about how ridiculous that is, give yourself a little pep talk and get on the MTR as I can guarantee you will not regret it! After all, they do say you should do something everyday that scares you…!

FINDS

1/F The Luxe Manor
39 Kimberley Road
Tsim Sha Tsui
Kowloon

Tel: +852 2522 9318

Date visited: Thursday 11th August 2011

Read my mini-review of FINDS on Localiiz. You might find some other exciting restaurants on there too!

Tags: , , , , , ,

Yue Kee Roasted Goose Restaurant

12 Aug

In a land far, far away from the little bubble that is Hong Kong Island there is an age-old gem of a restaurant serving up the most delicious roast goose…

Scrap that, as in fact, by public transport, it can be reached in under 30 minutes and by taxi in even less than that, so this delicious roast goose is actually much more accessible than you’d think.

Yue Kee has been renowned for its amazing charcoal roast goose (reared in their very own goose farm in Guandong) since 1958 when it started as a teeny little shack in Sham Tseng. It is now quite an institution, although surprisingly I had never before been. Now that I have though, I’m already craving going back!

As you approach the restaurant, that incredible smell fills the air, beckoning you to enter, daring you to resist. As expected in any Chinese resto, the birds are displayed at the front, hanging from a rail for all to see, behind the proud, grinning chefs, some of whom look as if they’ve been there since the very beginning.

We were seven and were therefore advised that we would need one whole goose. Gary the goose (as I decided he was to be called) was enormous, served on two plates, suddenly making us feel a little greedy! Nevertheless, we managed pretty well and ate almost all of Gary who was perfectly succulent and very, very moreish. Served with steamed rice, I almost asked for soy sauce, before realising that pouring some of the goose juice (or fat, whatever you like to call it) over the rice was a perfect meal in itself!

Charcoal roast goose

Equally as delicious were the prawns with garlic. Or rather garlic with prawns. I LOVE garlic, and this dish was absolutely coated in it. What remained on the plate was quickly scooped up and mixed in with the remainder of my rice. Amazing.

Garlic prawns

Salt and pepper squid is one of my all time favourite dishes, and Yue Kee’s did not disappoint. I would have liked a few more crispy tentacles but I suppose we can’t always get what we want.

Sweet and sour pork would never be my chosen dish as the pork is always chewy and I’m never quite sure if the “pork” has ever in fact come into contact with a pig. At Yue Kee, however, rather than big cubes of pork, you are given thin slices that are far from chewy.

As we were at a goose restaurant, we of course had to try other parts of the goose, namely the kidneys and the intestines. I say I eat anything, but there are limits to this, and kidney and intestine are usually way past those limits. However, when in Rome… The kidney was awful and, to me, actually tasted like blood. The intestine on the other hand was disappointingly actually quite tasty as all I could taste was the delicious black bean sauce. I did not, however, go as far as to taste the goose brains, as a couple of my fellow diners did. That would be light years from the limit.

Goose kidney and intestine in black bean sauce

Prawn, squid and scallop with cashew nuts – bliss. Steamed Chinese vegetables sprinkled with bacon – divine and necessary to make us feel slightly less unhealthy! Finished off with a complimentary bowl of sago each to cleanse the palate.

One of my favourite things about this restaurant is the crockery. There is a little Gary on all the plates, bowls and even the little peanut bowls. Which of course I did not pinch. Who does that?!

Service at Yue Kee I would say is better than most Chinese restaurants in the same category – the waiters actually smile! Total bill for a tremendous amount of food was just under $200 a head.

A selection from Lucky Desserts

As if we hadn’t eaten enough, we trundled down the road (in the pouring rain) to Lucky Desserts. I seriously recommend saving space for this place. The desserts are incredible: from banana and chocolate pancake rolls, to durian (bleurgh) rolls, to shaved ice, to an endless list of sagos, to mango sticky rice rolls – all amazing and well worth the extra five million calories.

Yue Kee Roasted Goose Restaurant

9 Sham Hong Road
Sham Tseng
New Territories
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2491 0105

Date visited: Wednesday 10th August 2011

Tags: , , , , ,

La Marmite

3 Aug

Arty photo courtesy of a tall, dark and handsome man who I was fortunate enough to dine with. Girls, form an orderly queue.

 

The newest addition to Aqua Group, La Marmite, which is thankfully not named after that disgusting yeast spread (yes I’m a hater), but rather after a French cooking pot, serves up traditional French cuisine in a modern bistro-style setting.

The décor is fairly simple, adorned with authentic vintage French posters and a rather large number of mirrors, evocative of a typical upscale Parisian bistro. In fact, almost everything about it screams authenticity, including the French music and the French team behind the delicious food, led by head chef Renaud Marin. Even the Cantonese waiters do their best to adopt a French air, even if they do struggle to pronounce a few of the daily specials!

Mr Tall Dark and Handsome (hereafter referred to as Mr TDH) and I shared the Cold cuts from the daily specials board. Without paying an atrocious amount of dollar in HK, it is hard to come by such fresh, delicious meat as this. However, for under $200, we were served a board with generous portions of only the freshest ham, prosciutto, salami and foie gras, lovingly drizzled with a little bit of truffle oil.

Cold cuts

For main course, I chose the Almond crusted sea bass with bulgar paella, piquillos, chorizo and baby squid. The fish was cooked beautifully; the tenderness of the fish working perfectly with the slightly al dente bulgar wheat, and the chorizo and baby squid adding a little excitement to the mix. One slight disappointment, however, was that there was hardly any ‘almond crust’.

Almond crusted sea bass

Mr TDH had the Steak tartare, served with a bowl of chips and a side salad (which of course he did not touch. You don’t get that tall, dark and handsome by eating salad!). The tender, lean steak was finely chopped rather than minced, giving it a more chunky texture, and absorbing more of the flavour. Definitely a successful dish.

Steak tartare

I’m sure my love of chocolate is pretty well known by now, so despite our friendly waitress suggesting that our chosen dessert was too small to share, we ordered the Chocolate fondant with cappuccino mousse and Bailey’s ice cream, with two spoons. It was beautifully presented in a coffee cup, made to look exactly like a cappuccino. I’m actually not the world’s biggest coffee fan, so the presentation didn’t excite me that much, but what was underneath the mousse was absolutely divine and, combined with the Bailey’s ice cream, was an incredible dessert. A little on the rich side of course, so we were definitely thankful that it was not much bigger! I have to say though, that second to actually eating a chocolate fondant, one of my favourite parts of this dessert is watching the chocolate ooze out from the middle when prodded with a fork. Unfortunately this was not an option here, but it still didn’t affect our enjoyment of the dish.

Chocolate fondant with cappuccino mousse

The service at La Marmite is very, very good, as the friendly waiters and even the manageress are constantly aware of their guests, making sure that their dining experience is perfect. It is definitely a place I would return to for some genuine, not-outrageously-priced French fare, as the next best thing to actually getting on a plane and flying to Paris.


La Marmite

46 Staunton Street
Soho
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2803 7808

Date visited: Tuesday 2nd August 2011

Tags: , , , , , ,

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 2,806 other followers