Archive | January, 2012

Harvey Nichols Valentine’s Menu

31 Jan

Christmas is over, presents have been distributed, and somehow it’s already nearly February. Which means, of course, for those lucky (or unlucky, depending how you look at it) to be in a relationship, presents must be bought all over again and there’s that pressure hanging over us to do something ‘special’ for Valentine’s Day. Fortunately, girls tend to be exempt from the planning process as it is usually the man’s duty to book the restaurant, order the flowers, the chocolates, the romance, etc. (Any men who happen to be reading this and haven’t taken the hint, you still have two weeks to get your act together!) We can however, put in ‘subtle’ requests for which restaurant we’d like to go to and hope for the best.

I was recently asked to test the Valentine’s Day menu at Harvey Nichols Fourth Floor Restaurant to give Sassy readers a chance to drop a few hints before the big day. Having never even known that Harvey Nicks had a restaurant, let alone a fine dining one, I had to accept and put it to the test.

The long, narrow space that occupies the restaurant offers a contemporary design: both the ceiling and the floor are made up of angular red, white and blue shapes to give a bright, fun feel to it.

The four-course menu, which starts at $638 per person, depending at what time you book your table, offers beautifully presented contemporary European cuisine that puts an innovative spin on classic dishes.

Scallop terrine with Caviar and pepper coulis

The first starter, scallop terrine with caviar and pepper coulis, is very promising: the sweetness of the vibrantly coloured pepper perfectly balancing the savoury scallop.

Deep fried crispy soft egg on cauliflower foam, served with Spanish ham and salmon roe

The second starter of deep-fried crispy soft egg on cauliflower foam, served with Spanish ham and salmon roe, however, by far outshines the first. The contrasting textures of the soft, perfect egg encased in a light crispy batter, complemented by strings of delicious Iberico ham and bursting bubbles of salmon roe, make for an almost perfect dish. My one comment is that perhaps the salty flavour of the roe is a little overpowering.

Baked salmon and cod fillet in pastry served with sea urchin and eggplant vegetable roll

After a delicious strawberry sorbet cleanses the palate, you may choose between roasted beef tenderloin and foie gras with citrus and asparagus salad, served with carrot and grapefruit puree, or baked salmon and cod fillet in pastry, served with sea urchin and eggplant vegetable roll. Although a little bland in flavour, the light fluffy fish, encased in a delightful crispy crust is interesting, made the more so by the beautiful eggplant and sea urchin roll.

Roasted beef tenderloin and foie gras with citrus and asparagus salad, served with carrot and grapefruit puree

I would personally select the steak option, as it may well be one of the better steaks I have tasted in Hong Kong. The meat is so tender that it simply melts in the mouth, and the foie gras, which is light and not overly rich, adds an extra touch to this perfect dish. Little parcels of pumpkin and grapefruit puree wrapped in ribbons of cannelloni help to cut through the fat of the foie gras, together with the citrus side salad.

Harvey Nichols Valentine's Mousse cake in trio flavor, serve with raspberry ice cream

To finish, Harvey Nichols’ Valentine’s mousse cake in trio flavour served with raspberry ice cream is both aesthetically and (mostly) physically pleasing; the layers of white and dark chocolate are separated by an orange mousse, (I personally feel strongly against combining orange with chocolate, but am aware that not everyone shares the same opinion) and the raspberry ice cream and pistachio crystals are divine.

Complement your meal with some of Harvey Nichols’ own brand wine from a comprehensive wine list, or choose their special Valentine’s Champagne cocktail, which is dangerously fruity and moreish.

If you haven’t tried Harvey Nichols Fourth Floor Restaurant and are at a loose end as to where to go on Valentine’s Day, you still have a couple of weeks to drop some hints and get a table booked. Although they look set for a full house on the 14th, it isn’t too difficult to get a table on any ‘normal’ day – perhaps after a tiring day of shopping at Harvey Nicks, just in case your credit card still feels hungry!

Harvey Nichols Fourth Floor Restaurant & Bar

4/F Harvey Nichols
The Landmark
15 Queen’s Road Central
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 3695 3389

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Pho Yummee

17 Jan

I have not been inside The Peak Galleria since at least nine years ago when we used to live up on The Peak. Back then there was hardly anything of note in there except Café Deco and perhaps a couple of other restaurants. I still would never use it as my go-to shopping mall but it has certainly gone up in the world since I was last there. A few months ago, Café Deco group added another restaurant to its collection, a casual contemporary Vietnamese restaurant that goes by the fitting name of Pho Yummee.

I adore Nha Trang and for me there are few Vietnamese street food restaurants in Hong Kong that compare, so I was interested to try Pho Yummee to see how it fared.

The décor is kept simple and bright, so eyes are drawn towards the open kitchen where the skilled chefs prepare the food. On a warm night (definitely not the night I went), seating is available on the balcony, perfect for people- or rather tourist-watching, or if you’re lucky enough to go on a clear night, to admire the view.

Soft shell crab summer rolls

Our feast (for I was dining with Café Deco’s lovely PR girl) started off with soft shell crab, mango, ginger and avocado summer rolls. These are a must-have for me at any Vietnamese eatery, and somehow Pho Yummee managed to make them even better than any I’ve ever tasted before. The contrast between the crunch of the crab and the soft buttery avocado, not to mention the sweetness of the mango was beautiful, particularly accompanied by the delicious homemade sauce.

Char-grilled pork belly skewers

Char-grilled pork belly skewers topped with crispy shallots came next. Although very tasty, these were rather a nightmare to remove from the skewer and then even more difficult to eat, to the extent that the friendly waiter decided to bring us cutlery – something no true Hong Konger ever wishes to happen to them!

Pomelo with roasted duck salad

The pomelo with roasted duck salad was delicious – again an exciting contrast between the juicy pomelo, crunchy peanut and crispy lettuce, and made even more exciting by the first-smoked-then-roast duck breast. Like nothing you’ve ever tasted before.

Cold rice vermicelli with turmeric catfish

The cold rice vermicelli with turmeric catfish, scallion and dill was light and refreshing, and I can imagine it being an absolute sell-out on a hot summer’s day. For me, though, perhaps a little heavy on the batter.

Bun Bo Hue

I was feeling the need for something warm, so saved space for the two (giant) bowls of soup noodles. First came the Bun Bo Hue (rice vermicelli with beef brisket and pork in a hot and spicy Hue-style soup). This was one of my favourite dishes – perfectly warming to the bone and the noodles just the right texture. I would have liked it a little spicier but our friendly waiter said he didn’t know if I could take the heat! Pah!

Pho Bo

The Pho Bo, usually one of my all-time favourite Vietnamese dishes, actually seriously let me down. Although this may sound ridiculous, it was overpoweringly beefy. The stock was too concentrated meaning there was no chance for any other flavour to stand out.

Vietnamese-style fried rice

The Vietnamese-style fried rice however, was incredible and definitely my favourite dish. The contrast of textures and flavours here became even greater as prawns, Vietnamese sausage, pork floss, dried black olives, strips of egg and sawtooth coriander all came into play. I’m a huge fan of the yeung chow chow fan, but the Vietnamese sure do a mean version too.

Vietnamese savoury crepe

Stomachs bursting, we were presented with a crêpe filled with shrimp, pork, Vietnamese sausage and bean sprouts. Not something I would usually go for, it was nevertheless another delightful dish.

It is scientifically proven (by the well-known scientist Dr. Wilkinson) that there is a separate compartment for dessert. However, somehow on this occasion it was a real struggle to fit half a scoop each of homemade strawberry-lemongrass and tangerine-rambutan sorbet in my compartment.  The small amounts I could manage, however were light and fresh, accentuated by real pieces of fruit mixed in.

Pho Yummee is very reasonably priced and offers something a bit different to The Peak’s other restaurants. Unless you are forced to go on a weekend walk or forced to take your annoying relatives on a sightseeing tour, you are probably unlikely to find yourself standing in front of The Peak Galleria. If, however, you are reluctantly made to do one of the above, make it worth your while and try Pho Yummee.

Pho Yummee

Shop 19-21
Level 1, The Peak Galleria
118 Peak Road
The Peak
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2849 2121

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Ta Pantry

10 Jan

Very few of us are fortunate enough to have the space in our Hong Kong apartments to host a dinner party for ten guests. Fortunately private kitchens abound and I’m on a mission to try them all. Ta Pantry, a gem of a private kitchen tucked away in the up and coming neighbourhood that is Star Street, did not disappoint.

Esther ‘Tata’ Sham, a model-turned-chef, has a beautiful set-up in a converted apartment that looks and feels like it really could be someone’s dining room. On warmer evenings, guests can enjoy a drink on the balcony whilst they wait for the food to be ready, or gather round the open kitchen watching Chef Tata prepare their dinner.

Esther’s dishes all reflect influences from her childhood, combined with western cooking techniques she has experienced and developed whilst working at two Michelin starred restaurant Amber and now three Michelin starred L’atelier de Joel Robuchon. Menu options include Japanese, Shanghainese, New American, Indochine and Deluxe (all priced at $600 per person, bar the Deluxe which is $850).

"Kor Fu" hand roll and drunken egg

Our choice of the Shanghainese menu began with a “Kor Fu” hand roll (a crepe filled with tofu and mushroom) and a ‘Drunken egg’. The shelled, jelly-like egg seemed a strange idea but tasted delicious and the yolk was still comfortingly runny.

"Not so Shanghainese" foie gras wontons

The “Not so Shanghainese” foie gras wontons, served in a mushroom broth, were incredible; the dough thin and delicate, just as it should be, and the filling rich and smooth, all topped off with beautifully decorative ‘egg knots’ and presented in a cute clay pot.

Melting Onion Duck

Esther treated us to a complimentary dish of Melting Onion Duck, a dish so divine that there is usually a $150 surcharge per head. The duck, smothered in a decadent onion jus, melted in the mouth and was perfectly complemented by deep fried aubergine pieces to soak up the sauce.

A5 Kobe Beef

Perfectly tender Kobe beef accompanied by spicy mushrooms, fried Chinese doughnut and sesame gai lan (a Chinese vegetable similar to choi sum) followed and again every plate was licked clean. I was particularly fond of the sesame vegetables, but thought the doughnut pieces added little value to the dish.

Crispy scallop black truffle mian

The first few mouthfuls of the crispy scallop black truffle mian (creamy noodles with crabmeat and black truffle) were delicious, although the flavour of the truffle did become a little overpowering after a while.

After five such delectable savoury courses, unfortunately we were all a little disappointed by the dessert. Po Po’s Red bean dumplings on rice wine jelly and osmanthus honey, an adaptation of Esther’s favourite childhood dessert, looked pretty, but taste-wise just did not match the high standard set by the previous dishes. The flavour was a little unusual and rather bland. However, we had all eaten more than enough and quaffed ample glasses of fantastic wine. Esther shares the space with her brother Andrew’s wine cellar, so we were surrounded by bottle upon bottle of wine priced so reasonably that it would have been rude not to tuck in, even if we were all still recovering from New Year’s Eve!

Ta Pantry seats a maximum of ten diners per night and requires a deposit to be paid in advance. It doesn’t come cheap (and is one of the few private kitchens that adds service charge), but you can certainly see the passion that goes into creating every single dish. It is a rather special place and one I would definitely consider going back to in order to try the other menus. Although before I do, I have quite a number of other private kitchens to tick off on my list first. I can already tell that my proposed detox to kickstart the year is going nowhere…

Ta Pantry

Flat 1C Moonstar Court
2D Star Street
Wan Chai
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 9403 6430

Closed on Sundays

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Another year over… so what’s to come?

4 Jan

Another year over. I’m not exactly sure where it went, nor what I did in it, but I’m pretty sure it was a very good year. For one thing, 2011 marked the birth of The Dim Sum Diaries, so one fact of which I am certain is that I must have eaten far too much food (and exercised twice as much to make up for it). I dread to think of the amount of money I threw at Hong Kong’s culinary scene (and at Circuit25 for that matter) since starting this blog, but I hope that it has helped many like-minded foodies out there realise which restaurants are worth rushing to and which to avoid at all costs. I live in hope.

Tasty highlights of last year there are aplenty, but I think I must highlight my Top 10. In no particular order (for it pains me to try and pinpoint my favourite restaurant in Hong Kong) my favourite (reviewed) restaurants of 2011 are:

One-Thirty One: for an escape from the island, beautifully creative food in an idyllic setting.
TBLS Kitchen Studio: I fell in love with those yamamomo berries…. And the rest. If only my bank balance (and the never-ending waiting list) would allow me to go every month…
Heirloom Eatery: home-cooked comfort food at its very, very best.
Comilonas: An unpretentious and delicious private kitchen, and possibly the only place in Hong Kong where you are allowed (and indeed expected) to drink wine from a watering can (of sorts).
Fusion 5th Floor: romantic, elegant and charming, yet down to earth all at once. Ask for a table on the terrace.
AVA restaurant slash bar: for an amazing view and food that makes you wonder where and how the chef got his inspiration. Try the ice cream made à table.
Yardbird: to learn that cauliflower can actually be tasty, as indeed can the parts of a chicken you’d least expect to be so.
Linguini Fini: easy, effortless Italian food with a slight Asian twist and a very decent set lunch menu.
Yue Kee Roasted Goose Restaurant: much better than Yung Kee, and more reasonably priced. Make the trek; you won’t regret it.
FINDS: Hong Kong’s only Scandinavian restaurant, run by a celebrity chef who is incapable of spoiling any dish.

We have also learnt never to set foot in Shakey’s Pizza, nor order frozen yoghurt with oreo from Holly Brown. We have learnt not to trust French-Italian fusion restaurants. At Le Souk we should steer clear of the chicken tagine, but head towards the lamb instead. Mango Tree is not quite on the same level as its Bangkok sibling, though the food doesn’t disappoint. I could go on forever, yet I think I should perhaps give you a sneak preview of what 2012 has in store…

In the pipeline, to name but a few, we have Ta Pantry, a private kitchen which I have been aching to try; Pho Yummee, Cafe Deco’s latest venture on the Peak; Otto e Mezzo, or at least I have been promised to be taken there if I behave, and Liberty Private Works. If anyone hears about a brand new restaurant and wants me to be the guinea pig, I am more than willing to take requests.

The Dim Sum Diaries will also, due to popular request, soon be including ratings. However, not wanting to be like the masses, my ratings will not follow the regular star rating system. As I am a little…different (I am loath to use my brother’s word to describe me), I will be adopting an ‘ooooh’ rating system, where restaurants will be judged by whether they excite me enough for me to say “oooooh” or disappoint me to the extent where the only thing I can think to say is “oh”. A blog post clearly explaining the difference will be coming soon to make sure there is no confusion.

In short, 2011 was a very good year for The Dim Sum Diaries and I expect nothing less for 2012. Please keep reading, whilst I keep eating and hopefully together we can continue to discover more of our fascinating city’s delicious (and not so delicious) treats.

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