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Mum Veggie + Coffee + Sweet

In a city where it is far too easy to be unhealthy, vegetarian restaurants are inevitably popping up everywhere we look. Mum Veggie + Coffee + Sweet, a cute relatively new vegetarian café recently joined the throng, offering healthy and delicious food to the southsiders in Wong Chuk Hang.

As I’m sure you must by now be aware, the chance of me bidding adieu to meat is about as likely as me giving up food altogether; it simply will never happen. That said, I do appreciate a good veggie meal and was very happy to put Mum to the test.

On the ground floor of shiny One Island South building, Mum is a modern, cosy space with that ever-popular unfinished look – exposed ceiling, dusty stone walls and a hotchpotch of furniture. There is certainly something sweet and alluring about this little spot, further evidenced by the many curious faces we first saw cautiously peer in through the entrance and then slowly make their way to the brightly lit counter displaying fresh, colourful salads and cakes.

After a delicious refreshing juice (try the Super C, loaded with fresh orange, apple and lemon), we tucked into a burdock root salad. The combination of colours and textures from the burdock root, carrots, bean sprouts and salad leaves married beautifully together, lightly dressed in a more-ish sesame dressing.

Whilst we loved the idea of Mum’s style dumpling udon noodles, the vegetable dumplings were sadly a little lacking in flavour. Dipped in the chilli and sesame dipping sauce, they fared a little better, but would have benefitted from a little more seasoning. Thankfully, however, the perfectly doughy udon noodles were spot on.

Possibly the best of the three dishes we tried were the sesame somen noodles with wakame seaweed and assorted veggies. Again, the array of textures from the crunchy leaves and seaweed to the chewy noodles complemented each other and the sesame dressing (I think Mum likes sesame!) completed the dish.

Unable to resist the gorgeous looking cakes that had been staring at us from the moment we sat down, we ordered three to share: the vegan banana cake, tofu brownie and vegan toffee apple cake. Whilst we found the banana cake a little on the dry side, the toffee apple cake, served warm, was sweet and comforting, with a layer of fresh apple on top to keep it moist. The tofu brownie, however, by far outshone the other two. This was also served warm and was utterly heavenly; you would never tell it was made with tofu and it was hard to believe it wasn’t terribly bad for me!

Prices at Mum are as refreshing as the food, with main courses around $50-70 and desserts around $25. It’s not necessarily somewhere I would rush back to, given its slightly out of the way location, but if I happened to one day find myself in the area, there is no denying that I would stop by, even if just for a ‘healthy’ chocolate brownie.

Mum Veggie + Coffee + Sweet

G07, G/F, One Island South
2 Heung Yip Road
Wong Chuk Hang
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2115 3348

www.facebook.com/Mumveggiecoffeesweet

Closed Saturdays

Tags: aberdeen, brownie, dumplings, healthy food, hong kong, mum veggie, noodles, one island south, salad, vegan, vegetarian, wong chuk hang

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Categories Cheap and cheerful, Making a difference, Restaurant review, Takeaway, Vegetarian

Flint Grill & Bar

29 Nov

Given my obsession with eating, I visit a LOT of restaurants. Often my eating experiences blend into one and if someone asked me months later what I ate at one particular restaurant, I cannot for the life of me remember. Then, every so often, somewhere new comes along that totally takes me by surprise. Flint Grill & Bar, a beautiful new restaurant located within the JW Marriott Hotel, is one such place.

Having heard absolutely nothing about Flint until I received an invitation, my expectations were fairly non-existent; I had simply read the words ‘chef’s table’ and ‘grilled steak’ and the decision was made for me to attend.

From the moment you enter the restaurant, you forget you’re in a hotel; you forget you’re even in Hong Kong. The space is gorgeous, combining rustic with chic, modern with old, and here and there adding the odd Hong Kong touch. The wallpaper, for example, from a distance could just be coloured stripes, but on closer inspection actually represents the colourful, high-rise buildings of our city. Individually sourced antique (yet working) kitchen scales line the shelves across the four spaces of the restaurant – bar and lounge, sommelier’s table, chef’s tables and dining area – something that I immediately noticed and loved.

Flint’s mixologist and bartender, Bryson Rivera, formerly at Aqua, is considered one of the top mixologists in the whole of Asia. Watching him make a ‘Feint Obscurity’ (his signature take on an Old Fashioned) was like watching a theatrical performance, complete with smoke, fire and unbelievable aromas.

Once seated on the beautiful wooden chef’s table, our feast (no exaggeration), prepared by award-winning chef Sven Heinrich Wunram, was laid before us, beginning with amberjack sashimi, house-cured gravlax, burrata salad and tomato salad.

Whilst the seafood dishes were beautifully fresh, for me, being a cheese fiend, it was the two salads that really stood out. The burrata was wonderfully creamy, with a delicate, yet notable flavour, whilst the blue cheese dressing on the other salad was out of this world! Knowing how much food was still left to come, I had to refrain from scooping up spoonfuls of this dressing and eating it on its own!

The first of the main courses to arrive was the Boston lobster, baked Thermidor-style, followed by a seafood grill including snapper, more Boston lobster, red king prawn, scallops and a pot of mussels. The seafood was again wonderfully fresh and cooked to perfection. I particularly enjoyed the king prawn, once we had successfully managed to remove its shell, and I was impressed by the amount of meat on the lobster that made it worth its buck.

The fennel seed-crusted Berkshire black pork chop, served with apple compote, was juicy and delicious, the sweetness of the apple nicely complementing the ever so slightly bitter fennel seed crust. Even better, however, was the Linz Heritage prime Angus sirloin. Cooked on a lava stone grill to a perfect medium-rare, the beef was tender and tasty on its own; drizzled in Flint’s secret sauce, it was even more spectacular. This sauce, made with 30 ingredients including Madeira and curry powder, was totally different to the average pepper sauce and left a lasting impression.

All of the above was served with crispy fries, creamy mashed potato with chives, creamed spinach, steamed asparagus and garlicky forest mushrooms – each of which deserved more praise than a simple side dish.

Moving onto desserts, each of the four we sampled was more impressive than the next. The key lime cheesecake with seasonal berries was perfectly light and fluffy, whilst the candied ginger ice cream gave it a little hint of unexpected excitement.

The meringue layer of the Baked Alaska gave way to mango custard and raspberry sorbet, again giving it an exciting twist from the original version.

The gigantic s’more, Flint’s take on the classic campfire dessert, was dangerously moreish, yet, surprisingly, it was the banana cream trifle that took first prize for me. Creamy dulce de leche, coconut parfait, chunks of banana and cubes of banana rum cake came together to make this dessert simultaneously refreshing yet decadent.

flint grill and bar hong kong Dining at Flint was more than just a delicious experience. In each and every dish, you could taste the quality of the ingredients, and the see the skill involved in making dinner here a memorable one. Prices for starters range from around $100-200, whilst main courses range from around $180-500. After my first dining experience at Flint, I knew it most certainly would not be my last.

Flint Grill & Bar

5/F, JW Marriott Hotel
Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2810 8366

www.facebook.com/jwmarriottflint

Tags: admiralty, baked alaska, blue cheese, boston lobster, bryson rivera, burrata, flint grill and bar, gravlax, hong kong, jw marriott, lobster thermidor, Pacific Place, s'mores, seafood, sven heinrich wunram

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Categories Bars, Brunch, Posh grub, Restaurant review

85 South

26 Nov

Although there will always be a time and a place for fine dining, the recent restaurant openings across the city suggest that Hongkongers may have fatigued of the high price tags, opting instead for simple street food with equally simple environments. 85 South is testament to this.

Taking the title of Hong Kong’s first authentic southern barbecue restaurant, 85 South is the brainchild of North Carolina boys Thomas and Daven. Using techniques and ingredients synonymous with the 400 year-old tradition of North Carolina style home cooking, they wanted to introduce this unique style of barbecuing meat to Hong Kong’s greedy and curious foodies.

The space, located on Kau U Fong, just below Gough Street, is instantly recognisable by its big neon sign (they seem to be all the rage these days – see Little Bao and La Vache) and wooden façade. Step inside to brightly painted walls and long picnic-style tables for communal dining.

Orders are placed and collected from the counter, where food is served in paper plates with plastic forks, staying true to the fuss-free feel of the place. An oversized chalkboard above the counter lists the menu, offering various combinations of either pulled pork or ribs.

Apparently, what makes a North Carolina style barbecue unique is its focus, not on the sauces or smoke, but on the meat itself. For this reason, the meat comes dry, not laced in BBQ sauce, as one may be accustomed to.

The pulled pork, which had evidently been slow-cooked in a smoker for several hours, was succulent and tender, with an ever-so-slight hint of hickory smokiness. Unfortunately the flavours weren’t quite notable enough for me, particularly given the restaurant’s prime focus.

The ribs, also served dry, are sprinkled with a spicy dry rub, which penetrates into the flavour of the succulent meat, which was fortunately a little tastier than the pulled pork.

Personally, for both dishes, I felt a little sauce was necessary to bring out the deeper flavours and, fortunately, when it comes to sauces, 85 South has got you covered. There are three bottles of homemade sauce to choose from: West (a tomato-based smoky barbecue sauce), East (a runnier, vinegar-based spicy sauce) and South (a creamy honey-mustard sauce). The West was definitely my favourite of the three.

The accompanying coleslaw is also unique, in that it is tomato-based, as opposed to dripping in mayonnaise. Its tangy flavour served as a welcome contrast against both kinds of pork.

Obviously no barbecue is complete without some serious carbs, and thankfully 85 South do theirs well. Mac ‘n’ cheese, for me, is something I can easily live without, yet when it is done well, without being too heavy and rich, I struggle to put my fork down. The chips were nice and chunky with a lovely crunch on the outside, giving way to deliciously fluffiness inside.

I recommend washing all this down with a cup (red, of course) of homemade lemonade from the vat in the corner; it’s seriously tasty without being too sweet.

Prices at 85 South are as refreshing as the lemonade; expect to pay only a little more than $100 for a lot of food and a drink. For those times when all I want is simple, fuss-free food that hits the spot, I think I can see a revisit to 85 South on the cards.

85 South

6-10 Kau U Fong
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2337 2078

www.85south.hk

Tags: 85 south, american food, barbecue, coleslaw, gough street, hong kong, kau u fong, lemonade, mac n cheese, north carolina, pulled pork, ribs

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Categories Cheap and cheerful, Restaurant review, Takeaway

Casa Lisboa Brunch

14 Nov

Although I’ve never actually been to Portugal, stepping inside Casa Lisboa instantly made me feel a million miles away from Lan Kwai Fong; the white stone walls, stained glass windows and rich burgundy and dark wood could easily have belonged somewhere in the Mediterranean. It’s a beautiful space that feels airy and bright, almost as if the view from the windows should be of an inviting beach, as opposed to just another skyscraper.

Understanding Hongkongers’ desire to indulge at the weekends, Casa Lisboa has recently started offering a Saturday brunch menu. There is the choice of a three-course ($180) or four-course ($250) brunch, and the added option of free-flow Vino Verde or sparkling wine for an additional $100. Both options allow you to choose each course from an a la carte menu, where choices are a plenty. Not wanting to miss out on so many delicious sounding dishes, we chose the four-course menu and shared each dish.

After nibbling on some complimentary olives and hors d’oeuvres, we began with a plate of Portuguese sausage (for 2). This is flambéed in front of your table in a cute little ceramic piggy, which builds the excitement before actually tasting the delicious, slightly spicy chorizo.

Alongside this, the traditional fried codfish (bacalhau) cakes were also excellent. Similar to Spanish croquetas, these little fish cakes were wonderfully light and moreish, serving as the perfect contrast to the salty chorizo.

For the second course, you can choose between a soup and a salad. We decided to choose two different salads – the grilled octopus salad and the crispy suckling pigs feet salad. Although the crispy pig one was interesting and worked well with the chunks of sweet, juicy orange, it was the wonderfully tender grilled octopus that really shone for us. I also loved how, in both salads, the finely chopped salad leaves came undressed, so as not to steal the limelight from the accompanying protein.

Seeing as we felt as if we were in the Mediterranean, we couldn’t resist choosing a fish dish as one of the main courses. The traditional ‘espetada’, a skewer of fish wrapped in bacon, was absolutely delicious. The fish had a lovely meaty texture and delicate flavour that was enhanced by the salty, crispy bacon.

For the other main course, we chose the duck rice old style, cooked in a terracotta dish. I loved the contrasting textures of the crispy top layer of rice, sticky lower layer and tender, melt-in-the-mouth morsels of duck. The garnishing slivers of chorizo completed this wholesome, comforting dish.

For dessert, the traditional egg pudding was surprisingly delicious. Completely unrelated to a Portuguese egg tart, this pudding, made with lemon and cinnamon-infused custard, was wonderfully fluffy and light.

The traditional chocolate mousse, although less light than the first dessert, was also excellent. It was a little thicker and creamier than other mousses, yet wasn’t too rich, and I loved the crumbled wafer topping that gave a welcome contrasting texture to the dish.

After only a couple of months since its inception, Casa Lisboa’s Saturday brunch is already proving mightily popular – there was not one empty table by the time we had finished our meal. The service is good and, considering the fact that normally one main course alone costs $250, the value for money is amazing. It’s certainly somewhere I would recommend for a tasty brunch that’s a little bit different to the all-you-can-eat buffets we are used to frequenting.

Casa Lisboa

8/F, Lan Kwai Fong Tower
55 D’Aguilar Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2905 1168

www.ad-caterers.com

Tags: casa lisboa, chocolate mousse, chorizo, espetada, hong kong, lan kwai fong, Mediterranean, portugal, portuguese, salad, sausage

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Categories Bars, Brunch, Cheap and cheerful, Posh grub, Restaurant review

La Vache!

12 Nov

When it comes to steak restaurants in Hong Kong, we have the choice of Italian, Argentinean, American, Australian and even the odd Japanese restaurant moonlighting as a steakhouse. We can now add Parisian steakhouse La Vache to the mix.

Brought to us by Black Sheep Restaurants, the group behind Motorino, Boqueria and Chôm Chôm, La Vache brings a uniquely Parisian dining experience to Hong Kong’s Soho. It pays homage to the much-loved Relais de Venise L’entrecôte in Paris, London and Manhattan, specialising in steak frites and steak frites only.

Walk past the giant neon cow, down the stairs into the basement restaurant on Peel Street and step into a Parisian bistro, complete with red leather banquettes, red and white chequered tablecloths and paintings of Parisian monuments splattered across the walls of the spacious 70-seater restaurant.

There is no menu at La Vache – the only thing you will have to choose is how you would like your steak cooked. Although it is often nice to have options, here, the hassle and stress of having to make decisions between equally delicious-sounding dishes is taken away, adding to the relaxed vibe that radiates through the restaurant. Obviously, this means it isn’t the ideal place for a vegetarian; so if you’re one of those, stop reading now.

The meal begins with a plate of freshly baked baguette slices and real French butter, before you are served a simple yet delicious green salad with thinly sliced radish, walnuts and a light mustard vinaigrette. As you may know, I’ve never been much of a salad person, but in this case I scraped my plate clean.

Moving on to the main reason to visit this restaurant: the steak frites. Your steak, a gorgeous cut of rib-eye, cooked just how you like it, is pre-sliced in the kitchen. The staff serve two thirds of the meat, keeping the final third in the centre of the table, above a tealight candle to keep it warm. Thin, deliciously crispy ‘frites’ are served according to the same protocol – some to accompany the first serving of steak and fresh ones served later. Everything is accompanied by La Vache’s secret recipe béarnaise sauce, the perfect frosting to each delicious bite of melt-in-the-mouth beef.

To finish the meal, an impressive trolley/tower of desserts is wheeled to your table, so that if you were ever going to say that you don’t want dessert (a sin, I tell you), upon seeing the offerings, it becomes impossible to resist. We tried, in order of preference, the éclair filled with dulce de leche, the chocolate mousse cake and the Paris-Brest. The latter, a hazelnut cream pastry, took us completely by surprise (particularly given the fact that we thought our waitress had offered us a ‘pear express’, whatever that may be), and completed what was already a fantastic meal.

The set menu at La Vache costs an incredible $258 per person. Add on desserts, wine (the house Bekaa Valley Bordeaux went down far too nicely) and service charge, and you’re looking around the $500 marker per person – a true bargain in comparison to any other nationality’s steakhouse in this town!

La Vache

48 Peel Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2880 0248

www.lavache.com.hk

Tags: baguette, black sheep restaurants, Boqueria, chips, chom chom, chris mark, hong kong, l'entrecote, la vache, london, manhattan, motorino, Paris, peel street, relais de venise l'entrecote, salad, steak, steak and chips, steak frites, steakhouse, wine

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Categories Bars, Cheap and cheerful, Posh grub, Restaurant review

Little Bao

6 Nov

On the very first ever day of Island East Markets, I fell in love. It was a true, honest kind of love, not for any knight in shining armour or Prince Charming, but for a delicious, fluffy bun filled with succulent pork belly; I fell in love with Little Bao.

For those who didn’t have the pleasure of tasting one of these bundles of delight at Island East Market or at Clockenflap, think char siu bao, crossed with burger, crossed with pure awesomeness, and you have Little Bao.

My love for Little Bao never faded nor died away, despite us being parted for so long. Now, thankfully, Little Bao’s owner and chef, May Chow, has realised that I need it in my life as a permanent fixture and thus has opened a restaurant on Staunton Street.

The space, which is as small as its name suggests, is designed as an American diner with a modern Asian twist. You can’t miss the pink neon light of the adorable logo outside, whilst inside, casual bar seating surrounds a small open kitchen and lines the opposite wall.

Since May’s market days, she has expanded her menu to include interesting sharing plates, as well as the famous baos, of course. These are either based on traditional Asian dishes with a modern twist, or Western dishes with an Asian twist; either way including May’s own style she developed during her career at Bo Innovation, Yardbird and TBLS.

We began with a plate of LB Fries – thin, crispy chips, dripping in maple syrup and sprinkled with chilli flakes, spring onions and coriander. The combination of the sweet yet salty flavours with a gentle chilli kick and the freshness from the herbs worked beautifully, so that it was impossible to avoid licking our sticky fingers after each bite. Although I wasn’t taken by the accompanying roasted tomato sambal, I couldn’t get enough of the kewpie mayo.

The orange chicken, made using fried “running chicken” (a cute alternative to the term ‘free-range’) was certainly an interesting dish. The fried outer layer was coated in salty egg yolk and honey, and sprinkled with orange zest, creating, yet again, a sweet versus salty flavour. Whilst we loved the flavours, we were a little put off by the chalky texture of the egg yolk.

Give me a pan-fried dumpling with pretty much any filling and I will usually be content; give me a pan-fried dumpling filled with slow-braised organic OBE beef short-rib and I will be ecstatic. The beef was unbelievably tender and full of flavour, pairing wonderfully with the celeriac coleslaw.

Little Bao Hong Kong Coming back to the restaurant’s pride and joy, the pork belly bao was everything I had dreamt about over the past year… and more. The pork had the perfect balance of meat and fat, laced in a gorgeous sesame dressing and a sweet hoisin sauce, topped with leek and shiso red onion salad. The fluffiness of the bun made it seem light and easy to eat, even after all of the preludes.

The fish tempura bao may have even better than the original. The batter on the fresh fish fillets was delicately light yet crispy, drizzled in a sweet tamarind and palm sugar glaze with pickled lemongrass and fennel salad.

It’s impossible to really say which of the two I preferred and, as Little Bao has a strict ‘no bao cutting’ policy, I recommend either going exceptionally hungry, or with someone you don’t mind sharing germs with, so that you can bite your way through half of two baos – or even three, as I hear the vegetarian ‘Sloppy Chan’ bao is also remarkably tasty.

The only dessert on the menu was a deep-fried green tea ice cream bao. As I am not usually a fan of green tea ice cream, this didn’t initially appeal to me, but obviously I couldn’t leave my readers in the dark! Laced with lashings of condensed milk, the flavour of the green tea wasn’t overpowering and the crispy yet fluffy bun worked perfectly with the creamy ice cream, leaving a bao-fuelled smile on both our faces.

A big meal for two, including cocktails and wine, cost us about $830. In line with Little Bao’s friendly, relaxed vibe, no service charge is added to the bill, although staff are equally as friendly and deserving of a tip. I left Little Bao as happy as the little baby in the logo, pleased to be reunited with my love and already planning my next visit. One thing is for certain – I definitely won’t wait another year for my next bao!

Little Bao

66 Staunton Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2194 0202

No reservations, walk-ins only.

Tags: bao, buns, burgers, chinese food, fried chicken, hong kong, Island East Markets, Little Bao, may chow, pork belly, Soho, staunton street

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Categories Cheap and cheerful, Making a difference, Restaurant review, Vegetarian

Panino Giusto

1 Nov

Despite being a melting pot of cultures where one can find any cuisine under the sun, one thing that Hong Kong fails to deliver is a good, high-quality sandwich shop. Besides the mass-produced grab-n-go coffee shops, you either get cheap sandwiches with days-old ingredients or overly priced sandwiches with bread so crusty it cuts the roof of your mouth.

The Italians, somehow, manage to take a simple piece of bread, fill it with fresh ingredients and make sandwiches magical. Panino Giusto, born in Milan over 30 years ago, has just arrived in Hong Kong, bringing its magical Italian panini to those who have been long-deprived of an exceptional sandwich.

With its location on the third floor of IFC, the harbour-view from Panino Giusto also sets it apart from other sandwich shops. The shop itself is decorated in the colours of the Italian flag – red, white and green – whilst an open kitchen features hanging legs of Parma ham and imported Berkel slicers, so diners can watch their panini being prepared before them.

Panino Giusto claims to serve the best panini in all of Italy (and now Hong Kong), based on its “rule of 7” – meaning they use 70 grams each of meat, cheese and bread, topped with vegetables, sauces and oils. Each ingredient is hand-selected from Italy so that nothing but the best quality ingredients are used.

If I were to go in order of preference, out of the five panini we tried, surprisingly, it was the Montagu (rosemary and sage roast beef, tomato, rocket, lemon and olive oil) that least impressed us. Whilst the beef was super tender, it was lacking in terms of flavour and sadly didn’t leave a lasting impression.

The Apollo, filled with roast turkey breast, tomato, mozzarella and mustard, was mild yet comforting, although not one I would normally order. Perhaps a stronger mustardy kick would have given it a little something more special.

A bite into the Garibaldino and we started to understand where Panino Giusto gets its reputation. Delicious bresaola, mozzarella, tomato, rocket, extra virgin olive oil and black pepper created a winning sandwich that encapsulated all the freshness and flavours that I love about Italian food.

Oozing with melted fontina cheese, ham, tuna, tomato and tartar sauce, the ‘Toast della casa’ was utterly delicious. The bread was simultaneously fluffy and crunchy, either side of a generous amount of filling. Although I’ve never been very interested in a classic tuna melt, this gourmet version definitely did it for me.

Last but far from least, the Tartufo was hands down our favourite panino of the lot. From the moment it was served, the rich aroma of the Alba truffle oil hit us and we instantly knew we must save this one for last. True to its reputation, the Parma ham was of the finest quality and paired well with the creamy Brie, fresh tomato and crunchy rocket, whilst the truffle oil took this panino from great to outstanding.

Aside from the namesake sandwiches, Panino Giusto also offers a wide range of starters and salads, as well as a few traditional Italian desserts, which unfortunately we didn’t manage to taste.

Prices at Panino Giusto range from $78 to $98 for a panino. Obviously these are rather absurd prices to pay for an average sandwich, particularly given the generally small size of these sandwiches. But then again, we are not talking about an average sandwich that we’d eat every day for convenience; we are talking about delicious Italian-style panini made with high-quality ingredients that we’d save for those moments in life when all we need is a little bit of simple luxury.

Panino Giusto

Shop 3077, Podium Level 3, IFC Mall
8 Finance Street
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2564 7000

www.paninogiusto.hk

Tags: hong kong, IFC, italy, milan, panini, panino, panino giusto, Parma ham, sandwich, truffle oil

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Categories Cheap and cheerful, Making a difference, Posh grub, Restaurant review, Takeaway, Vegetarian

Mayta Peruvian Kitchen and Pisco Bar

22 Oct

After the continuing success of Chicha and Hong Kong’s never ending love for Latin American food, it was inevitable that another Peruvian restaurant would grace us with its presence before long. Unsurprisingly, it was Dining Concepts, ever the trend followers, who stepped up to the mark and brought us Mayta, Hong Kong’s second Peruvian restaurant.

Mayta, which took over what was once Blue Smoke, is a spacious restaurant decked out in a lot of wood and Aztec-style prints. It is warm and comforting, and I loved the Latin music that gave the space a cool, relaxed vibe; it was just a pity that few other people were there to enjoy this vibe, despite it being the night before a public holiday.

After some tasty Pisco Sours, we began our meal with a ceviche clásico. The presentation was beautiful and the texture of the fresh sea bass paired with the crunchy red onion, chocho and cancha was spot on. Yet, taste-wise, it could have been a little more sour and a little less salty. Perhaps the chunks of sea bass were a little too big, but the leche de tigre seemed to just kiss the surface of the fish, without going deeper into it.

I struggle to see empanadas on a menu and not want to order them. Mayta’s version, stuffed with sweet corn, aji amarillo, coriander and mozzarella, were delicious. Although the chimichurri could have been a touch spicier, it was nevertheless full of flavour and worked perfectly with the sweet, delicately flavoured empanadas.

The pan con chicharrón was another hit. Reflecting the influence of Asia in Peruvian cuisine, the steamed buns were similar to those of a fluffy char siu bao. Filled with crispy pork belly, red pepper chilli aioli, pickles and a sweet potato crisp, the flavours and textures married wonderfully well together, making it a difficult decision to stop eating and save space for the main course.

The most disappointing dish of the evening was the lomo saltado. This was a favourite of mine during the year that I lived in Peru, so it was the dish I was most looking forward to. Although the flavours of the rich sauce were generally good, it was far too salty and the beef, which should have been lovely and tender, required more than the average chewing time to break down. I did like the addition of the sweet roasted banana and the fried egg, however.

To finish, the suspiro de limeña was exactly what we were craving after the salty lomo saltado. Although I couldn’t work out where the meringue part of the dessert was, the creamy dulce de leche worked well with the crisp quinoa cookie, juicy chunks of grilled pineapple and refreshing olive oil ice cream to create a comforting, sweet end to the meal.

Service was good and I was pleased to see some South Americans amongst the staff, giving it a gentle push towards authenticity, even if certain dishes were lacking in it. Including an excellent bottle of Argentinean Pinot Noir, dinner for two came to $1460 – in reality what you would expect for dinner at any Dining Concepts venue. Although it might not be my preferred choice of Peruvian restaurant in town, there are only two to choose from, both of which have a completely different style and menu, so it wouldn’t be fair to compare them. I wouldn’t say a return visit isn’t completely out of the question, as I might need a fix of pan con chicharrón at some point soon!

Mayta Peruvian Kitchen and Pisco Bar

3/F, Grand Progress Building
15-16 Lan Kwai Fong
Central
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2790 0928

www.diningconcepts.com/mayta

Tags: ceviche, chicha, chicharron, Dining Concepts, empanadas, hong kong, lan kwai fong, lima, lomo saltado, mayta, peruvian restaurant, pisco, pisco sour

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Categories Bars, Cheap and cheerful, Posh grub, Restaurant review, Vegetarian

The Other Side of Vegas: A Side for Foodies…

7 Oct

Las Vegas is a crazy, crazy place. Huge buildings with any number of different themes simply sprout out of the middle of the desert, creating this insane bubble like no other place you’ve ever been to. In Vegas, time stands still, people spend money like it’s going out of fashion (sometimes making a little bit back) and generally cause all sorts of damage to both their livers and their bank balances.

I had never thought to associate Vegas with good food. A recent trip there, however, showed me that there certainly is more to Vegas than just the gambling, and food is definitely a huge focal point. Here are my thoughts on a few of the restaurants I was lucky enough to dine at:

Tom Colicchio’s Heritage Steak

This rustic steak joint, brought to us by New York chef and host of Top Chef, Tom Colicchio, had only been open a mere couple of weeks at the time we visited. We stumbled across it by chance, with no expectations, yet we were incredibly impressed by everything from the service, to the setting to the delicious food.

Heritage Steak prides itself on its wood-burning ovens and charcoal grills – basically anything with an open flame – to achieve that gorgeous smoky flavour that adds to the beauty of eating meat. You can see these open flames through the open kitchen at the back of the room, creating a warm and comforting atmosphere.

For starters, definitely try the grilled octopus and the grilled lamb ribs, both of which are unbelievably tender and delicious. If there are enough of you, and you’re happy to share, also give the wood-roasted peaches a try.

The steaks at Heritage Steak are a must; it is a steakhouse after all! I was equally impressed by the roasted market fish (sea bass on the day we went), stuffed with roasted tomatoes and topped with a lovely, light zucchini relish. Definitely the best fish dish I’ve had in a long, long time.

Prices are on a par with Hong Kong, but service is a million times better. Granted, you are expected to tip (and heavily) for this service, but when it’s worth paying, it’s really worth paying.

The Mirage, 3400 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
Tel: +1 702-791-7111
http://www.mirage.com/restaurants/heritage.aspx#

Kumi

Kumi, a brand new restaurant at the Mandalay Bay, serves classic Japanese favourites with its own unique “Korean-American” twist created by renowned chef Akira Back. Aside from the expansive sushi bar seating, the gorgeous design in the restaurant, with a tree in the centre of the circular room and a painted backdrop of beautiful cherry blossoms, makes you feel as if you were in a lovely Japanese garden.

Standout appetizers were the crispy rice with blackened tuna and ‘screaming O sauce’, the rock shrimp tempura and the gyoza.

Of the signature rolls, the kumikaze, made with snow crab and Cajun spiced salmon, was good, but if there’s one dish you must order, it’s the pop rockin’. Made with spicy tuna, crab, salmon, avocado and pop rocks, these tasty bites pop and fizz in your mouth as you eat them, creating a unique multi-sensory experience.

Despite the majority of the food being excellent, service was definitely not. It’s either several dishes coming at once, or impossible to get any service – there’s no happy medium. We found the staff a little arrogant and rude, right until the end of the meal, when of course they changed their tone in the hope of getting a big tip; they didn’t.

Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, 3950 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada 89119, USA
Tel: +1 702-632-7777
http://kumilasvegas.com/

STK

It was actually our friendly waiter at Heritage Steak who recommended this place to us, earning him even more brownie points. STK is not just a steakhouse (although evidently that is its main selling point); it is a bar, a hangout, and generally a cool place to see and be seen. With fun lounge music blaring and excellent food, I can see why this place is jam-packed even on a Monday night.

Before moving on to the awesome, succulent steaks, we shared a beautiful foie gras waffle with juniper berries and foie gras cream. To say it was heavenly would be an understatement.

My 7-ounce fillet medallion was divine, cooked to tender perfection. Just in case the foie gras starter isn’t rich enough for you, you’re welcome to add a slab of foie gras, or even foie gras butter to your steak. Personally, I opted for some spicy chimichurri. Sides of Parmesan truffle fries, creamed spinach and spiced maple carrots were the cherry on top, particularly the latter.

Of the multiple delicious-sounding dessert options, it was the bread pudding with English toffee, salted caramel and cap’n crunch that took our fancy. Cap’n Crunch, when I was even littler, was my favourite breakfast cereal, and here it added a welcome crunchiness to a wonderfully decadent, gooey dessert.

Prices, again, are not cheap, averaging at around USD150 per head including a beautiful bottle of wine. Service is tip-worthy, making it even pricier, but it’s definitely a restaurant/bar/hang-out I would recommend to anyone visiting Vegas (or LA, Miami, Atlanta, New York or even London for that matter, as apparently there are branches there too!).

Cosmopolitan Hotel, 3708 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada 8910, USA
Tel: +1 702-698-7990
http://www.cosmopolitanlasvegas.com/taste/restaurant-collection/stk.aspx

The Cheesecake Factory

We actually went to The Cheesecake Factory in Henderson, about a 15-minute drive from the Strip, but it is in fact a chain that can be found all over the US.

The minute I saw the name of the restaurant, I insisted we needed to go there, resulting in negative grumbles from the other half. Eventually, he came around to the idea and we found ourselves waiting for a table and gazing longingly at a counter full of mountain-high cheesecakes.

Looking around the room at the dishes our fellow diners were being served, we quickly discovered that portion sizes at The Cheesecake Factory are as big as the menu itself: huge. Therefore, after a starter of hummus and pita, we decided to share a main course of crusted chicken romano – Parmesan-crusted chicken in a light tomato sauce. Although we swapped the pasta with which it is originally served for sweet potato fries, the portion size was more than sufficient for the two of us.

You can’t go to the Cheesecake Factory without trying a slice of cheesecake, and that is an indisputable fact. There are over 30 different kinds, and each slice is closer to three slices of an ordinary cheesecake, but this is no ordinary cheesecake. We tried the caramel pecan turtle one, and although a few spoonfuls was enough to give us a sugar-high, it was definitely worth it.

Prices are reasonable (particularly if you’re sharing dishes), and service is efficient. It’s not somewhere I could eat every day, but I think it’s worth a trip, even if just for the novelty factor!

160 S Green Valley Parkway, Henderson, Nevada 89052, USA
Tel: +1 702-207-6372
Other locations can be seen here: http://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/

Tags: cheesecake, henderson, heritage steak, japanese, kumi, las vegas, nevada, steak, stk, the cheesecake factory, tom colicchio

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Categories DSD on tour, Las Vegas, Posh grub

Seasalt Gourmet Fish and Chips

4 Oct

Hong Kong restaurateurs are ever so good at seeing a gap in the market and attempting to fill it. Until recently, there was nowhere that specialised solely in fish and chips. Brand new Seasalt, opened by two young Australian guys, has just landed in Mid-Levels with the aim of filling this very much wide open gap.

The first thing to note is that this is an “Australian fish and chips shop”. Remember this and cast aside all expectations of true British fish and chips; once you’ve done this, you’ll be able to enjoy your experience at Seasalt. (Of course we all know that the concept of fish and chips has always and will always belong to the Brits, but let’s just accept the flattery that the Aussies think it’s theirs and enjoy it for what it is!)

seasalt gourmet fish and chips hong kong

Much like the rest of the real estate on Mosque Street, Seasalt is a tiny spot that probably seats a maximum of 15 diners at a time. Its lovely use of white tiles, blue, yellow and white seats and a cool painted surfboard on one of the walls add to its relaxed charm that is instantly inviting.

The menu is different from the standard fish and chips shops I am used to from back home, where all you get is fish, chips and mushy peas. Although mushy peas don’t feature at all on this menu (take a deep breath and remember what I said in paragraph two), the menu offers much more choice, whilst still remaining simple and easy to navigate.

Choose your fish (cod, red snapper or barramundi), say whether you’d like it beer-battered or grilled, and then choose chips, brown rice or salad. Again, although this moves away from traditional fish and chips as we know them, I like the fact that there are healthier options that won’t leave you with that oily guilt in the pit of your stomach.

When it came down to it, however, we had no choice but to go for the unhealthy option – the beer-battered barramundi with chips. The batter is excellent, neither too thick nor too thin and had a decent crunch that contrasted nicely with the wonderfully flaky fish. Alone, the fish lacked a little flavour, but dipped into the accompanying wasabi mayo, it was delicious. The chips were decent though not outstanding and also worked well with the wasabi mayo or soy ginger sauce.

As an alternative to fish, the menu also offers calamari or prawns, each either tempura or grilled, served with the same choices of chips, brown rice or salad; we tried the grilled calamari with salad. Whilst the calamari pieces were wonderfully tender and fresh, they were just a touch too salty for my liking. This worked with the salad, as the leaves balanced the saltiness, but perhaps wouldn’t have worked so well with rice or chips.

Sides of grilled haloumi and potato cakes (basically deep-fried, battered discs of potato!) were a little gluttonous alongside the generous main courses, but tasty nonetheless.

In line with the original concept of a fish and chips shop, you can order Seasalt to takeaway. Granted it doesn’t come wrapped in newspaper (does anyone really do that anymore?), but it does come in cute, colourful packaging. Prices range from $120 to $195 depending on the order; it’s certainly not the cheapest takeaway in town, but neither is it enough to scare you from coming back. For us it’s the perfect Sunday night dinner, whether we’re eating in or out, and until someone does a true British fish and chips shop, I’ll happily make do with the Aussie version for now!

Seasalt

23 Mosque Street
Mid-Levels
Hong Kong

Tel: +852 2790 7211

www.seasalt.com.hk

Tags: barramundi, calamari, fish and chips, haloumi, hong kong, mid-levels, mosque street, prawns, takeaway, tempura

Comments 5 Comments
Categories Cheap and cheerful, Restaurant review, Takeaway, Vegetarian

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