All posts tagged: reviews

3 New Restaurants in Hong Kong You Need to Try

Published by

Most new restaurants can’t claim the heart of the average demanding Hong Kong customer. We love new things, but it’s also gotta be a little unique, something we can’t get elsewhere and of course so deliciously interesting that it makes us go “wow” or “ooo” or “mmm mMM”. Nothing less is adequate. So I was pleasantly surprised to recently come across as many as three new restaurants – Belon, Okra and Vanimal – which I loved and can recommend to you all with conviction. They’re not exactly 10/10s but follow the must order dishes below, and you won’t go wrong. 1. Belon It’s no surprise that Black Sheep Restaurants is behind one of the hottest new restaurants to open up lately. They’ve done a number of successful ventures before that I personally love, with Le Garcon Saigon and Carbone being among my favourites. Belon is a nice little French bistro with a modern fused cuisine, but you’d need to take a closer look at the food on offer for a better idea of what I mean. The …

Rustico: Traditional Spanish Gem in Lai Chi Kok

Published by

Of all locations in Hong Kong, few would have guessed that Lai Chi Kok would be home to one of the most authentic Spanish restaurants in Hong Kong, serving traditional comfort food. I must admit I heard mixed reviews about this place and indeed there were hits and misses. But overall the Iberico ham, garlic soup, Iberico presa salad, roasted suckling pig and dessert were unforgettably unique and delicious. And I’d say that’s a list long enough to bring me back again! Award-winning world champion carving ham master, Jose Manuel, visits the restaurant in May 2015 Excellent quality Iberico Ham Iberico ham is signature to Spanish cuisine and is indeed featured throughout the menu at Rustico. The Iberico ham itself was surprisingly juicy and tender, compared to the much dry-er versions I’ve tasted in the past. You can definitely taste the fact that they’ve used less salt during their curing process and hence some would judge the ham as having a little less taste. But I definitely approve of the lower salt version, given how sinful Iberico ham already is! …

Mak Man Kee: Must try wonton and shrimp roe noodles in Jordan

Published by

I missed my stop to Tsim Sha Tsui one lunch time and randomly ended up in Jordan. There were many restaurants to choose from but for no particular reason, we ended up at Mak Man Kee Noodles. The place got super packed after sitting down for 10-15 mins. When our wonton noodles came, we had a feeling this place was a lot more popular than we had known! Shrimp roe noodles *must order* I always purposely go to one cafe in Macau (皇冠小館) that famously serves delicious shrimp roe noodles, so I was excited to see this on the menu at Mak Man Kee Noodles as I rarely do at my usual go-to wonton places in Hong Kong. Actually, these tasted pretty similar to the one I had in Macau. Shrimp-only wontons On the menu, these are called shrimp-only wontons, but I have a feeling a teeny bit of pork was in it, just to lump the whole thing together. The shrimp in the filling was pretty massive and had a welcomed crunch when bitten into. It was wrapped …

Best places to satisfy your day-to-day sushi craving

Published by

I had omakase (廚師發辦, let the chef decide what you eat) at Sushi Mori once and it was the only time I paid more than HK$1700 for a meal. While it’s pretty factual that that was the best and most creative sushi I’ve ever had, I’m also similarly confident that I won’t be eating such an expensive meal again for the next five years (or til my salary doubles). But sushi is probably my favourite food, so to satisfy the day-to-day sushi craving, which is almost every other day for me, here are my two top choices for great sushi at great prices! Sushi Tokumi Sushi Tokumi is probably the only Japanese restaurant I’ve been to where I feel like I’m getting my bang for buck. They are generous with their portions (see the photos for evidence!) and the prices are completely reasonable. Their a la carte menu (for dinner) features a great variety of the typical sushis, as well as hot dishes – the salmon belly sashimi and fried eel rice being the highlights. …

Tasty French burgers in IFC at Big Fernand

Published by

French burger chain Big Fernand joins the limited casual dining scene at IFC, Central. Though Asian Twist (its predecessor) was initially sorely missed, there’s nothing sad about the French invasion here, as Big Fernand makes some of the tastiest burgers in town, although at a pretty hefty price too. Juicy burger with delicious sauces and cheese Their menu is pretty simple – they have a few meat options (lamb included) and a vegetarian option too; you can also build your own burger. I went for the more epic-sounding beef burger, Bartholome. The burger was super juicy and they incorporate their own sauces in there which matches the whole affair quite perfectly. The cheese is also worth mentioning; it was gourmetly delicious – none of that cheap sliced cheese nonsense! The patty is thinner than ideal, but they nevertheless still managed to cook it with a “pink” centre (for “medium”) and the meat was not dry at all. Pricey for a self-service restaurant Big Fernand is a casual self-service restaurant; you line up to order and pay for your burger …

Creative European-inspired food at The Continental

Published by

The Continental has taken over one of the best restaurant locations in Hong Kong atop Pacific Place or where Domani used to be. Here, British Chef Rowley Leigh introduces a European cafe-inspired British menu and some of the dishes here were just unforgettable – creativity mixed with generally great execution. Raw tuna with ginger dressing *must order* The raw tuna was delicately thin, shining light on the tasty ginger dressing, making this dish much more interesting than the usual tuna carpaccio you see on other restaurant’s menu. “Ginger dressing” is really a humble understatement of what the sauce here really is. The flavours were really interesting and quite complex; the ginger taste was pleasantly not overriding. Parmesan custard with anchovy toast *must order* The mention of “anchovies” on a menu is usually an instant turn off for me. But I had forgotten that these were in the toast on my first bite; the anchovy taste was very subtle, albeit detectable after two bites or so. It was more like sea salt seasoning rather than fishy flavour, which I liked very much. But the highlight of …

Quick burgers and korritos at Kobab & Koshi in Central

Published by

I usually make sure I get out of the office for lunch, even if it’s a short one. I headed over to Wo On Lane (tucked within Lan Kwai Fong) in Central and decided to try this relatively new Korean fusion gourmet fast food. Good reviews and photos of their juicy burger was what arouse my initial attention, but at 2pm, it was the chicken korrito that left me happy even before the long weekend had started! Juicy tender burger At this place, if not korrito, then burger. So between the two of us, we ordered those. They didn’t ask me how I wanted my patty cooked and so I was a bit regretful when I realised 5 minutes after I ordered. Nevertheless, it was no disaster that the beef was cooked well done as the patty was not dry at all (as it often is when well done) – it was extremely delicious and juicy; quite flavourful too. The only tiny complaint is that the burger was a little too greasy for me (but we are …