Eat Drink Hong Kong

I was sitting at a large wooden table. The rain had stopped now and I was starting to feel better. Half an hour previously I’d been beating a path through a thicket of people and umbrellas in Tsim Sha Tsui, wet, miserable and above all, hungry.

Phoenix, half way up the mid-levels escalator seemed like another world, an oasis of calm. The wine was chilled and so was the music. Something by Harold Budd and or Brian Eno I suspect but I couldn’t be sure. Outside heads, sometimes with shoulders sometimes without, slid quietly past leading hidden bodies up the escalator. Inside a couple chatted quietly, around the corner from me and out of sight.

I turned my attention to the Veal Terrine with Quince Chutney and Toast ($55) that had just been delivered. Quince are apple shaped fruit said to be the golden apples of Virgil in Greek mythology. They are not very common but they do seem to make excellent chutney. Not too sweet, they combined well with the terrine and the pickles that were served with it.

Needless to say I made short work of it. It had been a difficult choice, the menu at Phoenix is not large but each and every dish is tempting. The cuisine is essentially British but draws unashamedly on both European and Asian styles.

It’s a small intimate restaurant. The decor is simple but tasteful. Wood is very much in evidence. The top of the bar is made from a huge log, there are polished boards on the floor and pastel green painted panelling around the lower half of the walls. There was also a faint smell of rattan on the air. Altogether it reminded me of another time and place and while I still can’t put my finger on what time and place (I suspect it is a clever combination of times and places) it is very pleasing indeed.

The main course was a huge piece of Char Grilled Salmon served in lemon butter sauce with thyme roast potatoes ($160). It was deliciously fresh. Done well, the char grilling seals the fish and keeps all the moisture and flavour inside. This was done perfectly. It was served with a selection of fresh garden vegetables; broccoli, carrots and peas.

After a respectable pause, and another glass of wine, I finally made my mind up about dessert. It had been a three way contest. The also rans were Lemon tart with hazelnut Ice cream and Rhubarb Crumble and Custard. I eventually chose date pudding with butterscotch sauce ($55). The sponge was light and fluffy the sauce rich and sweet, I wanted seconds.

I didn’t have seconds though. In the final analysis I didn’t know where I would have put it, instead I took my time over coffee.