Eat Drink Hong Kong

I don’t have to many opportunities to go up to the Sai Wan Ho end of town, so when I do I like to stop in and see what’s going on along Tai Hong Street. This is a little strip of restaurants on a small leafy lane that fronts onto the harbour.

It’s an attractive corner of town. The half dozen or so restaurants are geared towards the occupants of nearby residential blocks so while they may be European in style they cater very much towards local preferences. Most of them are also aimed at young family groups.

I decided to give Beira Dos Namorados a try. The decor was bright and cheerful and Ricky Martin was belting out his hits. I took a table at the front by the window. On less humid days the restaurant opens right up but on this particular evening I was grateful for the air con.

The menu is essentially Portuguese but with local characteristics. There is a range of set dinners which include a trip to the salad bar, the soup of the day, a main course, dessert and tea or coffee. For a single person they start at $165 for a pasta with seafood and go up to $250 for steaks and lobster.

Set meals for larger groups are also available. For two – $488; four – $888 and six – $1,388. These include a selection from the other main dishes. The menu also has a range of options for children.

I went for the roast baramundi option. While I waited I went to plunder the salad bar. It was a simple affair; lettuce, cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn, pak choi and cucumber. Sprinkled with dried bacon bits and parmesan cheese, it kept me happy until the soup arrived.

The soup of the day was chicken and it reminded me very much of the ones I have in the cupboard. Perfectly edible, it came with a bread roll and a little plastic tub of butter. I wolfed it down.

Outside a young boy, about 5-years-old, barrelled past on a tricycle. The lights of Kwun Tong twinkled through the trees and a crane barge slipped silently by in the dark. My baramundi arrived.

It was a decent fish too. Succulent and tasty, served on a bed of buttery creamed potato along with broccoli and a spicy, sweet orange sauce for dipping. I was pleasantly surprised to be honest.

Dessert was apple strudel with mango ice cream. Again it was perfectly adequate, the strudel could perhaps have done with a little more apple in it. But drizzled with lashings of chocolate and strawberry sauces it is undoubtedly a hit with the kids

After a salad, three courses and a coffee the overall bill was still well below $200. It’s hard to knock that kind of value.