Eat Drink Hong Kong

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Conrad Hong Kong
Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Tel 2521 3838
Fax 2521 3888

Level 49, The Upper House, Pacific Place
Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 3968 1106

Island Shangri-la
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2877 3838
Fax 2521 8742

There is an art to doing buffet but I’ve never been able to master it properly. Some people seem to be able to keep eating and eating but I always wind up getting full … or is it just my imagination? Maybe it is because good buffets always have more things than I can possibly try in one sitting. But I do have tricks that I try to employ to help me get the most out of what is on offer so the other day I sauntered along to Cafe TOO at the Island Shangri-La to hone my skills.

Buffets are very popular and, at $388 Cafe TOO may be one of the more expensive in town, but it was still packed even before seven. I was lucky, the waiter led me to a table right at the very back near the Indian kitchen. He was a little apologetic about it but it suited me down to the ground as I was able to watch the chefs. The mantra I always begin with is “Never put too much on the your plate”. This is particularly difficult when confronted with such fresh looking sushi and sashimi. They do offer oysters but I’ve always wondered what the fuss was about.

They did have some delicious chilled crab that worked well with the sashimi. I just love sushi and sashimi, but in these situations I try to stick to sashimi because the rice can fill you up too much. I had the tuna, clam and yellowtail. I could see myself going back for seconds, so I augmented this with a little smoked salmon which I thought may provide an interesting segue into the cold cuts and salad.

The next tactic is to eat slowly. This is all well and good when you go with a group of friends but if, like me, you also enjoy dining alone then it helps to have a good book or a newspaper. I’d already read the papers and I’d forgotten my book so that segue into the cold cuts came rather sooner than I’d anticipated.

The choice of cold cuts was not as varied as the sashimi but I was still able to find some pepper beef and parma ham. To that plate I added a little goats cheese in olive oil and some of the spicy Thai papaya salad called som tam.

This was an inspired move because the spiciness of the salad demanded that I rest a while before moving on to the next.

There were a couple of chinese options, some soup noodles and what looked like a Chiu Chow kitchen but I must confess I didn’t investigate. I got sidetracked by the rack of lamb with vegetables and roast potatoes. I was a little disappointed to notice that there wasn’t any English mustard available but it was a fairly minor transgression.

After another short pause I was ready for the Indian kitchen. I’d heard good things about this and I’d been enjoying watching the chef baking the nan. I timed my attack perfectly. Because of my privileged location I knew when the tandoori chicken was to be replenished and I was there waiting. To go with it I also selected some tandoori fish, onion bhaji and nan bread.

There was a quite bewildering range of desserts, all of them looked yummy but I decided to settle for a small slice of tiramisu and rounded off with some brie and biscuits and coffee.

G22-27, G/F Hutchison House
10 Harcourt Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2147 2323

Shop 202, 2/F Hutchison House
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2536 0833
Fax 2536 0733

Shop 3, B3, Three Pacific Place
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2918 9892

Level 3, Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2918 9643

114 Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2845 4600

I hadn’t been planning to come here. In fact I didn’t have any plans at all except that I was going to have dinner somewhere. I’d just swung off Johnston Road and was pointing vaguely in the direction of Star Street when a charming young lady waved a menu under my nose.

Another time I might have passed on by but she had such a charming smile I didn’t have the heart to say no. She ushered me into the lift and, alas, that was the last I saw of her.

Deluxe Wine is a young and trendy kind of place with that hypnotic music that never seems to have any beginning or end pumping away behind the clink of cocktail glasses against expensive phones.

But it is not that expensive really and they do offer what looks like an interesting set dinner for $348 which mixes Japanese and western dishes. I made my way onto the balcony which gives a commanding view of Johnston Road. The waiter followed me out, arranged the table and took my order.

The first course to arrive was the Deluxe Wine salad. This consisted of a tuft of lettuce with cubes of crab roe. The roe was surprisingly hard, indeed at first glance I thought it was carrot.

The next course was sashimi. This included salmon wrapped around a prawn, yellowtail wrapped around scallops and tuna roll.

Next came a delicious and chunky vegetable soup served in a rather odd shaped bowl with a huge brim that made me think of an upturned straw boater. Couldn’t argue with the soup though, I wolfed it down.

The main course was pork with orange sauce. I enjoyed the pork with the slices of orange that garnished it, but I felt the sauce was a little bland. A little more orange tanginess would have improved it greatly. It was served on a bed of creamed potato with baby corn and green peas.

I didn’t make a note of what the dessert was called on the menu but it was actually creme caramel.

It wasn’t a stunning meal but it was pleasant enough. I did enjoy sitting on the balcony and watching the early evening clatter of Johnston Road.

4/F Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2111 1197

LG1, Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2868 3235

The public holiday got in the way of my dining plans this week but I did manage to find time for a sandwich.

I’d stopped by Epoch on Wing Fung Street earlier in the week. It was pretty quiet while I was there but I would Imagine it does a roaring trade at lunchtimes with all the offices in Pacific Place Three right next door.

It’s a trendy, chill-out kind of coffee bar. Quite spacious with magazines and even CD machines with headphones and a choice of music. The background music featured young singers singing jazz standards over a backing track of what I prefer to call wallpaper music. But what do I know?

I found myself a corner amidst the CD players and the waiter promptly produced a menu. I didn’t actually need a menu, I’d seen what I wanted on the blackboard outside. I wanted the baby lobster with mango on soft multigrain bread ($50). To go with it I ordered a lime and green apple smoothie.

The menu does have quite an interesting range of sandwiches, salads and paninis and, since it is a coffee bar, there is also a range of coffee and coffee cocktails.

I browsed the CDs in the CD corner but the sandwich arrived before I’d found anything I recognised. The bread was indeed soft and the filling generous. Enjoyable too, the ingredients were good and the mayo had been kept to a minimum. The smoothie was sharp but not sour, I was most pleased.

I figured that since I’d skipped the coffee, I really should have a dessert when in a desserterie. There is a different menu for dessert and it took me a while to decide. In the end I plumped for the Luscious Lemon ($68). A slice of warm lemon pound cake drenched in lemon syrup and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. On the side a topping of fresh pineapple.

It was sweet to say the least, I’d recommend sharing.

1 St Francis Yard
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel 2861 3318

7/F JW Marriott
Pacific Place
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2841 3858

Every so often I need to get a fish fix. This time saw me trotting up to the Fish Bar at the Marriott Hotel. It’s a pleasant place by the side of the swimming pool. The whole restaurant is al fresco but if you like you can sit out by the pool away from the main dining area. There was a pleasant breeze blowing so I chose the pool option.

The menu is simplicity itself. There is a blackboard stating what kinds of fish are available that day. Most of them cost $250 and are served with a choice of mashed, baked or French fried potato. Baramundi and garoupa were slightly more expensive at $285.

For starters I’d ordered a salad Nicoise with char-grilled tuna ($155). This was a generous serving indeed and could very easily be shared between two. The salad consisted of tomato wedges, new potatoes, olives, green beans, and hard-boiled egg and was served on a bed of lettuce. It was a good dish though on future visits I might ask the chef to go just a little easier on the salt.

For my main course I’d asked for the snapper to be grilled. All the items can be ordered either pan-fried or grilled. Snapper is wonderful when grilled and this didn’t disappoint. It was a generous fillet with a deliciously smokey favour and perfectly cooked. I’d asked for it with baked potato but it also comes with creamed spinach and sweet corn.

All the fish served here is farmed or humanely caught using methods that don’t damage the environment. Maybe it was my imagination but but I thought it tasted better because of that.

The waiter showed me three items available for dessert. The apple crumble was probably not the best choice. There was nothing seriously wrong with it it just seemed a little pedestrian.

Conrad Hong Kong
Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2521 3838
Fax 2521 3888

Conrad Hong Kong
Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2521 3838
Fax 2521 3888

G/F The Mall, Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2868 0086
Fax 2537 1667

Shop G10-15, Hutchison House
10 Harcourt Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2523 2524
Fax 2523 2174

Island Shangri-la
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2877 3838
Fax 2521 8742

Shop 2B, 1/F Retail Podium
Lippo Centre
89 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2810 6921

JW Marriot Hotel
One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2810 8366
Fax 2845 0737

Hong Kong Park
Cotton Tree Drive
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2522 6333

The St Francis Yard and Star Street area may be a little out of the way but whenever I go over there I usually find something new and interesting. I find myself wondering if the area could evolve into a new Soho. Certainly those old lanes have lots of character and the lack of traffic would make it ideal for al fresco dining. And indeed the number of restaurants is on the increase.

On this last visit I found a bar and two restaurants that I hadn’t seen before. One of them, a Japanese restaurant had only been open a matter of days. I decided it might be a little unfair to write about them so soon after opening so I wandered round the corner to La Fleur.

This, as the name suggests, is a small French restaurant. The decor is simple but pleasing wood panelling against plain white walls with paintings on the wall.

The menu offers a selection of familiar dishes but this time I decided to give one of the set dinners a try. There were several options at different price points. I chose a three course option at $215. And I also ordered a glass of Chilean Chardonnay to go with it.

The Chardonnay arrived promptly along with the bread basket. I was feeling quite hungry so I laid into the bread with enthusiasm. Bread so often gets overlooked, but these baguettes were good. Crisp on the outside, warm and soft inside. Fortunately the first course arrived before I was able to spoil my appetite.

This was escargot baked in a rich garlic butter and served with creamed potato. The snails were soft and tender and lived up to expectation admirably but they were piping hot when served, I had to wait a few moments for them to cool.

The second course was wild mushroom soup. It was pleasant enough and the waiter did replenish my supply of baguettes but, I have to confess, I find it hard to get enthusiastic about soup. The exception being French onion soup and I neglected to check if that was on the a la carte menu. Though I’m sure it probably was.

The main course was grilled tenderloin with pan fried goose liver served with green beans, broccoli, potato and carrot. Again, the course lived up to expectation. The goose liver was a generous portion. Almost in danger of being too generous as its rich flavour could have overwhelmed the beef.

The meal was good and good value as well. The only disappointment was dessert. The menu offered a choice of three but only the creme brulee was available. I’m more inclined to put that down to my bad luck on the night. In all other areas the service was efficient and prompt.

As I left I walked past St Francis Yard again. It was a cool damp evening but it wasn’t hard to imagine how it could look on a balmy evening with tables and chairs, the chatter of diners and the smell of good food in the air.

G/F Lippo Centre
89 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2845 4151
Fax 2845 6417

Island Shangri-la
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2877 3838
Fax 2521 8742

Lobby, Island Shangri-La Hotel
Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2820 8560

KS Lo Gallery
Hong Kong Park
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2801 7177

JW Marriot Hotel
1 Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2810 8366

G/F Hutchison House
10 Harcourt Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2523 4772

JW Marriot Hotel
One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2810 8366
Fax 2845 0737

JW Marriot Hotel
One Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2810 8366
Fax 2845 0737

G/F Bank of America Tower
12 Harcourt Road
Central
Tel 2136 1271
Fax 2537 0222

LG/F Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2918 0882

1/F Hutchison House
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2537 7470

Island Shangri-La
Pacific Place
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2820 8570

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I wandered in here. I’d come to the Star Street neck of the woods simply because I hadn’t been up there in a while.

I’d heard of Naturo Plus, of course, they’ve been in the news a few times. But I had been under the impression that they were a shop that specialised in organic foods. I was mostly correct, but what I didn’t know was that they also have a small menu of snacks.

Yak cheese features quite prominently in many of them. The cheese is imported from Shangri la, a small enterprise in Tibet.

“How big are the snacks?” I asked. I was wondering whether I should order two or three of the snacks.

The lady thought about this made shape with her hands, thought about it for a while and said “Any size you’d like really. Did you want dinner?” I admitted I had been thinking of that but I would be happy with a sandwich or blini or even yak cheese on toast.

“I can do you some pork spare ribs with a salad and some cheese toast with that if you’d like.” I told her I’d like very much and wondered about a possible starter. “How about ham with pomelo?” she suggested. I told her it sounded wonderful.

I ordered a glass of organic white wine and took a seat at the only table.

The pomelo wasn’t long in coming. Sweet and tangy, draped with prosciutto and punctuated with a spicy Thai style sauce.

The ribs took a while to cook but they were well worth waiting for. Alongside them on the plate were four slices of cheese on toast and, whilst the pork was good, it was probably these that I had been looking forward to the most.

It’s a semi-soft cheese, slightly rubbery in texture with a ripe, tangy flavour. Delicious! I couldn’t help wondering how a blue variety would work. Admittedly if you don’t have a taste for strong cheeses you might find it a little overpowering but if you enjoy a good piece of stilton you’re going to love yak cheese.

I finished off with a small slice of very rich and creamy traditional cheesecake. I think it was the only thing I had that was actually on the menu.

It was an excellent meal and since the bill came to less than $300, excellent value too.

I didn’t think to ask, before I left, whether I was just lucky or if they usually have something on hand for people like me who just happen to wander by. If you don’t want to chance it you could always call ahead.

G/F 6 Sun Street
Wanchai
Hong Kong
Tel 2865 0388

Conrad Hong Kong
Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2521 3838
Fax 2521 3888

This is a small restaurant just off Star Street at the Admiralty end of Wanchai that specialises in French/European styles. It is a very simple unpretentious place with just a few tables. It is spacious, clean and friendly.

There is a set menu for $195 which includes starter, main course and dessert, but it still offers a reasonable selection of dishes to choose from. But for a restaurant of this size I was rather surprised at the number of wines that it has to offer. I’m no wine expert but it did seem that some of the other guests were there for the wine rather than the food.

I ordered a glass of house red. The waitress did show me the bottle but I was so absorbed in the menu that, I confess, I wasn’t paying attention. It was a pleasant fruity wine and I was quite happy with it.

For starters I ordered smoked Herring with boiled potato. It was a decent piece of herring thought the potato could perhaps have done with another minute or two cooking. It didn’t stop me eating it though.

For main course I ordered the lamb stew in white wine sauce. This was served simply with plain boiled rice. It was pleasant enough but apart from some carrot in the stew Itself there were no vegetables. It needed some.

Dessert was chocolate mousse washed down with a good hot coffee.

Olala is a no-frills restaurant, the food was perfectly edible and at the price point there really isn’t much to complain about. But I do feel that a a little more attention to detail would turn a decent little eatery into a little gem.

That said if you are looking for a quick, no-fuss, hot dinner that is not burger related than Olala is just the ticket

Lower G/F Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2845 8452
Fax 2845 3710

3/F Coda Plaza
5 Garden Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2525 0552

4/F JW Marriott Hotel
Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2841 3846

Island Shangri-la
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2877 3838
Fax 2521 8742

Shop 2, LG1, Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 3960 5988

G/F Lippo Centre
89 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2522 9090
Fax 2522 9081

Yes, it is a curious name and I couldn’t help but ask how the restaurant came by it. The staff were more than happy to explain. The entrepreneurial spirit of Ruth Fertel was looking for a new challenge. She found it in Chris Steak House which had been advertised for sale in a local newspaper. One of the conditions of the sale was that it had to retain the name Chris Steak House. Obviously the clause didn’t say she couldn’t add her own name to the front.

Today there are Ruth’s Chris Steak Houses all over the US plus two in Hong Kong and three more in Taiwan. We were at the Lippo Centre branch in Admiralty. It is an elegant restaurant with much wood panelling that whispers of business deals that have been negotiated or celebrated. Not what I would call a romantic restaurant, though that’s just a personal view. There was at least one cosy little candle lit alcove.

There were also private rooms for groups of about 12, a main dining area with tables of various sizes and the area where we were, where the tables were all for two or four people. My guest agreed, this would be the perfect spot for sealing the deal.

“I know what I want already” said my guest. I’d been too busy talking and hadn’t even looked at the menu. She’d plumped for the Filet ($390). I can’t get through a menu that fast, I have to read the whole thing from cover to cover before I can even begin the decision making process. Needless to say by the time I’d read through it my guest had discovered something else and was torn between the two.

The something else she had discovered was, in fact, the Ahi Tuna Steak ($280). Seared rare tuna topped with a dollop of crab meat and red pepper. I did think, momentarily, about suggesting that we share the enormous Porterhouse ($1050) but then I thought again about that tuna. I love tuna and, I have to confess, sometimes it is a struggle to avoid the tuna dishes on a menu and try other things. This time I failed.

“How about you have the steak, I’ll order the tuna and then we can share” I suggested. Another deal was done and for good measure we also ordered a shrimp cocktail ($110) to share.

The shrimps were firm, fresh and tasty and came with a spicy tomato based sauce. The sauce was OK and worked well with just a dab on the shrimps but it rather overwhelmed the rest of the salad. It was however, a small point in what otherwise turned out to be an excellent meal.

Before long the steak was delivered. The waiter had told us how the meat is first broiled at 1800 degrees fahrenheit, to seal in all the flavour, before being transferred to the hot plate and finally garnished with butter and parsley. It was spectacular. It was also huge, we’d ordered the full 12oz although the restaurant does offer an 8oz option. And it was delicious, a perfect medium rare, a little crispy on the outside but it almost melted in the mouth.

The tuna held it’s own very well, fresh and tender and with a very generous helping of crab meat on top. Everything on the menu is a la carte, you order vegetables and potatoes according to how much you think you want to eat. My guest declined veggies because she knew it was going to be a big steak, I declined veggies because I knew I wanted dessert.

Dessert was a truly difficult choice. When a dessert is called Chocolate Sin ($60) it is almost impossible not to order it. But we also wanted the Banana Cream Pie ($70). It was way more than we could possibly eat but what the hell, we’d taken indulgence this far it would be a shame not to finish the job properly. We ordered both.

The chocolate sin was a wedge of almost solid chocolate whilst the banana cream was topped with slices of caramelised banana and was only slightly less sinful than the chocolate.

We finished off with coffee and I thought to myself that Chris must be very pleased with what Ruth did to the steak house.

G/F Bank of America Tower
12 Harcourt Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2801 7990
Fax 2801 7977

1/F Hutchison House
10 Harcourt Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2524 8181
Fax 2596 0733

1/F Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2155 8066

Lower G/F Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2845 8433
Fax 2845 3710

Island Shangri-la
Pacific Place
Supreme Court Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2877 3838
Fax 2521 8742

Shop 127 Pacific Place
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2918 0611

Shop 5, LG/F Pacific Place
Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2537 4682

This is a large and very popular restaurant in Pacific Place and whilst it may be called Thai Basil, there is no shortage of Vietnamese influenced dishes on the menu.

I arrived shortly after seven. There were still quite a few tables available then but I was very lucky. I took a seat near the front in the belief that I would be able to watch shoppers bustling to and fro while I enjoyed a leisurely dinner.

I was wrong. By the time I had studied the menu and ordered, the place had filled up and there was a throng of a dozen or more people waiting outside. Since my view of busy shoppers was blocked I studied the decor. The walls were midnight blue. Decorating them, at least the part that was nearest to me, were stainless steel skulls of a variety of horned animals.

A series of white Romanesque columns showed the way to the back of the restaurant where, in the distance, I could see the kitchen staff going about their art.

I wasn’t to dwell on the fixtures and fittings for long before my first dish arrived. This was the Vietnamese style clear white rolls with mango and beetroot ($72). They also included carrot, cold noodle and were garnished with mint. They were really quite sumptuous.

Within moments of this arriving my second dish, papaya salad with seared tuna ($85) arrived. This is a Vietnamese variation of the famous Thai dish som tam. It is not as spicy as som tam - instead it has a tangy fruitiness which compliments the tuna perfectly. I’ve had other variations of this made with green mango and whilst my papaya version was delicious I’d love to try it with the mango as well.

The last main dish was Thai tiger prawns($165). These came wrapped in a nest of crispy noodles with a sweet and sour dip. As with all the dishes they are probably best shared, and while I had no trouble eating the lot single-handedly, the noodles did get a bit boring towards the end.

I rounded off with lime meringue pie ($42). Two small ones to be exact but with a tower of meringue that reminded me of something Van Gogh might have painted. Otherwise they were fairly ordinary.

The food at Thai Basil is great but the service is necessarily fast and furious. I would have have felt guilty dallying over coffee and meringue whilst the folks outside were eying it hungrily.

Shop 1B, Lippo Centre
89 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2868 1711

Level 3, Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2918 9833

G/F Far East Finance Centre
16 Harcourt Road
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2866 3939

Lower G/F Pacific Place
88 Queensway
Admiralty
Hong Kong
Tel 2845 4555