Eat Drink Hong Kong

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3/F Stanley 11
11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2834 7223

8/F 11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 3622 1817

2/F 11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2525 3030

7/F Coda Plaza
51 Garden Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2838 8811

65 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2537 5702

30-32 Robinson Road
Mid Levels
Hong Kong
Tel 2521 7366

G/F 21 Wing Wo Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2545 6100

1/F 11 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2868 3738

3-4/F Soho Square
21 Lynchurst Terrace
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2543 0505

3101 ifc Mall
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2393 3812

Shop 1, G/F Jervois House
1 Jervois Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2517 8484
Fax 2517 8585

G/F 202 Queens Road Central
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
Tel 2545 1111
Fax 2545 1171

57 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2526 7993
Fax 2525 6733

Every so often I get a craving for a really hot curry. It is not the kind of thing I order if I’m out with a group of people because most often the others can’t share. Even if I go to an Indian restaurant alone I would more usually choose to sample a range of flavours. Really hot curries like a vindaloo, especially if you are eating alone, tends to overwhelm the other dishes.

For me a curry like that requires commitment so when the urge takes a hold I skulk off to Taste Better Curry on Graham Street. It’s a simple restaurant, more spacious on the inside than the exterior would have you believe. The tables have a layer of glass on top with the menus underneath. It’s brightly lit and the ambience is governed by the wall mounted TV that the staff watch when they are not looking after customers.

I’ve never seen it really busy, nor have I seen it empty but there always seems to be a steady flow of guests. Most of them appear to be like me, they have gone there to indulge in passion that few of their friends or relatives share.

I don’t know what they order, I always order a vindaloo. There are other options such as Madras, and masala all of which can be ordered with beef, chicken, mutton, fish or prawn. There are a few specialities such as Kyoto pork chop, pork neck and curry crab. At $68 the crab is the most expensive item on the menu.

I opt for a fish vindaloo ($50), two plain nan ($12 each) and an ovaltine. The waiter warns me that the vindaloo is very spicy and I assure him that very spicy is just what I came for. The nan are not like Indian nan as there is no tandoori oven, these are more like huge chapatis. If you prefer your curry can be served with rice or with spaghetti.

The serving of curry looks enormous though is is the sauce making it look more than it really is. That said there is ample food for one person; good sized chunks of fish and potato. I dig in and pretty soon the beads of sweat are forming on my brow.

People do ask how I can actually enjoy dishes that are this spicy. It’s not a taste that you can acquire over night it develops over a period of time. But when you get it it can be quite addictive.

It’s interesting to note that the word ‘Vindaloo’ comes from the Portuguese ‘Carne de Vinha d’ Alhos’ which means meat with wine and garlic. The Portuguese took it to Goa where it was mixed with with Indian spices and turned into a Goan dish. It’s still not very common elsewhere in India but it is popular in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Potatoes were not originally part of the recipe they got added later, the discrepancy arising, I’m told, because ‘aloo’ is the Hindi word for potato.

Finished, I push the plate away and mop my brow. There are no desserts on the menu. I but a bag of mandarin oranges from the market outside and take them home.

Taste Better Curry
G/F, 7 Graham Street
Central

At first this didn’t look like it would be an all that comfortable place to eat. The music was loud and the tables seemed a bit pokey and suitable only for drinking at. I was about to pass on by when I noticed a flight of stairs to the right.

I asked the waitress if there were more tables upstairs. “You want to go upstairs?” she asked somewhat surprised. I’d like to take a look I told her.

Upstairs was much better. The music wasn’t so loud and there were tables that looked like you could eat at them. Cafe Iguana serves Mexican food. You don’t need a menu to tell you that. One wall is green the others are yellow. They are hung with paintings featuring colours from the red end of the spectrum. A pile of sombreros lay to one side.

It’s not a big menu but what it does it does well. Four variations of guacamole are the first items. I ordered a Poblano ($68) and a bottle of Carta Blanca beer ($50). Poblano is a mild type of chilli pepper from Mexico. It adds a gentle spiciness to the avocado. Also in the mix was corn and asadero cheese. It is served with tortilla chips which are used to scoop it up.

The cocktail menu, on the other hand, is quite impressive. Patron, Don Julio and Herradura and the three main tequila brands used but for connoisseurs there are almost 50 others in stock. I do like tequila but I prefer to save it for weekends and days when I don’t have to remember what I was doing the night before.

From the tortilla section I had ordered the Carnita ($98). This is pork braised in orange and tequila and garnished with another dollop of guacamole. They are served open on freshly made tortillas. They roll up fairly easily but what impressed me the most was that the contents stayed inside. Usually when I try to eat things like this half of it falls into my lap.

Following this came the Alambres Al Pastor ($138). This is a large skewer of barbecued goodies. The waitress had asked if I preferred prawn or chicken. I suggested a mix of both and off she went to consult the chef.

The skewer itself is hung horizontally over a plate of roasted lime-oregano potatoes. On the skewer, alongside the prawn and chicken were red and green peppers, onion and pineapple. I don’t normally approve of pineapple in a dish like this but this time it was sharp and tangy so it worked quite well.

I finished off with a rather agreeable coconut flan garnished with blueberries and crispy coconut shavings.

When I left there still were not too many people upstairs although the ground floor seem fairly well populated. But it’s still a very new place, things will probably change as it becomes better known

15-16 Queen Victoria Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2115 9774

G/F 43-55 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2537 8010

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

25/F Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2825 4002

6/F Wellington Place
2-8 Wellington Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2868 5657

2/F Nexxus Building
41 Connaught Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2147 6768

G/F, Caine Mansion
80-88 Caine Road
Mid-Levels
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2548 0330

2/F 28 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 3175 2448

1081 ifc Mall
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2234 7356

7/F, Cheung Hing Commercial Bldg
37-43 Cochrane St
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2854 0916

This is a funky, modern Thai restaurant on Arbuthnot street. It’s quite a hike if you’re coming up the hill from Central but well worth the effort.

Seating is canteen style on benches at large wooden tables but they are very spacious so there is no need to worry about bashing elbows with people sitting nearby. They are set with eight place mats but if you were planning an office night out they could probably fit as many as twelve quite comfortably.

I was on my own and had a whole table to myself but it was still early. Early is good at Box Thai. If you go before 7.00 pm they offer an early bird special where $88 will get you one main dish (not including the chef’s specials) and a choice of beer, house wine or soft drink.

The price is attractive and the portions are generous enough but I couldn’t imagine restricting myself to just one dish. The menu is also you place mat and if busy I’m sure you could just tick the boxes and hand it to the waitress. The place wasn’t busy at all and the waitress took the time to tick off some of her recommendations.

I passed by her suggestion of satay favouring instead the betel leaves with savoury pork ($45) but I did take up the suggestion of baramundi in yellow curry with mango and banana ($85). She also thought the grilled calamari and pomelo salad ($60) would go down well.

She was right. That was the first dish to arrive fresh and tangy. It was a little spicy but not too much. Indeed very few of the dishes on the menu are from the hotter end of Thai cuisine. I hastily put in an order for sticky rice which I had forgotten to do earlier.

The rice arrived along with tan elegant display of betel. An appropriate amount of pork was already placed on each leaf and all I had to do was fold it over an pop it into my mouth. The flavour was a little smoky and slightly dry. It was a pleasing contrast to the calamari and also to what I was expecting to be a fairly sweet curry.

Yellow curries are always at the sweeter end of the scale but this interpretation was particularly interesting. The sauce itself was not as sweet as others I’ve had. The sweetness comes in little explosions when the palette finds a piece of mango or banana. The chunks of baramundi were succulent and plentiful and cherry tomato halves added a little colour. I mopped up the remains of the sauce with the last of the sticky rice.

There were a few desserts on the menu, all familiar choices. I opted for banana fritter with vanilla ice cream ($40)

I stumbled onto The Green Mouse quite by accident. I’d turned into Peel Street with the intention of heading downhill from Hollywood Road back to Central and there it was.

Since it was almost dinner time anyway I didn’t need much convincing but being told that it was owned and operated by two former Chez Patrick staff was certainly encouraging.

The decor is simple but elegant, white walls punctuated with miniature paintings with crisp cheerful green table linen and napkins. A small chandelier tinkles gently in the breeze from the air conditioning unit. There were no other customers but it was still very early. I took a seat near the window. Net curtains hide Peel Street and, on my side of the door, reflect the restaurants logo; a green mouse.

It’s not a large menu, it doesn’t need to be. Quality rather than quantity seems to be the order of the day. There is a set dinner menu on the right which offers 3-course meals for $378 or 4-courses for $458.

There is a choice of three starters and three mains. The choices are changed every week except desserts which vary from day to day and are not listed. The 4th course, if I made it that far, was a cheese board.

For starters I went for the pan-fried fois gras with caramel sauce. While I was waiting for that I was served a, fresh from the oven, bread roll. It may not have been as enthusiastic a display as an Italian bread basket but it was luxurious in its simplicity. I was about to ask for another when I was presented with a small portion of quiche lorraine which took my mind off it.

I was just looking around for more quiche when the fois gras arrived. Two rather generous pieces, crisp and delicate on the outside deliciously creamy on the inside. It went pleasingly well with the house red wine.

I have to admit I’m a bit of a slacker when it comes to wine and I’d neglected to write the name down. It was quite a fruity tang and was comparably light for a red wine.

Timing of the dishes was near perfect with just the right space between them. But it was here that the background music came forward. For the most part it had been a selection of middle of the road 1960s and 70s pop. Fairly easy to ignore for the most part but there was the odd, annoyingly gimmicky, dance tune.

Fortunately it was over before the main course, pan-fried beef flank steak in port wine sauce, arrived. And a lovely piece of steak it was too. Cooked medium rare, it was lean, juicy and served with a selection of garden vegetables, mushrooms, cauliflower cheese and caramelised onions.

I think it was Oscar Wilde, or someone of that ilk, that once said that listening to music while eating is an insult to both chef and composer. I think that is a load of old rot. Good music complements a meal just a surely as a good wine and I thought this was worthy of a Thelonious Monk or Stephane Grappelli.

There were a number of desserts available including chocolate pudding and crepes but I plumped for the apple tart with cinnamon ice cream. Along with coffee it was an excellent way to round off a very pleasing meal. The cheese board, I’m afraid, will have to wait till next time.

30-34 Cochrane Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2850 6818

G/F 33 Peel Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2544 0389

Upper Basement, Harilela House
79 Wyndham Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2522 8118

9 Jubilee Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2545 1472

Wellington Street

Central

Tel. 2805 9889

Shop 2018-20, ifc Mall
Finance Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2295 3811

LG/F 13 Lyndhurst Terrace
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2815 0868

B/F Yuen Yick Building
27-29 Wellington Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2523 6282

Level 3 Man Yee Building
68 Des Voeux Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2258 9393

25/F Prince’s Building
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2537 1388

255 Queen’s Road Central
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
Tel 2815 1558

Central Ferry Pier 7
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2167 8153

2/F Yu Wing Building
64-66 Wellington Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 3693 4448

1/F IFC Mall
8 Finance Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2167 7321

Shop 3089-3097 Podium 3
IFC Mall
8 Finance Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2805 0723

Shop 222, The Galleria
9 Queen’s Road
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2526 8798

38 Stanley Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2868 4218

204-205 Chater House
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2805 0028

Shop 2016, Podium 2
One IFC, 2 Harbour View Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2295 4848

Shop 237, 2/F The Landmark
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2905 9078

Shop 18 Gilman’s Bazaar
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2815 3985

1/F Sompteux Central
52-54 Welington Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2167 8985

G/F 97 Wellington Street
Central
Hong Kong
Tel 2736 6041

Burger joints come and go but Gourmet Burger Union on Cochrane Street has been there a while. I’ve been keeping an eye on it. I knew the day would eventually arrive when desire for a burger would coincide with my being in the vicinity.

As it happened it was a desire for some Stilton cheese as much as for a burger that carried me there. I happened to know in advance that Stilton cheese is one of the toppings you can have.

The interesting thing about Gourmet Burger Union is that you can create your own burger exactly how you want it. To do that you are offered a range of toppings to choose from, of which Stilton is only one. Indeed there are fifteen options in the cheese category alone. They range from Greek feta, Monterey jack, Brie and of course Cheddar.

The choice of cheese can change the whole character of your burger but before we get ahead of ourselves we should look at the patties themselves. New Zealand Angus beef goes into the quarter pounder and the half pounder ($65 and $98 respectively). Alternatively they offer Australian free range chicken, New Zealand lamb and soy protein veggie burgers.

I opted for a half pounder on a bun with a bed of mixed lettuce. One type of cheese is included in the price but if you wish you can have extra cheese at $15 each. Onto that you can have up to two standard toppings. Yes, you can have as many as you wish. Extra toppings cost $5 each.

They also offer premium toppings. These come in at $10 each. I had portobello mushrooms and smoked bacon.

After that you can add a sauce. There are fifteen to choose from but I wanted the stilton to come through loud and clear so I gave them a miss.

I did consider having a Greek salad for starter but wisely decided against it. I did order a serving of French fries ($20) and a beer ($35) to wash it all down with.

Sadly, the only beer available was a version of Samuel Adams that comes out of the local San Miguel brewery. Sad because with so many excellent imported bottled beers around town, it would have been nice to enjoy a premium beer with a premium burger.

The burger was, of course pretty well as I expected - huge, rich and tasty. For those that can’t make up their minds about what to put in it, the menu also offers a dozen or so signature burgers.

Dessert would have been apple and blackberry crumble ($35) but I decided I would just have to save that for another time. I thought I might have trouble squeezing through the door as it was.

When you walk into Sagrantino the first thing you notice is the arched red brick decorative finish. The tables are set back into little arched alcoves. You might even be reminded of those old photographs of the Beatles playing at the Cavern back in the 60’s.

I’m not sure if that’s the intended effect but it is a little different. Especially as it is on the fifth floor (The Cavern was in a basement I believe) of a modern building in Wellington Street. Nevertheless it does aid and abet a cosy atmosphere

I got there quite early and surprised the waitress. It was only just about 7.00 and I don’t think customers start arriving much before 8.00pm. It’s a long thin restaurant with the kitchen at the far end. Since I had the place to myself I chose a table in an alcove about half way along.

The waitress brought me the menu and a bread basket. For an Italian restaurant it didn’t seem like a particularly varied selection of bread but it did have some delicious croutons which I nibbled into extinction while waiting for the first course.

For starters I’d ordered Carpaccio Manzo ($98). Carpaccio is thin slices of beef in olive oil and lemon. This was garnished with a forest of aragula, pink peppercorns and topped off with shavings of parmesan cheese.

Although Sagrantino is essentially an Italian restaurant it is Japanese owned and though Carpaccio is technically beef, Sagrantino offers options with octopus, tuna, salmon, yellow tail and duck. Which, when you think about it are just logical variations.

I’d stayed with the traditional beef because I had ordered grilled salmon for main ($178). This was two generous salmon steaks swimming in an ocean of parsley cream sauce with some little roast potato cubes on the side. It looked quite striking and tasted wonderful. But it was almost too much. Almost. if you don’t have such a large appetite I would recommend sharing this and maybe a pasta.

The choice of desserts is not spectacular. Dessert of the day was orange sorbet. I was tempted but in the end I opted for tiramisu ($68). Tiramisu is so common in so many restaurants that I usually avoid it and I must confess, halfway through this I was wishing I’d had the sorbet. Not because the tiramisu was particularly bad. It wasn’t, it was perfectly edible. I just get bored with it.

I love it when local friends take me out to dinner. Partly because we usually go to places that I wouldn’t think to go on my own. Places where you really need a group of at least four people so that you can try more dishes. And partly because most often I can’t read the menu so I am able to sit back and let my companions do the ordering

But at Crystal Jade reading the menu is bilingual and there is a photo of each dish so ordering is a breeze whichever language you speak.

It was an intriguing menu indeed, the dishes are mostly from Shanghai and the northern parts of China. There were many indeed that I would have liked to try but I was still happy to let the others order.

One of the first things to be ordered was an attractive ceramic jug containing what was called “Daughter red” wine. I didn’t catch the Chinese name, I suspect it may have regional variations. The wine itself is made from rice and wheat and can be served warm or cold. The taste reminded me of sake though the wheat gave it a much fuller flavour. It was a fine prelude to the dishes that followed.

The first dish to arrive was Marinated Ham Zhen Jiang Style ($48). “Chinese corned beef” one of my companions joked. I could see the similarity but the taste was altogether more delicate.

Next came Sautéed egg with compoy ($60). I was awarded the task of stirring the yolk. Compoy is made from shredded dried scallops and was really quite delicious.

Some sautéed prawns had also arrived, probably while I was busy stirring the egg. But what also arrived at about this time was a serving of ham and dried bean curd ($68). This is delivered with a plate of white unleavened bread. The idea is to make a little sandwich with a slice of ham and a slice of bean curd skin. It was so good I could have cheerfully polished off the entire plateful on my own.

Fortunately good manners prevailed and I turned my attention to the Fresh soy beans with bean curd leaves and preserved vegetables ($50). This too was a rather special dish. The bean curd leaves are small pieces of shaped bean curd slightly reminiscent of pasta. It was quite delicious and would make an excellent vegetarian option.

Another good vegetarian option was the Sichuan style hot and sour soup ($35). The main ingredients of this are soy bean, bamboo and fungus. It was sour but not nearly as spicy as I was expecting for a Sichuan dish. That said not all Sichuan dishes are spicy.

For dessert we shared a glutinous rice and sweet wine porridge and red bean and date pancake.

Crystal Jade is a very popular restaurant and reservations are highly recommended.

This is a tiny little restaurant on Wellington Street. Ten guests represents a full house and they are, very often, full. This was my second attempt to get a table. I was lucky, there were only two other guests there when I arrived. That wasn’t to last long however, and pretty soon there was only one seat left.

It is a compact and functional restaurant with a name that sums up it’s philosophy. The menu offers numerous items Including lobster - baked or steamed, garoupa, various types of prawn and geoduck amongst them.

To complement these there is a selection of chilled crabs, lobsters, prawns and what I think were tin law, or Chinese edible snails.

I ordered a huge mantis shrimp for starters ($98) which was steamed before being chilled and served simply with a butter lemon sauce and a pair of scissors to cut open the tough shell.

There’s not quite as much flesh inside as I was expecting but what there was was firm and succulent. To go with it I ordered a glass of house white, a sauvignon blanc ($42).

The hot items on the the menu are also served very simply. For each there is a choice of either garlic or black bean sauce and they are served with either noodles or rice. I opted for steamed fillet of garoupa with noodles.

I’d noticed by this time that most of the other diners seemed to be ordering exclusively from the chilled selection and, after that mantis shrimp, I was secretly wishing I had done the same.

Not that there was anything wrong with the garoupa, far from it. It was very fresh and tasty and I would have it again. But I think next time I go I will choose from either the cold selection or the hot selection.

The restaurant may be called Soho Seafood Express and indeed express had been just what I wanted. But having said that, there was no pressure to hurry up despite the shortage of tables and the steady stream of disappointed faces passing by.

As I left, the original couple that had been there when I arrived were still happily seeing to a mountain of empty shells, and didn’t look like they were about to give up anytime soon.

There is also a take away and delivery service available.

Fridays were special days when I was a kid. We used to get off school fifteen minutes earlier so we’d go and play footy in the park for a while. There were no mobile phones back then, some of us didn’t even have land lines yet, but so long as we were home before dad, nobody minded.

On Fridays being home before dad was not a problem. On Fridays dad used to stop off at the chippy on the way home. I can never forget the blast of cold air accompanied by the warm smell of well wrapped fish and chips as he opened the front door. Mum already had the plates warming in the kitchen.

This was where the weekend began, dad was home, there was no school tomorrow and there was a plate of fish and chips warming my knees as we watched the telly. We were only allowed to have dinner in front of the telly on Fridays.

A few years later the chippy would be the last place I stopped at after a Friday night out. On a student budget a piece of cod was just a bit too expensive so I would often have a saveloy with chips.

I had my first saveloy in over twenty years the other evening. After college I moved to London. Saveloys were rare in London chippies so they slipped from my diet altogether.

This most recent saveloy I discovered, appropriately, in The Chippy. But whereas in England ‘the chippy’ is a generic term for a place that sells fish and chips, in Hong Kong it is at 51 Wellington Street. Though the entrance is around the corner on Pottinger behind all the fancy dress stalls.

It does a good job of looking like an authentic chippy. Plain white walls with just a touch of blue here and there. The menu is chalked up on a blackboard at one end and there are some tables squeezed into a narrow space between the counter and the outside wall.

I ordered the classic cod and chips ($95) to accompany my saveloy ($35 as a side order) and a bottle of Newcastle Brown Ale ($45). There are plenty of other things on the menu; pies, pasties, Cumberland sausage, battered sausage or chicken. They can all be served with either chips or mash and with a choice of mushy peas, beans or salad. The fish options include cod, haddock and sole.

My piece of fish was firm, flaky and fresh, and cooked in a light, crispy batter. The chips were hand cut and actually tasted of potatoes rather than the oil they were cooked in.

Apart from a few places that sold banana fritters I don’t recall much else in the line of dessert from the chippies of my youth. The Chippy have addressed this by offering the iconic Scottish delicacy, the deep fried Mars Bar ($45). Here it is served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The Mars bar itself is sweet and gooey but you knew that anyway. The sweetness tends to overwhelm the taste of the batter. The batters main job, it seems, is merely to seal it in long enough to melt but not leak. Although mine was still a little firm in the middle.

The problem with Mars bars generally is that they are fine for the first few bites then I get bored with them. The same can be said for the deep fried variety, they need to be shared.

Frites has been open a couple of months now, so when a friend suggested we meet there for lunch, I jumped at the chance - a restaurant named after chips! (thats fries to you Americans.)

The entrance is just up a few steps of Pottinger Street, from Queen’s Road Central, up a flight of stairs and you come out into a large bright room, with high ceiling, black and white checked tiles on the floor, and heavy dark wood furnishings, with banquette seating in dark green leather. The seating is generously spaced, so that even if you do share a table as we did, you never feel crowded.

At 12.45 there were only a few tables taken, but I noted that every one had a reserved sign on it. It later filled up, with a large proportion of European customers.

As expected from a Belgian place, the first large menu I was handed was mainly for beer, all offerings from the homeland, and ranging from $45 up. I’m not a huge fan of beer at lunchtime, so from the small wine selection, I ordered a New Zealand Rose, which was light and refreshing.

There is a set lunch of three courses for $98, from which I chose the pork and duck terrine to start, followed by linguini with mussels (how could I resist) in white wine sauce. My companion chose from the regular lunch menu, which was printed on paper placemats at every seat. Schnitzel and frites ($160) seemed appropriate.

There are a variety of other hearty items, including a ‘half-meter sausage’ with mash, which we noticed rolled up on a neighbor’s plate. There is also a selection of 6 different ‘mussel pots’ in half ($165) or full-kilo ($295) size.

The schnitzel arrived spreading across half the plate, and was tasty, but we were disappointed with the chips. If you’re going to name your restaurant after them, they really ought to be something special, and these were pretty standard fare.

The terrine was delicious, and came with a fresh berry compote. The linguine was quite small, but well prepared, the wine sauce a perfectly simple foil for the fresh juicy mussels. Overall, the lunch deal was a good one, with higher quality ingredients than many lunch ‘specials’. I noticed they also have an ‘Express dinner’ deal between 5-7pm - one course with house beer, or wine for $118, which I am sure I will go for in the near future.

I must admit, it is a very homey and comfortable place, which encourages you to hang around just a bit longer… and maybe you really ought to try one of those beers… It was certainly very difficult to think about getting back to work.

I got into a bit of a mess. I like to think my chopstick technique is pretty good but peeling prawns just isn’t possible, so it was fingers to the fore.

These particular prawns were cooked in Hakka rice wine and served on a bed of steamed cucumber so they were particularly messy. But they were also really delicious and I wasn’t about to let decorum, or the threat of a stained shirt, put me off.

Hakka Ye Ye, as the name suggests, serves traditional Hakka cuisine but the restaurant itself is prim and modern. Only a few tastefully framed photographs on the wall hint of the past. It’s quite a small place and the lack of more elaborate decor allows it to seem more spacious.

The staff were friendly and efficient, tofu nibbles and tea were served the moment I sat down. They were also more than happy to explain the dishes. For a starter I’d had the the Ye Ye crispy pork nuggets ($42).

These were dumplings of minced pork mixed with dried squid and fried in a bean curd wrapper. Hakka Ye Ye does have a small wine list but the glass of Tsing Tao that I had was probably a much better accompaniment.

The main event were the prawns ($138) though drunken chicken had also been a contender. For vegetable I ordered stir fried mixed mushrooms with snow peas ($88) and white and red mixed rice.

All the dishes were generous servings, designed for sharing, so by the end of it I was really quite full. I had just enough room left for a bowl of pumpkin and sago.

It was a good meal. And considering it could have fed two of us excellent value as well.

I’m not sure if there are any pelicans in England, if there are there can’t be many. Nevertheless, the Pickled Pelican is an English style pub.

Two of them in fact. The one we went to was on Wyndham Street. It does a fairly decent job of looking English, the bar area is certainly inviting and appears to be quite popular despite being very new. The only thing lacking is a yard of ale glass hanging invitingly from the ceiling above the bar.

The dining area, with it’s comfy, leather upholstered, chairs and sofas struck me as being a little more club like. Maybe not the best for eating at but great for lolling back on, watching the sport on TV and enjoying a fine English ale.

And the Pickled Pelican does indeed have some fine English ales. Some of the country’s most popular traditional brews are represented. Amongst others there are Abbot’s Green King from Suffolk, Ruddles County from Rutland and Old Speckled hen from Oxfordshire.

Cider is represented by Henry Weston’s Vintage Reserve from Hereford and there are Tetley’s, Guinness and Strongbow Cider on draught.

In addition to the beers there is also an impressive range of malt whiskies. Thirty-three in all - detailed on their own special menu to suit all palates and pockets.

I ordered an Abbot’s, my companion - in this case my 19-year old son - a pint of Strongbow cider and we turned our attention to the menu.

The food is typical pub fare, bangers and mash with onion sauce, fish and chips and shepherds pie are all there. And there is also an all day breakfast.

My son wasn’t interested in a starter but discovered that he liked my paprika dusted whitebait ($68) so much that he ate almost half of it. Luckily it was a fairly generous serving so I didn’t mind though I nearly used it as an excuse to order some deep fried camembert ($68).

For main course my son ordered smoked salmon on Welsh rarebit ($142). “Do you know what Welsh Rarebit is?” I asked. It certainly looked a nice piece of salmon but try as I might I couldn’t see the Welsh rarebit. “It’s cheese mashed potato”, I was informed. “Is it good?” I asked. I received a hearty nod of approval so I decided that was the most important thing.

I ordered the fish and chips with tartar sauce ($105) and was delighted to find that a little cruet of vinegar was provided without me having to ask.

There are only two desserts on the menu - Lemon Meringue Pie and Rhubarb Crumble (both $55). I had the rhubarb. It’s one of those dishes that will always be measured against how mum used to make it. And, of course, it will never be as good as that. But it was still very good. Served with with vanilla sauce and garnished with a strawberry.

My son despatched the Lemon meringue pie with the same enthusiasm with which he polished off his main course so I concluded all was well.

Mint tea is so refreshing. As it happened I was just thinking about a nice cuppa when I spotted Marouche on Cochrane Street. Marouche is a new Lebanese restaurant and wine bar that opened about a month ago, and, since it was about seven o’clock anyway I decided it was time for dinner.

There are a couple of tables right by the door but since I’d been walking I rather fancied a spot of air con.

The whole restaurant is open fronted which gives it a relaxed feel. The pump of Lebanese pop music works well with the accordian player outside Ivan the Kozak and the general bustle of people going up and down the steps. It all combines to give a totally unplanned, but rather charming souk-like atmosphere.

The mint tea ($35) was produced and I turned my attention to the menu.

There is, of course a full range of dips including hummus and babaganough, salads with goats cheese and an interesting range of mezze. It would be be quite possible to just order a selection of dips and mezze and not bother with a main course at all. I was already hankering after a lamb shwarma ($150) so choosing the starter was no easy matter.

In the end I settled on the home made Soujok ($75). These are small sausages made with minced beef and served with tomatoes in an olive oil based sauce. And they are delicious. I ordered extra pitta bread to mop up the oil.

The waitress went off to put some fresh boiling water on the tea and returned with both tea and shwarma. The shwarma consisted of a generous serving of sliced lamb with a fresh green salad. It was good, the lamb was lean and tasty, but the soujok was always going to be a hard act to follow.

Baklava is the only dessert available but a serving does include four different types, walnut, pistachio, almond and cashew.

Chuk Yuen has been on Gage Street for ages but I’d never been in before. I’d always quietly hoped it was going to be one of those little, great-value-terrific-food, gems that one finds from time to time.

I went along the other evening with a heart full of hope but alas, it was not to be. It was not a bad restaurant by any means just rather ordinary and, at that price point, one really shouldn’t complain.

The decor is predominantly bamboo and rattan with green paint. The tables are a rather dark green and make the restaurant rather gloomy. At least when there are not too many diners to cheer things up.

There were other people there and they appeared to have ordered quite a lot of food so I was heartened. All the usual suspects were on the menu, spring rolls, prawns on sugarcane skewers, noodles. I ordered pork and shrimp rolls ($24).

These are the typically Vietnamese dry white noodle variety. They were quite big, being generously stuffed with prawn, pork, noodles and bean sprouts.

To go with them I ordered a beef curry in a clay pot with French bread ($60). This was piping hot when it arrived and I had to wait a few minutes for it to cool before I could eat it. The curry, like the rolls, was a really generous serving and the sauce was really quite tasty. The beef however, was rather more fatty than I like.

There are, of course, plenty of people who would say that this was a good thing and that the fat is what makes it taste so good. I wouldn’t argue with that but I would have liked to see a little more lean meat because what there was also tasted good.

For dessert I had red beans with coconut milk ($5).

It would be wrong to criticise a restaurant for being too low cost. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but the Chuk Yuen has been around for quite a few years. That must mean that enough people do appreciate its style, and as far as they are concerned, that is what counts.

When I mentioned going to Harvey Nichols for dinner, people started looking at me strangely - it seemed nobody knew about Fourth Floor, the Harvey Nichols restaurant, which seems a pity.

The entrance (with large sign) is on Queen’s Road Central, right next to the new Landmark Mandarin Oriental hotel, through a brightly-lit foyer which also leads directly into the shop itself. There is a discreet elevator on your left which goes directly to Fourth Floor.

You may be forgiven for thinking you’ve wandered into a 1980’s disco when you step out of the elevator. The floor and low ceiling are covered with a giant ‘crazy paving’ coloured red, yellow and blue, with pink neon running along the cracks. The bar area at the front is full of high, black leather and chrome stools and a long sleek black counter with a crowd of sleek black-clad wait-staff. There are also several groups of suit-wearers winding down with cocktails after a hard day making fortunes upstairs in the Landmark.

Get past this, though, to the eating area and things get a little more relaxed, with low-slung chairs, fresh white linen, and cheerful servers, though we still thought they could do with softening up the hard lines of the surroundings.

We decided immediately to try the house red wine, which is Harvey Nichols’ own label, and were interested to find out that apparently every Harvey Nichols in the world has its own restaurant, where they serve the exact same wine - a Bourgogne Pinot Noir (2002).

The menu is mainly European with some interesting touches. Roast scallops with parsnip puree, curried apple crisps, caper and raisin emulsion was very tempting amongst the appetisers, but in the end, I opted for the Smoked salmon, which came with smoked salmon mousse and cauliflower panna cotta, which sadly drained away the flavour, though the sprinkles of beluga caviar bumped it back up a little. My companion couldn’t resist the Breaded frogs’ legs, accompanied by garlic escargots, which were all pronounced very good.

There is a whole section of the menu devoted to foie gras, which caught my eye. Wild mushroom risotto with pan-fried foie gras and sauteed langoustines sounds delicious! In the end though, I ordered Red emperor snapper - pan fried, and served on saffron risotto with tomato basil butter. The fish was a fairly small portion, but soft and flavourful, the risotto a delicate counterpart. We shared the other (large) main course - Lamb rack, served with eggplant stew, chorizo and rosemary jus.

It was lucky we did share, because when it came to the dessert menu, we spent so long picking out our two items that the waiter felt sorry for us and brought our third choice out anyway! It looks like the chef has really been let loose on this part of the menu.

First up came White sesame panna cotta, with black sesame ice-cream, and vanilla sabayon - I can’t resist sesame or vanilla and this really was delicious. Next, my companion had to order the Whisky souffle, with crispy filo pastry surround, served with caramel sauce and vanilla ice-cream. I suspect he was hoping for a more alcoholic taste, but the whisky flavour was one that lingered on the tongue, rather than being overpowering. The third dessert - Apple strudel with prune and armagnac compote - sounded tame, until we noticed the ‘caramel balsamic ice-cream’ accompaniment. This ice cream really is special, it was a new flavour to me. Imagine the toffee on a toffee apple but not too sweet, make it smooth and creamy and cold and you’re almost there. But the best way, of course, is to go along and try it. I’m sure you wont be disappointed.

9pm and, replete at last, we said goodbye to our friendly waiters, but promised to return for at least the foie gras, and perhaps we could squeeze in time for the other desserts too.

Bill approximately $900 for two plus wine.

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.

Guest Review
A street lined with window-displays of grilled ducks, geese, pork and orange-tinted octopuses is a common sight in Hong Kong. For generations, local families have relied on their neighbourhood “Siu Mei” shop which stays open for ridiculously long hours and has a constant supply of takeaway protein.

Yet for all that, it is surprisingly hard to get decent “Siu Mei” in this town.

To qualify as a good piece of “Cha Siu”, or barbecued pork, it has to be well marinated, juicy, have the right proportion of fat to lean meat, preferably charcoal-grilled, and just a touch burnt to add that extra smoky aroma.

And believe me, that is very hard to find.

There are well-established Chinese restaurants that are pretty reliable for their barbecued meat as well as other more elaborate dishes on the menu. In Central, there are Tsui Hang Village in New World Building, Yung Kee (the goose restaurant) on Wellington Street and Luk Yu Tea House on Stanley Street. But if you want a meat specialist, there is a new place which I am beginning to frequent regularly.

Golden China Restaurant looks just like its name. Faux China-town appears to be the style they are going for. But once you’ve looked past the gaudy lanterns and fake red and gold lacquer, it is a pretty comfortable place to sit down for lunch.

It may not resemble the traditional Hong Kong “Siu Mei” shop - it’s too clean - but the food is authentic enough.

You will be presented with bilingual pamphlets which explain the history of the Chinese barbecued meat and for HK$23 you get a choice of meat with a bowl of rice and some greens. It’s a little bit pricey but perhaps not unreasonable for the middle of Central. The soup of the day - untainted by the all-too ubiquitous MSG - costs just HK$6 and there’s a lot of it. That, too, comes with bilingual information on why it’s good for you. The tea they serve is very good for what is essentially a cafe. They’ve picked the Luk On tea sold by Ying Kee in Wanchai. This is a smoky red tea with a hint of sweetness that is popular among my grandparents’ generation. I like it, too.

The meat has been very good in the four or five times that I’ve eaten there in the past two months. The soup tends to be a bit watery - probably because my taste buds have been tainted by MSG - but good enough to pass as homemade. It’s the rice that I have an issue with - on a couple of occasions my “Cha Siu” and barbecued duck were served on top of soggy rice. It was horrible. It’s like being served a good steak with lumpy mashed potatoes.

But overall I would highly recommend Golden China. And Chinese barbecued meat if you haven’t tried it before.

I’d been meaning to go along to Habibi for quite some time so when a good friend of mine returned from a holiday in Egypt it provided just the memory jolt I needed.

We arrived at seven-thirty. There were a few other diners but it was not too crowded at that time. The decor caught our attention immediately. Tall arches, a large bevelled mirror along one wall and ceiling fans and light fittings shipped in from Egypt combine to create a feeling of 1930s Cairo. But it is very tasteful and not at all overstated.

The menu does offer set dinner options but we decided on a la carte for maximum flexibility. It all looked delicious and we would have been happy to try any of it. In the end we decided to start with one cold mezze, Babaganough which is roasted eggplant with tahina and lemon juice ($50) and two hot mezze; Halloumi, which is goat cheese lightly fried in olive oil and served on a bed of fresh greens ($65) and Dawud Basha, Egyptian style meatballs a in dill flavored tomato sauce ($55).

For drinks my guest ordered a refreshing lemonade with rose-water ($30) and I had a Sakara Egyptian beer ($48).

Babaganough is a time honoured classic dip, ours was wonderfully fresh and slightly smoky. The halloumi was also very tasty, I enjoyed the slightly chewy, almost squeaky, texture but my friend was less enthusiastic. She did agree though, that it tasted good. The secret of the dawud basha is in the aromatic sauce where the tomato and the dill were perfectly balanced, “… even better than the ones we had in Egypt”, enthused my friend.

For main course we selected the Mashwiaat ($200) which is an Egyptian style mixed grill. It consists of chicken, marinated lamb chop, beef kebab, lamb kofta served on skewers with rice kaalta. For vegetables we went with Kidar Bel Firik ($120), grilled vegetables served on a bed of seasoned wheat berry pilaf. Both lived up to expectation, the meats were succulent and tender, the vegetables fresh and crisp.

Middle eastern desserts are notoriously sweet and whilst they are very nice, I usually can’t eat too much. I suggested that we should share the Hellue Al Sham ($45), an assorted plate of mixed Egyptian homemade sweets. My friend insisted that, while she was willing to play a supporting role, I was going to eat most of it.

In the end I think I did rather well getting through more than my fair share of a plate that included both Balawa Bil Ishta (filo with fresh cream and mixed nuts) and the ever popular baklava.

My friend finished with fresh mint tea and I a hot and strong Egyptian coffee.

Habibi also has a special room called the cabin where guests can smoke traditional shisha pipes. The tobacco is mixed with apple to give a unique fruity flavour but since neither of us smoke we missed out on that.

On Saturdays they hold belly dance performances at 8.30 and 9.30. Reservations are strongly recommended.

I spotted Cafe Ola a few months ago, but as it’s hidden down a side lane in Central, promptly forgot about it until a friend suggested an early dinner after work. Wing Wo Street runs down the side of the Cosco buildings, between Queen’s Road and Des Voeux Road - Cafe Ola is near the Des Voeux end.

Inside, everything is very relaxed and homey - some of the owner’s old album covers line the walls, and we passed a couple of happy minutes trying to remember whether we’d owned the same ones. There was a small TV going in the corner, but no worries - the sound was switched off! I thought this looked a promising venue for watching football, but didn’t check out the cable situation.

There’s usually a couple of tables out in the lane (comfortingly clean), with businessmen having a couple of beers after work, and at these prices (all bottled lagers $20, Boddingtons $28), why not? House wine starts at $25 per glass for Agua Negra from Argentina, which of course I had to try - it was even drinkable. Bottles are available at prices up to $380 for top-of-the-range.

Every day they have a choice of 4 dishes with the set dinner menu at a bargain price. On the evening we went, the set included a starter of grilled duck breast with salad leaves, a soup (ours was pumpkin, a little thin, but obviously home-made and creamy), dessert, and coffee/tea.

I ordered the rack of lamb (medium rare) for my main ($118 for the set), which came with little roasted tomatoes, broccoli and potatoes. The meat itself was a little gristly, but it was cooked to perfection with ‘rosemary scent & demi-glace’ sauce. My friend had the chicken breast, which arrived with chestnut mash (yummy) and similar vegetables.

We decided to share desserts. Choices included chocolate mousse, but we selected tiramisu, and lime sorbet, as we were feeling a little full by this time. The sorbet came with a little stick of chocolate, and was inexplicably creamy - tasty though. The tiramisu, however, was disappointingly solid, and lacking in flavour.

Unfortunately, on the night we were there, the coffee machine was out of order, so we scuttled out after a relaxing hour. We had spent only $298 between two of us, and when the ever-cheery owner said come back soon, it actually sounded like he meant it!

This place produces very reasonable food at bargain prices, and I certainly intend to make myself a regular.

I must admit I felt a little lonely sitting in Zenses all on my own. Not because I don’t like dining alone sometimes, but because it is a big place, sleek and modern and with a high ceiling. It was also quite early so there weren’t many customers.

The bar area was a little cosier, and had a few more customers, but still couldn’t be described as busy.

A TV projector was showing highlights of a football match on a huge screen the far end of the restaurant which suggested that this venue would be at its busiest on match nights. The waitress confirmed my suspicion and apologised that there were no live games on this evening. Indeed the volume was turned down in favour of music.

I ordered a glass of Shiraz Cabernet ($65) and buried my nose in the menu. There was enough there to tempt. Lobster bisque ($68) and French onion soup ($58) both sounded good but the lobster and scallop salad with asparagus ($98) won the day.

It was a good choice, fresh with crisp asparagus spears. The bread rolls that arrived at the same time were a little disappointing however. There were only two of them and they looked rather lost in the bottom of an oversized basket. They were also rather dry. The scallops and lobster made them fairly easy to ignore.

The menu offers a range of pastas. Most tempting among them was a linguine with prawns, mussels, cod and salmon ($148). There is also the chefs speciality, baked sea bass with pumpkin puree and cashew nuts. But I was not in a seafood kind of mood so instead I ordered baked veal loin with mushroom and thyme sauce ($188).

Again the food was tasty and well presented, perhaps not as generous a serving as I might have hoped for, but then I reasoned that there was always dessert.

A very agreeable mocha mousse with almond cake and orange salad ($58) to be precise, sluiced down with a coffee.

Zenses is without a doubt a good place to go and watch the footy on a Saturday night. Open space is just what you need when you have a lot of people shouting at the TV. But despite presenting good food, on non-match days it needs something to break up that space and make things a little more intimate.

One of the great things about sake is that it never seems to give me much of a hangover. One of the not so great things about it is, I don’t realise just how drunk I am until I try and stand up. It’s then that I discover that my knees have turned to jelly and my feet point in opposite directions.

I was drinking sake the other evening in Dozo, the trendiest sushi-go-round in Central. Chilled sake, which is just about the trendiest way to drink sake these days. Traditionally, of course, it is served warm and that is how I’ve always drunk it but after a few sips I was rather warming to it. We’d ordered Ichinokura, a sake from Miyagi prefecture that boasts a light fruitiness.

A sushi-go-round is what I call the popular kaiten style restaurants where the dishes pass by on a conveyor and the all the diner has to is grab the ones they fancy. At the end of the meal the bill is calculated by the coloured rings on the rims of the dishes. At Dozo the dishes start $20 for a black rim, $30 for red etc up to $75. The dishes usually contain either two pieces of sushi rice with toppings or two sushi rolls.

All of the usual culprits were trundling by; Norwegian salmon, yellowfin tuna, those little sweet omelettes called tomago with their belts of seaweed. But there were some slightly unusual ones as well. One that caught my eye is called the Dozo roll. This is actually crispy duck with miso and spring onion. Unconventional but quite delicious all the same, the whiteness of the rice on the outside is freckled with sesame seeds.

But the kaiten does have its drawbacks, especially if you are indecisive like me, and can’t make your mind up that you want something until it is already out of reach. So Dozo also offers a la carte and my guest, who is very good at this sort of thing, took matters - and the menu - in hand.

Within moments she had dispatched the waiter with an impressive looking list then leaned forward and said; “I ordered the sashimi sampler” ($180). I knew she had ordered considerably more than that. Indeed the first item to arrive was prawn tempura maki ($40). The prawns are made crispy by the light batter and wrapped in seaweed.

The sashimi was the next to arrive. An impressive platter that included tuna, arctic clams, yellowtail and prawns neatly presented on a bed of radish. The restaurant apparently takes two deliveries, flown fresh from Japan, each day. The reward is exceptionally fresh sashimi. Even the clams, which I find disappointing in most places, were tender and tasty.

This was followed by prawn yakisoba; ramen noodles fried with prawn chicken, red and green peppers, and bean sprouts garnished with sesame and red ginger. We also had some skewers of chicken yakitori.

After this, sake and conversation took over for a while. It still wasn’t late and it was only Tuesday but the restaurant was doing very well. The menu offers ten different types of sake to cater for all tastes and pockets. They also offer a range of sake and shochu cocktails, hara kiri - chilled sake with triple sec and and gin - caught my eye. I was tempted but sensibly decided to save it for my next visit. We still had an almost full 300ml. decanter on the table.

After a while we decided we needed some tempura. We ordered the mixed ($75) in which vegetables are served with the prawns, and we also ordered some spicy roast tataki beef both of which lived up to the same high standard set by our previous dishes.

There is not a wide range of desserts on the menu but they do have Japanese ice cream, including the very popular green tea flavour. I have to confess, green tea ice cream has never really captured my heart, but sesame ice cream has. What’s more it goes perfectly with sake and was an excellent way to to end a very enjoyable evening.

Earlier in the day I’d been thinking about heading up the escalator a bit to see what was new and interesting, but by the time I’d made it to Central it was threatening to rain. I was also feeling pretty weary after a hectic day.

Anyway I was having a snoop in the bookshop in IFC Mall. Not because I really wanted to buy a book, I was trying to decide whether to go on or give up and go home, when I heard someone talking into their phone “…Ok I’ll meet you in half an hour in Union Bar.” What a splendid idea I thought, a steak and a beer would be just what the doctor ordered, so I made a beeline for the floor below.

Union Bar and Grill is on level one and, as you may have already gathered, is an American style restaurant. It is a cosy place despite being quite large. Decor harks back to a time long past with red brick walls, dark wooden details and a warm light.

The music was period too; ol’ blue eyes and Ella Fitzgerald amongst others. I ordered a glass of Kilkenny ($60) and took my time over the menu.

To be honest I already knew what I wanted but I always feel duty bound to read the whole menu. The very first thing on it was baked potato skins ($65) and they were a must. Seared tuna and lamb lollipops both had their merits and they were duly noted and will be remembered for another time.

A plate of warm crusty bread arrived while I was waiting for the potato skins. I ordered another glass of Kilkenny.

The skins arrived piping hot, just as they should be, with two types of cheese melted over them and a tub of sour cream to dip them into … once they had cooled enough to pick them up. The portion was generous, as is traditional in American restaurants, but not so large that it was in danger of spoiling my appetite for the main course.

I did cast an eye over the pizzas (roasted tomato and applewood bacon mmm) and pastas but I know from experience that I will get too full, though I did think about the French onion soup.

For the main course I’d ordered petite filet mignon wrapped with applewood smoked bacon ($240). There was nothing petite about it, this was a whopping 10oz serving, lean, juicy and tender. Served with potatoes, baby corn and pak choi.

They do offer 16oz steaks but I knew they would be just too big. To eat steaks that size I would probably have to do without starters and I definitely wouldn’t be able to squeeze a dessert in afterwards. Which would be a great shame.

The desserts all take a while to prepare and the menu recommends that you order your dessert at the same time as your entree. I’m more inclined to think that the waiting time is a good idea. It gives an important breathing space between courses.

For my dessert I ordered New Orleans beignets ($48). In New Orleans they are simply called donuts but they’re actually pastries that are hand rolled and deep fried. Mine were conical shaped with strawberry, chocolate and honey dips and are best served with a large mug of hot coffee …. oh and Louis Armstrong and the hot fives in the background.

It was a balmy evening. I couldn’t feel the breeze but there must have been one because the leaves on the tree above were moving. Behind me was the sound of a fountain splashing and from somewhere else a clock chimed seven. A waiter glided over with a bread basket and menu, another one lit the candle on my table.

I love the twilight, the light has finished but the dark has not yet begun. I was wallowing in the atmosphere. Another waiter approached carrying bottles. I was wallowing and not paying attention.

“I’ll have a look at the menu before I decide on wine’, I said. “No, no”, he replied, “would you like olive oil for the bread?” I sat up and looked at the bottles. They didn’t look anything like wine bottles really but, as I said, I wasn’t paying attention. “Oh, yes please,” I said, “and some balsamic vinegar”.

I dunked a large corner of focaccia bread into the oil and watched as a young couple stopped briefly on the steps for a little hug. Italy does that, it brings out the romantic in you, and whilst this certainly wasn’t Italy, it was about as close as you can get to it on the MTR.

I turned my attention to the menu. It was varied and interesting and, as usual in such circumstances, the temptation to over-order is great. Sea scallop stuffed ravioli ($188), and Sangiovese marinated rabbit stew with home-made pasta ($178) were both intriguing but I’d ruled out pasta. Folded pizza with melted soft crescenza cheese and parma ham ($148) also sounded intriguing but I’d ruled out pizza as well. Pasta and Pizza are best shared but, despite the romantic setting, there was only me.

I did fancy some parma ham though, so I ordered some with a basil leaf salad and buffalo mozzarella cheese ($138). As one waiter left with my order another one arrived carrying a small dish, “mushroom risotto” he explained as he put it down. It was about the size of a five dollar coin but it set off a little explosion of flavour that left me feeling very hungry indeed and thinking that perhaps I should have ordered a pizza after all.

I ordered a glass of glass of Pinot Grigio and dived back into the bread basket in search of something to mop up more olive oil. The starter I’d ordered was one of the simpler dishes on the menu, nevertheless it was very satisfying. I wolfed it down in no time and was very tempted to continue my assault on the bread basket, but I didn’t want to spoil my appetite before the main course arrived.

There was, of course, much to choose from on the menu. Pistachio crusted lamb chops with mint infused olive oil ($268) caught my eye as did the Australian black Angus beef with myrtle and raisin. But it was the seared tuna with black pepper on an eggplant puree topped with candied onions and citrus ($258) that won my heart. It was delicious, the tuna was very fresh and tender and the portion was generous.

I tried to take it slowly, to savour every mouthful but all too soon, it seemed, I was staring at an empty plate. Though I have to confess I was glad that I hadn’t ordered the pizza. The clock chimed eight, I decided to wait a few minutes before ordering dessert.

At this point the waiter produced another delightful surprise. Grapes that had been marinated in grappa for seven days, and served in a glass of grappa. It was a wonderful touch but I wanted to save them for last.

For dessert I ordered caramelized apple and puff pastry with honey grappa sauce and vanilla ice cream followed by coffee. The dessert was very nice but it was the grapes that took the curtain call.

Every so often we get the urge to wander along one of those tiny little roads between Hollywood Road and Queens Road, just to make sure we’re not missing anything. Occasionally we are rewarded.

The other evening took us along Peel Street, down the hill from Hollywood Road. On the left just after crossing Gage Street, buried behind the street markets, we found an Indian restaurant that we’d never seen before. It is called Balle Balle and has been open for about three months. There had been something there before but after racking our brains for a while, and watching one of a group of chefs roll out parathas outside, we still couldn’t remember what. We went in.

It is a small cosy restaurant with just a few tables. A TV in the corner plays Indian pop videos but it was neither loud or intrusive, rather it lends the place a comfortable homely feel. We settled into our table and ordered beers.

The menu contains all our old favourites. In the appetizers section there are samosas, pakoras and onion bhajis but there were also a few that were a little more intriguing. The waiter recommended the chilli chicken ($31) - deep fried chicken with tomato, capsicum and chilli sauce. He told us that it had become one of their most popular dishes.

To go along with it we ordered my old favourite, mutton rogan josh ($40), vegetable kebab ($38) and a mixed raita ($17) where the yoghurt is mixed with diced tomatoes, cucumber and onions. And to mop it all up we added a lacha paratha ($11) and a plain nan ($10).

There was only one chef outside now to making the parathas, the others no doubt had adjourned to the kitchen to get busy with our order. To keep us going while the food was being prepared the waiter brought us complementary masala poppadoms.

The food when it arrived made us gasp. The servings were very generous indeed and we wondered how we were going to eat it all, but not being the kind of folks that shrink in the face of adversity we tucked in. I aimed for the rogan josh, my companion, the chilli chicken. The mutton was lean and tender, the sauce was thick and rich and not too oily as it sometimes can be. I could tell by the look on my companions face that the chicken was living up to its promise.

The vegetable kebabs had arrived on a sizzling plate but were now cool enough eat. Made from soya they had a meat like texture, a little chewy but definitely had a vegetarian flavour. I mopped a corner of my plate clean with a wonderfully light and fluffy piece of nan and asked my companion to pass me the chilli chicken. She did so but only after I had bartered the largest piece of mutton in the rogan josh AND the fifth piece of the vegetable kebab (I didn’t tell her that there was a sixth piece hiding under the lemon).

It was obvious why she was being possessive about the chicken, it was quite wonderful. The waiter told us the dish originated in southern India. It isn’t as fiery as it’s name might suggest, the sauce is a little bit spicy and a little bit sweet, the chicken lean and soft.

Eventually we both sat back with contented, smug looks on our faces. “I’m full”, I said. “Couldn’t eat another thing”, she replied. “Gulab jamun?” I said … We shared it.

Balle Balle is open for dinner from 6-10.30pm when we were there it wasn’t too busy but the waiter did warn that anyone wanting to go for lunch (11.00-4.30 should either go early or plan a late lunch as they get very busy.

This restaurant is really dramatic at night with huge glass windows giving an uninterrupted view of the Kowloon skyline. You can even sit outdoors on the terrace, but as the temperatures had plummeted, we elected to stay indoors. It is a modern, spacious restaurant and usually very busy so it is advisable to book.

The drinks and bread basket were served promptly. The bread was so-so, but the spread - redolent with the fresh taste of celeriac was delicious.

We had ordered one starter from the regular menu - mozzarella baked in walnut bread, and one from the specials - yellowtail carpaccio with olives and citrus dressing. The mozzarella was fabulous - steaming hot and chewy, the texture and flavours contrasting well with the crisp, light, walnut bread and balsamico drizzled on the plate.

My carpaccio was wonderful too - the dressing was a masterful blend of fruity olive oil and sharp citrus. There was a pile of olives and what appeared to be potato cubes, served on the side. The potatoes were crunchy and rather raw, but what the hell, they tasted good so I cleaned the plate.

By this time we were feeling very well disposed towards Isola, and looking forward to the main course. Again, I had chosen from the specials - hand pulled pasta (reminiscent of spaetzle) with prawns and broccoli, whilst my dining companion had gone for a menu option. Sadly, neither choice lived up to the promise of the starters - especially the Italian sausage with roasted potatoes and oven dried tomato.

We should have guessed really. We’d asked the waiter about the sausage, and he’d dodged the questions repeatedly with ‘name, rank and serial number’ doggedness, only offering, “yes, it’s a popular choice,” to every question, which we later came to realise probably meant, “yes, people choose it all the time - but never more than once.”

The sausage was very salty, and uninteresting, the roast potatoes were sad, white, soggy, chip-shaped affairs, and the dried tomatoes - well, they were just cherry tomatoes wilted in an oven.

The pasta was better - the sauce was flavourful and the prawns were fresh. Again it had been salted with a heavy hand, and this diner felt that the flavour was too overwhelmingly ‘lobster bisque’ - not bad in itself, but not as advertised and rather too overpowering.

Coffee and tea were served with the goats-milk ricotta tart - baked cheesecake by another name. The taste was good, but the texture was dry and powdery, and the ‘caramel sauce’ it was supposed to come with was a joke. There were only 4 fine lines of sauce drizzled on the plate. We could hardly see it, let alone taste it.

So what of other things? Ambience was good, but we felt the service was lacking. Every server should have tasted all the dishes and be able to talk about them - truthfully. Offering things like pepper should be automatic, and petit fours should come with the coffee, not 15 minutes afterwards. Also small things - using torn menu covers (plastic) - in my case, also encrusted with dried food, and using chipped crockery, is holding Isola back from becoming the 5 star restaurant it clearly aspires to be.

Dinner for two, with two glasses of wine, a bottle of mineral water and coffee and tea, came to $1,111.

I’ve known about Cafe Siam for years, I used to go past it at least once a day as I rode up the Central to mid-levels escalator. I have worked in three different offices that were all within a five minute walk of the restaurant. I even walked around for at least a week with a miniature take-away menu in my pocket. But it wasn’t until the other day that I finally got myself through the doors and up to a table.

Whenever I enter a Thai restaurant the cooking smells always trigger a Pavlovian instinct to order all my favourite Thai dishes and it takes a great force of will to look elsewhere on the menu. My favourite dishes, of course, are all classic dishes that can be found on all good Thai menus. That little pocket menu helped immensely, because it meant that even before I arrived at the restaurant I already had a shortlist of not so common dishes I wanted to try.

The starters I’d narrowed down to two; Koh Moo Yang, or char-grilled marinated pork served with a tamarind, toasted rice and shallot dip ($65) was very tempting but was pipped at the post by the Gai Manow, chicken and water chesnut roll ($68). These are cut into bite-sized pieces and served on a bed of crispy fried basil with a dab of mayonnaise and a sliver of lime.

One of the great things about Thai cuisine is that it happily borrows from its neighbours and the flavours will change according to which border you are near. The larbs and the ever popular green papaya salad, som-tam, originate in Laos, the mild yellow curries come from the south.

The next dish was Khao Soy ($65), a Burmese style chicken curry served with soft and crispy noodles. This was also a mild curry but not as sweet as the southern style curries. It is served with a hot and sour northern style chilli paste.

The main course was completed with Deep Fried Garoupa in a very spicy chilli sauce ($158).

The dessert menu is made up of tried and trusted favourites such as mango with sticky rice, banana fritters and fresh fruit. Cafe Siam make their own brand of herb tea and at $28 a pot is well worth a try. In fact it is so popular that they even sell it in packets to take home.

Ground Floor
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