Mediterranean | Eat Drink Hong Kong

A	B	C	D	E
F	G	H	I	J
K	L	M	N	O
P	Q	R	S	T
U	V	W	X	Y
Z				1-9

Tag: Mediterranean

Portofino

27A Lung Mei Village
Ting Kok Road
Tai Mei Tuk
Tai Po
Lantau Island
Tel 2791 4466 or 2792 4499

Posted: January 9th, 2010 under European, Off the Map.
Tags: Area, European, Mediterranean, Off the Map, P
Comments: none

Olive

Shop R008 3/F Elements Mall
1 Austin Road West
Kowloon
Tel 2810 8585

Posted: January 8th, 2010 under Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Off the Map.
Tags: Area, elements, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, O, Off the Map
Comments: none

La Brezza Bistro

7/F The Pemberton
22-26 Bonham Strand
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
Tel 2203 0400

Posted: January 28th, 2009 under European, Mediterranean, Sheung Wan.
Tags: Area, European, L, Mediterranean, Sheung Wan
Comments: 1

El Greco

G/F 5 Wai Fung Street
Ap Lei Chau
Aberdeen
Hong Kong
Tel 2328 2138

Posted: January 28th, 2009 under European, Mediterranean, Off the Map.
Tags: Area, E, European, Greek, Mediterranean, Off the Map
Comments: none

Duo

118 Hollywood Road
Sheung Wan
Hong Kong
Tel 2547 0000

Posted: January 28th, 2009 under European, Mediterranean, Noho, Sheung Wan.
Tags: Area, D, European, Italian, Mediterranean, Noho, Sheung Wan
Comments: none

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Posted: September 5th, 2008 under European, Mediterranean, Off the Map, Reviews.
Tags: Area, European, Mediterranean, Off the Map, Reviews, sai wan ho
Comments: none

Marouche Review

Marouche Lebanese Restaurant Hong Kong 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.

Posted: October 20th, 2006 under Central, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Reviews, Soho.
Tags: Area, Central, M, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Reviews, Soho
Comments: 1

Olive Review

If you sit looking outwards, your view of Elgin Street is obscured by a cluster of bronze Moroccan lanterns hanging in the window. To compliment them ceramic jars and vases decorate the wall, and the floor is covered with an impressive mosaic. A cool, laid back jazz fused with middle eastern melodies fills the air.

It all added up to a very pleasant atmosphere indeed and had me daydreaming of ancient Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia means the land between two rivers and represents an area sometimes called “the fertile crescent”, a rich food growing area in a region that was otherwise too dry for farming.

I ordered a glass of Chilean merlot and turned my attention to the menu. Olive is one of the more recent restaurants to open its doors in Soho. It specialises in Greek and middle eastern cuisine and offers dishes from the fertile crescent as well as North Africa.

Starters were proving to be a particularly tricky choice, there were numerous dishes I fancied. The ful madamas which is a broad bean salad with sauteed prawns and Bulgarian feta ($102) was most tempting but in the end I settled on the roasted mushroom salad ($88). It was a good choice. A small mountain of plump marinated mushrooms decorated with wonderfully tangy sun-dried tomatoes, sour cream and basil.

To follow I’d ordered the bistayeea Moroccan pigeon pie ($168) but while I was waiting, another diner was served with what I suspected was the grilled wild baramundi with caramelised onion rice ($195) and I promptly felt jealous. My enquiries proved me correct but my jealousy was short lived as the pigeon pie arrived shortly after. The meat was very soft and tender and flavoured with sweet spices and almonds. The light flaky top is dusted with icing sugar.

Not surprisingly the pie was quite rich and a little sweet. It is also rather filling – you may want to consider sharing. Indeed I’d considered pairing it the chermoula roasted king prawns with avocado ($198) but I knew I’d never be able to finish it all. As it was I had to leave a little of the pie in order to save room for dessert.

The dessert section menu is every bit as intriguing as the other sections and once again I was spoiled for choice. The olive oil chocolate mousse and the watermelon and rosewater sorbet (both ($68) were strong contenders but the warm ginger cake with toffeed mangoes, orange blossom caramel and a scoop of cinnamon ice cream sounded just to luxurious to deny. A strong Arabian coffee rounded off the meal.

For a midweek evening the restaurant was busy but not full, but if you are considering going on a weekend I would recommend booking.

Posted: January 12th, 2005 under Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Reviews, Soho.
Tags: Area, International, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, O, Reviews, Soho
Comments: none

Boca Review

Boca is a trendy European style bar on Peel Street at the junction with Elgin Street. I’d decided to go along for some early evening tapas and was lucky enough to secure the table at the front by the door. The bustle of Soho as it comes alive for the evening combines well with the Latin-flavoured jazzy grooves that were playing within.

boca bar at the end of elgin street, soho, hong kong The word tapas comes from the Spanish verb ‘tapar’, which means to cover, and was essentially a free snack that was placed on top of a drink. According to legend the first tapa was a slice of ham that was placed on a sherry glass to keep flies out. Bar owners realised that the saltiness of the ham encouraged customers to drink more and thus a tradition was born. Today the term refers to almost any snack sized dish, traditional or modern, and need only be limited by the chefs imagination.

I’d come in search of the more traditional tapas. These are listed down the left hand side of the menu while the more modern variants are on the right. I decided to order three dishes, the grilled chorizo ($56) is a favourite of mine, so that was easy. The other two choices required a little more thought. The pepper crusted tuna fillet, and the grilled sardines with sea salt and garlic both sounded tempting. Finally, after much consultation with the manageress Emmy, I decided on Gambas al Ajillo ($69) and Albondigas ($56).

Chorizo is spicy pork sausage flavoured with paprika. Sliced and grilled, it is an excellent snack that goes just as easily with a cold beer as it does with wine. Gambas is prawns and these are prepared with artichokes and spinach and sautéed in paprika. Albondigas are another classic tapas dish comprising spicy beef meatballs in rosemary and tomato sauce. Finally, a basket of home-made bread – perfect for dipping.

Had I not been in danger of overdoing it I might have been tempted by some of options on the “not-so-traditional” side of the menu which included dishes such as stir fried wild mushrooms sauteed in Thai spices, or roasted garlic and brie. Ah but there’ll be another time.

As would be expected, Boca also has a wide selection of wines from all over the world which are offered by the bottle or by the glass and, of course, sangria by the carafe or glass.

Desserts are not in much demand in tapas bars, due perhaps to the idea that tapas are a pre-dinner snack, but the Boca menu does offer a chocolate sponge pudding smothered in hot chocolate sauce and served with fresh strawberries, blueberries and Kiwi fruit.

Boca is open everyday from 12.00 till 2am. Reservations are recommended.

Posted: May 20th, 2004 under European, Mediterranean, Reviews, Soho.
Tags: Area, European, Mediterranean, Reviews, Soho
Comments: none