Eat Drink Hong Kong

Shop SLG8-9a, Westlands Gardens
2-10 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2565 1001

Shop SLG8-9A, Westlands Gardens
2-10 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2565 1001

Shop 1, G/F Hoi Kwong Yuen
9-15 Tong Chong Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2880 5334
Fax 2565 5974

I’d stopped here for a bowl of noodles a few times and I’d been impressed with how good they were. But I don’t like to eat big lunches, a bowl of Beef Pho ($34) is plenty, so I wandered back in the evening time to try a few of the other things on the menu.

It’s quite a new restaurant but already it does well for itself during the lunch time rush. In the evenings it closes at eight ‘clock but does have plans to stay open later in the near future.

I went along about seven and had the the place almost to myself. I was told that the reason the noodles are so good is because the soup is made the old fashioned way, by boiling the bones for 24 hours, rather than from prepared stock as is more common.

Another excellent noodle dish I’d tried was the prawn and crab roe with a tomato based soup ($34) but this time I wanted to try a few of the other things. Many of them were already familiar some other a littler more intriguing.

The sweet potato and chicken curry ($38), which can be served with either rice or baguette, was very tempting indeed. But another dish had caught my eye and I was keen to try them. These, according to the menu, were boneless chicken wings ($35). Since a chicken wing is mostly bone anyway I simply had to find out.

They were a delightful surprise. They don’t look much like wings, they are considerably bigger than I was expecting. This is because they have been stuffed with lemon leaves, minced vegetables and vermicelli.

I was offered two dipping sauces, one popular in the North of Vietnam, the other popular in the south. They were both good but I think if I could only choose one I would plump for the one from the north.

To accompany the wings I had some spring rolls, both the fried and the ’summer’ style cold spring rolls which were stuffed with tiger prawn. Another familiar item was sugar cane prawn sticks ($40) and rounding things off I had some thin slices of barbecue pork cheek.

By the time I’d wolfed all that down I was too full for dessert but there is a wide range of coconut milk based drinks. I’d ordered one with jackfruit so I finished off with that.

Pho Saigon is a little noodle shop with a big heart, the food is good and it is great value for money. Who can ask for more?

When you really don’t want to leave Central, but a friend insists you accompany her to Quarry Bay to try out her new favourite restaurant, there’s not a lot you can do to resist. So it was that three old friends met up to eat at Dining Art Japanese Restaurant last week.

It is hidden just off the main King’s Road, close to Exit B of Taikoo MTR station. The little row of restaurants behind a sitting-out area seems a little too tucked away to get very busy, but even so, there were only 2 empty tables at Dining Art as we arrived at 7.30.

Everything was very relaxed from the welcome we received as we came through the door, to the comfortable, cream-coloured seats, and cleverly arranged tatami-lookalike sunken table affairs. The lighting is bright, without being garish, and the spotless kitchen area is open to the main restaurant floor, so you can watch the chefs do fancy things with huge lumps of fresh fish.

The menu was extensive, and there were also daily specials on a chalkboard (in Chinese only - but the friendly owner/manager, Sam, was on hand to offer advice and explanations). We ended up with 9 dishes, along with a cold sake!

First along was Deepfried beancurd rolled in bonito flakes - the bonito adding some flavour to the soft tofu. New Zealand steak cubes with Japanese ponzu (vinaigrette) - small cubes flash-fried and still red in the centre.

We plunged ahead with the house special Mixed sashimi rice, then Lightly grilled salmon & bonito sushi, a large, crunchy, Soft-shell crab roll, and another special, the delicious Salmon florette topped with crab meat and crab coral. As we were feeling flush, the Fatty tuna (Toro) sashimi had to be ordered as well. All the sushi was very fresh.

Next up, my friend had insisted on the mysterious (to me at least!) Crab leg soup in teapot. It came with teeeny little cups, and was very strong-tasting, and full of goodies (see the picture). Good stuff for a cold night.

Mentaiki chicken wings came finally - who’d have guessed there was enough meat on a wing to stuff them…? These ones are spicy as they are stuffed with crab roe and kimchi.

While we were debating the merits of the few desserts on the menu, Sam came over again and told us they had another special they were trying that day - Frozen strawberries stuffed with vanilla ice cream, dipped in white chocolate and drizzled with condensed milk. What a decadent and also completely delicious end to the meal (which totalled somewhere around $900 for the 3 of us).

Dining Art has only been open a few months, but I would guess this will become a very popular ‘off the beaten track’ hangout. Of course, there’s no guarantee that everything we had will be available on the day you visit Dining Art, but I bet Sam will be able to recommend something just as good.

33 Tong Chong Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2960 0994
Fax 2563 2177

939 King’s Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2561 5151

G/F 25 Hoi Wan Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2562 5681
Fax 2562 5694

Dorset House, Taikoo Place
979 Kings Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2968 5555

G/F, 19 – 21 Tong Chong Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2563 3000
Fax 2563 3013

G/F Hoi Wan Building
11 Hoi Wan Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2880 0149

G/F Lincoln House
Tong Chong Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2219 0288
Fax 2219 0280

G/F Oxford House
Westlands Road
Taikoo Place
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2250 5020
Fax 2250 5028

G/F DCH Commercial Centre
25 Westlands Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2803 1803

23-27 Tong Chong Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2811 1907

G/F 27 Hoi Wan Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 3833 6362

Shop4, G/F Tai Kut House
7 Greig Road
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2561 2727, 2561 8800
Fax 2561 2526

G/F 23 Hoi wan Street
Quarry Bay
Tel 2856 9448

G/F 19-21 Tong Chong Street
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2563 3000
Fax 2563 3013

G/F 39 Tong Chong Street
Tai Koo Place
Quarry Bay
Hong Kong
Tel 2856 9848