Atrium (118-130 Nathan Road, TST, 2368 1111) in Hotel Miramar is holding an 18 Crab Delights dinner buffet with 50 different delicacies made with 18 varieties of crab, including Zuwaigani, Tarabakani, Alaskan, Arctic Ocean and Crystal crabs amongst others. Even the sweets follow the theme—crab cake flavoured with thyme, and the coconut and bird’s nest pudding with sago in baby coconut. The buffet is priced at $368 for adults and $221 for children/senior citizens. For parties of four or more, mother’s will get 50% off the price.

Mama Knows Best…
Hong Kong is a hectic city, with workloads so heavy ‘OT all-nighters’ are the norm. We Hong Kongers sometimes overlook holidays that other countries celebrate, simply because we don’t have the time for them; it’s work, work, work, here. But Mother’s Day is the one day even the most diehard workaholics will take time out for, because mothers hold such a special place in our hearts. Even a father can’t compete with the regard we have for our dear old mum. And so Hong Kong has no shortage of Mother’s Day celebrations to which we can take mum to let her know how wonderful she is: here are some of the more interesting ones…

You can never celebrate enough… El Cid Spanish Restaurant (Shop C, G/F, Florida Mansion, 9-11 Cleveland St, Causeway Bay, 2576 8650) just recently wound up its 15th anniversary celebration and is now celebrating again with a Mother’s Day chef’s special. Instead of a set dinner like other restaurants, El Cid is rolling out an a la carte menu with new dishes like grilled kurobuta ($150). Kurobuta is a special Japanese black pork (kuro = black, buta = pork) grilled with fig sauce, the sweetness of the figs enhancing the taste of the buta. Also look out for poached fillet of sole served with baked cannelloni ($160) and a Spanish cream sauce. As a complimentary gift, each mother will receive a glass of Sangria, a wine punch originating in Spain
and Portugal.

Here’s an idea for fathers! Instead of giving your kids money to buy mom a present, why not get them to make her a specially decorated cake? On Saturday May 12, the InterContinental Hong Kong will be showing the young ’uns how to do so with Mother’s Day Cake Decorating Classes For Children at 10:30am and 1:30pm. For $288 per child, executive pastry chef Pascal Schwalm will lead them through all the steps to create their own 1lb strawberry mango cream cake with colourful icing and toppings. The classes will include a mini breakfast or afternoon mini sandwiches.

Taking your mom shopping at the IFC? Lots is happening there as well: at The Box (Shop 4010, IFC, Central, 2234 7738), lunch ($298) and dinner ($398) buffets share similar cold starters, such as chilled fresh crab and prawns, grilled duck breast salad and Italian-style calamari. Or for hot entrées reach out for slow roasted fillet of beef, rotisserie spring chicken, Thai-style stir-fried seafood and noodles, and organic vegetables. However, only at the dinner buffet will you find a carving station offering prime rib and a larger selection of hot entrées, such as Spanish seafood paella. For variety, though, take mom to H One (Shop 4008, 2805 0638) with its international menu of Thai, French and Indian cuisines. The restaurant’s Mother’s Day lunch buffet is a showcase of their vast variety, from Italian Parma ham to Japanese teriyaki salmon and seafood bouillabaisse. The buffet costs $398
per person.

For mothers with a hankering for a bit of everything, head over to L’eclipse at the Langham Hotel (8 Peking Road, TST, 2375 1133) where the international dinner buffet will give her Japanese teppanyaki, sashimi and sushi, a Chinese wok-fried station and noodles, an American grill station, an Italian pasta station and Indian curry. The buffet will run for two sessions, from 6pm to 8pm, then 8:30pm to 10:30pm. The price is $438 per adult and $268 for each child. In addition, each mother will receive a complimentary chilled bird’s nest soup and an Elitefrance face-whitening collagen mask.

If the old lady is from Shanghai and hankers after something traditional, take her to Shanghai Kitchen (Shop 322, Maritime Square, Tsing Yi, 2186 7733) where the Mother’s Day dinner for four ($568) starts with cold dishes like drunken chicken, preserved egg with spicy sauce, and marinated mushroom with cucumber in mustard sauce. The soup that follows is wheat gluten, and the main course offers a large variety of traditional Shanghai dishes like steamed pork dumplings (‘little dragon buns’), bamboo pitts with mixed mushrooms, stir-fried river shrimps, and braised pork with dried beans. For large families, the dinner for 10 ($1,680) will fill you all with dishes such as the smoked duck, steamed crab with yellow wine, and vegetarian shark’s fin, along with the eight treasures sweet cake dessert.

The Metropark Kowloon will be celebrating Mother’s Day with not one but two buffets. Their dinner buffet ($298 adults, $178 children) runs on both 12 and 13 at the Palm Court Western Restaurant (75 Waterloo Road, Mongkok, 2761, 1711) and it seems to cater especially to moms who like bird’s nest, scallops, shark’s fin, lobster bisque, and others available. Then on Sunday, the BBQ lunch buffet starts at noon and will include seafood and desserts, $178 per adult and $118 per child. For those who have trouble expressing their feelings verbally, a giant thank you board will be up during the day for you to write mom a loving message.

Le French May
Celebrating Le French May with a specifically designed menu is La Brasserie at the Gateway Marco Polo Hotel (Harbour City, TST, 2113 7925). Running from May 3 to the 31, this simple a la carte menu sidesteps full course meals for five smaller starter dishes: smoked and marinated salmon cornet with passion fruit sauce ($138), crayfish and scampi salad with cocoa beans ($158), and traditional French port melon ($128) are three of them. The sea-bream salad with marinated sweet pepper and fennel wasn’t priced at the time of going to press, but for those fancying a jolt of caffeine, try the pumpkin cappuccino with cardamom, a creamy pumpkin soup with cardamom spices.

To celebrate the 15th anniversary of the largest French Arts Festival in the Asia-Pacific region, Le Parisien (2076, Level 2 IFC, Central, 2805 5293) is serving a special Le French May menu designed by chef Pascal Breant throughout the month. Marinated salmon, crab salad, or steamed asparagus are the starters while the main course is a choice from pan-fried pike perch with crushed French bean, beef tenderloin bourguignon with escargot, dipped in rich red wine sauce, or roasted spring French lamb along with a side of baby vegetables. Dessert is either farmhouse cheese with grapes and homemade walnut bread, or the vanilla Napoleon with red berry and coconut sorbet. The meal costs $400 per person and comes with coffee or tea.

Nouveau Cuisine


Peccato (37 Elgin Street, Soho, 2525 0919), it means ‘sin’ in Italian, why the name? According to chef Joan Ida, the idea is that their back-to-basics northern Italian cuisine is “deliciously sinful”. Earthy tones dominate the restaurant, with an al fresco balcony facing Elgin St. The pancetta wrapped-prawns ($85) are decked out with sweet onions, capers and sultanas while lamb rack scottadita ($235) goes well with spicy eggplant, roasted potatoes, and mint yoghurt. The yoghurt’s tangy taste is an excellent complement for the tender meat. What would Italian food be without pasta, though? Scampi spaghetti with white wine, garlic and parsley ($175) is a big dish that can feed two or three. The tiramisu ($55) stands out as our favourite dessert, it comes with a hint of rum, a crunchy cookie shaped like a devil, cocoa powder, and a custard so sweet, yes, it’s sinful.

Newly opened Japan Skewer (518 Jaffe Road, Causeway Bay, 2882 6655) is a small corner shop with traditional Japanese design, it exclusively serves Japanese Kushiyaki (skewered beef and veggies) snacks for those always on the go. The variety is wide – with shrimp, lobster ball, cuttlefish, scallop, prime rib eye, smoked duck meat, and good old-fashioned chicken wings – all the skewers ranging between $12 to $15. So it is easy to see why it is so popular.

Uniquely English, the fish and chip shop hasn’t quite conquered the world in the way the English pub has. Often known simply as ‘chip shop’ or ‘chippie’ because back in the day many customers could only afford to buy chips without the fish. The last chippie I visited in the UK, curiously enough, was run by a Hong Kong family. The Chippy (51 Wellington Street, Central, 2523 1718) has recently been taken over and is now under the watchful eye of Toby, well known for his efforts at The Globe. Unpretentiously located on the corner of Pottinger St and Wellington St behind a market stall, the Chippy is a classic ‘chip shop’ replete with a chalkboard menu of hearty English food: cod and chips ($95), haddock and chips ($90), chicken parmo ($75) – all served with mushy peas or baked beans - and of course, the proverbial bacon butty ($40) and chip butty ($45). Chips, proper chips that is, it should be explained, are fat, thick and taste of potato – not the skinny processed shoestrings most places pass off as chips, they are fries! And never the two be confused.

GO ORGANIC!
It seems like everyone is more health conscious these days and organic food is gaining popularity not only in the western world but here as well. To recap for those still not familiar, organic food is produced according to certain production standards, for example, crops are grown without the use of conventional pesticides and artificial fertilizers and animals are raised without growth hormones. So basically, it is food the natural way, without all the chemicals and other additives. Greenpeace China is collaborating with four restaurants to run the May Festival of Fine Organic Food over four weeks, each restaurant taking a week to show off its organic expertise. Greenpeace will receive 10% of the proceeds to help fund their food safety work. Not only is organic food good for the environment (organic farms do not release synthetic pesticides but emphasize soil conservation), it’s healthy for you (more vitamins, antioxidants, etc). The last time we checked, the food wasn’t too shabby either, so go ahead, follow Al Gore and help the environment. The first week of the festival kicks off from May 4 to 10 at Life Café (10 Shelly Street, SoHo, 2810 9777), with a $110 special of either organic Japanese miso soup with organic dhal and homemade bread, or organic west Indian chilli bowl with an organic oatmeal cookie. Then the festival moves on to Fruit Shop (1/F, China Hong Kong Centre, 122-126 Canton Road, TST, 2377 1828 and Shop A, 7/F, Lee Theatre Plaza, Causeway Bay, 3167 7683) from May 11 to 17. Here, you can choose from stir-fried spaghetti, pan-fried halibut steak, or the organic brown rice with prawns, with a dessert and cranberry juice for $88 a person. From May 18 to 24, at Munch (Units L & M G/F Hanyee Building, 19-21 Hankow Road, TST, 2317 7887), the special is organic sweet plum tomato risotto with primavera veggies or pan-roasted chicken breast with mango glaze and organic brown rice ($125 per person). The festival will make its fourth and final stop at Soland (3/F, No 6 Gilman’s Bazaar, Central, 9473 3412) from May 25 to 31. As of going to press, they are still working on their set lunch organic menu.