HALLOWEEN
It’s that time of year again when the spirits go roaming while we light candles in pumpkin shells and go out to find the great Halloween bash – here are a few to consider.

Hard Rock Café (G/F and 1/F, Silvercord, 30 Canton Road, TST, Kowloon 2375 1323) is celebrating Halloween on two nights: the 27th and the 31st. The theme ‘Bloody Hell’ includes a live music show in an appropriately spooky atmosphere. Special dinner dishes will be served from 6:00-11:00pm during two sittings (6:00-8:15pm and 8:30 pm to late). The menu includes skeleton chilli beef dip ($89), Jack-O-Lantern seafood squid ink pasta ($158), creepy witch fingers with beef tenderloin ($198) and Black Widow and chocolate pudding ($78). Other offers consist of a free drink for the first sitting to stay for the show and special drinks such as the Vampirez Puke and the Bloody Hell. Tickets for the party (includes two standard drinks) cost $180. There will also be a best costume competition with prizes to be won.

For a family orientated affair head on over to The Backyard (Langham Hotel, 8 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon) from the 26th to the 31st for a Halloween barbecue party going at $368 for adults and $218 for children. Or go to The Place (Langham Hotel) on the 28th from midday to 2:30pm for lunch along with free workshops in creating pumpkin lanterns and Halloween cookies, face painting, and badge production at $208 for adults and $148 for children. The Place will also hold a dinner on the 31st from 6:30-10:00pm with free face painting just in time for that midnight party you want to head to afterwards. Prices stand at $328 for adults and $198 for children. Call 3552 3200 for either.

Who said Halloween couldn’t be elegant? COVA Ristoranter (Shop G10, G/F, Lee Gardens, 33 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, 2907 3399) is serving up an Italian style four-course Halloween dinner for $648 per person at Lee Gardens and $368 per person at Pacific Place and Harbour City (both prices plus 10% service charge). These menus will be exclusively available on the one night.

Dan Ryan’s (114 Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty 2845 4600) is serving dinner on the 31st a-la-carte as per usual but two fancy-dress competitions will give customers the opportunity to have a bit of extra fun. One is for adults with a free beer as the prize while the other, for children, offers a free mini sundae for the best costume. Coupons for use within the restaurant will also be included as lesser prizes. The competition lasts during dinner from 5:00pm onwards.

MEGABITES
Recently opened Ristorante Simpatico (1/F, Shop 19, Peak Galleria, 118 Peak Road, 2532 6274) offers simple and elegant Italian cuisine. The emphasis is on back-to-basics, functional and fresh Italian cooking in the beautiful surroundings of Victoria Peak. Choose from an extensive range of dishes such as Tuscan-inspired soups, refreshing salads, carpaccio (such as warm sea bass carpaccio with frisse, cannelloni beans and braised red onions: $96) or freshly made pasta dishes (tomato tortellini with eggplant, mozzarella and rocket pesto: $116), while overlooking Lamma and Cheung Chau Island on their patio. Their wine list is extensive and well sourced from various regions of Italy. For those who fancy something stronger – give the Grappa a try. Hot toddies such as rum-laced coffees are also available. The restaurant is child-friendly, offering a kids menu ($32-62). A Tea Set Menu (Mon-Fri, 3-6pm) offers a savory and sweet selection of snacks with a coffee or tea ($68) for those who have tea-time munchies. Open Monday-Friday 11am-11pm and Saturday-Sunday 10.30am-12am.

Chez Patrick is always a dare owing to its weekly changing menu but that is also why we love it so much. The established restaurant in Central (G/F, 26 Peel Street) has newly opened a branch in Wanchai – Chez Patrick Sun Street (G/F, 8-9 Sun Street, Wanchai 2527 1408) that promises to keep an equally fluid menu yet entirely different from its Central older brother’s. Both menus will, however, feature ‘old favourites’ as requested by customers that include the foie gras profiteroles and homemade smoked salmon. All courses come as part of a set menu (three courses: $499, four courses: $599, both plus 10% service charge). For example, at the time of writing, the Sun Street menu offered, as a possible four-course meal, pan-fried foie gras and apple with red beetroot sauce flavoured with cinnamon, followed by roasted pigeon breast and wild mushroom rillette in a caramelized chestnut sauce. A selection of French cheeses before a choice from the homemade desserts finishes the dinner.

California (G/F, California Tower, 30-32 D’Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong, Central 2521 1345) is offering a three-course set lunch on weekdays for only $98 with free dessert on Wednesdays. Or if you are that little bit hungrier, the four-course set lunches include French onion soup to start, a choice of salad or duck quesadilla, and then, for your main, BBQ pork burger ($98), sautéed scallop linguine ($128) or oven-roasted baby back ribs ($128), then dessert, tea or coffee to finish.

The new Munch restaurant (1/F, One Knutsford, No 1 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui 2317 7887) opened on October 8 and is offering 10% off all items during October. Dishes are varied: at lunch (12:00-3:00pm) they include traditional fish and chips ($78) and chicken saltimbocca with pumpkin puree ($68). Alternatively a set lunch is any main dish with salad or soup, tea or coffee, and a piece of daily homemade cake for $30 extra. Dinner (6:00-11:30pm) offers char-grilled king prawn Caesar salad ($88), US natural prime Angus sirloin (8oz: $268, 10oz: $328) with foie gras butter, French beans bundle and sweet potato puree, among others, and homemade desserts including mango Napoleon cannelloni with pistachio crumb ($68)
and exotic fresh fruit minestrone and mascarpone sorbet ($68).

The Mistral at the InterContinental (Basement 2, InterContinental Grand Stanford, 70 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East 2731 2870) is currently running a truffle promotion with dishes like roasted cod fillet with sautéed vegetables, spinach and truffle potato sauce ($310+white truffles), beef sirloin tagliata with rocket salad, caper-mashed potato and truffle sauce ($498+white truffles) and porcini, apple, garden salad and Parmesan flakes ($180+white truffles). Chef Claudio recommends you order between five and 20gm of white truffles, which cost $145 per gram.

Fatburger will be opening soon on Queen’s Road East at Wan Chai and Jia Hotel, Causeway Bay. A branch is already in service at The Venetian in Macau – the Fog Cutter Capital Group aims to open 25 of their popular fast-food restaurants in China by 2010. Customers will be able to order flame-grilled or fried foods in a traditional atmosphere with the customary jukebox in the corner ready to play free songs from a preset catalogue. Check out www.fatburger.com/menu for the American menu, which will probably be quite close to what we get.

A TASTE OF SPAIN
Spanish National Day, or Dia de la Hispanidad if you prefer, fell on October 12, but many restaurants and bars are celebrating through to as late as the end of November.

MO Bar at the Mandarin Oriental (15 Queen’s Road Central, The Landmark, Central 2132 0077) is promoting many a Spanish flavour in their dishes, from the staple tapas selection, to seafood, Iberico ham and Spanish cheeses among many more. Complimentary tapas will accompany your drinks during happy hour as well – whether you choose your regular poison or venture out for some Spanish wine. Lunch set menus are available from $198 and wine goes at $80 a glass.

The Palm Court Western Restaurant (1/F, 75 Waterloo Road, Kowloon 2760 3666) at the Metropark Hotel will pay homage to all things Español with a Spanish and Portuguese dinner. The highlights from among the large array of specially prepared dishes are Serrano ham sliced on the spot, the authentic pasta counter and a grill counter offering roasted prime rib of beef among a selection of meats. From Monday to Thursday, the dinner costs $238 per adult and $148 per child while on weekends it goes for $268 per adult and $168 per child. Book two days ahead online for 20% off and book for seven or more people for 15% off.

El Cid (12-14 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon 2312 1898) is celebrating in full force with a special Spanish Day menu during the festivities (all of October and November). All tapas appetizers come with the opportunity to order a 2 oz Spanish wine sampler chosen specifically to go with your food. For example, order the crab cake with pineapple salsa ($150) and try a sampler of Torres Nerola White 2005 ($28 extra) or order sautéed snail in puff pastry ($80) and the sampler of Torres Gran Coronas Cabernet Sauvignon 2003 will be $30 extra. The set dinner is $350 per person or $480 if the recommended samplers of wine (one for each course) are included. A quite superb dinner choice might be Iberico ham carpaccio with eggplant and tomato salsa, then Karobuta pork belly stew with black sausage, followed by Manchego cheese with cream sauce with fig and porcini, finishing with warm chocolate delight washed down with strawberry Fino Quinta. To add to the atmosphere the staff will wear traditional Spanish clothing. Order anything from the special menu for a chance to win free appetizers, drinks or even T-shirts in the lucky draw.

El Pomposo (Roof Garden 009, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon 2196 8123), the new Spanish restaurant at the Elements shopping mall, has opened just in time for National Day. Regular items on the menu include mixed wild mushrooms, prawns and red pimientos ($65), traditional potato and egg tortilla ($50), blood orange chicken with garlic and paprika ($55) and sautéed clams with ham and sherry ($198).

HAIRY CRAB
The hairy (or Chinese Mitten) crab is so named due to the dense patches of dark fur on its claws. Most popularly found at Yang Cheng Lake, this Shanghai delicacy is prized for the female’s ovaries. ‘Hairy crab season’ follows the crustacean’s natural migration downstream during this time of year so, with the season now in full swing, we take a snapshot of what hairy crab delights restaurants are offering, from quick bites to pocket-stretching feasts.

Yan Toh Heen at the Inter Continental Hong Kong (18 Salisbury Road, Hong Kong 2313 2323) has a wide array of selections. Their Hairy Crab set menu is a belt busting six courses including Steamed Fresh Hairy Crab, Deep Fried Stuffed Garoupa Fillet with hairy Crab Roe and Braised Shark’s Fin with Hairy Crab Roe. The regular set menu cost $1328. For that extra luxury order a recommended 90ml glass of eight year old Yue Zhou Hua Diao to compliment the Shark’s Fin and a 90ml glass of 25 year old Yue Shan Xian Diao to compliment the hairy Crab (both added to set menu: $1488).

Dynasty at the Renaissance Kowloon Hotel (4/F, 22 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon 2734 6600) is offering a special hairy crab menu through the months of October and November. Prices range from $30 to $300 (plus 10% service charge) for a menu that includes steamed king hairy crab ($260), fried rice with salmon and crab essence ($220) and braised bean curd with crab essence and diced seafood ($228). Call 2734 6600 for reservations.

Among East Ocean Seafood Restaurant’s (B1 East Ocean Centre, 98 Granville Road, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon 2723 8128) usual extensive array of specialized seafood dishes, hairy crab offerings include steamed hairy crab roe dumplings ($15), baked mixed seafood with hairy crab in the shell ($21) and steamed crabmeat and spinach dumplings ($21).