New Taste Sensations
Newly opened in Tsim Sha Tsui is Bouchon (Basement and G/F, Podium Plaza, 5 Hanoi Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, 3169 3361). A basement location oasis away from the hustle, bustle and heat of the streets overhead. Owner Ahmed talks with a passion about his love of food, desire for fresh healthy ingredients and the inspiration behind his two signature dishes, a large wedge of foie gras served on a bed of lentils cooked in foie gras oil and served on saffron rice ($145) and a Bouchon beef fillet with herb crust, tomato and olive sauce ($115). The a-la-carte menu is served from 6-11pm daily. While at lunch there’s a 4-course set menu offering a wide range of very tasty choices, which change weekly. Uniquely, Bouchon also owns a small patisserie on the ground floor offering homemade cakes, sandwiches and juices. The Bouchon lounge-bar is open til late with the cool tunes starting around 10pm.

Ever felt like a little elegant dining while waiting for a ferry to Tsimshatsui? Star Ferry’s Pier 7 now hosts Watermark (Star Ferry, Central Pier 7, Central, 2167 7251), the restaurant poised at the end of the pier to capitalize on the 270-degree view of the harbour. Water features and translucency all add to the cool ‘watermark’ angle the establishment has adopted. Head chef Pascal Breant of France heads up the contemporary continental menu with pan-seared duck foie gras with confit apple and sherry reduction ($172), tomato panache with rocket, balsamic vinegar and crisp white radish biltong ($118), oven-roasted lamb rack with white bean cassoulet and celery root ($298) and seared yellow tail with organic rice, toasted almond and mild curry cream ($195). For dessert he has created an apple pastille with cinnamon and hazelnut praline ($75) and burned caramel flan, mocha biscotti, pine nuts and milk chocolate ($75). Watermark is open daily 11:30am-12:30am.

The Renaissance Harbour View Hotel’s restaurant formerly known as The Coffee Shop has recently completed a three-month renovation. Out of the cocoon comes Café Renaissance (Mezzanine Floor, Renaissance Harbour View Hotel, 1 Harbour Road, Wanchai, 2802 8888). The new light and approachable décor encourages easygoing dining with a dinner buffet that is seafood-centric. Highlights include US half-shell oysters, poached prawns, chilled New Zealand green-lip mussels and king crab legs. You will also find Indonesian vegetable curry, marinated lamb cutlets with a petite ratatouille and Indian pork curry among many others. Live cooking stations are featured as an entertaining way to pass the time as you watch your food being cooked. Dinner runs nightly 6:30-10pm and costs $298 per adult and $178 per child (aged 3-11). This includes unlimited soft drinks, local and draft beers.

Il Padrino (1/F, 8-13 Wo On Lane, Lan Kwai Fong, Central, 2522 9911) opened at the start of November and, with its two native Italian owners making the pasta from scratch in the restaurant, this pizzeria is all authentic Italian. Get in the mood with a bruschetta classica ($48) or carpaccio de manzo (slices of raw marinated beef tenderloin in lemon juice and olive oil: $80). The pizzas are stone-oven fired, and among the choices are Napoletana ($88), Quattro Stagioni ($92), Capricciosa ($92) and Bismarck ($98). The desserts names are complicated if you don’t know Italian – torta al formaggio con frutti di bosco translates to cheesecake with poached wild fruit ($58). More easily deciphered are pavlova la ballerina ($68) and cassata Siciliana gelato – vanilla and pistachio ice cream served with chopped pistachio, fresh fruit and strawberry sauce ($68). Il Padrino runs lunch daily from 11:30am-3pm, and the kitchen is open for dinner from 6-11pm. The restaurant is open from 6pm-2am, except on Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and public holidays when the pizza bar lodge is open until 3am. Brunch is also served on weekends and public holidays from 11:30am-3pm.
Union Square Café (Shop 1028C, 1/F, Elements, 1 Austin Rd West, Kowloon, 2196 8100) is now open and incorporates a café, bar and dining room. The latter serves a wide selection, including eggplant cannelloni filled with Middle Eastern spiced ratatouille ($110), char-grilled milk-fed veal cutlet with sautéed potato lyonnaise ($250) and pan-fried black cod fillet with char-grilled asparagus ($188). The full bar serves cocktails for $66 and $74, half draught Carlsberg for $34 and mocktails for $48. The café serves snack items such as the roasted turkey breast, brie and cranberry sauce panini ($62), traditional spaghetti bolognaise ($88) and fish and chips with house made tartare sauce and garden salad ($94). The café and bar are open daily 11am-11pm, the restaurant is open daily midday-3pm, 6-11pm.

Megabites News
In early November Dirty Duck Diner (5/F, The Broadway, 54-62 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, 2217 8000) launched a new Rijsttafel dinner menu. The Indonesian meal, directly translates as ‘rice table’, and consists traditionally of many small dishes for great variety, all complemented with rice. To be enjoyed as a communal sampling of Indonesian tastes, the meal requires at least two diners for a set menu that includes 15 dishes and rice served by ‘lines of sarong-clad waitresses’. Among the appetizers are chicken satay with peanut sauce, avocado lala, fresh spring rolls and minced duck in banana leaf. Mains are shrimp sambal, Balinese squid, grilled coconut chicken and crispy sambal duck and chilli shallot. You can top your meal off with pumpkin cake, fried banana or passion fruit sherbet. Dinner is $250 per person and is available nightly from 6pm. Dirty Duck Diner is open for lunch Monday-Friday, midday-2:30pm, lunch is not served on weekends.

To celebrate a year of Le Pain Grille (Shop UG33, Festival Walk, Kowloon Tong, 2265 7680) in HK, the French pastry shop has introduced a new range of devilish delights like éclairs in raspberry, coffee, chocolate and hazelnut variations, St Honoré – a cake glazed in caramel, chocolate custard and crushed peanuts – banana mousse cake and Mont Blanc – a fluffy sponge cake with sweet meringue and a rich chestnut pureé (all mini cakes: $50 dine in, $30 take away). Also available are nine-inch tarts such as raspberry, lemon, blueberry and strawberry, all for $450. Whole cakes (only for dine in) include fruit cheesecake, chocolate truffle cake, white chocolate and raspberry cake, and hazelnut cake (12 inches: $700). The Festival Walk outlet is open daily 11:30am-8pm. Other le pain grille outlets are at 111 Leighton Road and 2-4 Kingston Street, Causeway Bay.

China House (APM L3-1 Level 3, Millennium City 5, 418 Kwun Tong Road, Kowloon, 3580 1882) is offering western Alaskan king crab under a traditional Chinese cooking style until the end of January. One Alaskan crab is enough to serve 4-6 people in the 3-course set menu ($1600). Included are steamed king crab legs with garlic, deep fried king crab with chilli and pepper, and house fried rice with king crab paste in a shell. Have your crab out of the icy waters against China House’s backdrop decorated in the style of China’s roaring 50s and 60s glamour scene. China House is open daily 11:30am-4pm, and 5:30pm-12midnight.

Having a dinner buffet at The Greenery (The Royal Garden , 69 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui East, Kowloon, 2733 2030) now means diners can taste from a selection of New Zealand meats including roast leg of lamb, rack of lamb Teppanyaki style, roast short loin of venison and stewed shoulder of venison. Along with this is a collection of fresh seafood such as Alaskan crab leg, French black mussels, red crabs and Canadian jade crystal snails. Executive pastry chef Tony Wong makes sure that your meal ends with as much of a bang as your start with popular dessert items including tiramisu, blueberry cheese cake, mango mousse and chocolate truffle cake. To keep spirits high, a singing pianist plays nightly and violinists perform on weekends. A free lunch buffet coupon is given to each group of four. Dinner is open Sunday-Wednesday, 6:30-10pm. Monday-Thursday: adults - $358, children - $258. Call for more details on prices.

The Real Deal
Al Petra (G/F, 96 Kimberley Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, 6333 7911) serves genuine Middle-Eastern food as manager Tarek Al Ali testifies quite fiercely. He points out that his shawarma, the name for a real kebab, is left to marinate for two days, as is usual with authentic shawarmas. The restaurant is reservations-only on Fridays and Saturdays and has found success mainly through word of mouth. Head chef Nedal Abujazer hails from Jordan, as does Tarek, where he studied cooking. The large selection of dishes includes, for hot appetizers, chicken wings coriander, garlic, butter and chilli ($65) and fried potato cubes with egg and onion ($50). For your main dish you can choose stuffed chicken breast ($140), shish kebab ($130) or reyash (lamb chop: $160). The food is never cooked for local tastes. Instead Al Petra serves everything authentically as it would be dished up in Tarek’s home country. Al Petra is open midday-2am every day except Saturday when it stays open until 3am. Al Petra also has real shisha, with lemonwood charcoal imported from Jordan.

Christmas Feasts
Devil’s Advocate (48-50 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, 2865 7271) serves their festive feast from December 9-24. Get yourself 4-courses of Christmas cheer along with a complimentary glass of wine and party cracker, starting with a choice of potato, parsnip and stilton soup, smoked salmon and asparagus served with rye toast and lemon zest sour cream, or rock melon with parma ham. Then move on to the traditional Christmas turkey with all the trimmings main course, or for the vegetarians, layered mushroom and cashew nut roast served with traditional trimmings and mushroom gravy. There is also the option of sea bass or salmon. Dessert is either the classic Christmas pudding with brandy butter, or chocolate truffle pie with raspberry coulis, or fresh fruit sorbet. Finish the meal with tea or coffee accompanied by mince pies. All 4-courses come at $198 and is available daily midday-10pm.

Spicy Fingers (78-82 Jaffe Road, Wanchai, 2861 3588) serves a Christmas dinner menu available by pre-order all the way through the month. have your 3-courses for $275 and choose for your starter roast parsnip and sweet potato soup, brandied chicken liver pate, smoked oak salmon or tomato and buffalo mozzarella wrapped in parma ham. The mains features the indefatigable turkey plus trimmings and also gives the choice of pan-fried monk fish fillet, char-grilled rib eye steak or baked wild mushroom stuffed chicken breast. Dessert comes in the form of steamed Christmas pudding with rum custard or baked stuffed apples with caramel cream sauce. Tea or coffee with mince pies and chocolates rounds everything off nicely. A moderately varied version of the meal is available for $185 during lunch.

If you’re afraid you’ll miss the Christmas restaurant specials while having your traditional dinner at home, don’t worry, a few restaurants are celebrating throughout the month. Top Deck (Top Floor Jumbo Kingdom, Shum Wan Pier Drive, Wong Chuk Hang, Aberdeen, 2552 3331) has a Year 2007 December set dinner menu that, among its choices, contains most of a Christmas dinner. The four-course dinner will run from December 4-30 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays for $388 per person. For your starter, sample a superior sashimi platter or Thai roast beef salad with cabbage and cilantro sauce. Barley soup with duck confit and root vegetables comes before the main which features, as we promised, the traditional Christmas roast tom turkey with gravy and chestnut stuffing, Vichy carrot, brussels sprouts and roast new potatoes. Also on offer is grilled Angus beef sirloin in a red wine reduction, haricot beans and roast sweet potatoes or pan-fried Chilean sea bass with saffron cream sauce, sautéed spinach and wasabi mashed potatoes. For dessert, you could clean up with a Christmas pudding with vanilla and brandy butter. Top Deck is open Tuesday-Thursday, 6-11:30pm and Sunday 11:30am-11:30pm.

Delaney’s (G/F, One Capital Place, 18 Luard Road, Wanchai, 2804 2880) are serving up a cozy Christmas menu from December 1-28, not including The Day itself. For starter, you’ll have to ask your server for that day’s special – in the form of appetizer and/or soup. The main course features 3 options, have yourself a merry traditional roast stuffed turkey and honey glazed Limerick ham served with all the usual trimmings, the vegetables, the gravy, the potatoes ($128), alternatively go for a roast rib of US beef with Yorkshire pudding ($98), or the chef’s daily special ($88). As a dessert comes in the form of Christmas pudding with brandy custard followed by tea or coffee. The main course plus one other course can be had for the price indicated with main course options, or have all three for an extra $25. This meal is available for lunch midday-3pm and for dinner 6-11pm.

Heat’s (G/F, 54-62 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, 2528 0997) festive set lunches and dinners run December 3-23 for groups of 4 or more on advance reservations. The 3-course lunch is $108 from midday-3pm and includes your choice of slow roasted tomato and goat’s cheese salad with balsamic and shallot dressing, homemade oyster mushroom soup with roast chestnuts and Thai prawn cakes with coriander and spinach salad. For the main course, there is the classic turkey and trimmings option, baked salmon fillet with buttered new potatoes, French beans and Hollandaise sauce, or linguini with confit cherry tomatoes, basil and parmesan cheese. Finish with a Christmas chocolate log. Dinner is 4-courses at $168 available 6-10pm. Included among the choices are homemade oyster mushroom soup, prosciutto di parma ham and peach salad on a bed of mixed greens sprinkled with fresh parmesan, penne pasta with sautéed mushrooms in a creamy black truffle sauce, turkey with classic trimmings and chocolate log.

Amici (1/F, 83 Lockhart Road, Wanchai, 2866 1918) is serving a Christmas buffet party menu ideal for office parties and large gatherings. For groups of 20 or more, from December 3-25 and $98 per person, items on the menu include pumpkin and mascarpone torte cream soup, spinach and parma ham salad, roast turkey, wild mushroom gravy, fresh cranberry sauce, roast rosemary potatoes, green peas and carrots, roasted Norwegian salmon fillet, apple pie with custard sauce plus coffee or tea. Alternatively have a 3-course meal for $138 per person with a choice of pumpkin and mascarpone soup or spinach and parma ham salad for starters. For your main, have the turkey, salmon fillet or roast rack of lamb. Then for dessert there is apple pie with custard sauce. Coffee or tea included. Amici is open Friday-Saturday midday-2am, Sunday-Thursday midday-1am, though stays open late for private parties.

Veggie Delight
Khana Khazana’s (1/F, Dannies House, 20 Luard Road, Wanchai, 2805 1331) Indian cuisine, a mixture of southern and northern, focuses on vegetarian dishes not found in non-vegetarian restaurants. On the menu are the popular dosas (long pancakes containing various fillings) such as masala dosa ($38), paper sada dosa ($45) or cheese masala dosa ($58). A variety of pizzas are also served: mushroom ($52); onion, capsicum and tomato ($52); or makai paneer ($59). Tandoori starters include vegetable seehk kebab ($52), paneer tikka ($58) and the tandoori platter ($52). Among the many other dishes you’ll find cheese nachos with Mexican beans ($69), Mexican burrito ($69), vegetable fried rice ($51) and alu gobi ($44). From January, Khana Khazana hopes to have a monthly ‘vegan day’ and ‘organic day’. They also plan to launch a corporate menu designed to relieve stress through herbal ingredients and light cooking. The restaurant is open midday-11:30pm daily, last orders at 11pm. Take-out is also available.

With a Buddhist founder dating back to 1918, Tung Fong Siu Kee Yuen (241 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai, 2519 9148) serves traditional cuisine in the Chinese vegetarian style, though you’ll be hard pressed to find elsewhere some of the dishes this restaurant has to offer. Such as the black truffle special menu that includes fried rice with black truffle ($85). Other dishes on the menu include bean curd with sweet and sour sauce ($52), mushroom and vegetable scallops in crispy nest ($58) and mixed vegetables with Portuguese sauce in a hot pot ($48). If you read Chinese, you’ll find that the menu has a lot more on offer – the English menu only arose out of foreign vegetarians stopping by, looking for a menu that wasn’t all meat dishes. Tung Fong Siu Kee Yuen is open daily 11am-10:30pm.

Life (10 Shelley Street, Soho, Central, 2810 9777) offers selections from all six continents (we’re not counting Antarctica) in the relaxed café setting where you can maintain your health with some organic whole-food options: sweet potato French fries with spicy sea salt and roasted garlic mayonnaise ($40), an Aztec salad (jicama, mixed peppers, organic carrot, organic black bean and onion with chilli lime dressing: $75), open faced sandwich (on foccacia) with baked vegetarian meatloaf and miso gravy ($85), and roasted onion and goat cheese quiche served with house green salad ($80). Life is open daily 8am-midnight.

Beef With a Capital ‘B’
Club JJ’s Thai and Grill (1/F, Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1 Harbour Road, 2584 7662) now offers premium USDA beef on their menu. The dishes are served with a variety of traditional and Thai-influenced sauces and sides all prepared by Head Chef Mum from Bangkok. Try the 160g ($330) or 240g beef tenderloin ($490). Those with a more voracious appetite could go for the 500g beef sirloin ($620), 300g rib eye ($320), 250g Australian Wagyu grade 9 sirloin ($880) or 280g mountain states premium American lamb chop ($440). Other meals include 300g Dutch veal chop ($420) and 800g Boston lobster ($480). Accompanying sauces are a choice from green peppercorn, béarnaise and Thai Jaew dip. And while you dig into a piece of prime meat, the resident band Seven Senses will keep you musically entertained. JJ’s Music Room is open Monday-Saturday from 9pm and the bar is open Monday-Saturday from 5pm.

Mezzo Grill’s (1/F, Regal Kowloon Hotel, 71 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui, 2313 8778) new set dinner is based on Australian Wagyu beef. The selection is intended to highlight the melt-in-your-mouth quality that the marbled Wagyu is famous for. The four-course meal is set at $298 per person for which you get Teriyaki Australian Wagyu beef tongue salad followed by lemongrass-infused Wagyu beef tail broth with fresh coriander to begin. The main course selection features char-broiled Australian Wagyu beef rib-eye steak with seasonal vegetables, Wagyu beef brisket Sorrentino with truffle sauce and crispy pancetta, and pan-fried lobster and seafood in tarragon
nage with vegetable batons. A crunchy orange chocolate cake and lemon praline mousse with grand Marnier orange sauce rounds the meal off. The set dinner is available throughout the dinner sitting. Mezzo Grill is open for lunch daily, midday-3pm, dinner 6-11pm.