All-you-can-eat
It might be difficult to associate oysters with South American cuisine, but that is exactly what the executive chef at Café on the PARK (2/F, Hotel Wing, The Royal Pacific Hotel and Towers, 33 Canton Road, Tsimshatsui, 2738 2322) is doing. At the Oyster Passion lunch and dinner buffets, dishes like Cuban roasted short ribs, Costa Rica curry crab and Mexican mousse de tequila will give you a refreshing dining experience – but talking about Latin flavour, who can forget salsa? A little bit of that famous sauce made from tomato, onion and a string of Latin herbs to go with a big, fat American oyster seems a good try. Additionally, a free braised abalone and sea cucumber with shark’s fin will be given to every diner at the buffet until June 30. Lunch buffets cost $168/$128 per adult/child on weekdays and $188/$138 on weekends and public holidays. For dinner, it is $328/$228 per adult/child on weekdays and $348/$248 on weekends, public holidays and their eves.

At Patio (L4, Renaissance Kowloon Hotel 22 Salisbury Road, Tsimshatsui, 2734 6690), an International Seafood Carnival will highlight 15 different seafood specialities, including Alaska king crab leg, sautéed prawn with mango salsa, sautéed jade whelk in spicy wine sauce and, of course, US oysters. Various kinds of sushi, sashimi and teppanyaki are also on offer. The dinner buffet is $338/$218 per adult and child respectively on Monday to Thursday; and from Friday to Sunday it is $368 and $228.

Everyone who works Hong Kong’s crazy hours needs to treat themselves occasionally. With that thought in mind, the new Asian buffet at The Box (Shop 4010, Podium Level 4, ifc mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, 2805 0638) is a fresh option. Prepared by a Thai chef in a ‘royal Thai’ style and an Indian cook who previously worked in one of Bombay’s most renowned restaurants, the lunch buffet offers a wide choice of dishes. Appetizers include Indian saffron pullao, prawn kali mirch together with Thai-style grilled pork neck with tamarind spicy sauce, deep-fried shrimp toast with plum sauce, crispy rice with shrimps and pork dip. Various kinds of curry also are on offer while specialties like baked fresh mussels with Thai herbs and stir-fried kale with salt fish and garlic could still catch your eye. The lunchtime buffet is priced at $198 on weekdays and $268 over weekends.

For chef Chris Johnson at Café Rendezvous (M/F, 70 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui East, 2731 2860), Thai cuisine may be the perfect marriage between Eastern and Western culture but for many it is simply tasty and irresistible. The café’s new Simply Delectable Thai buffet features staples like tom yum kung and whole fish with red curry, as well as their own crab noodle salad and pan-roasted crab cake. The buffet goes on until the end of the month and costs $328 and $218 for adults and children respectively from Monday to Thursday. On weekends and public holidays, it is $368 and $248.

We are feeling the heat and sniffing the scents of summer these days, which also means the tropical fruits season has arrived. The Lobby Lounge of the Prince Hotel (Harbour City, Tsimshatsui, 2113 6038) offers a mango specialties afternoon tea buffet with refreshing choices like mango and jasmine crème brulee, lavender and mango mousse cake, osmanthus mango sago in a glass and mango rose teacake. The buffet is only available on weekends and public holidays and costs $148 for adults and $118 for children.

Wine and Dine
Rosedale on the Park is throwing a five-course wine and dinner set to celebrate its eighth birthday. At SkyZone Restaurant & Lounge (L33, 8 Shelter Street, Causeway Bay, 2127 8838) take a sip of the traditional French champagne Palmer & Co, Brut NV and start the meal with cream of white asparagus soup topped with garlic croutons. Then a glass of Ch Gassier cotes De Provenue Sainte Victorce Edition Speciale Rose 2007 will be a good match for a grilled Australian rack of veal with ratatouille, white asparagus and pineapple butter sauce ($380). Those in the mood for seafood can go for the baked herbed crusted orange roughy fillet with Australian mussels and a saffron cream butter sauce as main course ($360), served with a glass of Trinity Oaks Pinot Grigio 2006. A wine buffet priced at $198 includes two hours of unlimited wine from California, Australia and South Africa and a complimentary cheese platter.

The wine dinner is back at Spring Moon, the luxurious Chinese restaurant at The Peninsula (1/F, Salisbury Road, Kowloon, 2315 3160). Five wines from Henri Bourgeois will be featured with the six-course menu created by executive chef Paul Lau Ping Lui. The wines are Clos Henri Sauvignon Blanc 2006 and Clos Henri Pinot Noir 2005 from Marlborough, New Zealand, and Sancerre Blanc Jadis 2004, Pouilly-Fumé La Demoiselle de Bourgeois 2006 and Sancerre Rouge, Les Baronnes 2004 from the Loire Valley, France. The experience of sampling these fine wines with traditional Chinese food like roasted Peking duck and barbecued baby back ribs costs $1,388 per person.

Dishes Nouvelle
For beef lovers, Mitake Yakiniku (G1019 Kam Sing Mansion, Stage 10, Taikoo Shing, 2513 8886) is serving wagyu all the way from Japan. Well known for its tenderness and tasty fat, the A5 wagyu is imported directly from Kagoshima every week. House recommendations are the thick-cut premium sirloin beef ($380) and thick-cut premium rib eye ($380). New beef items worth trying are marinated beef short rib with bone with homemade sauce ($62), marinated beef short rib with homemade sauce ($98), thick cut USA premium sirloin beef ($108) and marinated ox-tongue with homemade sauce ($62). For those who pass on the beef, a variety of grilled dishes available to choose from includes pork belly with asparagus roll ($68) and salt-grilled fresh Japanese ginko nut ($48).

Dessert lovers may have already been to epöch coffee bar & desserterie (12-14 Wing Fung Street, Star Street Precinct, Wanchai, 3525 1570) many times for the mouth-watering and indulgent sweets. To welcome the arrival of summer, Chef Etienne has created new pastries and plated desserts. Highlights are chocolate orange saffron cake with a jelly centre made with fresh orange juice and saffron set in a flourless chocolate sponge cake, and covered with a light Jivara mousse and pink glaze. Serious chocolate lovers can go for the epöch chocolate galaxy, a chocolate tart with fine Valrhona chocolate on a crunchy chocolate wafer, caramel ice cream and espresso-soaked chocolate sponge cake.

A new a-la-carte menu reminiscent of 1920s Paris cuisine has been launched at La Mer Brasserie (1/F, LKF Tower, 33 Wyndham Street, 2523 0200). Some of the house recommendations are pan-seared Canadian scallops with a leek and artichoke ragout ($148), chilled Spanish mackerel rillette poached in muscadet wine ($88), sea bass fillets roasted with artichokes ($178) and seared lobster with yellow wine and hazelnut risotto ($228).

JJ’s Thai & Grill (1 Harbour Road, 2584 7662) prides itself on its authentic home-style Thai dishes and this month offers two new menus prepared by Chef Mum. The early bird saves money as between 6 and 7:30pm daily, a selection of seven appetizers ($48), three fresh salads and soups ($68), six main dishes ($98) and desserts ($68) are served. We have heard that Chef Mum got hername because shelooks as heart-warming as a mum with food to match. Highlights from her new menu are pomelo salad with fresh shrimp; spicy and sour soup with fresh prawns and green curry with sliced chicken breast. Also new in the house for the summer are white mushrooms with shrimp and minced chicken, deep-fried sea bass with mango dip or green curry sauce and grilled French free-range chicken.

What does a hotel do to celebrate its 20th anniversary? Hotel Nikko’s Japanese restaurant Sagano (72 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui East, Kowloon, 2313 4215) does it by creating a 20-course menu – yes, that’s 20! For $1,200 per person, you will enjoy entrées such as sea bream with sake, striped jack sashimi, salmon roe with Japanese sauce, grilled Kagoshima wagyu with black pepper, shrimp tempura with cheese and cockles with sour miso. Now we are trying to imagine what the hotel will come up with for their 40th birthday…

Final call: you will get a discount of 40% off all items on the a-la-carte menu at Lot 10 (34 Gough Street, Noho, 2813 6812) from Monday to Thursday for tables of four or above until May 30. It’s a great chance to sample house specials like rougie foie gras and apple, emperor prawn and mushroom risotto, grilled wagyu rib eye and the signature molten chocolate cake during the eatery’s fourth anniversary promotion.

Yamm (G/F, Hotel Miramar Hong Kong, 118-130 Nathan Road, Tsimshatshui, 2315 5111) was officially launched this month and aims at providing a high-end dining experience created by Eddy Leung, ex-chef of the Ritz Carlton. Join Balalaika (M/F, LKF Tower, 55 D’ Aguilar Street, Central, 3579 2929) at its re-opening party at the end of the month with the largest ice vodka bar in town and an extended happy hour from 3-9pm. American-Chinese eatery Dining Wok (G/F, 12 St Francis St, Wanchai, 2861 2722) also had their official opening a fortnight ago.