Vive La France
Dinner at La Terasse (G/F, 19 Old Bailey Street, Central, 2147 2225) with a good bottle of wine and the right company might persuade you for a moment that you are spending an evening at a seaview restaurant at La promenade de la Croisette in Cannes, France. Or maybe the florid mural on the wall of the outdoor terrace has something to do with that. With a Cannes-native chef, the menu offers French classics such as the feuillette of escargots ($108) and pan-fried foie gras ($165). And how could we miss out on fresh asparagus accompanied by Parma ham shavings and pistachio? The honey-roasted Barbary duck breast was a little bit too underdone for our taste but the warm chocolate moelleux ($89) was a classic and nothing less than divine.

For the occasion of the French cultural month, Le Petit Paris (Shop 2076, Level 2 IFC Mall, 8 Finance Central, 2805 5293) have devised a Le French May themed menu. Chef Brian Moore was inspired by the wines and ingredients of the Rhône Valley region in France to create a five-course wine-pairing degustation menu ($488/person without wine, $744 with five glasses of wine). A puff pastry tartlet encasing rich Morbier cheese with cherry tomato confit precedes the broth of pork knuckle and vegetables gratinated with Cantal, a firm Rhône Valley cheese and one of France’s oldest. The pheasant and rabbit terrine sets the palate up for roasted quail with sautéed Lyonnaise potatoes and tarragon jus before the rich Valrohona chocolate mousse with hazelnut macaroons completes a fine French meal overlooking our Fragrant Harbour. The only downside: there’s not time enough in one evening to fully enjoy the meal and take in a French May cultural event as well.

Nouvelle Cuisine
Under the roof of Langham Place mall, Amici (Shop 5, Level 13, Langham Place, Mongkok, Kowloon, 2148 1009) has opened a second outlet. This one offers a more fusion-themed menu than its Wanchai sister. Starters include a range of Asian snacks from prawn rolls ($52) to spicy tofu with XO sauce ($45). All come in generous portions but the 12in thin-crust pizzas are the star attractions with over 20 toppings to choose from, ranging from the traditional quattro formaggio ($128) with fontina, gorgonzola, parmesan, and mozzarella to the esoteric: The China Sea ($108) is a mixed seafood pizza with egg and kimchee sauce – interesting and pleasing on the taste buds.

Two Dogs Grill (Tsim Sha Tsui or Shatin Village, 9386 4680) is a good choice for a fun meal out with friends and family. With its oversized grill, the restaurant is very accommodating – even encouraging diners to bring their pets. Prices depend on your menu choices, although the restaurant suggests that a five-course meal for five people will cost in the region of $550 a head. We started with water chestnuts wrapped in house-cured bacon, which was an explosion of flavour, paired with terrine of foie gras. That was followed by Michigan fish boil, a brothy soup that the chef has reconstructed from memories of his childhood. Then a salad of cucumber, cherry tomatoes and mango with balsamic and olive oil dressing introduced a salt-encrusted banana leaf wrapping a grey mullet, which tasted as if it had leapt straight out of the sea and onto our plates. If you aren’t a fish lover, the beef fillet wrapped in house-cured bacon, with shallot and red wine sauce is just as tasty and with herb sautéed potatoes, red cabbage and green and yellow peppers sautéed with garlic and shallots on the side is also seductively colourful. To top our meal off, for dessert we chose grilled pineapple with rum, brown sugar, vanilla and smoked chili powder glaze, served with vanilla ice cream and homemade vanilla pound cake. Scrumptious. Two Dog Grill’s welcoming and relaxed appeal comes from being a family-run business run with an experimental chef whose food, both delicious and decorative, pairs the heavier flavours of grilled food with surprising bites of fresh ingredients.

Offering tasty modern Australian cuisine has proven a recipe for success for the shareholders of Wooloomooloo which last month opened its third outlet locally at 31/F, The Hennessey, 256 Hennessey Road, Wanchai, 2893 6960. Situated on the top floor and with a roof garden for private functions (a full licence application is in the works), the new outlet with its combination of dark woods and crisp white tablecloths offers stunning views across Wanchai and Happy Valley through floor to ceiling windows. The leather seats are engulfing, allowing you to luxuriate over your food. Starters include a corn, lemongrass and yabby soup ($90), the Wooloomooloo salad ($135) – a combination of char-grilled filet mignon, baby spinach, mushrooms and heart of palm with a truffle mayonnaise dressing. The meaty heart of the menu features Australian grain fed Black Angus beef, two-three weeks wet aged – cuts include filet mignon 10oz ($320); porterhouse 24oz ($560) and Meyer 100% natural Angus USDA prime rib-eye 12oz ($580) and New York strip 12oz ($580). If you don’t fancy your meat straight-up, there’s a range of classic steakhouse dishes like Beef Wellington ($320), slow roasted prime rib ($375) and grilled swordfish ($230) to choose from. Side dishes include many potato and vegetable options. And if you still have room, you may be tempted by desserts such as lime-scented pavlova ($65), apple crumble ($65) and the ubiquitous chocolate cake with fudge icing and vanilla gelato ($80).

Cinco de Mayo
Mexican restaurant Agave (93-107 Lockhart Road, Wan Chai, 2866 3228) is celebrating Cinco de Mayo with a taco buffet. Between 6pm and 10pm on May 5, for $178, with one Corona you can help yourself to whichever taco fillings take your fancy from a multitude of options. From 9pm for every four Coronas bought, you will receive one free and for the non-beer drinkers, the regular happy hour will still be running. To add to the fun, DJ Chris will be playing Latin house into the night. A la carte is also available with dishes like the nachos machos ($92) that comes with beans, melted cheese, tomato salsa, serrano peppers, guacamole and cilantro and the spice pork fajitas ($148) served sizzling hot with onions, Anaheim green chili guacamole, tomato salsa, sour cream and flour tortillas.

Tequila (11 Old Bailey Street, Soho, 2524 2002) isn’t missing out on the Cinco de Mayo fun either. They have prepared two special dishes for the day that will remain on the menu throughout the whole of May: Pollo poblano in mole ($128) is poblano chili stuffed with shredded chicken and Oaxaca cheese. Aside from the mole sauce with its distinct chocolate flavour, the dish comes with grilled polenta and seasonal veggies. Also on the Cinco de Mayo menu are king prawns in salsa verde in which the three king prawns are considerately cut by the chef to allow for smooth handling. Also for the whole of May Tequila will be serving Micheladas, a traditional Mexican beer cocktail with fresh lime juice, kosher salt and spices.

Spring Dining
You probably wouldn’t think it, but at the end of Staunton Street is a traditional Nepalese brick house just like those you might find in the villages at the foot of the Himalayas. It may not be real, but the owners of Annapurna (G/F, 59 Staunton Street, SoHo, Central, 2857 2966) have done all they can to make diners feel they are eating home-cooked food in a small village restaurant. Everything from the wall decorations to the hospitality of the staff breathes Nepal. Starters include mo-mo-cha ($50) – Nepali dumplings filled with spicy chicken or vegetable – and gorkhali sukuti ($65), marinated stir-fried buffalo. Mains feature marinated meats and a wide range of tasty vegetable dishes including kwati ($65) – nine different beans stewed in Nepali spices and flavoured with cilantro. Aloo tama-ko-tarkari ($75) is bamboo shoots with potato, tomato, onion and white beans while in jhinge macha khurshani ($130) you’ll find prawns sautéed in hot spices and tomato. Dhal-bhat-tarkari ($128) is a lentil gravy with rice, spinach, achar and either chicken, lamb or vegetables – aromatic and delicious.

It still seems strange to mention fine dining and burgers in the same sentence, but the designer burger has proved popular. The recent sunshine and an outdoor terrace overlooking the mid-levels escalator were perfect for people-watching and saw us back at Duke’s Burger (5 Staunton Street, Central, 2526 7062) last month. The fine-dining experience is also reflected in the interior with its sleek furniture, mood lighting and crystal chandelier. The menu features a wide choice of meat, fish and vegetarian burgers and toppings such as braised US short ribs and truffles with foie gras, haricot vert and shemeji mushroom ($198) as well as items from the grill like Kurobuta pork loin with sweet potato puree, roasted onion and crispy bacon ($178). The homemade sorbet ($48) for dessert is well worth the extra calories after the burger indulgence.

Sabatini (The Royal Garden, 69 Mody Road, Tsimshatsui, East Kowloon, 2733 2000) is hidden away in the middle of the Royal Garden building. From the outside the building doesn’t look like much but once inside the distinctly Mediterranean feel will almost convince you that you are far from the chaos of Hong Kong. Pair that with the aged Langhirano ham with Sicilian cantaloupe melon ($258), the house specialty of linguine with scampi, clams and mussels ($348) or the char-grilled lamb chops with lemon thyme ($388) and the chances of leaving unhappy are slim. This Mother’s Day the Sabatini lunch buffet ($538 for adults, $150 less for children) will be available. Grilled king prawns, squid, and lamb chops and braised free-range chicken alla cacciatora with wild mushrooms and polenta are just a few of the options available. Unlimited sparking Italian wine and chilled juice come with the buffet and a live band adds to the holiday atmosphere.

In the midst of Kowloon, Cantonese Yu Joy Chinese Restaurant (Shop 1028C, Level 1, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Kowloon, 2196 8100) is trapped in its weir-like mall. Yu Joy, a member of the Epicurean Group, is a 6000-sq-ft eatery decorated with elegant bronze fish scriptures and large windows conducive to relaxation while you enjoy the menu. The chef has more than 20 years’ experience and every morning personally oversees preparation of the freshest ingredients. We tried the lunch seafood combo for two ($168-$128). It included steamed snapper with bean curd tofu and steamed rice with abalone sauce wrapped in lotus leaf. The freshness of the first dish is created by matching the tofu with a steamed snapper you personally choose from the aquarium. Following up, we had two kinds of dim sum – tian of steamed shrimp, scallop and chicken ($26) and deep-fried spring rolls with roast duck meat ($18) – to leave us happily satiated.