Megabites: BrewDog, Butchers Club, Khana Khazana

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BrewDog
Craft beer brewery BrewDog opens it’s second bar in Asia on the 4 February at 19 Hollywood Road, Central. The bar is the 45th for this fast expanding brewery which only tapped it’s first pint in 2007. BrewDog UK staff Neil and Lucy, in town to supervise the opening, are passionate craft beer advocates and the ethos of producing quality beers has – taste them yourself to see if you agree or not – survived the rapid scaling of volumes over the last eight years.

BrewDog Hong Kong has 14 beers on draft including regulars like their signatures Punk IPA (5.4%), Elvis Juice (6.7%) Jackhammer (7.2%) and experimentals like the delicious AB:19 (13.1%). The beers are served in UK pint, 2/3 pint, half pint and 1/3 pint glasses. A UK pint is 568ml compared to an American ‘pint’ which is 473ml and a Hong Kong ‘pint’ which can be as small as 335-385ml. When asked why the different serving sizes… it’s about keeping the quality of the beer. A customer won’t drink a glass of AB:19 at 13.1% in the same way as they’ll drink a pint of Punk…

There’s a range of food including delicious french dip sandwiches, lamb cheese fondue, jalapeno cheese bread and glazed donuts to be enjoyed with your beer.
BrewDog: 19 Hollywood Road, Central. Tel: 2219 9905 www.facebook.com/BrewDogHK

Fei Jai Burger

Fei Jai Burger
For Chinese New Year The Butchers Club have a new option on their ‘secret menu’ the Fei Jai burger. Stacked inside a classic pineapple bun the ‘Fei Jai’ consists of a five-spice pork belly burger patty with a char siu glaze, seared luncheon meat, a crispy wonton, Chinese cabbage and coriander salad, spring onion mayo and a fried egg.

A veritable feast of Hong Kong flavours the pineapple bun holds together well as a burger bun, for health safety reasons pork has to be cooked longer than beef so the meat comes out a little drier than a traditional beef patty but the fried egg and the mayo lubricate the burger well. Luncheon meat and wontons are not what you’d expect to find in a burger but the crispyness and flavour add well to create a unique and delicious burger.

The Fei Jai burger ($88) is available until the 10th February at all three The Butchers Club Burgers outlets – Wanchai, Central and K11 in TST. www.thebutchers.club

KK-CNY-2016

Eat What You Want, Pay What You Want
Khana Khazana’s unique Chinese New Year “Eat What You Want, Pay What You Want” buffet promotion returns for the seventh year. Every Monday evening in February from 6-10pm the Wanchai Indian Vegetarian restaurant dinner buffet allows customers to pay what they want for the buffet via an empty red packet included with the bill. Drinks are not included and must be paid for in full. The buffet includes dishes like sprout bean salad, boondi raita, meduwada, pakoda, hariyali kebab, paneer butter masala, jeera aloo, dal punjabi, sevian kheer and roti’s and naan are served at the table.
Khana Khazana: 1/F, Dannies House, 20 Luard Road, Wanchai. Tel: 81081070 www.khanakhazana.com.hk

BrewDog Equity Punks Night – 3 February 2016

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BrewDog invited its Equity Punks to a first night tasting of fine craft beers brewed in Aberdeen, Scotland. There are 14 craft beers on tap ranging from the globally popular Punk IPA (5.4%) to the sublime experimental AB:19 (13.1%).
Click on any image for the full gallery.
Brewdog: 19 Hollywood Road, Central.

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Brewdog beer board – served in proper English pint, 2/3 pint, half pint and 1/3 pint measures.

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Morino Yose Soju Launch @ Torihana – 2 February, 2016

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Morino Yose Soju’s Hong Kong launch @ Torihana in Wanchai – where the smooth flavour went well with Torihana signature fried chicken.
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Megabites: Sai Wan Ho Tortillas and Roti

Many of Hong Kong’s commuter towns are soulless towers filled with thousands of people living on a concrete platform or a-top a shopping mall. Carefully regulated and controlled they’re not places that allow HongKongers entrepreneurial spirit and hard work to thrive. To find that you’ve got to look for the older buildings. In Sai Wan Ho for example one such building close to the MTR is Tai On Building (57-58 Shau Kei Wan Road) whose ground floor is a warren of shops and businesses including many small restaurants and food stands. Two among these are Sek Ho Di and ·蜜思手抓餅 – both open around midday.

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Sek Ho Di, located at shop A63A has been open for almost a year and serves up tasty savoury and sweet tortillas Hong Kong style. The savoury options are char sui and mozzarella in BBQ sauce ($20) and chicken and mozzarella in hot sauce ($20) while those looking for a sweet tortilla can enjoy green tea and mozzarella ($16) or citrus paste and mozzarella ($16). The 12inch tortillas are filling and flavourful – although the char siu would be better with a bit more meat – and make a perfect lunch, snack or meal. The lemon and mozzarella is a tasty not too sweet dessert perfect after a bowl of rice or noodles.

sai-wan-ho-tortila-open

·蜜思手抓餅 located at shop A3-A7 offers a massive range of stuffed roti. Take care when ordering as the owner speaks no English, although there is an English menu. They have two types of roti plain and taro, you’ll need to ask for taro when you order otherwise you’ll be served a regular. Fillings on offer run the full gamut from egg to duck to tuna to tinned mushrooms.

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I ordered a sausage, mushroom and bacon roti ($22) but as the owner cracked an egg onto a roti that already contained a slice of cheese I realised he hadn’t understood the bilingual menu. However the stand is small enough that you can point to the fillings you want. Egg and cheese instead of mushroom was fine and the resulting roti was hot, delicious and full of flavour. As you can see from the photo they don’t stint on the fillings. The taro adds a different texture and flavour to the roti, it’s not any ‘better’ than a plain roti but visually it looks awesome. Surprisingly and perhaps disappointingly there are no sweet options – maybe because there’s a lovely egg waffle stand next door – but a taro red bean roti or a plain roti with condensed milk and peanut butter would be delicious…

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Neither shop is perhaps good enough to warrant a special visit to Sai Wan Ho but if you’re in the area both are well worth checking out, as are the other food stands that fill the building.

Va Bene Re-Opening Party @ Sheung Wan – 15 January, 2016

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After many years in Lan Kwai Fong, Va Bene has moved to Sheung Wan. The ‘new’ Va Bene celebrated it’s reopening with a party on the 15 January.
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Megabites: Howard’s Gourmet, Bistro D’indochine

Howard's Gourmet Dining Room

Howard’s Gourmet opens in Central
Founded by Mr. Howard Cai, who started ‘Howard’s Gourmet Workshop’ in Guangzhou in 2005, Howard’s Gourmet looks to offer simple and distinctive Chinese cuisine in an elegant environment. The restaurant’s design includes white wooden paneled walls, French windows and crystal chandeliers. Howard’s Gourmet offers tasting menus, with a mix of ‘classic’, ‘seasonal’ and ‘creative’ dishes, comprising of 6-8 courses for lunch at HK$800 up and 10-12 courses for dinner at HK$1,680 up respectively. Signature dishes include: Crispy Sea Cucumber, Golden Bite, Pan-fried Fish Fillet with Herbs, Hot & Sour Noodles, Braised Fish Fillet in Tomato Sauce, Braised Blue Mussels, Avocado with Stewed Bird’s Nest.
Howard’s Gourmet: 5th Floor, CCB Tower, 3 Connaught Road Central, Central. Tel: 2115 3388 www.howardsgourmet.com

Bistro D'indochine

Bistro D’indochine, Macau
Stephen Anderson’s new wine bar Bistro D’indochine opened in Macau just before Christmas. The wine bar has a large outdoor area and features an asian fusion style menu with lots of noodles. The house speciality noodles offer a choice of egg or rice noodle and flavours include Vietnamese beef noodles, tom yum soup noodle and laksa noodles – all MOP$62. There’s also a daily lunch offering.
Bistro D’indochine: The Garden, Patio Da Lenha downtown Macau www.facebook.com/pages/Bistro-D-indochine

Last Minute Christmas

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It’s late December, where has the year gone? The seasonal music and decorations that have been up for months have inured you to Christmas, yet suddenly it’s here and you’ve got nothing prepared… bc’s here to help with it’s ‘instant’ traditional Roast Turkey Christmas meal – no cooking involved, although you will need to warm some dishes up to fully enjoy them.

Starter
Smoked salmon + Rainbow Salad
Smoked salmon: IKEA offers packs of frozen smoked salmon (Lax Kallrökt) $66 for 200g.
Rainbow Salad: black chickpeas, carrots, peas, corn, potatoes, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, cherry tomatoes, parsley from Maya Takeaway, $88.

Main
Roast Turkey, roast potatoes, parsnips, red cabbage, Brussels sprouts, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce.
Roast Turkey: Great Food Hall in Pacifc Place have around 12 cooked US Roast Turkey per day $120/kg (4-6kg). Buy at the cooked food counter including Christmas Day. They also offer cooked roast beef, lamb and gammon if you prefer something other than turkey.
Roast potatoes: Great – $18/100g (cooked); M&S – $45/300g (need cooking)
Parsnips: M&S – $50/300g (need cooking)
Brussels sprouts: Great – $18/100g
Red cabbage braised with Bramley apples: $45/300g Marks & Spencer
Turkey gravy: $69/540g Marks & Spencer
Cranberry sauce: $59/300g Marks & Spencer
Stuffing: sage and onion/ cranberry & orange stuffing from M&S
Bacon wrapped sausages: sadly we couldn’t find this staple side dish in a cooked version.

For vegetarians: mediterranean vegetable stew / chickpea patty simmered in tomato sauce both $88 from Maya.

Gold_Melt_in_the_Middle_Chocoalte_PuddingDessert
Christmas Pudding with Brandy Butter
Christmas pudding: Great: several choices, M&S: $379/907g
Brandy Butter: $59/195g M&S or you can make it yourself it’s just butter beaten with sugar and brandy, or pick up a can of classic Bird’s custard and add a dash of brandy/ rum for a good alternative.

Cheese
Great’s cheese room is one of the unsung wonders of Hong Kong, the choice is varied, delicious and if you’re used to US and European cheese prices, expensive – but it’s Christmas so indulge.
A cheaper alternative is www.cheesebytom.com: cheddar 250g/$35, Brie 250g/$50 and other cheeses. Deliveries to Central and Lantau.

Christmas Cake + Mince Pies
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Finding a good tasty Christmas cake is hard, especially one with marzipan and Royal icing
Christmas Cake: Great and M&S have several choices at different prices from $89 up – including the Hand Decorated Bauble Bar Cake (left) with marzipan and royal icing at $379. Most are more like fruit cakes than Christmas cake which is a shame as the two are subtly different in taste.
Mince Pies: Again Great and M&S have several choices, but none have a taste that leap out and say buy me!

Store Details + Contacts:
Great Basement Pacific Place, Admiralty Tel: 2918 9986 www.greatfoodhall.com
IKEA Causeway Bay, Shatin, Kowloon Bay www.ikea.com.hk
Marks & Spencer various stores www.marksandspencer.com
Maya Takeaway 173 Des Voeux Road, Central. Tel: 2111 4553 www.mayacafehk.com

Edit: 24 Dec – Added Christmas cake photo and updated text

Megabites: Kashiwaya, AnOther Place by David Myers, Le Canelé d’Or, Anchor’s Seafood & Beer House

Ise-Ebi @ Kashiwaya

Kashiwaya
It’s Osaka counterpart is known for high quality kaiseki, Kashiwaya the newest Japanese restaurant to open in Central is looking to create an “only-in-Japan” dining experience. The cypress wood interior of the 30 seat restaurant is a mix of Japanese high culture and tradition with sliding doors, shoji paper screens and a Japanese style waiting room.

Owner and head chef Hideaki Matsuo menu uses seasonal ingredients for freshness and to create the perfect balance between taste and presentation, through the sophisticated culinary art of kaiseki, that will please your eyes and palate. One of the special dishes unique to Hong Kong is Ise ebi, a Japanese spiny lobster.

My philosophy is to provide the best quality of food and service to my customers as if it is a once in a lifetime chance for me to serve them.” said Matsuo.
Kashiwaya : 8/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central Tel: 2520 5218 [email protected]

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AnOther Place by David Myers
Located in Tin Hau, AnOther Place by David Myers is latest in the string of openings where a Chef’s name is attached to an outlet he won’t be in the kitchen of, to inflate the prices and give diners a name to when to ‘impress’ friends with. Overlooking Victoria Harbour AnOther Place is designed to evoke the romance of a 1920s speakeasy, quite what the ‘romance’ of prohibition was why when it serves French Asian fusion cuisine are two questions you can ask yourself in Tin Hau. Menus start with a 4-course menu at HK$680, a 6-course menu is HK$880, and a gourmand-friendly 8-course menu costs HK$1,280. One of the house specialities is Peppered Kagoshima wagyu strip loin, parsnip and shiso salad, jus corse which is beautifully displayed but portion sized for a size 0 model. Currently AnOther Place doesn’t have a liquor licence so it’s BYOB with no corkage. Oh and it’s only open in the evening.
AnOther Place by David Myers: 5/F, Block C, Sea View Estate, 2 – 8 Watson Road, Tin Hau. Tel: 2979 0064 www.anotherplace.com.hk

canale-2

Le Canelé d’Or
Looking for something other than macaroons to give as gifts this Christmas and New Year or just looking a sweet little thing to nibble on. How about some hand made canalés? Canalés are small French pastries with a dark thick caramelized crust that hides a soft custardy interior and are absolutely delicious. Locally they’re made fresh daily by Le Canelé d’Or and delivered direct to you. Made from egg, sugar, milk and flour and traditionally flavored with rum and vanilla, the custard batter is baked baked in small individual copper molds – canalés are best eaten fresh.
www.lecaneledor.com.hk

Anchor’s Seafood & Beer House
The Anchor’s Seafood & Beer House opens today on the Tsuen Wan waterfront. The 116-seat eatery features an indoor restaurant and bar area, as well as outdoor seating on a terrace overlooking the South China Sea. Located in the Bay Bridge Hotel the restaurant offers daily buffet breakfast & dinner and a semi-buffet lunch, in addition to an extensive a la carte menu. There’s also a brunch buffet menu ($398) available on weekends.
Anchor’s Seafood & Beer House: 123 Castle Peak Road, Yau Kom Tau, Tsuen Wan. Tel: 2945 1138 www.baybridgehongkong.com