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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

traditional-roast-turkey-dinner

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.

Dessert
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
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

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]

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

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

Operation Santa Claus + US Meat Export Federation: Eat and Donate

Christmas and the festive period are about celebrating and sharing, now with Operation Santa Claus (OSC) and the US Meat Export Federation it’s easy and free to combine the two. Simply choose one of the promotional dishes at a participating restaurant and 15% of the cost of the dish is donated directly to Operation Santa Claus to help someone less fortunate than you enjoy the holiday period. There is no charge or cost to you, simply enjoy your meal featuring quality US beef or pork.

The restaurant groups participating in this festive giving include the Aldente Group, Concept Creations, The King Parrot Group and the El Grande Group. There’s a wide choice of dishes and most menus run throughout December – although check each outlet for exact details. For more information on US meat see www.usmef.org.hk

The Aldente Group OSC Christmas menu features four dishes at it’s AlDente restaurants in Soho, TST, Wanchai and Harbour Road: U.S. Rib Eye steak (Char-grilled to your preference, accompanied with a giant king prawn, roasted veggies and fries. $188); Chicken Saltimbocca (US chicken breast with sautéed spinach, prosciutto, sage and cheese, mushroom sauce, mash and veggies. $149); Sirloin Steak (USDA certified Angus beef, char-grilled to your liking. Served on a bed of fire roasted veggies and fries with choice of mushroom or pepper sauce. $198) and Grilled Sea Bass (Chilean Sea Bass char-grilled, served with grilled veggies, mash with lemon capers butter sauce. $189).

At Tinello: Beef Tagliata (USDA certified Black Angus sirloin marinated with fresh rosemary and natural seasoning, served with radicchio, arugula, slow roasted tomatoes and shaved parmesan. $198); Pork Parmesan (Milanese style – US pork chop, breaded with herbs, parmesan, served with fine french beans, mash potatoes and tomato coulins. $168); Saltimbocca di Polo $159 and Grill Sea Bass $198. Angus offers US Sirloin Steak (wet aged minimum 4 weeks, $248); Grill Sea Bass ($198); US BBQ spare ribs (1/2 slab $148); Pork Loin (French cut – tender and juicy grilled U.S premium pork served with gratin potato, sautéed peach and sage. $178) and Grilled Sea Bass $198.

The El Grande Group outlets Inn Side Out, HK Brew House, Fatt’s Place, Slim’s, Hop House are offering US Pork Sliders – 4 pulled pork sliders and chips.

Concept Creations new outlet Frites Causeway Bay OSC menu features Frites Xmas Cordon Bleu Special: USDA pork loin pounded thin, herb breaded and filled with Virginia ham and cheese then pan fried and served with a salad and Frites souffle, $275. Frites Xmas Rossini Special: USDA Black Angus prime tenderloin, seared foie gras, truffle mash potato with Kriek beer jus and Amarena Fabbri Cherries, $525.

At these King Parrot Group outlets El Cid, Coast, Island Seafood, Mijas and Tong’s Road House Seafood and Grill a Christmas Operation Santa Claus Menu is available until the 6 December and 15% of all sales will be donated to support the 22 charities supported by OSC in 2015. At El Cid the menu includes US Beef and paprika soup baked with fillo pastry($50), US beef kebab ($100), Deep -fried sous vide US beef brisket ($80), grilled US prime ribeye steak with sea salt ($360) and US Beef Tenderloin with daily catch seafood ($450).

For more on this year’s Operation Santa Claus visit www.operationsantaclaus

Megabites: 24 November – Beefbar, Osteria Felice, California Tower

Osteria Felice
The latest restaurant to open in the space in Hutchison House that housed the Bull and Bear for so many years is Osteria Felice the new outlet from the Epicurean Group. Literally translated it means ‘happy tavern’ and that’s what the Italian themed outlet is looking to provide. There’s a small bar offering innovative cocktails and a create your own martini menu and a large raised dining area. The menu created by executive chef Brian Moore features a wide range of dishes from anti-pasti to pizza, pastas to gourmet slow cooked delights. Food that can be enjoyed at lunch, a relaxed casual dinner or ‘proper’ meal out.
Osteria Felice: G/F., Hutchison House, 10 Harcourt Road, Central Tel: 2516 6166 www.osteriafelice.com

Beefbar
Originating in Monte Carlo a decade ago, Beefbar opened on Ice House Street this month – the latest outlet from the Lai Sun Group. The opulent interior of marble and brass is surprisingly relaxed, service is attentive but unobtrusive. An A3 style menu features premium quality Australian, American and Japanese beef front and centre but also offers a lot more than just beef. There’s a broad range of seafood and meat tartare, fish, veal and chicken. As well as the Ala Carte menu there’s a range of city themed two or three course set lunches.
Beefbar: 2/F, Club Lusitano, 16 Ice House St, Central.Tel: 2110 8853, www.beefbar.hk

California Tower
California Tower in Lan Kwai Fong officially opens on the 30 November, with 8 restaurants and bars. As part of their opening celebrations some of the outlets are hosting a series of workshops and tastings.

Townhouse
Make Your Own ‘California Tower’ Cocktail workshop, where participants will be taught how to produce a ‘California Tower’ drink – created specially to mark the Grand Opening. There will be a minimum of 10 people per workshop and bookings must be made at least a week in advance.
Date: November 2015 to January 2016
Venue: 23/F, California Tower
Cost: HK$180 per person, including the ‘California Tower’ cocktail created by participant and a snack
Language: English
Booking: +852 2344 2366; [email protected]

Zentral
Nightclub Zentral is putting on a Mixology Cocktail Class, where bartenders will teach drinkers the craft of creating a cocktail.
Date: 27th November, 4th & 11th December 2015
Venue: 4-5/F, California Tower
Cost: HK$110 per person
Language: English
Booking: RSVP with [email protected] or walk-in

Fovea
Fovea is hosting two workshops to showcase both its Chinese culinary and cocktail-making credentials. At the restaurant side, the Recognising New Age Chinese Style Cuisine class will see Fovea’s executive chef introduce creative cooking methods used to prepare special Chinese-style snacks. On the club floor, the Fovea Special Cocktails class is conducted by Fovea’s resident bartender. Participants will learn an easy way to make cocktails.
Date: 28th November 2015.
Recognising New Age Chinese Style Cuisine: 2-3pm
Fovea Special Cocktails: 5-6pm
Address: 1-2/F, California Tower
Language: Cantonese and English
Booking: Ms Vanessa Tam, +852 2549 9166; Ms Isabel Chau, +852 9105 8172

Megabites: Food News 21 November, 2015

Paradise Inn
Singapore-based Paradise Group has announced the opening of its second outlet in Hong Kong, Paradise Inn. Located at Olympian City the new outlet features Nanyang Chinese cuisine with a modern twist. Nanyang Chinese cuisine can be traced back to the 18th century, when large numbers of Chinese ventured across the seas to Nanyang regions of Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand for trade. When the traders returned to China with ingredients and cooking styles techniques the Nanyang style of Chinese cuisine emerged.
Paradise Inn: Shop UG09, UG/F, Olympian City 2, 18 Hoi Ting Road, Tai Kok Tsui, Kowloon. Tel: 2177 0760 www.paradisegp.com

Howard’s Gourmet
Howard Cai, first established his “Howard’s Gourmet Workshop” in Guangzhou in 2005. Now Howard’s Gourmet is expanding to Hong Kong, the restaurant is now soft open in the CCB Tower Central, and it is slated to official open its door in early December. Mr Cai embraces two culinary philosophies: “Ingredients always come first”, “Tasty is the absolute principal”.
Howard’s Gourmet: 5/F, CCB Tower, 3 Connaught Road Central, Central. Tel: 2115 3388. www.howardsgourmet.com

Lan Kwai Fong Carnival
The korean themed Lan Kwai Fong Carnival 2015 will take place on the 21-22 November. This year’s carnival will feature the usual variety food and beverage treats, games booths, live music all with a Korean theme. Wo On Lane will be ‘transformed’ into “Myeong-dong”, the No.1 tourist destination in South Korea… with taekwondo demonstrations, Korean drum performances, K-pop dance groups and of course K-pop.

High Tide
After 6 years on Cheung Sha beach, Hong Kong’s landlords strike again as High Tide is closing on the 28 November, to re-open in Silvermine Bay in early 2016. www.hightidehk.com

Megabites: The Fat Pig, Beefbar, A Slice of London

The Fat Pig
Gotta love the name, The Fat Pig by Tom Aikens (Shop 1105, 11/F Times Square, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2577 3444) opens on the 13 November. Using only local hormone free purebred free-range British Bath pigs from Wah Kee Farm in the New Territories. The menu will feature a pork-athoria of ‘ethically’ sourced dishes featuring you guessed it pigs. We’re looking forward to see what Tom does with bacon – although quality bacon served straight up will be fine. www.thefatpig.hk

Beefbar
Originating in Monaco in 2005, the last decade has seen the Beefbar expand to Moscow, Mexico, Luxembourg and now Hong Kong. The local outlet is conveniently located on the 2/F Club Lusitano, 16 Ice House Street, Central. Tel: 2110 8853. It’s website www.beefbar.hk showcases a menu stocked with beef from Australia, the United States and Japan served and prepared in a multitude of different ways. Not sure why you’d want to eat something other than beef in a restauant called beerbar but it does serve veal, chicken for those not so into bovine delights

A Slice of London
The sight of mainland tourists mingling with sharp dressed office workers ordering fish and chips in Chater Garden in Central is quite incongruous but that’s what you’ll find this week at ‘A Slice of London’. Better known as a location for rallies and protests, Chater Garden next to the recently renovated Court of Final Appeal has been transformed into a ‘pop-up’ UK High Street (minus the bookies, charity shops and traffic wardens). Ten English brands have pop-up shops for you peruse as you enjoy some quality English fish and chips from the The Chippy and a pint of cider. There are no soft drinks or coffee onsale, so bring your own.

For those in need of a selfie, there’s part of a London bus, a red English phone box and a post box. Spend $200 in any shop, get a postcard, drop the card in the postbox for a chance to win a flight to the UK.
A Slice of London @ Chater Gardens: 9-14 November, 2015 11am-10pm.

Megabites: 2 November, 2015 – The Chippy, Awfully Chocolate, Taste of Bavaria

The Chippy
As part of November’s Best of British festival there’s an English fish and chip shop, The Chippy serving 100% English fish and chips all imported from the UK. The cod is sustainable, the potatoes are English and cut as chips. There’s even malt vinegar and chip forks… There are two sizes of cod, Signature a 10-12oz fillet ($148) and regular (5-6oz fillet, $108). The quantity of chips served with each is the same and both are served in a “Cod Save the Queen” Chippy Box.

The cod is firm and tender the batter just English and the chips are – as my memory remembers from the eating take-away fish and chips growing up – some of the best i’ve eaten in Hong Kong. They’re cut thick and use a different potato to that used locally and it makes all the difference. They sag and bend (in a good way), unlike most chips or fries served locally which stay firm and straight whether cold or hot, these are proper “chip shop” chips and delicious. They’re also serving Pukka pies ($48) and big thick jumbo sausages – battered ($38) or plain ($28).

The Chippy will be open in Tamar Park from 6pm on the 3,4 November and at the various Best of British Events later this month. Managing Director of The Chippy Craig Barnett hopes to open The Chippy in Soho later this year and serve English fish and chips 7 days a week.

https://bcmagazine.smugmug.com/Bcene-photos/2015/Best-of-British-Open-Air/i-KszJ55n

The open air cinema has loads of space on the grass, just bring something to sit on. You can also bring your own drinks and food. Entry is Free.

Awfully Chocolate @ Hysan
Opening in Basement 2 of Hysan Place in early November is the fifth Awfully Chocolate outlet in Hong Kong. Known for their signature multi-layered chocolate cakes sold, by the inch because size matters, these are now also available by the slice. For chocoholics there’s a wide range of chocolate goodness including chocolate ganache, chocolate brownies, chocolate mille crepe, chocolate truffles, chocolate tarts, chocolate ice-cream and the super stacked chocolate cake… All can be enjoyed with chocolate ice blends and chocolate coffee.
Check out their locations and prices at www.awfullychocolate.com

Bavarian Festival @ Great Food Hall
Octoberfest maybe coming to an end but there’s still lots of Bavarian goodies to enjoy at Great’s Bavarian Food Festival in the basement of Pacific Place. In the bakery there’s a choice of 15 pretzels and logans, wonderfully textured and tasting baked products that put the plastic bread onsale at local chain bakeries to shame. Or try some German dark bread with your Bavarian blu cheese from the ‘cheese room’ or sliced meats and salami’s. Of course there’s Bavarian craft beers from Pfungstäedter – all at around 4-5% alcohol, because Bavarian’s drink beer like the English drink tea. Beer, a drink to be enjoyed at all times of the day.
The Taste of Bavaria festival runs until November 12