bc magazine

Megabites: Seafood – 24 October, 2015

Seafood is hot right now with four new restaurants opening recently that offer the ocean’s not quite as plentiful as it used to be produce. The world’s seas and oceans offer a bountiful source of food, but pollution and fish harvesting have depleted fish stocks, destroyed fish breeding grounds and killed the food sources that fish need to grow and live. Sustainable fishing and fish farms are a start, but it only works if we the customer take an interest in where the fish we eat is sourced.

Organized by Hong Kong’s Ocean Recovery Alliance, November’s month-long Kin Hong “Healthy” Seafood Festival looks to raise public awareness about sustainable seafood and why we should care about what we are eating, and where it comes from. 21 restaurants are participating, but insanely for the restaurant to participate they only have to prove that one fish dish on their menu comes from sustainable sources. Positive idea, poor execution.

Noho’s Pauls Kitchen which opened in 2007 has undergone a renovation and a rebrand to emerge this month as Lobster and Mussels by Paul’s Kitchen. Looking to differentiate itself from a regular seafood restaurant the outlet sells only fresh lobster and mussels cooked and prepared in a variety of ways. Paul’s Kitchen’s signature French Baby Chicken does make the new menu for those who don’t like lobster or mussels.
Lobster and Mussels by Paul’s Kitchen: 16 Gough Street Central. Tel: 2815 8003 www.pauls-kitchen.com

New in Sai Ying Pun is Fishschool a concept and collaboration between Yenn Wong and Chef David Lai which looks to “Bring modern Hong Kong to the plate with a cuisine reflecting the local culture and resources”. Offering farmed seafood and fresh local Hong Kong fish sourced from small, family-owned fishing boats the menu features a range of dishes you might not have tasted before. Or simply pick a fish and have it baked, steamed, roasted, grilled or pan-fried… as you desire.
Fishschool: 100 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun. Tel: 2361 2966 www.fishschool.hk

The Ocean is the latest outlet to open at The Pulse in Repulse Bay. Located on the 3/F The Ocean opened on the 21 October and claims to serve “sustainably sourced seafood”. Neither the press release or website offers a menu and we’ve received no replies to our emails for more information. So all we have currently is the address, more when we’ve taken a look.
The Ocean: Shop 303-304, 3/F, The Pulse, 28 Beach Road, Repulse Bay. Tel: 2889 5939. www.theocean.hk

Seas Ahoy a family themed child friendly restaurant opened in Tsim Sha Tsui last month. The interior looks a little different with a ‘kid-literate’ menu and a ship themed play area for children to enjoy while parents dine. Sadly according the press release “Seas Ahoy’s portion is created smaller so that every plate is a new experience” – the sharing plates concept of micro-sized portions that you can ‘share’ at full meal prices was old several years ago.
Seas Ahoy: G1, Mirror Tower, 61 Mody Road, Tsim Sha Tsui. Tel: 3956 5300. www.seasahoy.com

Feeding HK Cookbook Launch – 14 October, 2015

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Feeding Hong Kong launched it’s third cookbook at Cafe 8 on the 14 October, 2015
Click on any photo to see the full gallery

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Megabites: Cheeky

Pretension, often without substance, has been the trend in recent years among new restaurant openings. In stark contrast to this is Roberto Kwong’s, the original owner of Racks in Lan Kwai Fong, newest venture Cheeky. A bright orange irreverent hole in the wall pasta takeaway in Wanchai. Founded with long term friend Fu Chan, Cheeky – complete with it’s own theme song composed by local singer Charles Chan, aka H, aka Fu’s brother; and a logo drawn by comic artist Elphonso Lam – opened in mid-September offering a menu of bites, pastas and lunch sets.

Fu’s in charge of the kitchen, while Roberto handles the witty repartee. And since neither likes doing the washing up they employed a kitchen hand. One of Fu’s creations is jalapeño poppers ($35) – these are jalapeños stuffed with cheese, breaded and deep fried, and they’re delicious. The big fat skin on chips ($30) sound like they’re something different but sadly turn out to be normal chips, but nicely cooked crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. There’s three pasta options spaghetti, penne and linguine with a choice of freshly made toppings – bolognese, meatballs, bacon wild mushroom cream sauce and pesto primavera. The cheeky specials are cream pea wasabi, ring of fire in three firery flavours ‘burning’, ‘pounding’ and for the real masochists ‘bleeding’. There’s also a sweet angel hair dragon beard, a dessert style pasta that’s served cold and needs to be ordered a couple of hours in advance.

Cheeky also have $48 lunch sets, where the sauces are different to the regular menu and there are side dish options of a pork chop, chicken fillet, seafood or vegetarian.

The portion sizes are ok, the pasta is served nicely al dente. The meatballs were baked and the tomato sauce fresh with a hint of herbs. The wasabi cream pea is something cheeky that shouldn’t work but does. If there’s one slight criticism, I’d prefer slightly more sauce, but that’s a purely personal preference. Take a wander down Swatow Street for an enjoyably Cheeky lunch or dinner.

Cheeky
B2A, 4 Swatow Street, Wanchai. Tel: 2325 2725

Megabites: Greenhouse

Greenhouse on the 10th floor of Times Square is the latest outlet from the Gaia Group. The menu shares a theme and several dishes with sister restaurants Townhouse in Lan Kwai Fong and Glasshouse in IFC, but the 7000 square foot Greenhouse’s menu is different enough for a separate visit. The bright open plan layout is big enough that, unlike many smaller places, if you want to relax and chat with friends over some bites and drinks you can – without that feeling that the waiter wants you gone…

The main menu is split into 6 sections – small bites, bigger bites, robata bites, garden bites, pizza bites, main bites with a separate sweet bites menu. Prices range from $48 for the small bites to $568 for a 24oz rib eye. The dishes that caught our eye were the bacon wrapped scallops ($52/skewer) and coco-cola prime beef ($58/skewer) robata. Not cheap per skewer, but the portions are large, the beef juicy. The scallops were big and tasty, but the bacon (sadly) was barely noticeable and (sadly again, as a bacon lover) added nothing to the flavour.

The Masaman curry lasagna with roasted mushrooms, chicken and smoked mozerella ($118) – it’s such an eclectic sounding mix that it shouldn’t work. Yet it does, the curry with the melted cheese and pasta, the vegetables and chicken providing textures. Just a delicious dish and one we’ll return for time and again.

The wagyu burger with black truffle mayonnaise ($148) is a big juicy 7oz fine ground wagyu patty served in a sesame seed bun. The patty was evenly cooked, served pink, nicely juicy with a good meaty bite. The bun is fresh and doesn’t disintegrate as the juice seeps down. It would be nice if the dish came with fries, but you can order those on the side ($68) with more black truffle mayonnaise. That makes a burger and fries almost $250 (including the obligatory 10% service charge) which, in any restaurant, is a lot for a burger.

The signature Balinese style fried chicken ($258) was perfectly cooked, the chicken meat moist, while the skin was crispy. The sambal sauce is spicey, and goes nicely with fries as well.

For dessert there are pizza crepes ($98) and the fun ‘candy crush’ ($118), a selection of ice cream, fruit, chocolate and sweets served in a stone mortar and pestle for you to crush and enjoy with friends.

The drinks menu includes all that you’d expect plus a selection of ice green tea lattes ($48). The green bamboo latte is a combination of sugar cane syrup, green tea, Gaia coffee and cream – a nice mix of flavours, the coffee adding a little sharpness to the green tea. There are ‘frozen’ drinks, the Pandan leaves and coconut is combination of fresh Pandan leaves, coconut cream, condensed milk, soft brown sugar and hazelnut topping. The signature milk tea ($48) served in a jug is a little milky for our taste but there’s a lot worse being served around town.

Service is polite and efficient, the dishes bc tried were well cooked, nicely presented and reasonably sized. It’s hard to find fault in Greenhouse – it is, what it is, an enjoyable place to eat out.

Greenhouse
Shop 1004, Shop 1004, Time Square, Causeway Bay. Tel: 2383 4022

Megabites: Gordon Ramsay’s London House

Newly opened in TST East is Gordon Ramsay’s London House. In the UK, London House is a fine dining restaurant. In Hong Kong it’s a pub, with a small simple menu comprising traditional English pub grub, of the type on offer before the term ‘gastro pub’ saw traditional English staples ‘re-invented’ (bastardised). To start there’s toad in the hole ($108), crispy whitebait ($108). Mains include cod and chips ($198), shepherds pie ($198), steak hash ($188), pork chops ($238). As for dessert there’s bread and butter pudding ($78) and trifle ($78) amongst others.

At a recent media tasting we were offered tasting samples of several dishes, the cod was firm and tasty but was in nugget form not as served to customers… The mash on the shepherds pie was more like a puree than mash, while the minced lamb filling was runny and lacked the rich thickness and flavour that a mince filling should have. The bangers and mash (puree) were ok, although the onions were still stringy and the gravy bland. As we were served tasting portions, regrettably we can’t comment on portion size.

If any restaurant wants to cook ‘staple’ dishes (of any cuisine) that everyone knows and probably makes at home – then there needs to be something ‘special’ about them or diners will be naturally underwhelmed. There’s no need to reinvent them, just make the good. At Gordon Ramsay’s London House you’re looking at $400+ per person for dinner without drinks, the staff are polite and the service efficient. There’s nothing much ‘wrong’ with the food (although, you could eat the same or better for half the price in many pubs across Hong Kong without Ramsay’s name) just nothing to say Yum… and make you want to return.

Gordon Ramsay London House
G5, Tsim Sha Tsui Centre, 66 Mody Road, TST East. tel: 3650 3333

Septiembre Mexicano

Experience Mexico during Septiembre Mexicano as The Consulate General of Mexico in Hong Kong organizes a series of art, culture, music and gastronomic activities, open to the public, to celebrate its 205th anniversary of independence.

Fashion
Mexican designer Carmen Rion, presents her latest textile designs at the “Renaissance of Fashion” event. Rion is also a fashion researcher and is well known for ‘rescuing’ traditional Mexican textiles and integrating them into her contemporary creations.
Carmen Rion
Date: 9am-5:45pm, 31 August – 25 September, 2015.
Venue: The Fashion Gallery, Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Rd, Hung Hom.
Tickets: Free

Food
Enjoy millenary dishes and 21st century Mexican haute cuisine as chef Jose Lazcarro prepares some of the most traditional dishes including: ceviche, shrimp agua chile, mole poblano, green pipian at Cafe Too and the Lobster Bar in the Island Shangri La. Chef Lazcarro worked with Alain Ducasse in Paris in 2009, then in the USA with Robert McCormick and is currently Executive Chef at Quinze in his hometown of Puebla.
Chef Jose Lazcarro
Date: 8-30 September 2015.
Venues: Lobster Bar and Grill, 6/F, Island Shangri-La; Cafe Too, 7/F, Island Shangri-La.

Art
Abstract artist Roberto Turnbull inaugurated his first solo exhibit of 26 artworks entitled Mexican Big Bang: Paintings by Roberto Turnbull at the HK Museum and Art Gallery, HK University earlier this month. Turnbull is a versatile artist comfortable in the realm of painting and sculpting; in the chaos of the flat abstraction, and in the order of three-dimensional geometry.
Mexican Big Bang
Roberto Turnbull
Date: 9 September – 29 November, 2015
Venue: Drake Gallery, HK Museum and Art Gallery, HK University
Tickets: Free

Film
Alamar (To the Sea, 2009), directed, written and produced, Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, captures the unconditional love of a father for his son as they spend time together amid the stark beauty of unspoiled nature of the Banco Chinchorro coral reef before the son departs for Italy.

Alamar
Alamar (To the Sea, 2009), directed, written and produced, Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio, captures the unconditional love of a father for his young son as they spend time together living in a stilt house amid the stark beauty of unspoiled nature of the Chinchorro coral reef before the son departs for Italy.
Date: 7pm, 24 September, 2015
Venue: Global Lounge, G/F, Fong Shu Chuen Amenities Centre, HK University.
More info: +852-2511-3305 / [email protected]

Music
Ernesto Anaya is one of the most popular Mexican musicians of the last 30 years offers. His countryside roots combined with an operatic style create a very particular and original style of Mexican folkloric music. Anaya is a singer, composer, violinist, guitarist, pianist, and producer, as well as a jaranero or jarana player. The Jarana is a guitar-shaped instrument from the southern region of the state of Veracruz, Mexico.
Ernesto Anaya
Date: 27, 29 September
Venue: Orange Peel
Tickets: tbc

Septiembre Mexicano
More info: facebook.com/consulmexhk

Source: Consulate General of Mexico in Hong Kong

Megabites: Portobello Burger

New on the Maya takeaway menu is the delicious Portobello burger – layers of either cashew truffle cheeze or spicy sunflower cheeze with lettuce and tomato sandwiched between two massive portobello mushrooms with some raw mash on the side ($88). And no I’m not one of those health food obsessed vegetarians, I’m a healthy meat loving hedonist, who isn’t put off by the raw, vegan, gluten free mumbo and just enjoys good tasty food, well prepared. That my body may benefit is pleasant a side-affect. Just as stress relief is happy side effect of a night drinking Jack Daniels with friends.

Maya Cafe
Shop G7, Nan Fung Tower, 173 des Voeux Road, Central. Tel: 2111 4553

Megabites: McWilliam’s Family Winemakers

There’s an amazing variety of vine growing regions spread across Australia and the McWilliam’s family owned winery, which planted its first vines in 1877, operates in most of them. They aim to produce good quality wine at specific price points for the Australian market.

Among these are the Hanwood Estate range A$10-12 (HK$50-60) and the Appellation Series A$20-25 (HK$110-130) and it does a pretty good job. The wines we sampled were nice to good and far better than most of the often barely drinkable wines by the glass offered in many local bars. The Evans & Tate 2014 Metricup Road Semillon Sauvignon Blanc and the Evans & Tate Redbrook Cabernet Sauvignon 2011 are both very drinkable and worth exploring.

Sadly local retail prices are triple those in Australia (remember we have no tax) and despite the increase in volume of local wine sales the price gouging of the Hong Kong consumer continues.