Björn Frantzén’s The Flying Elk to Open in June

Chef Björn Frantzén, the man behind the three Michelin star Frantzén in Stockholm and Frantzén’s Kitchen in Sheung Wan, is soft opening his second outlet in Hong Kong in June.

The Flying Elk is a ‘casual eatery’ offering dishes with a Nordic influence. Located at 32 Wyndham Street – the restaurant’s name derives from one of Sweden’s oldest folklore, which tells the tale of a gigantic elk adorning an ornate crown, flying over the forests of Jämtland.

The Flying Elk
1 & 2/F, 32 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Reservations: [email protected], 2565 6788

New Spring Dishes at Pizza Express

PizzaExpress has added some new dishes to it’s Spring/Summer menu that feature ‘superfoods’ such as kale, quinoa and plant-based meat alternatives such as Beyond Chicken.

The new dishes include: Quinoa & Kale salad, Bresaola e Asparagi, Kale Pesto Beyond Rigatoni, Pollo Verde (Pizza dressed with béchamel sauce, basil pesto and topped with chicken, wild mushroom, rocket and parmesan), Spaghetti alle Vongole and Bresaola di Lombardia.

There’s also a couple of new desserts, a Summer Meringue and Torta al Limone. While the Giardiniera (top photo) has a very tasty new recipe that includes asparagus, roasted pumpkin, mushroom, roasted pepper, cherry tomato, olive, garlic, basil pesto.

Pizza Express are looking to reduce waste so plastic straws and individual wet wipes are now only available on request.

From now until 13 May 2018 take a photo of any of the new dishes and post to Instagram with the hashtag #PizzaExpressHK and receive a 15% discount coupon for any vegetarian items on your next visit.

Flavours of Ireland @ Tiffany’s Bar – 8 March, 2018

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Sláinte! The Hong Kong and Macau Irish Festival and Bar Talk Magazine hosted an evening of Irish Flavours on the 8 March at Tiffany’s New York bar in the Intercontinental Grand Stanford Hong Kong. Teeling supplied the Irish whiskey, as well as an informative talk on how to drink and enjoy whiskey, to complement Irish flavoured food and Bill Kong performed traditional and modern Irish tunes.

Joel Laird demonstrated how he hand-crafts his traditional his Sessile Oak Whiskey Tumbler which is toasted on the inside and shaped like a coopers barrel. The tumbler adopts the same methods used in the coopering and maturation process of whiskey making – where Oak barrels contribute to the colour, aroma and an oaky vanilla flavour to the contents.
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AIA Great European Carnival Final Week

It’s your last chance this week to the enjoy The AIA Great European Carnival and The Great Circus of Europe at the Central Harbourfront as both close this weekend before returning new and refreshed in December.

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Only a few more days to demonstrate your skill at the many games and challenges along the midway. Thrill to rides like the Extreme (remix Orbitor), Capriolo and the KMG Booster or enjoy the classics such the carousel, spinning coaster and the wave swing.  And of course there’s the sublime dodgems… drive away your frustrations and enjoy the Year of the Dog.

If you haven’t been already you’ve missed out on the unique Circus Big Top experience which includes the hire wire Gerlings,  motorcycles in a cage and the space wheel…

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The AIA Great European Carnival + The Great Circus of Europe
Date: 21 December, 2017 – 25 February, 2018
Venue: Central Harbourfront
Tickets: $130, $40

Frites Loves February

Belgian Beerhouse Frites has a variety of promotions to warm the heart, stomach and wallet this chilly February: Wagyu Wednesday, Valentines Day and a discount at the refurbished Quarry Bay outlet.

Wagyu Wednesday, after 5pm all four Frites outlets will be serving a wagyu burger with hand cut frites and truffle mayo for $100. The burger features a tasty 100g Australian wagyu beef patty, cheese, bacon, fresh tomato and leafy greens on a soft bun.

February is the month of love, Frites has a three course dinner ($495/person) on Valentines Day which starts with a glass of prosecco. There’s a choice of two entrees: mussels in a rich marinara sauce or Vitello Tonnato, braised veal served with creamy tuna mayonnaise. For your main course choose between grilled red snapper served with prawn bisque risotto, confit tomatoes and seared scallops or bbq 1855 Black Angus rib eye steak with a side of oxtail macaroni cheese. Dessert is a seductive chocolate fondant.

Located at Taikoo Place the chains Quarry Bay outlet has reopened after a month long refurbishment and to thank it’s customers there’s a $50 discount available until the end of February. Simply mention promotion code “FRTIESQB” to get $50 off any bill over $150.

FRITES Central: 1/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington Street, Central. Bookings: 2217 6671
FRITES Wanchai: Shop 6, 1/F Causeway Centre, 28 Harbor Road, Wanchai. Bookings: 2877 2422
FRITES Causeway Bay: Shop 1, G/F, Park Haven, 38 Haven Street, Causeway Bay. Bookings: 2142 5233
FRITES Quarry Bay: G/F, Oxford House, Taikoo Place, 979 King’s Road, Island East. Bookings: 2250 5188
Opening Hours: Monday – Sunday, 12pm – late

The Ring Soft Opening Party – 25 January, 2018

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New esports bar The Ring on Knutsford Terrace held it’s soft opening on the 24-25 January, 2018. Taking up the whole 6th floor, The Ring offers 6 luxury esports chairs with lovely large curved screens set up in pairs for head to head competition. Playing is free, but the loser has to buy the winner a victory drink (price tbc). There are two beer pong tables, multiple tv’s and ‘The Ring’ which serves many functions.

A nice touch are the lockers behind the benchseats allowing customers to lock their bags away and ‘game on’ anywhere in the bars without worrying about their valuables.
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The Ring – 6/F, 10 & 11 Knutsford Terrace, Tsim Sha Tsui

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Toasties, Fruities and Flamingos

Flamingos have become a regular sight around Central and TST, the pink inflatable birds adding a highly visible flourish to Flamingo Bloom’s floral and fruity tea drinks.

The two outlet chain has expanded it’s range of drinks this month adding “Naked Zero” beverages ($43) that have no added sugar, use antioxidant and vitamin packed fruits such as mulberries, strawberries, mangoes paired with almond milk for lactose intolerant customers.

bc sampled ‘v!olet’ the mulberry and grape mix, which looks a lot like a fruit smoothie but lacks a smoothie’s dense consistency and texture. Taken as a drink it’s pretty good. The almond milk giving the drink very little consistency and from it’s appearance my brain was expecting something more smoothie like.

FB are also offering a number of toasties – grilled sandwiches – including smashed tomatoes served with soft cooked egg, grilled cheese corn-beef, and smashed avocado with tomatoes sprinkle with herbs. The sandwiches cost $43 ($33 if purchased with any drink).

All the toasties use a big slices of bread, maybe 5 inches square and medium thick cut slices. The cheese and corn beef has a nice melted cheese taste and texture although some of the edges were a little lacking in cheese and there wasn’t much flavour from the corn beef. But it’s pretty good toasted cheese sandwich. The avocado is an open top style sandwich with (according to the staff) a full avocado smashed across it.

Unlike some sandwich places where the filling is all in the section facing you both the samples we tried had plenty of ingredients and will make solid options if you’re in the area and looking for  sandwich.

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Food at the Fair

The fairground midway is all about fun and excitement, sometimes though it’s nice to take a break, grab a bite and a drink and soak up the merriment.

The food offerings at last year’s Great European Carnival were pretty gross all told. This year several restaurants are running the show including Maverick’s, Cafe Siam and f&b company  Color Chacha. There are also two candy floss and popcorn stands for all ages to enjoy. Beer is $50 for a cup. There are no water fountains on the midway

Color Chacha’s stuffed waffle Imagawayaki ($20) are available in double cheese, Hokkaido creamy custard, matcha and banana and chocolate and are very tasty. They are also offering a range of colourful fruit and sweet drinks.

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Scorhios naan bread pizza is tasty but pretty pricey at $110 for a pizza that is less than 12 inches. Individual 1/4 pizza slices are $30. Flavours include Peps and Roni’s, The Fun Guys and Marge & Ritas.

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Mavericks from Pui o Beach are offering a range of sandwiches including Double Cheeseburger ($70), pulled pork ($60), smoked brisket ($70).

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While the baked potatoes ($50) are good, but again once you start adding toppings at $10 each the price shoots up.

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