Asia Flavours

Magnolia (7/10)

Magnolia was such a great private kitchen experience. I was expecting to be a bit underwhelmed having heard some slightly negative reports but we had a great time - the service was warm but unobtrusive, the food tasty and the rooms perfect in size and shape for a dinner party. At HK$450 a head plus wine, its not cheap but you do get quite a lot for your money. 

The pre-dinner drinks are served in an area over-looking the kitchen. Fear not, this was not a noisy / smelly experience - judging by the activity level in the kitchen, Creole is a cuisine that can be prepared in advance. The individual dining rooms are all upstairs, dramatic because of a combination of low light, dark paint, high ceilings and a cunning use of mirrors. The food that flowed unobtrusively and at a good relaxed pace was full of flavour (if not exactly light and healthy!). There was a starter of Gumbo Soup, followed by shared mains including a pile of ribs which the boys were most excited about and then pecan pie to finish. One of the nice touches was that the owner came to talk about the menu before the meal which made it more of a "private kitchen" experience. 

The only complaint I'd have was with the toilets that were quite gross, the problem being that they were unisex ... and not cleaned or checked regularly enough. 

Shop 5, G/F, 
No. 17 Po Yan Street, 
Sheung Wan

Tel: 2530 9880

Martha Sherpa's Thai Cookery Course

Thinking that the credit crunch should mean that "eating in is the new eating out", a group of us decided to try Martha Sherpa's Thai Cookery Course in Mongkok. The course, which covers dishes like grilled chicken on bamboo skewers with penang curry, tom yam koong and chicken in green curry, is quite hardcore, lasting for a full day. To be honest, we were definitely fading by the end of the experience and I did come away feeling that sometimes life is too short and really I'd be better going to a Thai restaurant. Having said that, Martha is extremely knowledgeable about Thai food and making green curry from scratch (without a blender!) has made me realise just what proper green curry should taste like (even if i personally will always be using a blender in the future!). 

Speaking as a realist, some of the dishes were a bit too much for me and my very small Hong Kong kitchen. However, the dishes were all flavoursome and I think they could be adapted to fit with my kitchen and patience now that I have the basics!!

Yi Jiang Nan (6/10)

I've walked past Yi Jiang Nan thousands of times and it always appeared to be a bit of a cubby-hole. Turns out I was totally wrong - it's got quite a big dinning area inside. Despite this, it's pretty cosy inside with tasteful, sweet Chinese decor (well, cosy except for the chairs which are decidedly hard and uncomfortable!).  

The food was surprisingly good although I'm not sure why I was surprised (I suspect it relates to the fact that I thought I was going to a tiny cubby-hole restaurant). The cold chicken, cucumber and noodle dish was particularly good although the aubergine with chili was excellent too. The food wasn't cheap although that's not a tremendous shock given it's in the heart of SoHo. To be fair, the three of us ordered an awful lot of food, including river prawns and a whole deep-fried fish. I think you could probably order in a much more sensible fashion, have a great meal and feel that you were getting pretty good value for money.

Yi Jiang Nan
33-35 Staunton Street
Central
Tel: 2136 0886

Lung King Heen (10/10)

Ever since the people at Michelin awarded Lung King Heen three stars, I've wanted to go and see what the hype is all about. I've kept putting the visit off because of the palpitations about the resulting dent to my wallet (my only other experience of a three star restaurant, Jean-Georges in New York, virtually involved remortgaging my flat and calling in the loan sharks...!) However, finally, my curiosity outweighed my fear of bankruptcy and I booked a table. Don't get me wrong, it was excellent - both in terms of the food and the service - but one of the best restaurants in the world? Perhaps not. 

Before I get to the food / experience generally, I should point out that the bill was surprising ... in a good way. The two of us enthusiastically ordered one starter and three main dishes, had the amuse bouche and petit fours, and more tea than you can ever imagine, all for HK$350 a head.  Not cheap but probably no more than you'd pay at any of the restaurants in SoHo. On a bill related point, the kitchen thought we'd ordered too much with our original order of four mains and suggested that one of the mains come as a starter portion. I was thoroughly impressed. They could very well have let us over-order and pay for far more food than we needed. 

The food was simply excellent. It wasn't cutting edge but it was very upmarket traditional Cantonese food. The minced pigeon, one of my favourite Chinese dishes whether in the spicy Sichuan form or the sweeter Cantonese form, was really flavoursome. Having said it wasn't cutting edge, the scallop and pear dish was interesting although I think I preferred the more traditional pork belly dish and the really tasty eel with aubergine. 

Excellent food is really only half the picture and the service couldn't be faulted. It was attentive but unobtrusive. In addition, as an added bonus, you got an excellent view of Victoria Harbour as you ate making it perfect for visitors in town. 

I imagine it could become quite an expensive experience if you had wine but I was very impressed. It is definitely on my list of places to take people visiting from abroad. A little safe, perhaps, but a great evening. 

Four Seasons Hotel

8 Finance Street

Central

Tel: 3196 8888