Asia Flavours

Cafe Gray: Deluxe?

Suddenly released from a two-month long period of involuntary puritanical living (and about a stone lighter), it seemed only right to celebrate my new found lifestyle freedom with a bit of a splurge. My friend C.L. kindly stepped up to the challenge of finding a suitable venue - without necessarily realising she was doing so - and organised a chilled Saturday lunch at Cafe Gray in the Upper House for a couple of old school-friends. It was a good choice. 

The decor is tasteful and smart, without being too bland, and the view over the harbour is great. Like Felix, the toilets share in this great view - well, at least, the sinks in the ladies do. I know you shouldn't judge a restaurant by the toilets but decent, well-designed bathrooms are one of my weak-spots ... well, as long as they are matched by decent, well-designed food...

It's not a cheap experience dining at Cafe Gray, sorry, Cafe Gray Deluxe, but we did come away from the HK$245 set two-course lunch feeling full and satisfied. School, despite its best efforts, failed to instill a sense of timing or direction into any of us and so it took quite a period of time for the table to be complete. Luckily, or unluckily depending on how you view your waistband, there was no shortage of warm bread and warm bread refills on hand to see us through. And, despite the rather over-aggressive lady on the phone when we booked a table who was insistent that we had to be there at 12.30 because the table was required for afternoon tea at 2pm, we weren't hurried or hassled at all during our lengthy dining experience. 

I started with a main course of red snapper with mussels and clams which was delightful, the fish beautifully cooked. There is actually no other word to describe it than "delightful" because it was one of those really delicate dishes with delicate flavours. I did get mild food envy when I saw my friend's roast turkey with sauerkraut but was pleased with my choice. For pudding, I opted for the rather over-sweet apple and cinnamon crumble with cider ice-cream. It was really good but I couldn't finish it due to a combination of excess sweetness and the fact that the cider ice-cream was a little limited in portion size - it was the sort of dish where, had you been at home, you'd have slapped on a big scoop of vanilla ice-cream to calm it down a bit. Included in the set-lunch price were coffees and a bowl of smashed-up chocolate which didn't stand a chance surrounded as it was by six women.

We had a really great lunch - we weren't rushed, service was great and the food was good. I'd be interested to try it for dinner although, while not exactly a scientific study, T.T.L., who was accidentally on her third visit to Cafe Gray in as many days, felt that the lunchtime dining experience was actually better than the evening ones. I suggested it might be the company that did it but rather cheekily she suggested otherwise....

Cafe Gray Deluxe
The Upper House
Tel: 39681106

SoHo 8

I really wanted to like SoHo 8. For starters, it's really convenient for my flat and it's always useful to have a couple of reliable old favourites close to home. Also, I really like Yorkshire Pudding, it's sister restaurant. It was therefore so disappointing that our meal at SoHo 8 was only so-so, both in terms of service and food. 

I ordered the mussels in a thai lemongrass sauce. I know that it said in the menu that the broth contained fish sauce but wow was it pungent. The problem I had was that I'd suddenly get a waft of pungent fish and my mind would automatically link it to the mussels which rather put me off eating them. It also meant that the broth wasn't great to drink as a soup because it was just so salty - a side-effect was that I was still drinking water several hours later. Even with some bread to help mop it up (HK$25 extra), we still couldn't manage that much of it. 

The other issue I had with the mussels was the size of the serving. Despite being a main course, it wasn't going to fill anyone up - although this might have been different with a bit of bread and some tasty broth. In all, the dish consisted of maybe twelve mussels, one of which was fully shut. N.W.'s crab cakes were equally miniature and delicate. She also made the fundamental mistake of trying the mussel broth before she'd finished her crab cakes and couldn't really taste the crab cakes after that. 

On the service front, there were a couple of small things that annoyed me: my orange juice never turned up, the waiter said it was HK$20 for bread but the bill said HK$25 (pernickety maybe but still) and two sets of bread turned up, on of which was toast and therefore not greatly suited to dipping.

Going to have to stick to the Yorkshire Pudding... 

8 Staunton Street
Tel: 25369068

Oyster C ... again (7/10)

The problem with having an amazing experience the first time you visit a restaurant is that the second time will never be as good (First Experience). This unfortunately proved true at Oyster C. The key problem was really that they were so busy that they couldn't cope - we waited 30 minutes before our drinks order was taken, wine glasses remained empty for long periods and it was very difficult to get the waiters' attention. The other impact of the over-stretched waiters was that they didn't offer the tom yum soup with the tiger prawn sashimi (and I didn't realise that they had to be ordered separately because on my last, less crowded visit - and indeed on a friend's separate visit - they had offered it as a done deal). Without the tom yum soup, the sashimi has significantly less wow factor. 

On the plus side, the clam pasta was excellent - the same creamy white wine sauce threatening to cause a coronary at any moment. The staff were helpful when it came to the oysters P.G. and C.O. chose and with 16 varieties on offer, even the pickiest oyster aficionados are likely to be satisfied. To their credit, they were working really hard to try and manage all the tables but perhaps they should have staggered the diners a little bit so that they could keep everyone happy. 

My first experience of Oyster C is still at the forefront of my mind so I'm clearly going to have to give it another shot but for HK$500 a head with wine, it should really polish its act.  

Oyster C

98-104 Hing Fat Street

Tin Hau

Tel: 2834 7748 

Dakota Prime (4/10)

Oh my god, the most expensive meal I've ever had. And, while a really fun evening, definitely not the best value for money...

I started with the carpaccio of blue fin tuna, baby roquette, English pea puree, white truffle oil and fleur de sel which sounded amazing. I was so excited. Frankly, it was underwhelming. There just wasn't a lot of flavour, from either the tuna or the pea puree. And, really, putting it all on a huge plate just emphasised the fact that you weren't getting a lot for your $180.

If you happen to be a serious steak enthusiast then I'm sure you would appreciate the 8oz Wagyu beef fillet mignon and wouldn't mind forking out HK$1,480 for it but frankly, while I reckon I can tell good steak from ok steak, I can't tell great steak from good steak and so I did slightly resent paying HK$465 for the cheapest steak on the menu. The inner-Yorkshire in me also felt slightly aggrieved that they wouldn't throw a few veggies in for that HK$465. 

On the plus side, the decor is chic and the service attentive but somehow it just doesn't quite take the sting out of receiving the bill at the end of the meal. Particularly, when you're paying that much for water.... Expensive bottled water from the other side of the world is absolutely one of my pet hates (the inner-Yorkshire coming out again). Dakota Prime had a whole host of over-priced water, Norwegian, Spanish... HK$80 a bottle. For water. 

7/F, LKF Tower

33 Wyndham Street

Central

Tel: 2526 2366

Eat Right

The build up to Christmas is never a good time for the waistline. The whole period seems to primarily be about eating and having drinks on a daily basis, with extra temptations chasing you at every opportunity. Indeed, I struggled to get into Olivers today at lunchtime - it was heaving with Christmas puddings, Terry's chocolate oranges, mulled wine spices and, of course, more mince pies than you could shake a stick at. 

Not that I'm complaining. After all, what is January without the need for urgent crash dieting? It would be dull otherwise. However, my friend A.C. seems to be fighting this enforced excessiveness tooth and nail. When I met her for lunch on Saturday she suggested this restaurant called Eat Right on Staunton Street which sells itself as a "healthy" restaurant. 

I'm not sure about this "healthy" business. The menu, which seemed to offer all the normal things you'd expect a SoHo cafe to offer, lists the number of calories each dish contains which is quite traumatising. We spent the first twenty minutes going through everything on the menu, swearing we'd never drink fruit juice again (SO many calories). In the end we opted for some creamy tasting cappuccinos which seemed to have fewer calories. Despite being someone who works on trying to have a balanced diet, the menu reduced me to a calorie control freak within the space of a few minutes.

Worse was to come. By now I was obsessed. Every mouthful of my scrambled eggs on ciabatta with smoked salmon was some ridiculous number of calories and I was fully aware of this. It was therefore seriously disappointing when it turned out to be really poor - a dull, boring mess that was, frankly, in need of a few calories to help it out. The bread was dry, being without any butter, but was not as dry as the overcooked scrambled eggs it came with. The chef really shouldn't have let them leave the kitchen. A few herbs might have helped but I suppose that would be few extra calories.... Hmmm. In the end, I ate the smoked salmon on its own and then managed to extract some tomato ketchup to liven up the dried egg / bread combo. 

The problem with knowing how many calories I'd just consumed was that it made the disappointment ten times worse. Maybe the lunch / dinner options are better but I'm just not sure I can get that into calorie counting to want to try it again. 

4 Shelley Street

SoHo 

Tel: (+852) 2868 4832

Lot 10 (5/10)

Whenever I walk past Gough Street on my way home, I always promise myself that I’ll go there for lunch one day, to sample one of the many small cafes and restaurants that line the street. To date, I’ve never actually managed to keep that promise to myself. The problem is that my office is completely the other end of Central and there really isn’t the time to troop all that way, have lunch and troop back again. However, by sheer chance, E.L. and I found ourselves in the vicinity the other day and decided that a spot of al fresco lunching would be in order.

There is a serious amount of culinary choice on Gough Street, from relaxed Thai to smart French to an extremely popular looking al fresco noodle stand. Having failed to do any internet research beforehand, we were left to make a pot-luck choice - something made significantly harder by our before-the-hordes arrival at 12 noon, so rendering us without the benefit of that old favourite “go to the restaurant that looks the most full” trick.

We randomly chose Lot 10 because it looked rather cute in a scruffy sort of way. The set menu was also rather puzzling - the combinations of ingredients were unusual to say the least. For example, my starter was carrot and cinnamon soup which sounded a rather unlikely combination for a soup. However, although you were hit by a wave of cinnamon when you smelt it, the flavour was surprisingly subtle. My main course was just as unusual - linguine with smoked duck breast and a sour cream and green bean sauce. For some reason I was expecting the green beans to be whole. Instead, they were pulverised into the sour cream sauce creating a rather thick, heavy sauce. I can’t say I’d rush to try it again - not because it wasn’t weirdly flavoursome - but more because of the texture which was rather gritty. I wouldn’t not go back to Lot 10 again but first, I’d probably try the other options on Gough Street, starting with Gough 40 which we’d have chosen if we’d been going with the “go to the restaurant that looks the most full” trick!

Lot 10 Bar & Restaurant
34 Gough Street
NoHo Central
Tel : 2813 6812

M on the Fringe (1/10)

I can’t tell you how disappointed I was by my experience at M on the Fringe. It’s probably partly my own fault for having built up my expectations too much but still, the starter was dull, the main course unfathomably tasteless and the pudding not quite fully cooked.

I’d heard that M on the Fringe was a great place to go if you wanted quirky, romantic décor with good European food. And certainly, the décor was quirky. To be honest though, not in a particularly good way, definitely missing the mark from a romance perspective (although granted we went during the day which isn’t exactly the most favourable lighting for romantic décor). Still, I could see what they were trying to achieve with the different coloured textured paint, the violin shaped chairbacks and the slightly cluttered knick-knacks look but it was somehow just not quite kooky enough.

All that would have been forgiven if the (expensive) food had been up-to-scratch. We ordered off the November lunch menu - not a set lunch per se but more an a la carte with smaller lunch options. I started with a salad of sun blushed tomatoes, borlotti beans and red onion which was perfectly ok but nothing to write home about - indeed, relatively similar to a salad I had at Prêt a Manger today. Bad choice perhaps… Worse was to come. The main course I chose was ox-tail stew with mashed potato “and all the trimmings”. I’m not sure what the “all the trimmings” was supposed to be because I would have thought the cubed vegetables were part of the stew - perhaps it referred to the parsley scattered on top? The ox tail itself was extremely fatty, lacking in meat and completely tasteless. My friend J.Y., who’d also made the mistake of ordering the ox tail, thought it was probably a cheap cut that had perhaps been in the freezer too long. To make matters worse, I’ve never tasted such flavourless mashed potato or such flavourless gravy - did the chef not try any of the food he’d prepared before they were served to paying guests? Surely, he could have rectified the problem with some salt, some pepper, a dash of red wine in the gravy, a spoonful of mustard in the mash, the list is endless…

 

Severely underwhelmed by the main course, we all ordered the M’s pavlova, having been assured that this is a signature dish. Even that was lacking with the centre of the pavlova being slimy and undercooked. It was just sloppy cooking. The rest of the dish (the fruit, whipped cream and passionfruit sauce) was good but it was seriously let down by the undercooked meringue. The icing on the cake in terms of the meal was that even the little biscuits to accompany the coffees weren’t that nice - well that and a HKD 500 a head price tag for the unimpressive meal.

All in all, I won’t be back.

Felix at The Peninsula

The piece of advice you receive from everybody before going to Felix at The Peninsula is don’t forget to go to the toilet. A rather strange first comment, I thought, given that the view from the dining room is outstanding, the food stunning and the service excellent but to be fair, it’s a good point. The toilet is worth the trip in itself. Sure, the décor in the bathrooms - particularly the sink area - is interesting but the key is the view out over the harbour (if you’re female) or over Kowloon (if you’re a guy) which must make it a contender for the best bathroom with a view anywhere in the world (should there be such a competition).

My first impressions of Felix weren’t overwhelming. The restaurant area was empty when we arrived and so we went up into the bar area with its view over Victoria Harbour. It’s all a little weird up there - someone compared it to a futuristic airport waiting area with padded walls and a rather claustrophobic feel to it. Not my cup of tea to be honest - I’d probably do drinks at Aqua if I went again on the grounds that you’d get the same view and well, it would all be a little less orange.

However, things quickly improved. The atmosphere in the amazing dinning room was great, with a good noise level and phenomenal floor-to-ceiling windows on both sides providing superb views. The décor is interesting although the only thing that I can vividly remember are the faces on the chair covers - all apparently current or former staff at the Peninsula which is a lovely, unpretentious touch.

The food was excellent and incredibly well thought through, from the bread basket onwards - indeed I became somewhat addicted to the chocolate chip bread which J.Y. had recommended. My starter of foie gras with poached pear was delightful, with seared foie gras on a slice of toast and also cold foie gras pate inside the poached pear. The flavours were fabulous. I did try to take a photo but I’m afraid my efforts didn’t even slightly do the dish justice.

I really struggled to narrow down my choice of main course and eventually decided on the black cod with rhubarb and sugar snap peas. The fish was beautifully cooked and the sweet peas provided a good contrast to the slightly sharp rhubarb. To be honest, I prefer my sugar snap peas to have a little more snap to them but the combination worked well. The fois gras stole the limelight but only just.

For pudding, I was torn between the raspberry pavlova with dark chocolate and the pudding rather temptingly called “chocolate! chocolate! chocolate!”. Based on the fact that E.L. decided to raid my “chocolate! chocolate! chocolate!”, rather than eat her own raspberry pavlova, I guess I made the right decision. The pudding (which technically should have been called “chocolate! chocolate! chocolate! chocolate!”) consisted of four mini-chocolate deserts: sumptuous chocolate mint ice cream, a chocolate tart, hot chocolate with a lychee egg white puff thing and a really rich chocolate and pastry combo. All delightful.

The only downside to having dinner at Felix is that, unless you are going with work, you’ll probably have to re-mortgage your house first - easier said than done in this market. However, should you find yourself a little flush with cash, this is a very good way to spend it!

Felix
28/F, Peninsula Hotel
Salisbury Rd.
Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: 2366 6251

McSorleys

Had it not been for a recommendation from B.B, I would never have gone into McSorley's Ale House. I'm not a beer drinker and so the pub with its dark wooden furniture - designed to look like a Victorian Irish pub - was never going to be high on my list. However, we'd just survived a somewhat traumatising walk / scramble up to the Sai Wan waterfall and back again in the pitch dark, and our stomachs were crying out for a substantial meat fest. This McSorley's provided brilliantly. 

The tables at the back of the pub are a bit dingy but because the front of the restaurant is open to the elements, the tables there are airy and you don't really feel like you're in an "ale house". Having said that, the menu is pretty traditional, covering everything you would expect from a pub. The highlights, however, were definitely the burgers which were juicy, flavoursome and seriously substantial - I didn't every come close to finishing mine. The slightly unusual sounding Aloha Burger with its sliced pineapple and terriyaki sauce was unusual, certainly, but it hit the spot! 

If you are in need of a good, traditional burger (unlike, say, those provided at the uber-expensive Duke's Burger), McSorley's should be on your shortlist. 

55 Elgin Street

SoHo

Wagyu

There's something about Wagyu. The 'togetherness' of the food, atmosphere and service make it a really great, easy restaurant to visit.

With my friend L. heading back to the UK the following day, we wanted a lively final meal. The location of Wagyu at the heart of Wyndham Street makes it a brilliant place for people-watching and we were lucky enough to get a window table, despite the fact that we hadn't booked and that by 9pm it was heaving.

Knowing that I was likely to have a heavy red meat option for my main course (it is, after all, called Wagyu), I chose the grilled terriyaki tuna skewers as a starter which were lovely, not too heavy at all. L. had the spinach, walnut and mixed cheese pancake which she really enjoyed and which looked tasty.

I was tempted to a Wagyu steak but the problem is that I've had the Wagyu burger before and it is just too tasty for me to resist. True to form, it was heavenly. I haven't had a better burger in Hong Kong. The meat used is just so flavoursome. Apparently, well according to Wiki, Wagyu refers to several breeds of cattle genetically predisposed to intense marbling and to producing a high percentage of oleaginous unsaturated fat, whatever that may be. It is also known as Kobe beef or Mishima beef.

Although we were completely defeated by the generously sized burger, my friend N. did have a sort of pudding in the form of a Banana Virgin Daiquiri. If you like bananas, you should really try this. It was lovely, even if a mere sip nearly pushed me to a 'mint wafer' moment!

All in all, a great and reliable restaurant in the heart of Wyndham Street.

60 Wyndham Street
Central

Tel: 2525 8805