bc magazine

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

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.

Megabites: Prego

Newly open in Soho is Italian restaurant Prego the latest outlet in Dining Concepts expanding portfolio. Head Chef Enrico Maritan cites his Mama’s cooking as the inspiration for the 50s-60s-70s ‘home style’ menu. At a recent media tasting we weren’t offered a ‘taste’ of the more interesting sounding ‘Chef’s specials’ of which Il Polpettone (beef and pork meatloaf with mash potato), La Sfoglia (baked pastry with eggplant, tomato and mozzarella) and profiterol (baked beignet stuffed with tiramisu cream and topped with dark chocolate) appealed.

Of the dishes sampled none were bad, but none were great. The Risotto Funghi Porcini e Tartufo was over cooked, watery and bland. The pizza thin and surprisingly flavourless with little cheese. The Salame di Cioccolato could have been good but lacked any memorable flavour or texture and was covered with that horrible artificial whipped cream from a can. There’s nothing bad about the food, just nothing that inspires a return or a recommendation to friends to give it a try. As for value, we were served tasting portions, so regrettably we can’t comment on portion size /price.

Prego: 43 Elgin Street, Central, Tel: 2651 5700

Megabites: Restaurant & Bar 2015

The third big food Expo of the year, Restaurant & Bar, again saw the HKCEC thronged with food and wine producers and distributors from across the globe. Amidst the plethora of coffee and craft beer distributors some of the more interesting products we saw and tasted were Vasterbottensosn cheese from Sweden made with cow’s milk of herds grazing close to the Arctic circle. Yak meat from Finland. Sweet Potato Butter from the United States, washed down with ‘moonshine’. Lovely Belgian macaroons in a range of wonderful flavours including fig goat cheese thyme, camembert raspberry from Multizen Asia – sadly only available commercially. Add pure blueberry and lingonberry juices fashioned into some lovely cocktails by Swedish bartender Emil Areng and the future’s looking tasty.

Genki 20th Anniversary

Genki the name synonymous locally, and globally, with conveyor belt sushi celebrates it’s 20th anniversary in Hong Kong this month. Their first local store opened on 3 August 1995 in the Far East Finance Centre, Admiralty. As part of the celebrations Genki have opened their first Kousoku (Speed Train) store in Tsuen Wan. Instead of trays of sushi and sashimi on a conveyor belt snaking around the restaurant each table is served by a three level Kousoku.

The benefits of this to us as customers are that each dish is prepared fresh when you order it and served directly to the table. Ordering is by touch screen pad, with each part of your order limited to four plates (each train only has space for four plates). Individually and for couples this works fine, but with most dishes on the menu only having one item, it might not work so well for groups of four. Each plate is sent when ready and the target is to serve you within 90 seconds of a dish being ordered. The system is fun, portion size, quality and price / value are the same as the conveyor belt stores.
Genki Kousoku Shop B105-108, B1, Tsuen Wan Plaza, Tai Pa Street, Tsuen Wan, Tel: 2499 3172. Opening Hours: 11:30am – 10:30pm

Megabites: Sushi Sei

Sushi Sei
There are a surprising number of restaurants in IFC, one of the more recent arrivals is Sushi Sei. Offering two quite different menus at lunch and dinner the food we sampled at lunch was fresh, full of interesting flavours and well presented. Head Chef Kaoru Mitsuhashi said his style was based around the traditional Edomae Nigirisushi.

In truth we’re not well enough versed in Japanese cuisine to comment on it’s authenticity, but beyond having a very enjoyable lunch we did learn two interesting things. We’ve been eating our sushi incorrectly for years, instead of picking a piece up and placing it in our mouths we should actually turn each piece so that the fish rather than the rice touches the tongue first so as to appreciate the subtle flavours of the fish before the rice dominates the tastebuds. Very obvious, when you think about it….

In many modern Japanese restaurants the rice is squashed tightly together making more of a block to bite into. Chef Mitsuhashi claims the traditional method is to have the rice loser and served warm so that it ‘crumbles’ in the mouth. Unsurprisingly this creates a completely different flavour experience, again allowing the flavour of the fish to remain on the palate longer.
Sushi Sei: Shop 2016, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, Tel: 2387 3377

Megabites: Port @ Knutsford Terrace

New on Knutsford Terrace is Port, the third bar from the owners of Zinc and Ra. Hong Kong has been one of the worlds busiest container ports for years but Port is the first bar bc can recall to use the shape and design of a container as it’s underlying theme and decor. The industrial container concept works well to create a unique design with a large outside seating area and a spacious interior.

There’s a small but interesting menu split into five sections – Apps, Soil, Sea, Land, Sweet Tooth – and full of interesting dishes we’ve not seen locally before. From the Apps selection bc sampled several very enjoyable plates the Blistered Shishito Peppers with Lime, Sea Salt ($55) were tasty and tangy and a perfect snack to drink with. The Boudin Arancini (Chorizo Rice Balls, $75) were large and filling and served with aioli sauce, slightly larger chunks of chorizo would improve this fine bar snack. The Chicharones ($98) served with plum and aioli sauce were large meaty and tasty if a little dry.

In the Soil section the Long Beans, Manchego Cheese, Lemon ($68) saw crisp long beans covered in cheese and lemon, simple fresh and crispy. From the Sea the Atlantic Cod Charred with Sweetcorn and Chorizo ($168) was a delicious blend of flavours and textures. Cod is such a delicious fish that we have to hope that stocks will continue to replenish. After so many interesting dishes the Bacon-Grind Sliders, Cheddar, onions and Comeback Sauce ($138) served with spicy fries seemed rather mundane but the sliders are large, with lots of freshly ground beef in the patty topped with good bacon (as a bacon lover a second rasher would have made the dish) and cheddar cheese.

An interesting and varied menu, generous well presented portions and reasonable prices ensure Port is definitely a place worthy of dropping anchor when your next in TST.
Port – 2 Knutsford Terrace, TST. Tel: 2146 2222
Zinc – 35 D’Aguilar Street, Lan Kwai Fong. Tel: 2868 3448
Ra – G/F Wing On Plaza, 62 Mody Road, TST East. Tel: 27121 3600