bc magazine

Taste of Hong Kong @ Central Harbourfront – 21 March, 2019

Taste of Hong Kong returns to the Central Harbourfront and what a pleasant surprise this year’s event is. Finally the Taste organisers seem to have looked beyond their own profit and provided an experience that visitors can savour.

The vibe is very relaxed, there were even chef’s smiling during the media preview rather than looking stressed and haggard as in past years as they raced to get their booths ready. There are more chairs!! And in a welcome nod to the environment drinking water stations mean you can refill your own bottle or glass.

This year’s selection of restaurants might not have ‘star’ status of previous editions but there’s a good variety plates to enjoy from: John Anthony; Jiangnan cuisine from Old Bailey; Nordic contemporary dining with Flying Elk; unfussy Greek at Artemis and Apollo; Hoi King Heen modern twists to Cantonese classics; Bia Hoi inspires Chôm Chôm; Middle Eastern plates at Francis; Sausage Commitment by Okra offers regional meats; modern Japanese at Haku; Italian pasta at Pici; Izakaya-styled Zuma and from Australia Gelato Messina.

Dishes start from $50 and each restaurant will offer four dishes including at least one Taste Exclusive and one limited edition ‘Icon Dish’.

There’s also The Singleton of Glen Ord experience ($598) with British chef Andrew Wong (A Wongs/ Khyms) which offers an hour long introduction to Singleton of Glen Ord single malt whisky and tastings of their 12, 14, 15, 18 year old offerings. These are paired with two dishes from Wong’s Michelin starred London restaurants. It’s an informative and tasty experience, although the whisky pours were not very generous, barely enough for one taste.

The middle of Taste features exhibitors and shops. Among the tastiest offerings were Japanese oysters ($40), sweet potatoes, craft beer, cider, champagne and for those who prefer tea with their food some nice hot and iced teas.

Taste runs from the 21-24 March and you can buy tickets at the door from $120.
Thursday 21^st March 2019: 6-10pm
Friday 22^nd March 2019: 12.30-4.30pm and 6-10pm
Saturday 23^rd March 2019: 12.30-4.30pm and 6-10pm
Sunday 24^th March 2019: 12.30-5.30pm

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hEat – Grand Opening @ 23/F QRE, Wanchai – 23 August 2018

Over 300 people celebrated the Grand Opening of hEat (23/F, QRE Plaza building, 202 Queen’s Road East, Wanchai) on the 23 August as the new outlet’s head chef Israel Isy showcased it’s menu including dry aged beef and seafood.
Click on any photo for the full image gallery.

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Chip In, Wanchai

Sai Kung’s Chip In has opened a second branch on Queen’s Road East, bc went along to check out the fish and chips.

Fish and chips a simple yet iconic meal and sadly it’s impossible to find a good ‘English style’ option in Hong Kong. The best iteration recently was a pop-up called The Chippy three years ago in Chater Garden. There were rumours they were going to open a restaurant here, but as yet it hasn’t materialised.

bc hasn’t visited the Sai Kung outlet, so our comments are limited to the Wanchai branch. Service is polite and efficient, at the moment it’s cash only, with all meals being cooked to order.

The European and Atlantic cod shoals were decimated in the 1980s through over fishing, careful management in the decades since has seen stocks rise and this lovely tasty fish is back on the menu. Chip In serves it’s cod in two sizes small ($48) and large ($75) with a fair sized portion of chips and a side of either ketchup or tartar sauce.

The Atlantic cod comes pre-battered and frozen. The photo below is of the large portion, inside the batter the fish was perhaps 8mm thick – not exactly a ‘large’ piece of fish. The cod was hard, didn’t flake well and lacked flavour. The batter was thin, crisp and evenly cooked.

The chips are also cooked from frozen, some of ours were a little cold in the centre but the real problem was they were so bland and tasteless.

The menu also features calamari, chicken nuggets, bacon or sausage butty all $48 and served with chips.

While Chip In is a take-away / delivery outlet only, there are numerous small seating areas nearby to sit down and eat.

If you’re wanting fish and chips Chip In offers it, and while there’s nothing particularly wrong or bad about what they offer. Sadly it’s bland and not a meal you’re going to shout about to your friends or say I’ll be back for another portion tomorrow – which is more than a little disappointing as good fish chips are delicious.

Chip In Fish and Chip

164 Queens Road East, Wanchai
www.chipin.com.hk
Open: Weekdays 9am-9pm
Weekends 11am-9pm

Confusion Plant Based Kitchen

After a few hiccups during construction Confusion Plant Based Kitchen is open in Sheung Wan and hopes to show that “Plant based cuisine is more than just salads and raw fruit. It can be an adventure in variety, a dance upon your taste buds.”

Confusion Plant Based Kitchen

103, Jervois Street, Sheung Wan

Hong Kong

Tel: 2563 3699
Open: 9am-9pm

www.confusion.hk
www.facebook.com/confusionhk

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: reservations@theflyingelk.hk, 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.

New Year’s Eve Mussel Party at Frites

Frites Belgian Beerhouse are looking to make your countdown a memorable one with a ‘Mussel Pot Party’ on New Year’s Eve. Starting from 6pm Frites’ four outlets in Central, Wanchai, Causeway Bay, and Quarry Bay will be serving unlimited amounts of their six signature mussel pots: Frites House Mussels, Hoegaarden Mussels, Provencale Mussels, Mariniere Mussels, Laksa Mussels and Mediterranean Mussels.

All the pots are served with frites and mayo. There’s also an unlimited drinks option ($245) and children under 10 can get a free kids meal from the menu with each adult. The “all you can eat mussels” promotion costs $245 per person and will start from 6pm on 31 December, 2017, terms and conditions apply.

Christmas Pizza Anyone?

Looking for something different this festive season? Perhaps Pizza Express’ Christmas menu which includes two festive pizzas and a range of themed dishes might interest you.

The seasonal a la carte menu features a baked cheese melt starter ($65), a turkey Caesar salad ($128), Farfalle con Tacchino ($133, turkey pasta with a white cream sauce) and Pumpkin Cannelloni ($138) – this is ok, the pureed pumpkin, spinach and cheese filling is tasty but it perhaps could have been delicious if the pumpkin had been in chunks to give the filling some texture and substance.

There are two festive pizza: Tacchinao Rosmarino ($153) – a thin crust pizza topped with turkey, cranberry and sweet peppadew sauce, pancetta, mozzarella, tomato sauce, a sprinkle of rosemary and pine nuts. The Cicciolo e Fontina ($153) features pork, pork shin, fontina, mozzarella, Parmesan with caramelized onions, garlic oil, béchamel sauce and thyme served on a thin crust pizza.

Strange sounding combinations they may seem, but they’re both not bad. The turkey one, perhaps a little sweet to eat a full pizza yourself. But Pizza Express allows mixing and matching so we sampled a half/half combination which was delicious.

Dessert options are Apple Tortino ($88, a baked apple, cinnamon and puff pasty combination topped with vanilla gelato) and a Snowy Date Pudding ($88) which is rather nice. The warm pudding in a sauce of honey yoghurt and raspberry coulis topped with vanilla gelato.

The festive menu is available at all Pizza Express outlets until 1 January, 2018

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