Hong Kong - Sichuan House

Tea with red dates and flowers

Snacks

Mouth Watering Chicken 川莊口水雞

Sliced Beef and Pig's Tongue in Chili Sauce 成都夫妻肺片

Bang Bang Wontons in Sesame Sauce 棒棒雲吞

 Sizzling Crispy Spare Ribs 龍泉驛乾鍋排骨

Fish Fillets in Hot Chili Oil 成都水煮桂花魚

Review: Sichuan House is a must-go for spice lovers! It is located conveniently in the heart of LKF, in the same building as Sushi Kuu (and Club Beijing, if you must). The restaurant is decorated in black and lots of red, like an ominous warning that this will be a fiery meal in hell. Y, Laubaby and I were promptly seated and we nibbled on snacks such as cold marinated cucumber slices while we waited for our food. It didn't take long for our first spicy dish to arrive. Sichuan House's version of mouth watering chicken is one of the best 口水雞 dishes around because the chicken is thoughtfully cut into bite size chunks and de-boned. The sauce was very fragrant and not too spicy. The sliced beef and pig's tongue dish was well seasoned and the meat was springy, not chewy. We also liked the bang bang wontons (the only non-spicy dish we ordered), which were surprisingly juicy and flavourful. The spare ribs arrived sizzling in a metal pot and the peppercorns and dried chillis smelled amazing. The pork was crispy on the outside and moist inside. Last but not least, my favourite fish fillets in chili oil - a generous portion of tender fish fillets floated on top of a huge bowl of chili oil. The bean starch noodles underneath soaked up all the spicy and numb Sichuan flavours. I loved the cucumber slices and bean sprouts that add texture and flavours. The tea with dates and flowers helped soothe my burning mouth for a bit. Great tip for anyone who can't eat spicy food: V ordered a bowl of hot water to wash off the top layer of chili oil to make the food less spicy. 

I recommend: Mouth Watering Chicken, Fish Fillets in Hot Chili Oil, Bang Bang Wontons, Sizzling Crispy Spare Ribs

Sichuan House 霸王川莊
Address: 7/F, M88, 2-8 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong
Phone: 2521-6699
Hours: Mon-Sun 11:30am - 12:00am

Hong Kong - Liberty Private Works

Cod and seafood dip

Snacks: Clam, Iberico 

Snacks: Quail Egg, Lamb

LPW Signature: Tuna, Sea Urchin, Espelette, Rice

Abalone, Butternut Squash, Risotto

Walu, Hearts of Palm, Celery, Apple

LPW Signature: Egg, Truffle, Parmesan, Caviar

Chicken, Foie Gras, Porcini, Crones, Black Truffle

Venison, Gingerbread, Cherry, Pumpkin

Banana, Chamomile, Fennel, Peach

Sea Salt, Caramel, Chocolate, Chili

Warm Madeleine

 Mochi, White Grape

Review: LPW is one of my favourite restaurants in Hong Kong. I think this actually might be my fifth visit! I still remember my first visit at its much smaller cash-only location on Wellington Street. The current Stanley Street location is dimly lit and boosts floor-length windows that show a great view of Central at night. The restaurant is one massive chef’s table that sits around 26 guests intimately. Throughout the 8-course meal you have a front row seat to watch Executive Chef Vicky Cheng and his team hard at work cooking and plating each dish. Vicky's creativity and passion shines through his visually stunning and equally delicious dishes. Congratulations on the engagement by the way! 

Yuls and V were my dinner dates for the night. We began our meal with a light cod fish dip and some finger snacks. We were then presented with a white tablet and a small test tube of rosewater. The white tablet was actually a compressed hand towel that reconstituted when I poured the rosewater over it. What a thoughtful way to begin our meal! We started with the signature spicy tuna, sea urchin and crispy rice.  I loved the contrasting texture of the tuna/sea urchin with the crispy popped rice. Definitely a decadent seafood party going on. Next up, the abalone was tender and sweet, almost earthy. The walu had a light crispy exterior and the apple-celery sauce brought a brightness to the dish. We also loved the signature egg and spinach raviolo nestled in parmesan cream and topped with caviar. This would have to be my favourite dish from LPW. Stuff of dreams! The egg oozed out perfectly when I cut into the raviolo and I mopped up all the egg/parmesan cream up with a freshly baked baguette. The caviar added a welcomed hint of umami. Did I mention that everything was perfectly seasoned? Next we had the foie gras wrapped in chicken with a generous shaving of black truffles. Our last savoury course was the venison, plated beautifully. Look at all the colours! At first I was a bit apprehensive of it but it was tender and slightly gamey in a good way. The cherry added a tartness to the meat and the gingerbread crumbs spiced it up. It was overall a well-executed dish because each bite brought something different to my taste buds. The desserts focused on contrasting textures and flavours. They weren't too sweet, which I appreciated. Don't leave LPW without trying a homemade mochi!  They're amaaaazing. We ended the meal with freshly baked madeleines straight out of the oven, and a mochi and a white grape test tube shot that looked identical to the rosewater napkin at the beginning of the meal. I love these fun little touches.

On a side note, Vicky's other restaurant Liberty Exchange (aka LEX, or happy hour invasion of that bit in between Exchange Square and IFC) serves up delicious and reasonably priced set lunches, small bites for dinner (think mini lobster rolls and salted caramel ice cream sandwiches) and brunch. I can’t wait to try the chicken and waffles!

Date of visit: January 10th 2015

Liberty Private Works
Address: 26/F, 11 Stanley Street, Central, Hong Kong
Phone: 5186-3282
Hours: Mon-Sat  7:30pm - 12:00am
Reservations open 4 weeks in advance

Japanese Curry Omurice

This is the perfect lazy weekend lunch. The recipe is super simple - all you need are eggs, rice and curry. I love Japanese curry but I find the boxed dried curry roux takes too long to cook and requires a lot of prep. I like the individually portioned pre-packaged curry that you just heat up and serve with rice. This recipe also works best if you have leftover rice to save time, but if you don’t you can quickly substitute with minute rice or those microwaveable rice packs from college. You can totally skip the tomatoes and spring onion of course. I added them for garnish to make the dish look more camera-ready. This dish took around 5 minutes from start to finish. I hope this will inspire you to cook something other than Shin Ramen when you’re hungover!

Sieve the whisked eggs to get a smoother consistency.

Not the most attractive looking omurice out there oops

Plate it ugly side down!

Japanese Curry Omurice

For 1

Ingredients

2 eggs
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil for the pan
Pinch of salt
1 cup cooked rice (Japanese rice would be ideal but normal long grain rice will do just fine. If cold, reheat in microwave first)
1 package ready-to-eat Japanese curry (like these, not the dried boxed kind)

Method

1. Boil water in a pan and submerge the pre-packaged curry to heat up its contents.
2. Whisk the eggs together and run them through a sieve and into a bowl. Add a pinch of salt.
3. Heat the oil in a pan on medium heat. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the pan and lower the heat to medium low.
4. When the egg has begun to set (this will take less than a minute), spoon the warmed cooked rice onto one side of the egg. Using a spatula, carefully fold the other side of the egg on top of the rice to make an omelette (aka OMURICE!). Cook for a few more seconds.
5. Plate the omurice and carefully pour the heated curry over it. Garnish with whatever you have on hand - something with acidity would be great, like Japanese pickled vegetables!

Hong Kong - Hayashi

Hokkaido hairy crab salad 

Shirako (cod milt) sautéed with herbs and butter

Hamburg in red wine sauce

Deep fried Hokkaido oysters

Sakura shrimp clay pot rice

Review: Simple Japanese cuisine using fresh ingredients and cooked with care - This quiet Japanese restaurant is situated in Macau Yat Yeun Centre in near SOGO in Causeway Bay, which houses a lot of other Japanese restaurants. The a la carte menu offers a large variation of Japanese dishes, from sushi to yakitori to shabu shabu. There are also special seasonal items and two choices of omakase. We opted for the a la carte. We began our meal with a mixed green salad topped with chunks of sweet Japanese hairy crab and tossed in a light citrusy dressing. The shirako was creamy, almost custard-like, and had a delicious butter and herb crust. My bf thought it was some sort of tofu thing and he quite liked it until I told him what it was. Naturally, he refused to take another bite. More for me then! We also liked the deep fried Hokkaido oysters, which had a light and crispy batter. The oysters were sweet and briny. Bf liked the hamburg the most. It’s pretty much a ground beef patty that had soaked up all the intense and flavourful red wine sauce. We ended the meal with a healthy portion of clay pot rice topped with sakura shrimp and fresh edamame. The rice was light and fluffy, and the crunchy edamame contrasted well with the sweet umami sakura shrimp.

I recommend: Hamburg in red wine sauce, Deep fried Hokkaido oysters, Shirako in herbs and butter 

Hayashi
Address: 21/F Macau Yat Yuen Centre, 525 Hennessy Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Phone: 2836-3800
Hours: Mon-Sat 12pm-1pm, 6pm-11pm


                                

Hong Kong - 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA

8 1/2 Seafood Soup with shellfish, zucchini "trombetta" and fresh herbs (looks quite stingy, but this is actually a half portion in a rather heavy-bottomed bowl)

Roast Duck Foie Gras with piedmont hazelnut sauce, smoked duck in dice, greens

Star of the night....this tub of white diamonds!

Mooooreeeeee

Homemade Tagliolini with butter, parmesan, and Alba white truffle

Chocolate Martini

Confit "Taiyouran" Organic Egg with potato emulsion, confit potato, Chanterelle mushroom and Alba white truffle

Homemade Tagliolini with butter, parmesan, and Alba white truffle

Jerusalem Artichoke Risotto with fine Italian cheese and Alba white truffle

Homemade Trenette pasta with Red King Prawn, "Datterin" Tomato and fresh mint

Always a good time with my girls Small, Laubaby and Big

Review: 8 1/2 needs no introduction. 3 Michelin stars, attentive service and amazing food every time. Remember to book at least a month ahead! I recommend the Homemade Tagliolini, Jerusalem Artichoke Risotto and Homemade Trenette Pasta with Red King Prawn. They also offer delicious cocktails - my fave is the Espresso Martini.

8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA
Address: Shop 202, 2/F, Alexandra House, 5-17 Des Voeux Road Central, Hong Kong
Phone: 2537-8859
Hours: Mon-Sat 12pm-1030pm