Tosca at the Ritz Carlton - where everybody knows your name

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/china/hong-kong/dining/tosca

Just about everyone of a certain age brackets should remember the TV show 'Cheers'.  It was a half hour sitcom about a bar in Boston and the catchy theme song for the show was called 'Where everybody knows your name'.  If you're not familiar with it, rekindle your memories or experience for the first time here.

Anyway, there's a memorable line in the song that goes something like 'Wouldn't you like to get away?  to a place where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came'.

That about sums up my experiences when I visit Tosca in Hong Kong's Ritz Carlton.  Granted, the Ritz Carlton's about as far away from a dive bar in Boston, but you get the drift.

I've been to Tosca many, many times now and there are a couple of things that keep drawing me back, the amazing setting, the incredible food but most of all, the impeccable service that only comes from a team that genuinely believe in what they're doing and love to provide the best service imaginable. 

Our last visit was an opportunity for the girl and I to share one last special dinner before I went traveling to the UK for work, a trip that would take me away for a couple of weeks (and lead to a series of food adventures!).  

Spoon by Alain Ducasse - classic and beautiful French flavours

http://www.alain-ducasse.com/en/restaurant/spoon-by-alain-ducasse-hong-kong

I'm not really sure why it took over eighteen months to finally get around to visiting legendary chef Alain Ducasse's Hong Kong restaurant.  It ticks pretty much every box that I ever look for in a restaurant, French, modern, Michelin Starred and as a bonus, a restaurant from one of the top chefs in the world.

Perplexing really.

Anyway, I finally managed to get along to Hong Kong's Intercontinental Hotel, the home of Spoon by Alain Ducasse.  I've dined at the Intercontinental before, for another legendary chef's HK outlet; Nobu, which I found to be quite outstanding (see post here); so I had an inkling of the amazing view that awaited us when we were shown to our window seat.

Hong Kong undoubtably has the world's most spectacular skyline, and the view from Spoon gave us unfettered access to the Island's many skyscrapers.  We were seated just before the sun set and were able to watch the skyline come alive as we consumed our meal.

The incredible service that you'd expect from a Michelin starred restaurant in a five star hotel commenced from the moment we were greeted by the front staff, who took us to our table and introduced us to our two waiters who would pamper us for the entire evening.  We were the first to arrive in the restaurant, ensuring that for the first part of our meal we were the complete focus of our team.

Tosca - insanely good Italian

http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/hotels/china/hong-kong/dining/tosca

Amazing food and service that is so outstanding that you can't wait for your return visit should be the aim of every restaurant, but is delivered by so few.

I'd arranged for a working lunch with a colleague and after a last minute change, found myself sitting on the 101st floor at the Ritz-Carlton's Tosca.  Of course I'd heard about the Michelin Starred restaurant, but until that moment, it had been some way down my list of 'must-visit' dining spaces.

In hindsight, that had been a huge mistake on my behalf!

I was a little early for my reservation, but from the moment I stepped out of the lift at the Ritz-Carlton to the moment my dining companion arrived, I was treated like royalty.  My table was close enough to the floor to ceiling windows of Hong Kong's tallest building to truly appreciate the magnificence of the view.  It wasn't too shabby inside either, with the very modern dining room, centred around an open kitchen, drawing my eye away from the HK skyline!  

No easy feat considering the view.

While I was waiting, sipping on my still water from a cut crystal glass, I was able to watch the kitchen preparing for lunch, led by acclaimed Chef Pino Lavarra.  That Chef Pino has found himself leading the Michelin Starred Tosca in one of the most recognisable and distinctive restaurant brands in the world is no accident.  A prodigious talent, Chef Pino has been recognised as "One of the Best Chefs in the World" by the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, as well as running Two Michelin Starred Rossellinis.

Seasons by Oliver E - 2nd visit better than the 1st

http://www.seasonsbyolivier.com

Seasons by Oliver E is rapidly becoming one of my favourite restaurants in Hong Kong.

One of the few Michelin Starred restaurants I've been to for lunch that actually impressed me (see post here), I decided that an excursion for dinner was required.  After all, if the food was so good with the reserve team in the kitchen, it surely would be even better with the main team, right?!

With a resume that's impressive, including time at Hong Kong's Three Michelin Starred L'Atelier de Joel Rubicon and Two Starred Pierre Hong Kong, Chef Oliver has taken the best of both to come up with his own distinctive style.  With a mission to modernise French cuisine on his own terms, Seasons by Oliver E is a restaurant serves my kind of food.

The second visit to a restaurant is really important, especially if you loved the first experience. Investing time and hard earned cash in a city with tens of thousands of restaurants is no small commitment, and with so many great restaurants to explore, you need a good reason to return. I've been disappointed with a few second visits in HK, which unfortunately means that a third visit is unlikely.  I hoped that my second at Seasons would allow me to reap the rewards of that investment.

Mandarin Grill and Bar - the perfect lunch?

http://www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/fine-dining/mandarin-grill-and-bar/

I suspected that I might like the Mandarin Grill and Bar.  Having all of the hallmarks of a great restaurant helps: Michelin Star, world class home in the Mandarin Oriental and a head chef that trained under arguably this century's most innovate chef, Ferran Adria of El Bulli fame.  Yep, there was a fair chance that I was in for a beauty of a meal.

But I've been wrong before!

I have a love-hate relationship with Michelin Starred restaurants for lunch, love the fact that in Hong Kong you can access a Michelin restaurant for around quarter their usual price.  Hate the fact that more often than not, the star chef is not presiding over lunch time service and you're never sure if the meal will be at the same standard as a dinner.

With a reputation as an innovative chef, Executive Chef Uwe Opocensky has had the opportunity learn from more than just one master, having also worked with Anton Mosimann and Alain Ducasse. That reputation was the key ingredient for the Mandarin Grill securing its Michelin star in 2009, and more importantly, keeping the menu and restaurant fresh while maintaining the gold standard of a Michelin star.  I could think of no better place to have lunch with some colleagues - secretly hoping those lunchtime blues wouldn't become a factor.

Surprisingly, my dining companions had beaten me to the restaurant and were seated by the time I arrived.  I say surprisingly because I've a reputation for being early to dine and I felt just a little weird coming to the table last!

The FoodMeUpScotty Top 10 of 2015 - Best Restaurants

Food Me Up Scotty 2015 Top Ten

It's hard to believe that my first year in Hong Kong is at an end.  It was exactly twelve months ago today that I hoped off the Qantas flight and stepped into my new life in Asia's most dynamic culinary city.  There are only a handful of cities around the world that truely have a reputation as being an epicentre for the culinary pursuits and Hong Kong just happens to be one of those few.  As a food blogger, that has meant that I've been like a kid in a candy store.

I've had time to reflect on my first twelve months and the amazing restaurant and dining experiences in which I've managed to partake.  While there have been well over a hundred restaurants I've checked out in my first year, there have only been a handful that I've repetitively revisited throughout the year, one of which has made my list.  

As you'd expect from a food capital, Hong Kong is home to many restaurant guides that have helped identify the standout dining establishments.  The Michelin Guide, the SCMP Top 100 Tables, the Hong Kong Tatler are all well known guides that mostly get it right but sometimes get it very wrong, with one of my favourite restaurants of all time losing it's Michelin Star.  I have to say that I'm excited to be living in a city that is part of the Michelin family, but I've also come to understand that the guide is fallible.

NUR - nourishment, love and science come together

http://www.nur.hk

Every once in a while, you experience something so unexpected that it instantly forms a lasting memory.  The tasting menu at NUR has left an indelible impression, one that has me comparing the meal to one of my top five ever....  Big call for sure, but there it is.

Let me tell you a little bit about NUR.  

The chef and founder of NUR has an interesting background: inspired and tutored by culinary legend Raymond Blanc, Nurdin Topham's life changed when Blanc prepared him a tomato dish which was a revelation, tasting like nothing Chef Topham had tasted before.  So much flavour, yet so light and balanced, the dish inspired a life changing decision, one that led to ten years in Blanc's two Michelin Starred Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, as well as a qualification as a natural therapist. 

The inspiration for NUR came once Nurdin was able to eat at Rene Redzepi's world famous NOMA in Copenhagen, which led to an internship at Redzepi's Nordic Food Lab, where he immersed himself in artisanal food production, science and fermentation.  Wanting to open his own restaurant, but never thinking that Hong Kong would become home, it was a chance meeting with a HK chef that led to the  opening of NUR.  The rest, as they say, is history.

Lei Garden - Franchise. Chinese. Michelin

http://www.leigarden.hk

When thinking about Michelin Starred restaurants, I have a picture in my mind of unique little and sometimes large restaurants with a mad chef toiling in the kitchen striving for perfection. Sure, there are some exceptions, such as the global phenomenon Joel Robuchon and his chain of L'Atelier Joel Robuchon restaurants (see post here and here).  But those restaurants are spread across the globe, and until recently, I thought an exception.

Lei Garden is a bit of a local success story in Hong Kong, starting from humble beginnings in 1973 with a lone outlet in Sham Shui Po to a restaurant empire with twenty four branches across Hong Kong, Macau, China and Singapore.  Most impressively, in Hong Kong along, there are six outlets that have acquired coveted Michelin Stars. While that sounds impressive, the business hit its peak in 2012 when it held eight individual stars and even more impressively, a two star restaurant at Mong Kok.

We'd walked past a number of the Lei Gardens in our time exploring Hong Kong, with many of them being located in some of the larger shopping complexes.  It wasn't until one Sunday evening, wandering around ICF in Central that we'd decided to give the restaurant a try.  There is a fun game I play at times, trying to get into Michelin Starred restaurants without a booking, something that would be impossible in Europe, but quite achievable in HK.  As luck would have it, we managed to score a table....  With the proviso that we would be finished within an hour, so we didn't have too much time to waste.

The Boss - dim sum lunch treat

http://en.theboss1.com

There's just no getting around it, sometimes you need to 'bite the bullet' and book a restaurant.  I love taking my chances and rocking up to a restaurant and seeing if I can jag a table.  It works more often that you'd think, but I guess when you are trying to get into one of Hong Kong's hottest new Michelin Starred restaurants, making a reservation is a much smarter option.  It didn't stop me from trying to get into The Boss, located in Queens Road Central, a few times before giving up and making a booking.

To be honest, I only made a reservation this time because I was hosting a work colleague who was visiting from London, so it wouldn't do to turn up for a busy lunch service, only to be turned away.  It seems as if my reputation for choosing for amazing restaurants had spread, so I'd been given specific instructions not to book into an 'expensive' restaurant.  Knowing that The Boss had a lunchtime Dim Sum menu seemed to be the logical choice, it would showcase a great new restaurant to our London visitor, while keeping it real for our wallets...

The Boss is located in the basement of the Peter Building in QRC and once you descend the steps the the dining room, you're presented with a modern looking take on a Chinese restaurant. Modern and minimalist are the words that spring to mind when describing the fit out of the restaurant, combining blacks and greys for a sleek and contemporary feel.

Fook Lam Moon - Michelin Stars in Wan Chai

http://www.fooklammoon-grp.com/en/hongkong/home.asp

Sometimes in Hong Kong you just want to eat something local (and I'm not talking about dumplings either).  There are only so many burgers, chips, burritos, steak, pizza and bowls of pasta that can be consumed before your stomach says "Enough!  For heaven's sake, you're in Hong Kong, have some fried rice and crispy chicken!!".  So with that, about two weeks after arriving in Hong Kong, we decided to take the short MTR ride after work to Wan Chai to try Fook Lam Moon, and continue our 'baby-steps' exploration of the local Cantonese cuisine. 

We were a little early, but also had no idea where the restaurant was in relation to the MTR station, so headed off for a little stroll to get our bearings.  As luck would have it, we had headed in the right direction and shortly found ourselves outside Fook Lam Moon, where the front of house staff member was ready to greet us and usher us up in the lift.

The Michelin Starred Ming Court at the Langham Mongkok

http://hongkong.langhamplacehotels.com/restaurants/ming_court.htm

I'm slowly finding my way around Hong Kong and while I don't know it as well as SC, I was pretty happy that I made my way across to a presentation gig at the Langham Place Hotel in Mongkok solo.  Ha, if you know Hong Kong, you're probably thinking that it's so easy to get to Mongkok from Central, and you're right.  However, throw in a few million people all trying to get around at the same time, along with being naturally clueless when it comes to public transport and general directions, well, let's just say I was pretty happy I was able to find it.

As I made my way to the presentation area, which was at the Langham Place Hotel, I noticed that one of the lifts went to the Hotel restaurant, the Ming Court.  A flood of memories hit me when I realised that I was standing only a lift ride away from a restaurant that my mate the Big Boy had been banging on about for the longest time.  In fact, each time he talks about Hong Kong or coming to visit, the Ming Court features heavily in the conversation.  Normally just nod and then look for somewhere else to go, but since I'd found the place I made a note to get back that very weekend with SC for a visit.

Tate Dining Room and Bar - a standout in a city with standouts

http://www.tate.com.hk/about

There is a mind boggling number of restaurants in Hong Kong, in fact, it's pretty hard to get your head around how many there really are.  Practically everywhere you go, every building, has a dining room of some kind.  To put that in context, there are over seven million people and around 6,000 skyscrapers in the greater Hong Kong area.  Open Rice, Hong Kong's main online restaurant guide, lists around 79,000 restaurants, so finding a restaurant is not a problem.  Finding a great restaurant is the challenge.

Walking around, I see lots of restaurants that I'd like to get back to and visit, but with so many around, I often forget which ones I want to get back to.  We were walking up Elgin on Saturday night, just looking around, when we walked past a stylish little dining room that looked the goods.  It helped that there was a cute little horse head that held up a quaint little sign that stated the restaurant open.  Triggering a memory, I checked my list of Michelin Starred restaurants I wanted to visit and sure enough, the little restaurant was on my list!

Tate Dining Room and Bar is the creation of Vicki Lau, a graduate of New York University in Graphic Communication.  With an obvious flare for the creative, Vicki commenced a recreational endeavour at the prestigious Le Cordon Bleu, one of the worlds most prestigious hospitality education institutions.  It was a decision that would set the course of Vicki's life and out her as one of the Region's most creative and influential chefs.  Combining an appreciation of design with the culinary arts, Tate has won a coveted Michelin Star from 2013 through to 2015, culminating in being named Asia's best female chef.

A night at the Spandau Ballet - Gold by Harlan Goldstein

http://www.hongkongin360.com/virtualtours/gold/001/

We have discovered that dining in Hong Kong is slightly different to Australia, in that it is more difficult to just walk in to a restaurant and ask for a table without a reservation, even if the restaurant is mostly empty.  With this in mind I had decided to make a reservation for dinner at Gold by Harlan Goldstein on a Friday night.  Unfortunately on the night in question FMUS was still suffering from a stomach bug, so we had to reschedule to the following week.  Finally that night was here, and we headed in for what we hoped to be a good meal at the flagship restaurant of one of Hong Kong's more prolific restauranteurs.

Harlan Goldstein is a New Yorker who worked under 3-Michelin starred chef Jean Banchet in Chicago, before travelling to Asia and working at some of the top hotel restaurants in the region.  He moved to Hong Kong and, after working at the Aberdeen Marina Club, has now opened his own stable of restaurants in Hong Kong.  We had eaten at one of his other restaurants very early in our Hong Kong experience (see post here) and were impressed with the simple yet tasty dishes served.  We were hoping that with a Michelin star, Gold would top our experience at Penthouse. 

CIAK in the Kitchen - Michelin Starred Itailan

http://www.ciakconcept.com/home.htm

The Landmark Building in Central has got to be one of the most impressive in Hong Kong, especially when you consider the sheer number of Michelin Starred restaurants that it houses.  Included in that list of special restaurants are two 3 Michelin Starred restaurants and a 2 star restaurant that graces the San Pellegrino 'Worlds top 50 restaurant list'.  But it's not all about mega expensive restaurants in the Landmark, there is also one of the more reasonably priced Michelin Starred restaurants in HK.

CIAK in the Kitchen is the latest creation from legendary chef Umberto Bombana and successfully conveys its old world philosophy of an Italian Grocery, where people can enjoy high quality products on site or take away.  It's a trattoria where only the freshest ingredients are used and focused around a series of 'open kitchens' that specialise in pasta, pizza, charcoal grill and pastry.  Most seats in the 8,000 square foot dining room can watch the artistry of chefs as they prepare the delicious CIAK menu.

After a series of cheap and cheerful meals, we'd decided that we wanted a nice meal that wouldn't break the bank, so after a little research, SC picked CIAK.  It had the added benefit of being really close to my place of work, so we'd be able to get stuck in and eating in quick time.  It's quite a pleasant walk to CIAK, past some of most exclusive stores in Hong Kong in a building that has been designed with opulence in mind (The Mandarin Orient Hotel also calls the building home).

Not just a date night place - Upper Modern Bistro

http://www.upper-bistro.com/

Our recent move to Hong Kong has brought with it one additional bonus - being closer to The Big Boy, who lives in Taiwan.  Only a short plane ride away, The BB came over to see us not long after we arrived in town, and his main request for dinner was to go somewhere French (but not too expensive).  After doing a little research, I decided to book us all in for dinner at Upper Modern Bistro, which has recently been awarded a Michelin star in the 2015 guide, and is rapidly garnering a reputation as a great little bistro. 

Upper Modern Bistro is more of a French/modern Asian fusion, the brainchild of Philippe Orrico, a michelin-starred chef who creates a mouthwatering mix of dishes, based on his classical French training, with influences from his travels throughout Asia.   Located just off Hollywood Road in Sheung Wan in Upper Station Street, it can be found in an area bustling with dining spots, mixed in with the usual Hollywood Road antique shops.

Michelin Starred Dim Sum - Tim Ho Wan

https://www.facebook.com/timhowan?fref=ts

After arriving in Hong Kong the previous day, our first full day was the Sunday, which we spent getting acquainted with our new city, and even doing a dry run for FMUS so he knew were to go for his first day of induction on the Monday.  From Olympic City to Elements Shopping Centre, it seemed that Hong Kong was nothing but shopping centres! We also wandered along the Avenue of the Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui, just us and a few thousand of our closest friends, before catching the MTR back across to Hong Kong Island and more shopping centres.  By mid-afternoon we were both pretty tired of walking but the very important task of deciding where to go for dinner still had to be completed.  

After spending the afternoon strolling past shop after shop of luxury brands, we were ready to explore one of Hong Kong's more famous cheap eats.  FMUS declared the place to try would be Tim Ho Wan in North Point.  This particular branch of Tim Ho Wan has been awarded a Michelin star in this year's Guide, along with its Sham Sui Po and Tai Kwok Sui locations.  Finding it was an adventure in itself, we hailed a cab and tried to explain to the driver where we wanted to go, and thanks to a taxi app (which converts addresses to Cantonese), were finally deposited just down the street from a nondescript looking strip of shops in North Point (with a very out of place Ferrari parked across the street...). We weren't sure if we were even in the right location as we don't speak Cantonese (yet) and couldn't read the sign!  If it wasn't for the little red Michelin sign we may have walked on by.