I'm forever surprised by the hidden gem restaurants dotted around Hong Kong, more so when I walk by a spot, not realising that an absolute cracker of a restaurant is nearby. But then, to be fair, sometimes I walk around with my head in the clouds!
The girl has mentioned the name Blue Butcher to me a couple of times as we've walked down Hollywood Road in the Mid Levels, but it never connected with me that the dark little bar front was actually hiding something more my style! It wasn't until a mate from work said his favourite steak place in HK was the Blue Butcher that I had the light bulb moment - we booked a table immediately.
I'd arranged to meet the girl at the restaurant and when I rocked up out the front, SC was finishing up with a beer at the downstairs bar. It was still a mystery to me that there was a steak restaurant around, especially looking at the facade, but after we walked up the stairs, it all became clear. A huge space opened up that was equal measures dark pub and funky industrial style kitchen.
We were initially booked in for a seat at the bar, which we were very comfortable with, but as we were being seated, our waitress indicated that a table had opened up, as long as we were out by 8pm - easily done! We were seated by the window, which overlooked Hollywood Road and gave me a great view of the kitchen.
Our menus were handed over and we were left to our own devices while we decided on our dinner options. The first thing I noted on the menu was the approach from Blue Butcher, which was farm to table and nose to tail cooking. There were a heap of 'small' plate options which was very much in alignment with the Blue Butcher philosophy. There was also a pretty spiffing list of dry aged beef available, all produced in the restaurants very own walk-in dry ageing room lined with Himalayan pink salt bricks (apparently the best way to dry age the beef).
We kicked off with a couple of small plates to share. I really liked the look of the prime steak tartare, which was presented on a square of toast and covered with sweet shallot puree, dijon mustard, sherry mustard and the customary bright yellow egg yolk. The beef was indeed prime, with a lovely meaty flavour that was enhanced by the condiments. The big problem with the tartare was the toast, it was overly dry and didn't add to the dish. Even worse, it made it very difficult to mix in the egg yolk, so it wasn't blended into the beef as much as I'd have liked.
We also ordered the Spanish ham and egg, which was an absolute winner! Comprising of a slow cooked egg, sitting atop some Spanish ham and huge asparagus spears and finished off with some mixed mushrooms. As we burst open the egg, the creamy yolk spread throughout the plate and mixed with the ham and asparagus, giving the whole dish a creamy hit. What I also loved was the contrasting earthy flavour from the mushrooms, which was an unexpected pleasure! The only problem was evenly splitting the dish between two, I'm positive SC ended up with way more than I did!!
It's sacrilege to go to a specialist steak restaurant and not get the steak, but that's exactly what I did! I know, you're thinking 'no, you fool!', but I really liked the idea of ordering the free range charred French chicken with baby carrots and peal onions. Given it was a nose to tail joint, I thought that I couldn't really go wrong, and I was right! Ordering the half size, my chicken was presented rustically in the pan, along with the juices and a lovely rich sauce. The chicken was succulent and full flavoured, especially mixed in with the gravy/sauce that the chicken was cooked in. There was a little thyme to add to the flavour and a heap of heirloom carrots that had a rich caramelisation from cooking in the pan. For once, I was glad I went against the grain and ordered the chicken!
Order was restored by the girl, who ordered the 400 day grass fed prime tenderloin, which was presented on a bed of parmesan roast garlic creamed spinach and unusually covered in a béarnaise sauce and crispy shallots. It was a serious piece of beef, cooked expertly and about as tender as you'd hope to get. It was full flavoured, sure, but what made the meal special was that béarnaise sauce that covered the steak. We normally like the sauce on the side, so you can control the amount, but Blue Butcher had this formula right, it was superb!
We've been on a bit of a health kick recently, so we opted out of dessert, but then again, we were pretty full from our meal anyway. We also opted out of the kick-ass looking cocktail menu, which from what I've been told is one of the best in HK. We didn't miss either, but we also thought that we'd love to come back for a more comprehensive meal and cocktails with friends.
The Blue Butcher is a pretty funky spot, it looks the goods with it's dark interior, leather chairs and dark wood tables. I loved the tunes playing through the decent sound system and I loved my view of the kitchen, which always sends me into a bit of a trance watching chefs in action. Service was good, there were plenty of wait staff on hand to help us out throughout the meal and we didn't feel pressure to vacate our table.
Yeah, I'd definitely head back to Blue Butcher, the food was very decent and there are not too many places where you can pick up a decent chicken main with roast veggies! I definitely think I will try one of the aged wagyu steaks next time though, the bites I had of SC's steaks were great and while I didn't have food envy (yeah, my chicken was that good), I definitely missed not having the beef!
Blue Butcher, you'll be seeing us again soon!
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| Crusty bread and hand churned butter - there was some decent olive oil too :) |
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| Slow cooked eggs with ham, mushrooms and asparagus - an interesting combo that worked well |
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| The toast didn't work with the tartare - you couldn't mix the egg and the balance was out |
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| Leather chairs - they were comfy! |
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| Just above Hollywood Road |
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| The signs point to the pig - but we didn't see much on the menu |
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| Blue Butcher was a surprisingly large space |
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