I've moved :) to a new format!

A new beginning

If you've stumbled onto this page, it's my old blog and I don't post to this one anymore.

A little while ago, I got bored with the format of my blog.  Blogger was not really cutting it for me and I decided to make the big switch to Wordpress.

I'm pretty happy with the results.  I think you will be too.

Get along and check out the new blog format at www.foodmeupscotty.com

@FoodMeUpScotty

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!).  

Ippoh - tempura perfection from a 5th generation chef

http://www.ippoh.com/en/hongkong.html

You really do need to stop and look  at what's behind the curtain.

For over twelve months I walked down Aberdeen Street in SoHo, wandering by a little yellow restaurant that had it's door partially obscured by a heavy curtain.  Sure, I knew that it was a Japanese restaurant, the name gave it away.  A little research may have piqued my interest much sooner, but the name of that little restaurant really meant nothing to me.

Ippoh!

Boy has that changed!

It wasn't until a workmate, lets call her Zoe, wanted to help me celebrate my recent birthday with a special lunch time treat.  She'd been telling me for a long time that her favourite Japanese restaurant in Hong Kong was Ippoh, and wanted to see if I agreed; so we made our way through Central to SoHo and our midday booking.

It was a lightbulb moment for me.

Finally the curtain was pulled back and we entered the tiny little tempura style restaurant, and seated at one of the eight spots available at the bar style dining room.  All eight seats put diners right in the action where the Ippoh head chef (I never did get his name!) was busy preparing the tasty morsels that would be lightly tempura and fried right before out eyes.

There were a couple of options for lunch, the YUKI course which consisted of eight pieces of tempura or the OMAKASE lunch, which was a much more comprehensive journey.  No prizes for guessing which we chose.

Carbone - A taste of American Italian in Honkers

http://carbone.com.hk

I have to say, I'm not a fan of the huge portion sizes renowned by US style restaurants.  I remember tooling around New York hoping that we wouldn't get massive sized meals that we'd feel guilty about not eating.  Thankfully, restaurants in Manhattan seem to be immune from the oversized meals, with the exception of one restaurant (that we visited).  

That restaurant was Carbone and we simply could not eat all the food that was placed in front of us.

It's possibly one of the reasons why we'd not been to Carbone in Hong Kong, even though it had a reputation for first rate American Italian cookery.  

But, as these things go, we had a real hankering for some Italian and after trying to book at a couple of other HK hotspots, managed to secure a last minute booking.  

The Honkers outlet of Carbone is a collaboration of New York's Michael Carbone and the ubiquitous food group, Black Sheep.  I'd heard and read that the experience at Carbone was over the top and very 'New York' and it only took a few minutes at our table to realise that the stories were true.

Ce La Vi - more than a restaurant; an entertainment hub

http://hk.celavi.com/dining/

A month ago, my best mate was across from Taiwan for a quick visit. We were feeling a little bored and thought that a trip to LKF to check out the night life would be a great way to kill a bit of time.  A quick bus ride later and we found ourselves in Hong Kong's party district on a Sunday night with no real idea about what we'd do!  Looking through a list of clubs to visit, Ce La Vi was the one that stood out, but alas it wasn't open.

So instead of looking for somewhere else to go, we just wandered around then made our way back home.  Yeah, sad!

Fast forward a month and I was looking for a restaurant to hit up on a Saturday night and it was again Ce La Vi that caught my attention.

Looking into the joint, it became clear that Ce La Vi was a lot of things, bar, club and restaurant, making it more of a destination hub than either of its sum parts.  In fact, as I delved deeper, it became apparent that the team behind the entertainment hub were responsible for a host of other night time locations spanning the globe.

I was intrigued, so made the reservation; interestingly late on a Saturday afternoon, I had no problems making a booking for dinner the same night.

The Yuu Wanchai - very tasty casual Japanese fare

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Yuu-Wan-Chai

I'm sorry to say, but sometimes I'm really, really lazy and can't be bothered looking for new restaurants to try.  I know, shock horror, I'm a food blogger and it's my job to inform you of the latest and greatest; blah blah blah.

I'm also at heart a creature of habit and love going to a familiar place and having comfort food that is simple and I don't have to think about it.  Lately, that place has been le Relais de l'entrecôte (see post here) and we've been eating there a lot!  Unfortunately, the girl gets a fed up by going to the same spot a little easier than me, so I've been forced to find a new local spot that we can frequent when feeling lazy.

SC had visited The Yuu Japanese restaurant while I'd been away travelling and had been pestering me suggesting that we visit together, so I finally bit the bullet and agreed to walk across the street to check the place out.

ALTO Bar and Grill by Dining Concepts - wow, what a view

http://www.diningconcepts.com/Alto

Dining Concepts is one of the leading restaurant groups in Hong Kong, running a heap of restaurants from some of the world's leading chefs.  Names like Gordon Ramsey and Mario Batali are associated with the group, which gives Dining Concepts star power.  So much so that the group launched on the Hong Kong stock exchange this week with shares rising an amazing 1900% at one point.

Amazing really.

One of the key things about Dining Concepts is that they sure do know how to open a restaurant, often with much fanfare, sometimes low key.  ALTO in Causeway bay was the most recent restaurants to join the stable and after reading some of the press about the joint, we decided to get along and check it out.

Located in the very new V Point building, which it must be said was still not fully occupied at the time of our visit, the very modern space resides on the 31st floor of the building and had simply stunning views of Hong Kong.  You're instantly assaulted by the stunning array of lights that dangle from the ceiling, very much looking like floating orbs or golden suns at first, but as you get closer, more like bright amoeba - all different shapes and glowing.  The rest of the restaurant is a mix of comfortable modern chairs and tables that seemed like a cross between picnic and traditional restaurant tables.  

Designer Tom Dixon of internationally renowned Design Research Studio had done a superb job of building a contemporary looking restaurant that has moved away from the semi industrial feel that seems to be so prevalent nowadays!

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.

Le Reve - Japanese ingredients and French fusion cooking

http://www.lereve.com.hk

Fusion is a term that's going out of fashion if you listen to some chefs, it's a term that's reluctantly used to describe the blending of cuisines. Others wear the term with pride, looking to purposefully blend cultures, cuisines and ingredients, constantly challenging themselves to come up with something new, something indescribable, something totally delicious.

You might not hear rising Japanese chef Ryogo Ozawa specifically use the term fusion anywhere, but the technically brilliant chef has perfected the art of blending traditional Japanese ingredients with innovative French cooking, a blending that he calls French cuisine, new style.  Having worked at three Michelin starred L'Assiette Champenoise in Reims, Chef Ozawa has created a menu that is both technically brilliant, visually stunning and most importantly, wonderful to consume.

Le Reve has only been open for a few months, but the contemporary French restaurant is the culmination of five friends' vision and dreams.  The five friends were all students in the UK, traveling the continent and consuming all of the delights that Europe has to offer, when the idea of one day opening their own restaurant.

Oh how those boys must feel now that Le Reve is open.

Yum Cha - the most Instagram ready food in Hong Kong

http://yumchahk.com/

I love that Hong Kong is a central hub for many flights coming from Europe to Australia (or vice versa). It means that we often have friends stopping by, sometimes for a few days and other times for just 24 hours.  One of the girl's great friends and her family were coming back from a family holiday and managed to spend a fun filled day in our new city.

We're no strangers to having meals with Fi and Kev, with the girl and Fi having regular get togethers in the Indian restaurants of Brisbane.  I'd even bumped into Kev in the UK one time and we shared an interesting dinner at Two Michelin starred Hibiscus (see post here).  For this short trip, we'd arranged two dining extravaganzas, the first of which was at one of Hong Kong's most interesting and fun Chinese restaurants, Yum Cha.

Now, yum cha is both the name of a restaurant and also a style of cuisine, which roughly translates to  'drink tea' and/or 'going for dim sum' - small, bite sized portions of Cantonese cuisine.  What makes Yum Cha the restaurant so incredible is the fun and unique manner in which they present their dim sum.  In fact, some of the dim sum is so interesting to look at, it's almost a shame to eat!

Covering a massive 6,000 square feet on the fringes of Central, Yum Cha distinguishes itself with it's high ceilings that are reminiscent of a New York style loft.  With it's high ceilings and large windows, there is a bright and airy feel to the dining area.  What I loved as I wandered up the escalators to the entrance of Yum Cha was the full scale truck that dominated the entrance and was used for displaying the restaurant's opening times (of course, seems legit!)

Atelier Vivanda - Akrame's other global restaurant chain

http://www.ateliervivanda.com.hk

Akrame Benallal seems to be a man on a mission.  Not content with a Two Michelin starred restaurant in his native France, the young gun chef has been looking to expand and create a global culinary empire.

I'd been to his self titled restaurant, Akrame, located in the very hip Ship Street Wanchai, recipient of a Michelin Star in its own right and thought his take on French cuisine was nice (see post here).  So, when we were looking for an alternative to the steak frites dinners that we'd been consuming lately, Akrame's other global outlet sprang to mind.

Atelier Vivanda is located right next door to Akrame, but while Akrame is quite hidden from view, Atelier Vivanda is much more open and easy to find.  A bold and striking brand sits above an open window that brings the vibe of Ship Street right into the dining room, enlivening the feel of the restaurant.

We'd had quite an early reservation for dinner and arrived earlier still, so were the first diners to be seated at our table, in a prime position right in front of the open style kitchen.  The bold styling of the logo translated to a clean and modern fit out inside, with each of the tables created with spots to hold the specially made steak knives that are a feature at Atelier Vivanda.

The menu at chef Akrame's steak restaurant is quite simple and like many steak frites restaurants, is largely fixed.  I say largely, but there were quite a few options and combinations available on the menu, so for a set price, you were able to pick and choose from a wide variety of options.  At the crux of the menu however, you chose an entree and main, then get to select from the unlimited sides selection; which ran to five different styles of potato.

Rhoda - Nose to Tail cooking with bags of flavour

http://www.rhoda.hk

You can tell a lot about a chef by the way he sets up his kitchen.  Walking into Rhoda for the first time, I could tell that head chef and culinary director Nate Green was a confident man.  

The internationally renowned Joyce Wang designed restaurant has the kitchen as the centrepiece of the restaurant, with the highlight being an open fire grill.  My eye was drawn to the back of the room, where Chef Nate was overseeing the open flame and charcoal grill that was slowly cooking one the restaurant's signature dishes.

You might recognise the name Nate Green, having worked with the likes of Gordon Ramsey and Jason Atherton, Nate was most recently in charge of Wanchai's 22 Ships as well as Ham & Sherry.  Nate was also recently on local TV for the locally produced Hungry Foodies lifestyle program, a shared experience with Nate appearing on episode three, while I was a little later on episode eight.

The concept behind Rhoda is very much nose to tail dining, with very little of the 'beast' going to waste.  With a menu that changes daily, depending on which beast Nate can secure, the best local ingredients are used to create simple but delicious modern comfort food.  Comfort food is the heart of Nate's current style, drawing on memories of great conversations over a good meal.  Taking the vision one step further, there is a large communal table at the centre of the restaurant, aiming to mimic that homely feel.

Caprice - The return visit was perfection

http://www.fourseasons.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/caprice/

My best mate had not been to visit for over eighteen months, so when he set out the criteria for our reunion dinner, there were two considerations.  It had to be French fine dining and there had to be a memorable fromage.

There are many high quality French fine diners here in Hong Kong, but there is only one with a cheese platter that can only be carried to your table by two wait staff.  It ended up being an easy choice, so we booked into Caprice, located at the Four Seasons.

My first and last visit to Caprice had been memorable, enjoyable, but not spectacular, so we were taking a bit of a risk by recommending it to the Big Boy.  If it didn't live up to expectations, we'd be hearing about it for many years to come.

With Two Michelin stars, Caprice is one of the best restaurants in our adopted city, and even though it lost a Michelin star in 2014, chef Fabrice Vulin has maintained an incredible standard of dining.  (For more information on Fabrice Vulin, check out my previous post).

Access to Caprice is through the beautiful Four Seasons hotel, and you'd be forgiven for thinking you'd entered ancient Greece with all of the marble leading up to the front of the restaurant.  An interesting dichotomy, there is just a simple plaque leading up to the doors that open automatically before you're granted access to a decadent and plushly decorated dining room and a magnificent and massive open style kitchen.  

Le Garcon Saigon - a taste of Southern Vietnam in Hong Kong

http://legarconsaigon.com/

There is a long history of French domination in Vietnam, including a more than passing influence in the cuisine from the Indochina region. You might not know, but France conquered Vietnam's largest city in 1859 and held sway there until 1945 - where there was quite a bit of global realignment of nation states.

Everything from language to architecture and food were influenced by the French invasion of Vietnam and as a consequence, some incredible food was created by the melding of two nations palates.  Traditional Vietnamese food was most certainly influenced by the French (but then again, this could be said of most countries cuisines) and le Garçon Saigon in Wanchai perhaps epitomises this best.

Le Garçon Saigon is a collaboration between Vietnamese-Australian Chef of Bao La and the boys from Black Sheep Restaurant.  Keeping up their affinity for Australian chefs, le Garçon Saigon has helped deepen the options available to all that live in arguably Hong Kong's fastest growing foodie district.

We'd booked for an early dinner and were surprised that le Garçon Saigon was already half filled by the time we arrived for our 6:30pm reservation, and even more surprised that by 7pm, the place was completely packed.  Hong Kong is a place where dining is done later in the evening, so it was a testament to the concept that it was still drawing so many people many months after opening.

Jinjuu - Contemporary Korean and oh-so-tasty

http://www.jinjuu.com/hk/en/

I have to say, I was pretty dubious when the girl suggested that we visit Jinjuu for our monthly lunch date.

After all, our last couple of 'long lunches' had been at Michelin starred restaurants.

I had no real reason to be suspect about the Korean fusion joint, the girl had recently been with workmates and was really keen to get my thoughts about the food.  Now, I'm not saying that I don't trust the girl's judgement when it comes to food, it's just that I couldn't see a place called Jinjuu floating my boat.

Then there was the fact that it was in LKF.

A fact that had me completely confused when I initially tried to find Jinjuu in it's listed address of the California Tower - a spot that I know well.  Jinjuu is 'technically' in the California Tower, but in reality is on street level, just around the corner from the tower's main entrance.

As I walked into the Judy Joo owned restaurant, I was very much reminded of the fact that LKF is Hong Kong's party district.  On one side of the entrance was your typical counter gracing restaurant entrances worldwide, and on the other was a DJ booth, with electronic decks at the ready for the setting of the sun and presumably the transformation of Jinjuu from restaurant to hip bar.

Beefbar - tasty food but small portions for lunch

http://hk.beefbar.com/

Worth the wait?  

A good question!

I'd been trying to get into the Beefbar in Central for a while.  I'd ring up to try to make a booking, only to be told that they were completely booked up.  The few times I'd taken the chance of a walk in resulted in an almost comical response from the Beefier 'gate keepers'.

And that's how I'd started to think about the phone booking team, as well as the door staff; gate keepers.  Getting in became insurmountable and I eventually gave up and forgot about trying to get in.

It wasn't until my regular lunch date with a colleague and friend that the prospect of visiting the Beefbar arose again.  When JP suggested visiting, I gave a whimsical 'why not', thinking that it would still be nearly impossible to get into (even six months after opening).  You can imagine my surprise when the reservation was confirmed.

I guess a Monday at lunch might be the perfect time to hit a new(ish) restaurant in this city!

Our lunch date/meeting was at 12 and I'd arrived on time but heard from JP that she'd be a few minutes late after finishing a meeting in head office.  I was cool with that, it gave me the opportunity to 'sticky-beak' around the place once I'd arrived at the eerily familiar front desk (yeah, I'd tried to get in a few times!)

Mercato - Jean-Georges in Hong Kong

http://www.jean-georges.com/restaurants

I had to make some serious decisions during my visit to New York, admittedly not life or death decisions, but important to me.

So many restaurants and so little time meant that I had to carefully choose where I would spend my hard earned money.  One of the very last nights left in Manhattan came down to a choice between three star restaurants, Daniel and Jean-Georges.

Daniel won out on the day, but I'd always felt as if I'd missed out on something special.

A couple of years down the track I learned that Jean-Georges was opening an outlet of his slightly more casual Mercato in Hong Kong and I was excited.  I was finally getting to check out the fare of one of the United States' top chefs.  So cool.

Located in California Tower, one of  LKF's funkiest buildings, I'd managed to sneak into Mercato at the right time.  Not yet formally open and running through a soft opening month, I happened to dine on a day where Jean-Georges himself was hosting with some of his crew responsible for designing the restaurant and lighting.

Arcane - not so hidden or mysterious after all

http://www.arcane.hk/

I'm probably biased, but Australian chefs are taking over the world!

It seems that every day, a new Aussie chef is hitting Honkers to open a new restaurant or join part of an established team.

This invasion, of a sort, arguably started when Perth born chef Shane Osborne, moved from the UK to Hong Kong to establish his own take on a simple yet delicious fare.  Having achieved two Michelin Stars at well known London restaurant Pied-a-Terre, Osborne threw it all in to travel for a while, before ending up at HK restaurant St Betties.  Turning the fortunes of the under performing restaurant around, Osborne eventually developed his own restaurant in Central.

Arcane

"Understood by few" and "mysterious and secret"

An interesting name for a restaurant from a Chef that had run one of the world's top restaurants, perhaps hoping for anonymity in Hong Kong?

We arrived for our 7pm reservation and unsurprisingly, we were the first to arrive, seemingly the only couple in Hong Kong that think dining at this hour is normal.  Located near LKF, we had no trouble finding the restaurant and were so early, LKF was actually really, really quiet!  

The Drawing Room - was replacing Vasco a good idea?

http://www.tdr.com.hk/

Vasco Fine dining was one of my very favourite restaurants in Hong Kong (see post here and here).

When I found out that it was closing, I was devastated. Why hadn't I gone and supported it more!  I still remember so fondly the olive oil sommelier and the incredibly inventive and tasty Spanish cuisine.  

Sigh, that's Hong Kong for you!

Then, I found out that the space that Vasco occupied at historic PMQ was to be taken over by by The Drawing Room, a restaurant that held the hearts of Hong Kongers so well before closing down a few years back.  Not to mention having held a Michelin Star for many years also.

My excitement grew, when I found that, Drawing Room Concepts, the team behind Vasco were driving the new iteration of the Drawing Room.  In fact, the chef that had provided the taste sensations that delighted me at Vasco, Chef Gabriele Milani, would continue to be the driving force in the kitchen.

My acceptance was complete.  Spanish would make way for Italian.  Bring on The Drawing Room.

Like many new (or reborn) restaurants in Hong Kong, it was difficult to make a booking for TDR, so much so that Saturday nights were booked out more than a month in advance, so I had to make do with a Friday night spot - after work.

There was a very familiar feeling as we made our way from pre drinks at Aberdeen Street Social (see post here), up through PMQ to the very top floor.  It was almost a case of deja vu as we were met at the level six reception and were escorted upstairs.  As we were given our seats, it would be easy to forget that Vasco had demised and a new restaurant had taken it's place. In fact, the only real difference that I could see was the change of name; everything else remained the same.

It would be so easy for me to reflect and comment about the differences between Vasco and The Drawing Room, so I will try to refrain!

Burger Joint - The Burger Room Causeway Bay

http://burgeroom.com/

I have to say, I really like Causeway Bay.  It's one of the most densely populated spots in Hong Kong, which makes it one of the most densely populated places on the planet.  It's crazy to hang out and watch people rushing about....  Come to think of it, it might be one of the only locations in Hong Kong where I've seen anything remotely frantic in it's pace.

But, it can wear thin pretty quickly and you increasingly get a sense that you need a quiet moment away from the masses and hysteria.

Surprisingly, there is a place in Causeway Bay that has a much less frantic pace, and even better, has a heap of restaurants and funky shops to stroll through.  All at a much more leisurely pace.

Fashion Walk is a little bit removed from the hustle and bustle of Times Square, but it's increasingly becoming my go to spot when in the area, just for me to catch my breath.