Casual Dining - Hooked fish and chips

http://hooked.hk/

Typical for a Kiwi to make a claim for the best fish and chips in the world, but that's exactly what the team from Hooked have done.  I make this statement as an Aussie, because it's clear that Aussies make the best fish and chips in the world.  It was with fond memories of wonderfully cooked fish and golden brown, crunchy chips that I set out to find Hong Kong's best fish and chips, which is how I stumbled across Hooked.

Located on Caine Road, right in the middle of Expat territory, Hooked is one of those little food spots that you could easily walk by if you weren't looking for it.  It's a tiny little space that has room for standing only and is run by a Kiwi with grand designs.  To bring the best of New Zealand's pristine waters directly to Hong Kong, with all fish caught using sustainable practices.

Now, I'll be the first to admit, New Zealand has some of the most amazing produce in the world, the land of the 'long white cloud' is far away from much of the worlds pollution and the Kiwi's do have a reputation for great fish and chips.  But so do the Aussies, who typically also think we're the best at everything (LOL).  

Only one way to find out and that was get into Hooked and give it a go.

Pizza Express - my fallback place to eat

http://pizzaexpress.com.hk

I very clearly remember the first time I had Pizza Express.  We'd just landed in Barcelona a couple of days before New Years Eve 2008 and were pretty darn tired.  Wandering down Las Ramblas, the main area of the ancient city and were looking for a bite to eat.  Sure, you're in Barcelona and the first thing you want to find is tapas, but there were so many people about that we just went for the first thing we saw.....  It just happened to be a Pizza Express.

That first time in Pizza Express was an interesting one, we had some amazing pizza but were conflicted, the pizza clearly came from a chain....  We like to think we are above heading to chain restaurants, but when the food's great - well, let's just say we overlooked the chain element.

We'd never seen Pizza Express in Australia, so always figured it was a European chain, but weren't totally surprised when we learned that there were a few outlets in Hong Kong. After all, to be honest, you can find just about anything in HK....  So, it was with fond memories that we snuck into Pizza Express one night after work and were reminded all over again, European Pizza is so much better than New York pizza (see post here).

After a couple of months in Hong Kong, we have a few favourite spots where we go to eat when we don't really feel like trying something new....  Pizza Express is one of those spots.

Motorino Pizza - New York comes to Hong Kong

http://www.motorinopizza.com

I love pizza!

It's a great way to start, right, stating the obvious.  Pretty much everyone loves pizza, and with good reason, it's a simple staple that just tastes great.  I've spent plenty of time in cities around the world where the pizza is supposed to be the best, including Rome and New York (see post here).  I found the pizza in Rome to be the best, but unfortunately, the pizza in New York was a mixed bag, ranging from completely amazing to pretty much 'meh.

Living in the Mid Levels means that I'm forever traipsing up and down the escalators (or magical anti-gravity machine) that runs from Central, right the way through Soho to Conduit Road.  It's hard not to notice that there is a little slice of New York, right in the centre of Soho.  Motorino Pizza is a little pizza joint that opened up in Brooklyn New York, a neighbourhood pizzeria with big ambitions. With outlets in New York, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore Hong Kong, the team from Motorino are bringing a slice of the Big Apple to Asia.

We'd zoomed up the magical anti-gravity machine dozens of times before we thought we'd stop in and see if we could be transported back to New York, and memories of our greatest holiday. Motorino is a pretty compact little restaurant and stepping through the front doors did transport us back to our time in New York.  Exposed brick walls were reminiscent of little cafes in the Little Italy and were very much a feature of many of the pizzerias in NYC.  

Ho Lee Fook - much more than a funny name

http://holeefookhk.tumblr.com/

I'd only been in Hong Kong for a short time, just wandering around, exploring and trying to get my bearings, when I stumbled across a restaurant in trendy Soho's Elgin Street.  I actually did one of those comical double-take moments, you know the one, you catch a glance before your head snaps back to double check you've actually seen what you thought you saw.  Now, maybe it's just because I'm Australian, but when I see a place called Ho Lee Fook, I'm pissing myself laughing....  This is what happened, and then of course, I took some photos to share with my friends on Facebook.

Behind a very funny name is a very serious dude, Chef Jowett Yu, a young chef who's achieved a lot. A native from Taiwan, Yu spent most of his formative years in Canada before moving to Sydney in 2005, where he worked for legendary chef Tetsuya Wakada in arguably Australia's best restaurant of the last decade - Tetsuya's.  Not satisfied with working for one the world's best Asian chefs, Jowett went on to further success with Sydney's Mr. Wong and Ms. G’s - Mr. Wong's picking up the Australian Gourmet Traveller's best new restaurant of 2013.

It took me a couple of months, but I finally found my way back to Ho Lee Fook, this time with the express intent of satisfying my desire for some kick-ass Asian fusion.  We'd tried to make a booking for the restaurant, but as with many in Hong Kong, Ho Lee Fook had a no reservations policy, so it was get along and wait for a table....  Of course, we hate waiting for anything, so, with careful planning, we found ourselves standing at the top of the stairs that led down to the main dining room and scored the last available...  With a promise that we would be out by 8pm.