ManMo Cafe - interesting but pricy dumplings

https://www.facebook.com/manmocafe

When we were looking around Hong Kong for a place to live, Sheung Wan was on a relatively short list of areas that I wanted to live.  We had a pretty demanding list of requirements, and as new residents to Hong Kong, didn't really have the right requirements on the list.  As it turned out, we  didn't move into the area, which in hindsight is a shame...  I really love the vibrancy and energy in Sheung Wan, oh, of course I love all of the the little laneways that are full of funky little cafes and restaurants.

It's not as if we live a long distance from Sheung Wan, in fact, we live just up the mountain in the Mid Levels, so it only takes us ten minutes to walk down the hill (up the hill is another matter). We spend a lot of time wandering around the area, just soaking up the vibe and last weekend, we checked out the Portobello Markets (unfortunately not the same as the Notting Hill version). Apart from meeting some really cool peeps (that we will be hanging out with for dinner soon), we found a little dumpling cafe that looked the goods.

ManMo Cafe bills itself as a 'contemporary dim sum with brilliant flavour in Sheung Wan' and serves up a contemporary mix of fusion and eclectic vegetarian friendly Chinese.  Normally, with a title like that, I'd run for the hills, but given we were pretty hungry and the cafe really did look inviting, we went in to check it out.

ManMo is an interesting name, and is labeled after a famous neighbouring temple and was conceived by Swiss-born Nicolas Elalouf to serve a burgeoning crowd of East meets West foodie.  Throwing everything into the menu, Nicholas has scoured the dining scene looking for input from chefs with pedigrees that includes Robuchon and Din Tai Fung.  As a result, ManMo boasts a menu that is contemporary and quite different from any other dim sum place around.

Chom Chom - A taste of Hanoi in HK

http://www.chomchom.hk/

Spending a lot of time wandering around the streets of Hong Kong, in particular Central and SoHo, you get a sense for which restaurants are popular and which are struggling a little bit.  I'm often amazed that one funky little dining spot might have a crowd spilling onto the pavement, while another will be empty all the time.  With so many cool looking little spots about to try out, my list keeps getting bigger!

I was recently contacted by a restauranteur I know in Brisbane who has some of the most popular dining spots in town, with a recommendation to check out SoHo hotspot Chom Chom.  It was the inspiration for one of his most popular little food joints called Kwan Brothers (see post here) and DG thought it would be great for me to connect with Chom Chom mastermind Peter Franklin.  So, linking up with our favorite HK food blogger Cynthia from JustCozItsTuesday, we made our way across.

It was a hot and steamy HK evening when we made our way up the hill from Central to Chom Chom and the first thing I noted was how often I'd walked past Chom Chom, not realising that it was one of those funky little dining spots I'd been keen to check out.  Cynthia was already warming a seat while we waited for a table to clear inside, so with nothing else to do, we sat outside catching up while the girls cracked on with some cocktails.

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.

L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon - Three Michelin Stars

http://www.robuchon.hk/about_us

Hands down, my favourite cuisine is French fine dining.  A couple of years ago, I was able to fulfil a lifelong dream by eating at one of Paul Bocouse's many global restaurants.  It's a meal I will never forget.  If you've not heard of Paul Bocouse, then you need to check him out, he is one of three chefs to have been awarded 'Chef of the Century' by Gault Millau.  If you're into food though, I'm sure you've heard of the Bocuse d'Or, often called the world championship of cooking and named after the legendary chef.

One of the other legendary chefs awarded the 'Chef of the Century' tag is Joel Robuchon, who also holds the distinction of being awarded the most number of Michelin Stars globally, currently twenty five.  When I moved to Hong Kong, one of the first things that struck me was that I was moving to a city with a L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon, one of the few three Michelin Starred restaurants in Hong Kong.  With accolades that seem to fall like cherry blossoms in spring, L'Atelier is also ranked as the seventeenth best restaurant in Asia by the San Pellegrino Asia's top 50 list.

I'd been fortunate enough to have visited Singapore's L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon last year (see post here), but that was a solo dining experience, so I was keen to take SC along to experience the ultimate fine dining experience.  I was travelling when I asked SC to book a table at L'Atelier Hong Kong and when she came back to me to say that we could only get a seat at the bar.  I had a little chuckle, "It'll be OK, just wait and see" was all I could manage.  

I didn't want to spoil the surprise, but the whole point of L'Atelier de Joel Robucon is to bring the diner into the meal.  Originally conceived in Tokyo, the restaurants serve French haute cuisine in a stylised environment, with most of the seats arranged around the central kitchen.  L'Atelier translates into 'workshop' and the style of kitchen allows the diner to witness the chefs at work - watching the magic happen.