Burgundy and Beef

This particular dinner hosted by a local wine merchant caught my attention because of their choice of bottles. While many wine-themed dinner focuses on certain vineyard or winemakers, this one featured bottles of Burgundy wines with a nice, “entry-level” selection from different winemakers and through this we could get a glimpse of various styles and characteristics in various recent vintages. And it was hosted in one of the top steakhouse in town, one that was bestowed a Michelin star for a few years already and one we didn’t visit often, so that gave us extra incentive to sign up and go. 

Charming Steakhouse Treat

Recently I was at the new Regent Hong Kong for a dinner hosted by their PR team. It's my first visit to the hotel after it went through a major renovation and the name change, and one couldn't ask for a better welcome than being led into the private room in their legendary Steakhouse restaurant with the long dining table and a sumptuous spread of dishes awaiting. 

Unlimited Servings

We caught up with our friends A and C over Sunday Brunch at Henry of Rosewood Hong Kong a few weekends ago, as we knew they were always up for good food. I enjoyed my last visit when this Texas-inspired smokehouse first opened more than a year ago and I would be interested to see how Chef Nate and his team evolves over what’s been a challenging times in restaurant industry in the past year. 

Steak, Frites and Wines

It’s been a while since I returned to eat at AnOther Place, the speakeasy restaurant near Causeway Bay affiliated with Hip Cellar under the same roof, and where some of our wines were stored. The month of May saw another iteration of their operating model of this venture now in its 6th year, geared towards a simpler, more casual bisto-style menu for groups big and small. Of course, wines remained their focus, with the generous BYO policy allowing customers to enjoy their own wines freely with the dishes served. And I also like the view of the Hong Kong skyline on a nice day (and night) from the window of the cozy dining space. 

New Smokehouse in Town

I came to Henry at Rosewood Hong Kong with a lot of expectations when I was invited for a dinner tasting there just a few weeks ago.. A proper steakhouse was few and far between in Hong Kong, especially if I started counting out those with style but no substance. With the hotel owner eager to please and spare no expense in doing so, and with Chef Nate Green, which came with a reputation for being a grill expert from his days at Rhoda, at the helm, there's every reason to be hopeful.

Italian Feast

Theo Mistral in TST East has quickly become one of my favorite casual Italian restaurant in town since its opening last year, and I was glad to make a quick return visit last week when Chef Theo Randall was in town to present a series of special menu at his namesake restaurant. With the invitation that only mentioned a “1-meter Italian Feast”, turned out they did literally prepare a feast for the few of us who attended the dinner at their private room.

Summer Macau Stay-cation Part 3: Family Friendly Star

I found it kinda ironic that Grand Lisboa Hotel, the property that houses one of the biggest casino floors in the world under its roof, also features a few very good restaurants well-suited for families. After we had a great Italian feast at the friendly Casa Don Alfonso the night before, we visited The Kitchen right next door for lunch before we called an end to our quick Macau stay-cation.

Gimme Meats

We met up with our friend V who came back from Singapore to visit over at the Soho restaurant Meats on a Sunday evening last month. As the name of the restaurant suggests, meat is their specialty and apart from their a la carte menu, they also have a chef’s menu (called Give Me Meats) with various dishes passed around the table for sharing and that’s what we went for.

Juicy Meat Feast

Just to prove a point that omnivore diet is still pretty much in style and being the front and center of our current food trend, the all-you-can-eat beef feast at Rhoda on a Wednesday night was filled to capacity the moment tickets went on sale a few weeks ago (gone within days after details of the event was posted, we were told). De la Valley is a new meat purveyor in town trying to bring in artisan steaks from various producers in South America directly to restaurants and retail customers so they collaborated with Chef Nate Green’s Rhoda for this special, one-night-only menu to introduce many of their meats.

Classic Steakhouse Dinner

Late last month I was at Grand Hyatt Steakhouse checking out the new menu introduced by their new head chef Fernando Gojan. The restaurant is now one of the few hotel steakhouse remaining in town, featuring a classic menu with focus on “artisanal” beef from ranches around the world, plus seafood, all the sides and desserts, as what you would see in any high-end steakhouses.

Steakhouse Makeover

There's a constant carousal of restaurants opening and closing in Lan Kwai Fong's California Tower - just a fact of life in this highly competitive area in terms of F&B business. But this time it's a case of new wine in an old bottle, with the steakhouse Porterhouse recently got a new owner with the new makeover. I haven't been to the old Porterhouse before so I can't tell how dramatic was the change when I went for dinner recently, but I was assured those are changes for the good, replacing everything from the chef to the concept to the menu and to the tableware ("basically everything except the interior", I was told)

Tokyo in 40: Cheapo Steakhouse

After an afternoon at Ghibli Museum and wandering on the streets of Kichijoji for a mini zakka crawl, I decided to stick around the neighborhood for dinner before catching my midnight flight home. There's no lack of choices of places to eat near the train station, either inside the food halls of shopping centers and department stores, or inside a few blocks of narrow alleys lined with bars and izakayas (called Harmonica Yokocho)

New Steakhouse in Town

Everyone at our table walked in and asked the same question - "what was this place before it's converted into a fancy steakhouse?" (by the way it was a spa, according to Google Map) A few evenings ago we were at Wolfgang's Steakhouse, an import from New York City, on their first day of business. The restaurant took over this vast space on the street level on the quiet Duddell Street in Central and has turned into that classic steakhouse look, with the classy façade, dark wooden décor with gold accent, with the bar in front near the reception and dining area further back. We were all amazed at how this hardly noticeable store space has gone through such transformation (hence the question)

The Neighborhood Gang

I delightfully joined the gang of foodie friends for dinner at Neighborhood just last week. Our friend R and P hauled back some Black Market Beef from Australia’s Rangers Valley ranch and of course, I was more than happy to be on the receiving end when they decided to share the joy with us at one of our favorite restaurants in town.

Butcher in Residence

We dropped by On Dining one Friday evening when Parisian butcher Hugo Desnoyer was in town to present a few special dishes at the restaurant, using the meat produced by his shop, of course. I managed to get out of office fairly early, so 30 minutes before our reservation time, I was already there, having a pre-dinner drink at the bar upstairs to catch a breather from a hectic work week. Soon I was joined by other friends as we moved to our table downstairs.

Steak and Pommes Weekend Brunch

It seems like ages ago being away for a week but we had a great casual brunch at Atelier Vivanda, a French bistro by Chef Akrame Benallal in Wanchai, just before I left. Located on Ship Street just a few shops down from Chef Akrame’s other restaurant, Atelier Vivanda is a lot more easy-going in style, with an open dining area with wooden tables and chairs, and a bar/open kitchen on one side.

Meat Craving Satisfied at Beefbar

Sometimes restaurant names can be deceptive, but not so much with beefbar, except the fact that it's not exactly a bar but a proper modern steakhouse on Ice House Street in Central specializes in, of course, beef. I am not a steakhouse person, often preferred to enjoy the big slab of meat at the comfort of my own home in pajamas and slippers rather than having to suit up for a formal meal outside. But I was curious to check out this place after hearing all the positive reviews since opening late last year.

Steak and Cocktail Night

Last week I was treated to a steak dinner with cocktail pairings at Morton's at Sheraton in TST. I know, steakhouses sounded like something of an item only in yester-year, where my parents' generation would go for a big celebration of some sort, but to me, there is still this special charm about dining in a classic, American-style steakhouse, completed with clubby decor, leather booths, slow, jazzy music in the background, generous portion of food, and gracious service.

A Parisian lunch treat in Wanchai

Recently I received a lunch treat at Le Relais de L'Entrecote, a casual Parisian steakhouse in Wanchai. The shop joined the scores of new restaurants in town running on the same concept of a casual French bistro serving steak-frites, an idea pioneered by Paul Gineste de Saurs with his Paris restaurant Le Relais de Venise L'Entrecote. But this is the only one which was somewhat linked to the original founder - since it's operating under a franchise agreement with one of Mr de Saurs' daughters and have some of the food ingredients flown in from France direct.

In the Meat Paradise - Butchers Club Deli

I finally managed to venture out to the new Butchers Club Deli in Aberdeen to check out the place and their menu.

This is the third outlet of the hugely successful Butchers Club "empire" famous for their dry-aged steak prepared in-house - the others being the original Butchers Club in Tin Wan, and the Butchers Club Burger in Wanchai. While the former focused mainly for catering and private dinners, and the latter a more casual place for a quick bite, Butchers Club Deli is kind of both - offering deli-style menu during day time, and in the evening, the venue's available for private functions or more elaborate steak dinners.