"Taste of Hong Kong"

We were at the Central Harborfront to check out Taste of Hong Kong 2017 on their first evening of opening. To be honest I wasn't 100% convinced of the whole concept of this food event, now in its second year, bringing about a bunch of high-end restaurants in a food truck park-like setting, then calling this collectively "Taste of Hong Kong". But then when I was offered a pair of free tickets by the kind marketing team of Sheraton Hong Kong, I thought it's worth dropping by to see for myself. Plus this gave me some incentive to get out of office early and the weather was perfect for making the casual stroll to the space next to the Observation Wheel where tents and booths were set up for the 4-day event.

I started with my visit at Marriott Studio, where the local hotels under the group (now including the Starwood and Marriott hotels after the merger) were taking turns showcasing their culinary teams at the cooking demonstrations held regularly. The first night was Sheraton Hong Kong, with Chef Oscar from the Oyster & Wine Bar showing us how to prepare several dishes, including their signature Crab Cake.

The dish happened to be my adopted hometown favorite, so I felt it’s particularly relevant. Well, I may have been a bit biased to say I probably still make better crab cakes (which I count as my "signature dish" at home), but I did pick up a few tips from Chef Oscar during the demo which I surely will find useful to improve on my recipe. And I got to taste the final product at the end too, which was tasty with a few different sauces to go with.

I then hopped over to the Hong Kong Tatler booth right across, where they are hosting a series of roundtable for a casual discussion with chefs and other authoritative figures in the food & beverage industry. I think it’s a brilliant idea for visitors to get up close and personal to the chefs and hear them share what they think of the industry, the restaurant trend, their favorite food and cuisine, etc etc.

There were numerous booths hosted by restaurants and hotels in town – I had such difficulties deciding what to eat. Given we regularly visit most of the participating restaurants anyway, we ended up stopping by only a couple for some casual snack. Duddell’s siu mai with truffles was spot-on with rich flavors and good aroma from the truffle paste on top, and the dacquiose at Serge et la Phoque was an no-brainer choice. And we were happy that the restaurant are going to stick around at their original Wanchai location for the time being, despite the plan to expand to London later this year.

It’s only our first time at the event, and I think it’s better than I expected. It has good atmosphere with good food and drink to show forth. The place was lively but never over-crowded. My only complaint was the long line at the cashier – something wrong with their point-of-sale system which took forever to process. But we met so many friends there and had a wonderful time. So, sure, I would love to return next year!

When? March 16 2017
Where? Taste of Hong Kong 2017, The Central Harborfront, Hong Kong

Web: http://hongkong.tastefestivals.com/