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.

We took over the private room at the back of the restaurant (called The Poker Room), up the narrow stairs next to the kitchen with this cozy space on the mezzanine floor that seat the 9 of us quite comfortably. And the food came straight over as we settled with our glass of champagne. We began with a few appetizer dishes served tapas style, including the chicken croquettes and slices of pastrami served with pickles on the side. The pastrami were sliced thicker than we were more used to, with less of a smoky flavor but delicious nonetheless with the meat done just right, tender with a bite – so good that we asked for more right after we finished the original portion.

I found myself reaching in to the plate of chicken wings non-stop as a few plates of those were brought in after we were done with the first courses. It’s marinated and deep-fried with a sticky, sweet glaze with hot sauce, and served with a mild blue cheese dipping sauce on the side. It was tasty enough even without the dipping sauce right down to the meat next to the bones. I would come back to the restaurant just for that, seriously. Next was the thick slices of porchetta, rolled with the skin outside and roasted. It looked sexy when we took a glance of it being prepared in the kitchen when we walked in, but I thought the meat was slightly underseasoned and the skin a tad bit tough (still on the crispy side though).

Our main course of steak was brought in to our room raw with much fanfare then brought back down to the kitchen to cook. The pieces were introduced to us as bone-in rib-eye which have been dry-aged for 20 days. Unfortunately it’s the only course that we thought was off, and we have to return them upon having a few bites. The somewhat funky smell (similar to blue cheese) was not atypical of dry-aged beef, but the meat was so overwhelmed by a fermented taste (reminding me of Chinese salted fish) that I wouldn’t have guessed this is beef in blind tasting. Each of us have tried a few bites and gave up. I don’t know whether it’s the problem with their aging process (perhaps they left it at too high a temperature and for too long), or the way the meat was treated before cooking (you were supposed to remove much of the dry-aged meat before grilling and I am not sure if they have done that thoroughly)

But they were apologetic when we told them what we thought of the steak, and they removed the plates immediately and offered something as replacement. And those new dishes that brought in a bit later certainly saved our night. The hanger steak and wagyu flap – both non-aged, by the way – were fabulous. I love the wagyu flap more with the soft texture and meaty taste, pan-seared with yuzu-kosho with a slight kick of flavor, but many across the table preferred the hanger steak, also pan-seared and served with jalapeno relish on top. The pork ribs were then served with the pieces sliced with the bones attached, and grilled with a black garlic BBQ glaze basted on – and like the chicken wings done in a similar way, and they were finger-licking good.

A couple of non-meat courses were brought in as sides as well. And the sweet corn sucottash salad was spot on with the sweet chunks of corns served with cherry tomatoes, shaved parmesan cheese and the cheesy ranch dressing for a good balance and offered something light to go with the heavy meat dishes. I also liked the pair of desserts served – simple but tasty - including the caramelized bananas and the coconut lime pie with lime curd, coconut icecream and meringue on top. They were just of the right portion too, nothing overbearingly heavy after so many dishes we had.

This is a perfect example of why service would make or break a restaurant – despite what would have been a deal breaker with the main dish not up to our expectation, at the end we were satisfied with the meal overall and everyone left the restaurant as happy customers. Good save.

When? July 22 2018
Where? Meats, 28-30 Staunton Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Chicken Wings with MEATS Hot Sauce, Pickled Celery and Blue Cheese Sauce
Drinks?
Champagne Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV
2002 Chateau Talbot, AOC Saint Julien, Bordeaux
2001 Chateau Lynch-Bages, AOC Pauillac, Bordeaux
2001 Annvers Cabernet Sauvignon, Langhorne Creek, Australia
Web: piratameats.hk