Roganic 2.0 x 2

The team at Roganic certainly did a good job building up our anticipation for its re-opening at Lee Garden after a 6-month hiatus. While we enjoyed the food at its old location numerous times (both at Roganic and Aulis, their experimental kitchen next door), it always feels like the restaurant was in a borrowed space at a random shopping mall corner. Still in a shopping mall, albeit a fancier one, on the side of Causeway Bay, the new space is now properly designed from ground up with everything built to fit the restaurant's style, from the wooden decor connecting the restaurant to its British Lake District roots, to the spacious open kitchen showcasing the team's cooking and the dedicated outdoor area where some of the ingredients were grown in-house highlighting the dedication to the "farm-to-fork" philosophy which restauranteur-owner Chef Simon Rogan has been a champion for.  

I had the opportunity to eat here twice in quick succession - lucky me considered the waiting list has now grown to months long ever since the reopening date was confirmed. While they stayed true to their philosophy of focusing on sustainable, local and seasonal ingredients with modern techniques, they did make refinements to many of their dishes and menu now exclusively served family style for the whole table.

The menu was categorized into snacks, mains, desserts and sweet treats and we got to pick a few of those for the whole table to share. A few dishes were particularly remarkable on my first visit for dinner which was an arranged tasting. The slice of Spanish mackerel - one of the first snacks course served - was gently cured and served with beetroots crisp, hawthorn and dill, giving this a slight acidic flavor. Locally grown tomatoes were presented as one of the mains courses but I thought it worked equally well as a starter salad. They were so colorful and sweet with tomato water and vinegar jelly and ponzu dressing adding to the acidity as balance and green perilla and shoots adding on the vibrant presentation. That along with the pistachio puree in the dish and a glass of tomato water on the side just completed this perfectly executed dish. Simply delicious. 

I was torn between the scallops and the duck as my favorite of the evening. The scallop was cured and served in thin slices, and on top, the nasturtium leaf just harvested from the on-premise farm along with grilled Oscar peas, white asparagus, all right in season at the time, plus dashi steeped with pea shells - the dish said just about everything about what the restaurant is trying to do which earned them the Michelin green star two years in a row. At the same time, the roast duck reminded me of the Cantonese roast meat style with the crispy skin, basted with local hundred flower honey with smooth and sweet butternut squash puree and even sweeter plum puree. Meanwhile the duck leg was served as a "second" dish, slow-braised into ragout and topped with crumbled pickled walnuts. No doubt a well-thought dish with so many textures, colors and flavors in play with a mix of British and local cooking styles. 

The strawberry tartlet was also star of the night, with such vibrant sweet flavor in the couils balanced by the earl grey tart shell with a hint of tartness and acidic frozen sheep's yogurt sorbet. The Roganic waffle, made with the leftover wagyu fat, got an interesting savory hint and was the perfect base for the passionfruit puree dipping sauce. The restaurant's non-alcoholic beverage pairing was probably the best in town so this time I asked for a customized pairing with a bit of both. The Lapsang Kombucha with Tomato Water was perfect for the tomato dish given the similar flavor profile with a touch of bitterness from the fermented black tea. The Riesling was super dry and crisp with touch of citrusy and green apples, working well with a few dishes with slight fermented flavor.  

A couple of weeks later I returned for lunch for our family gathering and this time they put us in the private room. The natural light coming through the floor-to-ceiling window made that an awesome spot to eat (and take pictures) and the room was cozy but more than comfortable for the 8 of us at the long table made from the whole piece of wood saved from a fallen tree from typhoon. We made a repeat of a few dishes I had the previous time and worked out just fine. (and I finally decided the duck dish was my favorite after trying it for the second time) This time we went for a single bottle of Austrian Gruner Veltliner while the kids enjoyed the non-alcoholic pairing of Jamine Kombucha and Red Dragonfruit, and Coconut Water with Fermented Marigold Honey. 

More photos:
Dinner: https://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/albums/72177720324265308
Lunch: https://www.flickr.com/photos/g4gary/albums/72177720325655938

When? March 5 and 16 2025
Where? Roganic, Shops 402-3, Level 4, Lee Garden One, Causeway Bay
Menu Highlights? Dry-aged Guangdong Duck, 100 Flower Honey, Butternut Squash, Plum
Drinks? 
Day 1: 
2012 Champagne Thienot 
2019 Peter Jakob Kuhn Sankt Nikolaus Riesling Trocken, Rheingau, Germany
Day 2:
2023 Weingut Fred Loimer Gruner Veltliner, Kamptal, Austria
Web: www.roganic.com.hk