X-treme Tasting Menu

Talk to any food lover in town about the restaurant Bo Innovation you will probably find some vastly different responses…  ranging from an indifferent shrug to proclamation of that being the best in town, or less often, something in between those extremely polarizing opinions. I didn’t come here often enough to pass on my verdict but I did enjoy trying Chef Alvin Leung’s food every now and then, admiring some of the creativity involved in those dishes, evoking memories of street food that we grew up with - some I like more than the others but that's just the way it is with any avant-garde cooking.

Neighborhood Korean

I spent one Friday afternoon checking out yet another new restaurant in my office neighborhood with a friend/former colleague E who works right nearby. With The News Room quietly gone from the street corner near Quarry Bay’s Taikoo Place, in its place came Bib n Hops, the second outpost of this casual, street food style Korean restaurant concept backed by Chef Alvin Leung.

Gimmick or the Real Deal? My First Bo Innovation Meal

For some reasons I never felt motivated enough to check out Bo Innovation, the "X-treme Chinese" restaurant in the heart of Hong Kong's Wanchai district, even when the place by the self-proclaimed "demon chef" Alvin Leung has been elevated to the much coveted 3-star rating by The Michelin Guide late last year. As adventurous as we are when it comes to food choices, the thoughts of slurping down a "molecular xiao long bao" - one of his most talked-about dishes at the restaurant - still didn't sit very well with us.

But a couple weeks ago, I received an email from his publicist inviting me to try out their "new" menu with other media/blogger people. I figured it wouldn't hurt giving it a shot, at least this way i can confirm by my own first-hand experience whether the place is hyped as many have suggested, or the real deal as reflected in many of the accolades it earned.