Goodbye, Dickens Bar

We thought we should make a stop at Dickens Bar at The Excelsior for one last time before the legendary hotel and bar closed the door in March, and before everyone started to swamp the place again "for nostalgia’s sake" all of a sudden. On a random weeknight right before Chinese New Year with no sports events showing on TV, the place was still kinda packed with the bar and food crowd splitting roughly half and half with mostly locals (rather than out-of-towners staying at the hotel), and a few tables occupied by big group of people for some soft of celebration or gathering. Luckily we managed to fetch the last open table as we walked in.

Brunch at a Corner Beer Joint

Hong Kong summer is not the perfect place nor perfect time to enjoy eating in the outdoors, but Blue Supreme at a quiet street corner in Sheung Wan (near Noho area) did make it somewhat more comfortable with its window-side table opening up to the street with plenty cool air blowing from the a/c unit behind. It’s a restaurant I heard good things about and always wanted to try, so we dropped by a few Sunday ago just when they began serving brunch menu on weekends.

Beer Pairing Dinner

Recently I was at a dinner at Lobster Bar of Island Shangri-La featuring a beer-pairing menu with a few specialty bottles by the folks at Young Master Brewery. I have been a fan of this fast-expanding local craft brewery and think event like this benefits both the restaurant in offering something new to its customers and for the brewery to introduce its great products to a wider audience.

Fancy Pub Grub

There were definitely other sports bars in town that I felt more like at home either for practical or sentimental reasons, but I must admit as far as food and location go, none of them beat Dicken's Bar in Causeway Bay. Recently I was there on Friday evening to check out some dishes from their new a la carte menu after not being here for God-knows-how-long.

Newest on the Block

We kicked off the Easter long weekend with a visit to a new restaurant in Soho. We loved both the previous restaurants by Chef May Chow (of Little Bao and Second Draft), so we expected great things from Happy Paradise, her newest project not far away from the ever-popular Little Bao, one that shot her into fame with contemporary, playful twist to the traditional Chinese cooking.

Tai Hang's Second Coming

Compared to Sai Ying Pun or Kennedy Town on the west side, the once trendy neighborhood of Tai Hang has been relatively quiet lately. But that was about to change for a second coming of sorts, with a few new buildings near completion and along with that, new restaurants and bars openings bringing the limelight back to this cozy area with a fine mix of old and new businesses.

Just another gastropub - Bread Street Kitchen

I will say on record that I am normally not big a fan of Dining Concepts restaurants - I personally never had particular memorable experiences in any of their places (with the sole exception of BLT Burger, perhaps) - nor I am those kind of person craving for the so-called celebrity chef restaurants - you know, where someone who made their name as cooking show hosts, lend their endorsement to some dining outlets around the world but have nothing to do with their day-to-day running whatsoever.

I am saying this just so you got the idea of my enthusiasm level about the recent opening of Bread Street Kitchen, a collaboration between Dining Concepts and Gordon Ramsay (yeah, the foul-mouthed TV personality seen in multiple shows who also happened to be a chef/restauranteur)

Another Monday Night - Ronin

I heard mixed comments regarding Ronin - some swore it's the best izakaya in town, some gave me the "meh" look when I mentioned we were going to try the restaurant, thinking it's overrated. Given that I actually waited long enough so I got a good share of comments before setting my foot into this place - I don't wanna waste my money (and time) on a lousy meal. Oh well, we finally went this past Monday, here's my verdict.