Looking Back, and Looking Ahead

It's a pure coincidence that we dined at 3 Michelin 2-starred restaurants within the same week in early October, and Arbor was one of them during that crazy eating week. 

Arbor

I struggled with finding the right words to best describe Chef Eric Raty’s cooking style after our lovely dinner at his restaurant Arbor in recent weeks. Nothing much has changed in terms of interior since our last visit a while back, but Chef Eric told us that the kitchen has been remodeled to cater some of the changes he made in the menu. 

First Star of 2021

It just so happened Arbor was the first starred restaurant we visited in 2021 – a few weeks ago we went online to check the earliest availability for a table at the restaurant and January 2 it was, fell conveniently in the first weekend of the year. And of course with the dining restriction still in place the booking for 4 people became 2 adjacent tables separated by a partition – they already did the best they could to make us feel like sitting together. 

Lingonberry Meal

We spent one evening to do we thought to be a “very London thing” – that is to have a pre-theatre dinner at a restaurant followed by watching the actual theater play at West End. And doing it on a day with absolutely horrid rain and freezing cold - along the same theme, I suppose.

Creative Four-Hands Effort

With almost every fine-dining restaurants in town offering some kind of special collaboration dinner events on a regular basis these days, I got pickier in choosing which one to go. But the one at Arbor recently just fits all the criteria, so I made the booking the first day I got the news about the event featuring guest chef Yusuke Takada of La Cime.

Hidden Gem in Kau U Fong

I have heard a lot of good things about this new restaurant Beet in Kau U Fong and always wanted to try, so we were glad to have come a few weeks ago with the restaurant hosting us to check out their dinner tasting menu. The restaurant took over what used to be Le Port Parfume, the delightful bistro with rather generous corkage policy, under the same ownership. Giving way to the Parisian art nouveau décor and classic French dishes was minimalist interior, dark colored wall with abstract art hanging, fewer tables with more space in between, and a much simpler menu structure – for dinner there were only 2 choices, regular or vegetarian tasting menu.

Second Day of Business - Frantzén's Kitchen

We have never been to his restaurants nor tried his cooking before, while our friend V has been there three times including once when he’s doing a pop-up at Landmark Mandarin a few years ago, but all of us were excited to be sitting inside Chef Bjorn Frantzen’s new restaurant in Hong Kong on its second day of business, eager to try out his dishes at what many dubbed as the restaurant opening of the year in town.

A short one on FINDS - Restaurant Week Menu

Another restaurant we managed to try out for the first time during the Restaurant Week was FINDS in TST. We went for lunch on a Sunday after church service just right next door.

FINDS is one of the few restaurants in town specializing in Nordic cuisine. The Restaurant Week menu was essentially an abbreviated version of their tasting menu, celebrating some of the better known regional dishes with a fancy touch.The restaurant is located on the first floor of a boutique hotel on Kimberley, and we were impressed at the spacious dining area, with a huge bar in the middle, and the minimalist decor.