Old Friend at a New Place

I visited Nobu Hong Kong for the first time a couple of months ago. Yes I have been to Chef Nobu Matsuhisa’s restaurants quite a few times but somehow this branch right at home eluded me for so long. Anyway, happy to make amend for this when the restaurant reopened at now The Regent at almost the exact same spot in the building when it was still called The Intercontinental. 

New Faces

Other than the new faces, with chefs Gaurav Kuthari and Dhiraj Kumar now taking charge of the kitchen, nothing much has changed at Chaat when we went for dinner a few weeks back. The place was still crowded as ever – many dubbed this the hardest restaurant to get a table at this side of the harbor. 

New Chef, New Era

There were plenty positive about the new Epure now under the helm of Chef Aven Lau as I found out after a recent dinner there. Chef Aven has quite a following since the days when he was the chef at Batard, and it’s been almost 6 months he moved to this side of the harbor in a restaurant which was somewhat different and this time, with a Michelin star he surely was tasked to keep. 

Charming Steakhouse Treat

Recently I was at the new Regent Hong Kong for a dinner hosted by their PR team. It's my first visit to the hotel after it went through a major renovation and the name change, and one couldn't ask for a better welcome than being led into the private room in their legendary Steakhouse restaurant with the long dining table and a sumptuous spread of dishes awaiting. 

Getting My Own

“I got the booking on my own!” is probably not something people would brag about but it’s my first time being able to secure a table in this ultra-popular restaurant CHAAT inside Rosewood through their website instead of tagging along someone’s booking or got invited to one of their dinner tastings as I did previously. People who tried to make a reservation there would understand the sense of achievement. 

Lunch with a View

My increasingly hectic work schedule meant I needed to scale back on sit down lunches (these days I hardly had time to eat during the day), but I felt my lunch at The Legacy House at Rosewood recently gave me the much needed time of refuge, with excellent home-style Cantonese cooking by Chef Li Chi Wai and in the comfort of the private room overlooking the harbor and Hong Kong Island skyline from the high vantage point. (see, I do have photo to show forth)

BluHouse The Sequal

Just a month after my first visit to BluHouse, I returned for dinner, but this time at their more formal section called the "Dining Room" which opened its door in mid-July. 

Italian Food Hall

The new BluHouse was like one of those fancy food halls we came across whilst in Milan - the likes of Peck or Princi or Eataly Smeraldo were the one came to mind, featuring serious cooking, high-quality ingredients in a casual, laid-back setting.

Steakhouse Treats

Turn of the year saw a new chef on board at Henry, the steakhouse at Rosewood Hong Kong with Bay Area native Mario Tolentino giving the place a West Coast twist with some new dishes on the menu. Fast forward a few months later we were there to check out some of the new dishes over dinner in early June. 

Urban Escape

Admittedly, without spa or gym or swimming pool or dine-in dinner service (that was back when those COVID restrictions were still in place), the idea of staycation lost quite a bit of charm. That said it didn't stop us from planning a stay at Marco Polo Gateway for one night during the Easter long weekend, courtesy of the newly launched GHA Discovery loyalty program. Turned out it was a blessing in disguise and a much needed getaway from all the life madness. 

Dinner Downstairs

Highlight of our weekend stay at The Eaton was certainly the dinner at Yat Tung Heen, their Michelin-starred restaurant specializing in Cantonese dishes. We always have a good time eating here, and this time was no exception. The only difference was this time around we only needed to hop a few level down from our room to eat. 

Poetic Menu

I was scratching my head when I first saw our menu at Cuisine Cuisine at The Mira recently. With the poetic and somewhat cryptic names, Chef Edwin didn’t give away much what we were going to have at a dinner at the restaurant a few weeks ago. 

Chaat It Out

It did take some twist of my friend G’s arm to get a last-minute booking at the ever popular Chaat at Rosewood Hong Kong in Tsimshatsui. And even with that what we got is a table booking at 3pm – certainly not a complaint but that made it another late lunch/early dinner for us on a Sunday afternoon. 

30 Hours at the Hyatt

We went for yet another weekend staycation this past weekend, this time at the Hyatt Regency Hong Kong in the heart of Tsim Sha Tsui. I wanted to give both their hotel restaurants Hugo’s and The Chinese Restaurant a try for some time and the room package which included dining credits plus free breakfast sounds like a deal too good to miss in the time of pandemic lockdown. 

Fine-Dining Indian

I am actually surprised that Chaat, the new fine-dining Indian restaurant at Rosewood Hong Kong, turned out to be quite a success with the waiting list for a table grew to 3-month long. Certainly a bright spot as local restaurant industry is still slowly recovering and I just didn't know locals have such an appetite for Indian cuisine. 

Festive Menu

It was great coming back to Hoi King Heen 2 weeks ago to check out some of the new dishes by Chef Leung Fai Hung, including a few that he specifically prepared for the Chinese New Year coming in a couple weeks’ time.

Crossover Across the Straits

There seems to be a constant stream of chefs coming in from overseas working alongside with local restaurants for special collaboration menus, or so called four-hand meals. The latest I had the opportunity to try was the one featuring two creative chefs I love, Chef Agustin Balbi of Haku Hong Kong and Chef Kai Ho of Taipei’s Tairroir, plus the Japanese bartender Shuzo Nagumo of the Mixologist Salon in Ginza. They came into Hong Kong for a 2-day-only collaboration event in late September.

Pre-Concert, Pre-Typhoon Dinner

We have always wanted to try the new Pici in Tsimshatsui since they open a few weeks ago and we decided to go on one evening for an early dinner when we had to attend a music concert nearby, just as the super typhoon loomed.

Haku's Hat Trick

I was at Haku a few weeks ago to check out the new seasonal menu introduced by Chef Agustin Balbi. I ate at the restaurant a couple of times before (Meal #1 and #2) and enjoyed Chef Agustin’s unique cooking style with well-chosen ingredients, and I was curious to see how the restaurant and the dishes have evolved 12 months on since its opening at a cozy corner inside Harbour City shopping mall.

Fancy lunch across harbor

We thought we should give it a try to some of the restaurants on the other side (of the harbor) so we made a booking for lunch at Epure. We have been here before once about 2 years ago and thought that was enjoyable, so we expected even more now that they have the first Michelin star. Though the main dining area was more or less the same as before, now they also expanded to include an outdoor area for their Bistro/Café serving a more casual, all-day dining menu. Definitely worth our consideration next time when we wanted something less formal.