June 22nd, 2005 by Eshin
In the mood for some seafood? Hong Kong is definitely not lacking in the seafood arena when it comes to dishes that are prepared in a Chinese style. However, when it comes to Western prepared seafood, your choices are more limited. Traditional fish and chips can be had at any of the territory’s pubs (the Irish contend with the English ones). Chippy in Central remains the final word on the genuine article serving both a selection of plaice, haddock, and cod in the traditional beer batter. Staying in character, Chippy’s decor looks like a well-to-do chippy while the menu also boasts favourites such pies, cornish pasties, and chicken cordon bleu.
For those of you wanting a more upmarket selection of seafood, a visit to the Fish Bar in the JW Marriott may well be worth your while. Located by the hotel’s pool in a terraced area is a non-pretentious restaurant whose specialty is fish. One would think that the menu is somewhat spartan until the staff bring around the blackboard with the “catch of the day”. In fact, it is several catches of the day - barramundi, blue cod, red snapper, and so forth - which can all be prepared in three different ways - chargrilled, beer battered and pan fried. The theme here is fish although the menu is complimented with mussles, shrimps, and so forth. A nice touch were the mock newspaper tableclothes, a small homage to the chippies of old.
October 13th, 2004 by Eshin
The best way to describe Opus Japanese Restaurant is that it has somewhat of an identity crisis. You get the impression that it’s not sure whether it wants to be a serious Japanese restaurant, a karaoke or a bar. The reason for this confusion is that it boasts a refreshingly different view of Hong Kong’s Causeway Bay and the menu remains pricey for what you get. The furniture and decor is modern but borders just on the wrong side of kitsch giving it the feel of the “upmarket” option at family ski resort. This is all compounded by the strange lighting which in places was full on spotlighted and in other places goes from dim to dark to dim again, but far from an ambient type of way.
As I said, the food is nothing particularly to write home about. The lunch time toro-fan was expensive and used too much spring onion. For the dinner menu, the strange thing was that they were sold out of beef by 2100 when we sat down for dinner. Even so, the food wasn’t bad but it wasn’t great either. The hefty price tag for what you got, really wasn’t worth it.
One possible redeeming quality was the staff. After a few hiccups, they tried their best to be helpful as they saw it. One young waiter didn’t know much English and couldn’t say what a dish was in English. After we let the matter drop because his English wasn’t up to it, he actually came back five minutes later and told us what it was in English.
Be warned that after 2200, the place features a live band. The caliber of the band was good but one does have to question the decision to have a live band playing its hardest while you are still having a meal. But I do have to recognise that this is more of a personal issue since the live music at TOTT’s has the same effect of annoying me. This band was open to requests and some guests were invited up to sing along with the band. In my opinion, the girl they brought up to sing with them sometimes sounded better than the actual performers. Although I shouldn’t really be nasty since I’m not a music critic.
The restuarant has only been open for a few months. I think this is obvious in the kinks that they still need to work out. Definitely worth a revisit in six months time to see if they have improved themselves and figured what sort of venue they actually are.
Contact Info
Opus
29/F 33 Sharp Street East
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Tel.: +852 2831 0881
October 13th, 2004 by Eshin
There is a restaurant in Stanley called the Natural Gourmet Restaurant. You’ll usually find people in the bottom of the shopping centre complex handing out flyers for their restaurant. The last time I was in Stanley, I noticed that this restaurant had a different view from the ones in the Murray Building so I was eager to try this one.
While the view was different, it wasn’t enough to overcome the quality of the food they served. The menu featured mostly Western dishes such as surf and turf and escargot which were tantalising enough, but when served they were all bland affairs. A bottle of Maggi would have worked wonders for this food.
Not recommended for lunch in Stanley. I am curious to see what sort of dinner buffet they have though.
October 9th, 2004 by Eshin
For those of you who want to enjoy a more chilled out night rather than clubbing it away amidst a mass of sweaty people and smoke, there are two places that I’d recommend - C Plus Bar and the Champagne Bar in the Grand Hyatt.
The C Plus Bar is a small, intimate affair that is located just off Wellington Street in Central. It’s hidden away and descending a back-alley to get to it just adds to the mock exclusivity of the place. The decor is dark and subdued, with mellowed out lounge music playing on the places sound system. It’s easy to lose a whole evening there as you escape the usual buzz of Hong Kong. There are only about a dozen or so tables there but the staff always manage to fit in the steady stream of customers on a busy night. There is always the large private room that can house fifteen or so people quite comfortably.
If you’re looking for something more upmarket and more exclusive, try the Champagne Bar at the Grand Hyatt. The old world charm and the live band gives you a taste of living it up and the price tag on most items help you to know that you are. It’s not a place to go and party but it is a definitely somewhere to go where you might want to add a touch of something special to an otherwise normal night out. Seating policy is on a first come, first serve basis. This causes some problems with larger groups and gatherings larger than ten will not work out that well. Best just to go with a group of close friends.
Contact Info
C Plus Bar
Basement Floor
27-29 Wellington Street
Central, Hong Kong
Tel.: +852 2869 9990
Champagne Bar
Grand Hyatt Hotel
1 Harbour Road
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Tel.: +852 2588 1234
Official Link
October 9th, 2004 by Eshin
Me and a mate decided to check out two places mentioned in HK Magazine. He’s into his tequilas so he wanted to check out Coyote’s after reading the article on the agave-based drink in the magazine. I don’t think he was disappointed. Of course, I can’t stand Tequila, so I decided to give it a miss. It’s one of the worst drinks to come back up again and it sort of sticks in the memory. I blame an old Mexican college buddy for the bad experiences with tequila.
The next place on our list was Les Visages which boasts HK’s only all-black band. Racial stereotyping just a little bit, no? It boasts a wild crowd but I think after 02 30, the wildness has pretty much left this place. Although, I can’t say I blame them. It seemed to be a quiet night out in the city. Hell, Klong was empty at 02 00. Anyway, my friend is fast learning to decode HK Magazine’s reviews - like “best kept secret” probably means that it really is better off being kept secret.
