Luxeat

Café Gray Hong Kong paradox

 
(Image from http://www.cafegrayhk.com/ website)

When i was in Hong Kong few weeks ago, i stayed at the Upper House .I adored the hotel for it's intelligent luxury, sincere service as well as for reasonable prices. The only drawback i thought was it's restaurant. I found the food at Café Gray too complicated and pretentious. And i think that there is nothing worse than "pseudo gastronomy", when a chef tries to cook creative and nice looking dishes, but forgets the most important ingredient- the taste. (I thought exactly the same about Café Gray in NY 4 years ago. It has been closed since then.)

The China Club

 

"Ah, that foreigners' place", - was my Hong Kongese friend's reaction when I told her I booked at the China Club for our dinner. Even if this private restaurant/club has a very exclusive reputation, you don't feel very much exclusive when you are at the place. If you are staying at a nice hotel, you can ask your concierge to call and reserve for you. Maybe that's why the restaurant was packed with expats and visitors like me that night. (and I guess it is similar every night).

Oyster sashimi at Sushi Imamura

Oyster sashimi with soy sauce and chives at Sushi Imamura, Hong Kong. Astonishing simplicity.

Imamura san has been living in HK since twenty years. He is originally from Kyoto.

 

Bo Innovation

Har mi, lo mein, chilli, sage,carabinero wonton

Alvin Leung of Bo Innovation in Hong Kong  is so passionate about what he is doing he could speak for hours about one or another product or a preparation method. Maybe he is  known for his bold statements, but what speaks most loudly is his creative yet delicious food and his ability of reinvention.

Lunch at the world's cheapest Michelin starred restaurant

My lunch at Tim Ho Wan ( 8 Kwong Wa street,Mong Kok, Kowloon,Hong Kong) was 44 Hong Kong dollars, the return trip from the Central Hong Kong - more than 200 HKD.(1 euro is 10.8 HKD today).Of course, I could have  used the public transportation, but i thought hours of waiting at this one Michelin starred dim sum canteen would be painful enough.

Dim Sum at Lung King Heen , HK

 

Pork buns

Residents of Hong Kong  can be very opinionated when a conversation turns to what is the best dim sum in Hong Kong. Many say that Lung King Heen at the Four Seasons Hotel is not worth 3 Michelin stars and that you can find much better dim sum on the island. For a foreigner like me, (who is used to horrible Chinese food in Europe)the dim sum at Lung King Heen can be only a fantastic experience.

China Club, Hong Kong

When I asked the hotel concierge to reserve a table at David Tang's China Club, he said "no" in the beginning. Only after insisting, he agreed "to see what he can do". We did get a table that night and in fact it seems that asking your hotel's concierge is the only way to get to the restaurant if you are not a member. The club is located on the thirteenth floor of the Old Bank of China Building (it is multi level) and when you get there , you feel like you have just been transported to the 1930s Shanghai.Beautiful place.What is more impressive is the contemporary Chinese art collection on the walls. It is worth to come only for that.

Lung King Heen-the best Chinese in the world?

Lung King Heen is the only restaurant in Hong Kong that got three Michelin stars. Obviously, it is the only Chinese (Cantonese) that i know who has such a high rating. So is it really the best Chinese in the world?

I am not a big connaisseur of Chinese food. Of course I've had dim sum, suckling pig and Peking duck with rice pan cakes and plum sauce uncountable times, but i've never had anyhting close to what i have eaten in Hong Kong since one week.(Its my first time in China.) The thing is that even if you go to a small and cheap dim sum place here, you are almost sure to eat fresh and delicious food.

So nothing to be surprised of that  rewarding Lung King Heen ( at Four Seasons Hotel) restaurant with 3 stars,Michelin has caused quite a controversy. Hong Kong is a very developed and international city and many locals i spoke to say that there are other Chinese restaurants that are of the same level or even better than Lung King Heen.(I've even heard such gossips that the team of Michelin guide was staying in the Four Seasons Hotel and some have been speculating that this is the reason why two of the hotel's restaurants got Michelin stars.Besides Lung King Heen, another Four Seasons restaurant,Caprice, got 2.)

Bo Innovation, Hong Kong

 

Alvin Leung is not a characterless chef.Not every chef is dressed in a black sleeveless t-shirt and has huge tattoo meaning "demon chef" on his arm.After dinners Alvin likes to socialize with his guests, with a thick cigar in his mouth. The chef of Bo Innovation is a "self made man". He doesn't have any formal training and started his career in a private kitchen called Bo Innoseki in 2003 in Hong Kong. Just after 5 years, his cooking in Bo Innovation was rewarded with 2 Michelin stars in the first Guide Rouge Hong Kong ever.  As the chef likes to claim himself, he "pioneered Xtreme Chinese cuisine- a combination of centuries old recipes with modern ingredients and cooking techniques".