Category Archives: Western

The One With 1081 Open Kitchen – Great Spot For A Sunday Breakfast

6 February, 2015 10:00 am | Leave a Comment |

Living in Hong Kong can make one spoilt for choice when it comes good breakfast spots on weekends. I usually spent my breakfasts at Happy Valley Bar & Grill, but on one fine Sunday I decided to make my way to 1081 Open Kitchen at IFC for a spot of breakfast with a dear friend.

This place used to be called Simply Life. The terrific view into the beautiful Hong Kong harbour and selection of delicious pastries remain unchanged. My choice of a scone was heavy in butter, making it a decadent treat with an equally energising cup of coffee, served in a beautiful porcelain cup and dish.

Great Sunday breakfasts are made of this.

Note: Some of the window-side seats are part of the adjoining restaurants. You can use it for breakfast up until 10.30 a.m., when you have to vacant the tables for lunch service.

EAT | 1081 Open Kitchen |Shop 1081, ifc mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong | Tel: +852 2234 7356

Posted in: Central, Western | Tagged: , , , ,

The One With Glasshouse Hong Kong – Western x Asian Fusion

23 January, 2015 10:19 am | Leave a Comment |

And so one afternoon I found myself at Glasshouse, a sparkling restaurant located on IFC Hong Kong rooftop with a stunning harbor view and a terrace. The location is great during those sunny, winter lunchtime like the day I was there for a work meeting.

The design of the Glasshouse Hong Kong takes its inspiration from potting sheds in old country houses; a room filled with wheel barrows, rakes and terracotta pots. Though Glasshouse tries to be laid back, it certainly exudes an upscale vibe.

Glasshouse

The menu – a fusion of Asian cuisines with a Western touch (and some vice versa) – looks really promising. Even before my lunch guests arrived I have already made up my mind on what to order. If the food taste as good as it looks in the menu, I am in a for a treat.

Oh, what a naive assumption that was.

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Posted in: Central, Western | Tagged: , , ,

The One With Butchers Club Deli – Meat Sweat-ed & Lovin’ It

6 August, 2014 9:27 pm | Leave a Comment |

I was perspiring rather heavily, partly because of the weather, partly because there was so much meat involved, I had to stand up and walk about in the middle of the meal.

The Butchers Club Deli

The scene was at The Butchers Club Deli, the latest addition to The Butchers Club located at a nondescript industrial building along Wong Chuk Hang road. Sharing the same space as ED1TUS (Hong Kong’s first luxury fashion and lifestyle showroom for men), the restaurant is a New York-style deli by day, and a private dining room by night. A huge 7,000 square foot garden with BBQ facilities and some 500 seats will be opened later this year.

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Posted in: Ap Lei Chau, Western

The One With Kitchen at W Hotel Hong Kong – A Star-Studded Service

25 March, 2014 9:20 pm | Leave a Comment |

Kitchen @ W Hotel Hong Kong

It was a family-oriented Saturday afternoon, so you’ll have to excuse the lack of an ambiance with that many kids around. A consolation though was the sweeping view of the harbour. It helped that we were seated by the window.

I took one look at the buffet table and decided to go against the crowd mentality of everyone else whom were digging into the buffet line like there’s no tomorrow, and we went ala carte instead.

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Posted in: Buffet, Tsim Sha Tsui, Western

The One With TREE Café – Chill Out Spot At Horizon Plaza

22 January, 2014 10:26 pm | Leave a Comment |

Horizon Plaza is a secluded shopping mall famous in Hong Kong for its floor after floor of designer outlets. Located at Ap Lei Chau, which could be quite a challenge to get to if you are not familiar, the mall is home to many famous brands, such as Joyce, Lane Crawford and Hugo Boss. I have heard of much of this place, but didn’t have a chance to visit until new year day, when we visited on a whim to shop for furniture.

If you are the type who gets claustrophobia from too much shopping, perhaps avoiding Horizon Plaza would be a good idea. I was stunned to see the twenty eight floors of shopping, which make the printed directory an indispensable tool as you navigate up and down the building. It was easy to see how people can spend hours here – it was the drop dead discount – and certainly, it would be a good idea to have a couple of decent food places for much needed rest as you give your credit card a rest?

Unfortunately, food isn’t big on the agenda for those whom took the meandering journey to Horizon Plaza, and that’s why when we discovered the Tree Cafe, it was like a God-sent.

TREE café

Tree Cafe is an extension of the designer furniture brand, Tree. You would guessed it – the entire store and cafe was created in a rustic, country-living style, with much homage to environment consciousness and saving-the-planet message. I remember loving brown color as a teenager, but for the adult me, this was close becoming a mild case of wood overdose.

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Posted in: Ap Lei Chau, Western

The One With Blue Butcher Hong Kong – Second Time Lucky

11 December, 2013 5:49 pm | Leave a Comment |

Is there such thing as second time lucky when it comes to food?

Granted, it was my second visit to The Blue Butcher Hong Kong, after my disastrous first attempt ordering everything else but steak. This time round I was kinda on a “redemption trip” to discover if indeed the steak options were better bet compared to my earlier choices.

I am happy to report that it was a resounding yes.

The Blue Butcher

The wagyu sirloin (a whopping 12 oz) was worth every penny. Char-grilled to just the right degree to my liking on the outside, yet juicy and somewhat tender on the inside, it was probably the main reason I changed my mind about Blue Butcher that night.

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Posted in: Central, Western

The One With Flint Grill & Bar – Chic Ambiance Meet Gorgeous Food

27 November, 2013 9:32 pm | Leave a Comment |

I am no stranger to invited tasting sessions. In a city like Hong Kong, where food is almost a religion and new restaurants seem to pop up every other day, even the most enthusiastic food blogger may find himself somewhat jaded, perhaps even skeptical of good food.

Which was why Flint Bar & Grill came as a breathe of refreshing air, stirring up the local dining scene.

Flint Grill & Bar

What caught my eyes right from the start wasn’t the food, nor the restaurant itself (more of those later). It was the resident star mixologist, a talented and charming dude by the name of Bryson Rivera. While waiting for everyone arrived we had the privilege of witnessing, upclose this award-winning bartender conjuring some of his most famous concoctions.

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Posted in: Admiralty, Western

The One With Oyster Island – Fresh In The Valley

22 October, 2013 10:06 am | Leave a Comment |

I have been eating round a lot in Happy Valley lately, trying out new places and venturing into unfamiliar restaurants. Though I have been here for almost two years now, it wasn’t until I have a buddy to do this with did I dig into with gusto recently :)

Oyster Island, without a doubt, was one of those little secret of Happy Valley that came as a pleasant surprise. Tucked at the end of a quiet road in the Valley, the restaurant was quiet looking for an eve-of-public-holiday-night. But the other half wanted oysters, so in we went into the blue, mysterious looking restaurant.

Oyster Island Happy Valley

All was well. Because we were the only occupied table, service was attentive and we felt very comfortable with the wait staff. To start off the night, we pondered over the selection of oysters available, and opted for the lighter and sweeter variety, Rocky Bay and Namibia, to the denser, heavier tasting Gillerdeau and Sydney Rock.

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Posted in: Happy Valley, Seafood, Western

The One With SimplyLife – Living Up To Its Namesake

18 October, 2013 10:03 pm | Leave a Comment |

Simple things in life were meant to be enjoyable because of its simplicity, and SimplyLife is one of those restaurant that is living up to its namesake.

Simply Life

I have been to the restaurant in IFC a couple of times now (and once to its branch in Quarry Bay), and never once I was disappointed. Granted, the food wasn’t spectacular, but it did the job nicely as a chill breakfast spot with some excellent sandwiches and desserts. For the life of me I couldn’t remember the name of these nosh I had now, but they were all equally enjoyable in low-key, fuss-free way.

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Posted in: Central, Western

The One With Blue Butcher – Butchered? We Did

14 September, 2013 7:51 am | Leave a Comment |

I remember reading reviews on Blue Butcher since they have opened some time back. The praises were glowing, and the crowd was reportedly thickening by the day. In fact, when I called to reserve a table of three, I was told in no uncertain term about the time I have to give up my table. Surely it was a good sign of a great place, right?

Alas, the fame of Blue Butcher was all but in its reviews.

Perhaps on hindsight we should have ordered beef instead. Afterall, the place is famous for its steak, what with its walk-in pink salt dry-aging room, tucked into one corner which seems more like a display than a utility.

Blue Butcher

The three of us went separately for pork (kurobuta pig belly & cheek), fish (line caught sea bass) and chicken (charred french chicken). I didn’t try the pig belly, but it did look promising despite this blurry shot:

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Posted in: Central, Western