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NEW AND NOTED<br />
with Adele Wong<br />
RESTAURANT REVIEWS<br />
Going Loco<br />
Tacos are back, and they’re going<br />
mainstream because Castelo Concepts has<br />
finally endorsed them. Watch out for El Loco<br />
Gringo (49 Bonham Rd., Mid-Levels), which<br />
will be serving tacos, tequila and a whole lot<br />
of debauchery towards the end of this year.<br />
And K-Town is hot with anticipation for<br />
Chino (1B-1C New Praya, Kennedy Town),<br />
former Nobu exec chef Erik Idos’s personal<br />
venture into Mexican cuisine. Expect cutesy<br />
Latin-American-slash-Japanese-style-snacks,<br />
such as market-fish tacos and pumpkin<br />
kakiage fritters.<br />
Sheung Wan Revival<br />
Another “casual American diner” (and I put<br />
this in quotes because it looks nothing like a<br />
casual American diner) is quietly going through<br />
its soft-opening phase as I type. Singing similar<br />
tunes as The Diner on Arbuthnot Road but<br />
with an entirely different agenda, Lazy Hog<br />
(G/F, 29-31 Bridges St., Sheung Wan, 2858-<br />
1321) is Eugene Chan’s (owner of Lof10) latest<br />
venture, and offers a variety of cross-sectional<br />
American dishes such as hushpuppies, nachos<br />
and jambalaya in a minimalist space with white<br />
walls and tall tables. If you’ve been to Lof10,<br />
just imagine that exact aesthetic, minus the<br />
coffee machines.<br />
Down a couple of blocks is Just Coffee<br />
(Shop B, G/F, 16 Tai Ping Shan St., Sheung<br />
Wan), a tiny cafe that stocks decadent<br />
desserts like chocolate cakes, cheesecakes<br />
and tiramisu alongside a long but relatively<br />
simple selection of drinks.<br />
At Your Service<br />
Two new catering services are now available<br />
for the city’s picky party hosts. First is Butler<br />
(tiny.cc/butler), run by chef Vicky Lau of<br />
Tate on Elgin Street. With Butler’s highly<br />
customizable options, patrons can work with<br />
Vicky to create canapés and drinks that are<br />
uniquely theirs in presentation and flavor<br />
(while still being delicious).<br />
Then there’s Invisible Kitchen<br />
(www.invisiblekitchen.com) by chef Tom<br />
Butler<br />
Burney, who decided to upgrade his Hong<br />
Kong Personal Chef services to a brand<br />
that doesn’t just depend on his existence—<br />
smart move, Tom! IK provides catering<br />
and personally delivered meals for junk<br />
trips, barbecue parties, office lunchers and<br />
healthy eaters, mostly on Hong Kong Island<br />
(sorry, darksiders).<br />
Stop Whining, Start Wining<br />
Two new wine retailers are trying to simplify<br />
your decision-making for you, each in its<br />
own gender-biased way. Chilled Wine<br />
(www.chilled-wine.com), an online shop<br />
with overtly masculine tones (and with a<br />
showroom in Tai Kok Tsui), uses interesting<br />
imagery to help you conceptualize the<br />
hundreds of different bottles on offer.<br />
A riesling from Johannesburg is given some<br />
context: “If this was candy, all the kids would<br />
fight for it.” A German cuvée is “The stuff<br />
men’s dreams are made of.” And if that<br />
wasn’t clear enough, the following visual<br />
is also provided: “It is pitch black, you just<br />
slaughtered the beast in the forest, the grill<br />
is on, it smells like oakwood, thyme and<br />
spicy flavors and you know that you are the<br />
man. You need a man’s drink.” Hear me roar!<br />
On the other end of the spectrum is<br />
Pink Pink Wine (Shop B, 2/F, Po Lung<br />
Commercial Building, 89 Hollywood Rd.,<br />
Central), a physical shop that caters<br />
specifically to the ladies—in case you<br />
didn’t get that from the name. Wines are<br />
categorized into different collections like<br />
“floral,” “fruity” and “sweet”, and colorcoded<br />
accordingly. Hear me giggle!<br />
Speaking of wine shops, retailer Wine<br />
Beast has launched its own restaurant in<br />
Wan Chai, presumably to offload its inventory<br />
in the next most logical way. Le Bistro<br />
Winebeast (15 McGregor St., Wan Chai,<br />
2479-6833) offers casual-ish French treats as<br />
well as a more serious dinner tasting menu<br />
that comes with a wine-pairing option.<br />
Email me at adele.wong@hkmagmedia.com<br />
or follow me on Twitter: @adelewong_hk.<br />
Rainbow Seafood<br />
★★★★★<br />
Chinese. G/F, 23-25 First St., Sok Kwu<br />
Wan, Lamma, 2982-8100.<br />
This open-air waterfront spot has been<br />
around since 1984 and is arguably<br />
Lamma’s most famous establishment.<br />
It’s easily reachable via the free ferry<br />
to and from Central, Tsim Sha Tsui or<br />
Aberdeen (call ahead to book).<br />
HIT Rainbow overlooks a quiet bay, the<br />
seafood is just so fresh and the servers,<br />
once you sit down, are attentive. Our<br />
favorites included the small yet meaty<br />
steamed lobsters with garlic sauce,<br />
the steamed scallops with garlic and<br />
vermicelli and—hands down the winner<br />
of the night—the sweet and messy grilled<br />
prawns with honey and pepper sauce.<br />
We had to order seconds.<br />
Stack<br />
★★★★★<br />
Pancake house. G/F, 1 Third St.,<br />
Sai Ying Pun, 2549-9787.<br />
Stack is a small but beautiful venue with<br />
loads of old-meets-new touches—classic<br />
tile floors, red neon signage, and black<br />
metal wall detailing which borrows heavily<br />
from the tong lau windows of Sai Ying Pun.<br />
HIT There’s an impressive list of craft<br />
beers, and cocktails which are paired with<br />
each pancake. They come pre-made in<br />
chilled bottles—design is through the roof,<br />
and taste isn’t bad either. Our “Running<br />
Honey” dessert pancake ($58) with honey<br />
butter, mascarpone and honeycomb was<br />
fine, if light on the honeycomb. Tom yum<br />
chicken wings ($58) were delicious but<br />
mismatched the rest of the menu.<br />
NOM<br />
★★★★★<br />
Italian. G/F, 1-5 Elgin St., Central,<br />
2540-7988.<br />
NOM is short for Not Only Meatballs: but<br />
is it about the meatballs, or not Casual,<br />
bright and loud, it caters to the bar crowd<br />
and the dinner set alike.<br />
HIT The space has just the right<br />
balance of hip and sophisticated. Our<br />
main of slow-roasted Iberico lamb ($270),<br />
despite being stingily portioned and<br />
looking out of place (it was served on<br />
a fancy stone plate with unnecessary<br />
condiments on the side, not exactly rustic<br />
Italian), was tender and well seasoned.<br />
MISS There was only a handful of<br />
average-sized balls to go around, which<br />
didn’t really jibe with our vision of the<br />
homey staple. Of the meatballs, the<br />
MISS The letdown of the night was the<br />
salt and pepper mantis shrimp ($300-400<br />
for one). It came highly recommended—<br />
obviously due to the absurd price tag—but<br />
the actual flesh was boringly tasteless and<br />
failed to please.<br />
BOTTOM LINE Rainbow is a perfect<br />
place to take out-of-towners, large groups<br />
or even a dinner date. Just stick to the<br />
set menus (a good two-person set goes<br />
for $558) and hold firm for a table by the<br />
waterfront. Oh—and don’t touch the<br />
fucking mantis shrimp.<br />
Open daily 10am-11pm. $$$-$$$$<br />
MISS Sadly, the savory pancakes<br />
weren’t up to scratch: the “Chu” pancake<br />
($128) with pulled pork came with<br />
a delicious roasted head of garlic, but<br />
the pork was far too dry and stringy. The<br />
“Mexican Sunshine” came with tasty but<br />
under-seasoned yuzu guacamole, and<br />
a tiny, miserly quail’s egg sitting on top.<br />
Everything was also just a bit too cold:<br />
Is it too much to ask for them warm<br />
BOTTOM LINE A great idea soured by<br />
lackluster execution: so far Stack falls flat.<br />
Open Tue-Sun, 6-11:30pm. $$<br />
signature beef/ragout/pasta/ricotta<br />
combo ($78) was borderline dry. Seafood<br />
balls ($118) were pleasantly creamy, but<br />
they weren’t freaking meatballs. Our<br />
vegetarian pizza ($158) fell far short of<br />
our expectations. Floppy, watery and just<br />
a general mess, we couldn’t believe that<br />
they had been made by the same chef,<br />
Fabrizio Napolitano, who used to head<br />
up Goccia.<br />
BOTTOM LINE We respect the intent<br />
of this place, but having NOMmed,<br />
we’re not sure it was worth the time.<br />
Open Mon-Sat 6pm-12:30am. $$$<br />
Edward Wong/SCMP<br />
Chino<br />
Chino<br />
Ratings<br />
★ Don’t go ★★ Disappointing ★★★ We’ll be back ★★★★ We’ll be back—with friends ★★★★★ You MUST go<br />
Price Guide<br />
$ Less than $200 $$ $200-$399 $$$ $400-$599 $$$$ $600-$799 $$$$$ $800 and up<br />
Price per person, including one drink, appetizer, main course and dessert. Prices do not include bottles of wine unless stated.<br />
Our Policy<br />
Reviews are based on actual visits to the establishments listed by our super-sneaky team of hungry reviewers, without the knowledge of<br />
the restaurants. Reviews are included at the discretion of the editors and are not paid for by the restaurants. Menus, opening hours and<br />
prices change and should be checked. New restaurants are not reviewed within one month of their opening. Reviews are written from a<br />
typical diner’s perspective. Ratings are awarded in accordance with the type of restaurant reviewed, so the city’s best wonton noodle stall<br />
could earn five stars while a fancy French restaurant could be a one-star disaster.<br />
HK MAGAZINE FRIDAY, SePtember 5, 2014 27
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