Blue Butcher Bar & Restaurant  

I had heard great things about this place so we decided to try it out. The bar is downstairs and there is a long steep staircase up to the dining room so if anyone has problems with stairs, it is best to avoid the place or sit in the bar on the ground floor

The night started off rather badly. We had reservations and the hostess took us upstairs right away, but then made us stand in a corner like naughty children for 10 minutes while the table was prepared. Then when we got to the table my seat had some food on it. I thought it was a peanut or something so I tried to brush it off but in fact it was something soft and sticky, so it got spread over the seat and my hand. I decided to just clean it with my napkin rather than ask for a new seat. Then a few minutes after I sat down I felt something on my neck trying to crawl into my collar and I slapped it. It turned out to be a large bug, disgusting.

The ambiance was nice but seemed like an odd mix. The chairs were elegant with fancy high backs that reminded me of a small throne but the table was old and beat up (on purpose I am sure) probably like a well used butcher table. Most of the decoration was dark but yet there were 3 big lit up garish arrows pointing at a small pig statue. Also the temperature was quite warm and I was sweating through out the dinner.

The waiter was pleasant and after only two rounds of customary feigned ignorance brought us tap water (and came by on his own to refill it a few times).

Bread. There was a generous portion of excellent french bread served with herb butter, salt, black pepper, & olive oil.

Appetizer
Salmon Tartar and Avocado. I have had versions of this at many hotel banquets and this one was better than average but nothing special. The salmon was quite mild and mostly overwhelmed by the avocado otherwise I think the dish would have been good.

Bone Marrow with Toast. I was very eager to try this as I love bone marrow and was pleasantly surprised to see such a large portion and well presented. Unfortunately they had cooked it so much that the marrow had turned into a jelly, destroying the flavor.

Steak Tartar with vinegar cured Egg Yolk. Instead of piled up into a cylinder shape as usual this was flattened into an irregular shape and did not look as appetizing. There were a few croutons scattered around a small dark colored egg yolk in the middle. Trying the meat on its own I was quite disappointed. There wasn't much seasoning and the meat itself was quite bland. Then I tried mixing the egg and wow what a difference. The vinegar cured egg yolk was really something else and totally enlivened the dish into something special. The tanginess mixed perfectly with the meat to a provide wonderful combination.

Main Course
Prime Tenderloin. It was a very thick cut of steak, it must have been about 2 inches thick. This makes cooking it evenly quite difficult but it was cooked perfect and was ridiculously tender. The steak was served on a bed of creamed spinach that was a perfect compliment to the steak. On top was crispy shallots that should really have put this dish over the top into special but unfortunately didn't add anything rather than an occasional crunch. The biggest let-down was the sauce, it was a generic brown sauce that dampened the overall flavour of the dish rather than enhancing it.

French Chicken. The chicken was served in a deep frying pan, covered in a generous amount of pearl onions and surrounded by carrots. The presentation in the pan was one of the best for a chicken I have seen. It was ideally cooked, tender & juicy throughout. Fans of chicken will really enjoy this dish but others may find the flavor too subtle.

Dessert
Chocolate & Banana Tart with Sea Salt Caramel Ice Cream. This dessert sounded the best but was ultimately the most disappointing. It turned out to be a chocolate molten cake (even 7-11 has a molten cake now) with a slight crust around it. The banana flavor was so subtle I couldn't even taste it in many of the bites. A scoop of ready made Haagan Dazs would have been better tasting than this ice cream.

Maple Syrup Tart: Unlike the other one, this was a real tart. It had a solid but soft texture and sweet but not overly so filling. It was topped with a lemon whipped cream that I thought took away from the tart as it wasn't too sweet to begin with. If the tart was sweeter the contrasting tastes would have worked better.

Lemon Cappucino: What a great presentation and taste. It was served in a large coffee cup and covered with cream so it really did look like a cappucino. Stick a fork in it and taste the lemon filling goodness inside.

Overall there are a lot of contrasts in this place. The decor, service, & food all seemed to be a mixed bag. Some of it shined and some it flopped. For the price I would have expected better consistency.

Obviously this is a restaurant with a reputation at the moment. Not easy to get a table but worth it when you get there.

Interior is nicely done, a dark-ish, Lower East side sort of vibe with a mixture of seating options. I prefer to sit at the kitchen-front bar for the action.

Undoubtedly the steaks are the main attraction and they are all done to perfection. Particularly worth a mention, the 16oz wagyu. Good to share.

For starters I have enjoyed the japanese tomato and buffala which is exquisite. Another favourite, well-documented, is the marrow bone starter, a lovely, fatty, flavoursome effort which comes with some fresh, crunchy toast bread.

One disappointment is their cocktails which do not live up to the hype, they are facile, pretentious and un-memorable. There is nothing special to remember here besides the presentation and the names. Stick to a classic pre-dinner cocktail or some of their very good wine.

This place is not cheap but top steak should be expensive.

Service is very knowledgeable, they are well trained.

There is a new Award Winning Lamb Shoulder dish being served at Blue Butcher right now.Denaux Lamb shoulder “Label Rouge”, from Quercy, France - $1680, for 3-4 Persons
This is meant to cater for 3-4 people. Slow cooked for 24 hours with rosemary oil infusion before being char-grilled to slightly smoky and with a good spice rub, this baby lamb is distinctive for their dark rims around the eyes, pandas of the sheep world. @.@ The meat is silky smooth and there isn’t an overly pungent lamb gaminess, which puts off certain people. Limited to only 3 servving per day as the lamb is so rare, it hardly gets exported outside of France by the Denaux family and this won the best lamb award in France last year. The roasted potatoes I might added were really crispy which is rare in HK. The baby carrots to me seemed slightly undercooked though. ~ 8/10

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We had just completed an entry-level wine tasting course. Hence we decided to create an opportunity to use our scant wine-food pairing knowledge over a nice, meaty dinner.

Environment: Dim and spacious. Three storeys: Ground floor - alfresco dining; 1/f Landing - cozy private space for 8 (can draw curtains); 1/f - large, spacious dining space with a high ceiling, 1 table with high chairs, 2 large family-size wooden tables in the middle, many 2-seaters lined up against the windows, and another semi-private room at the far back of the room. The chilled meat room is also on this level. Apparently they're all Japanese virgin cows...(iirc). Virgin cows....aite. Good to know.

Quite liked the atmosphere, but it could get quite noisy on a fully-booked evening.

Service:
Polite and not intrusive. Friendly, open to feedback. They asked us for comments at the end of the meal, so, here you go.

Food:
First thing I noticed is the length of the menu. It is not too long. But I was happy about it because I usually spend an inordinate amount of time poring over too many choices. There was also great weight given to the signature cocktails. It occupied one whole page - same length as the a la carte menu.

Complimentary baguettes (w/ garlic butter, fleur de sel, coarse ground black pepper, EVOO) served in small brown paper bagBread was alright. Soft and doughy center, crisp and thin exterior, served warm. I liked how the crisp outer layer didn't splinter into smithereens when I tore it apart. The garlic butter was intense, and I enjoyed the good quality salt and black pepper combination which gave the bread a pleasant flavour. It wasn't too salty. But take care only to apply a few grains of each. EVOO was just average, not aromatic, quite low in viscosity.

Norwegian Salmon tartar, avocado, burnt lemon vinaigrette, horseradish $125A classic dish using the classic ingredients plus a little twist! I tasted fragrant white sesame seeds and chives mixed in with the salmon, which gave the fresh fish a slightly nutty flavour. Chives I love. The salmon was fresh, but raw fish isn't my thing so I am biased. The bed of avocado was alright - at least the fruit was ripe and buttery, and smooth. Would've made a great guac.

Organic smoked beetroot, feta, cucumber, pistachio star of the evening $120A friend had tried this before and recommended it. I did not have high expectations because 'beetroot salad', the way I had them before, usually took the form of 'salad with beets' i.e. a measly throw-in of beet discs together with the greens. It was a supporting actor rather than the big guy. Um. I can't say that the beet took centerstage this time either, but it worked surprisingly well with the other ingredients such that I'd agree with the naming of the dish.

The beets came in a variety of colors. I never knew there were white beets. I'd expected them to be very tender and soft but they held shape well. Perhaps they were raw..? Equally enjoyable. And I loved the sauce. It was a pistachio dressing - I even tasted something peanutty. There were also a sprinkling of pistachio crumble which added the nice crunch to the dish. The feta was very pleasant, moreish and creamy, mild. Good thing it wasn't too strong or else it would've overpowered the delicate beet flavours.

Lovely, deep crimson. Recommended!

Pig belly (kurobuta) & cheek, lentils, granny smith appleslaw $250 (half portion)Very tender and sinfully fat. Sadly the nice seared, aromatic surface was right on top of a thick bed of pure FAT which was unpalatable...and had to be discarded. The part that's left of the succulent pork is the bottom 30-40% - tender juicy meat which we cut through effortlessly. Lentils and julienned apples were an interesting and workable match. The sweetness and crunch of the green apple added a pleasurable dimension to the bed of savoury, mushy lentils.

Line-caught sea bass, clams, shrimp, broth, crunchy dough $220 (half portion)The fish was a disappointing, measly portion of bland protein. The seafood consisted of some crustaceans and shellfish, which I did not eat. The fish had tiny bones which peeved me because I expected a nice meaty fillet that I could dig right into without having to pick out the bones. I wanted and expected a nice, hazard-free piece of fish. To make things worse it had soggy skin ewe. Oh, the crunchy dough was rather unpalatable too. Worse when it became soggy. No idea why they had to put it there - no appeal at all. However, the broth was quite delicious and you could see all the ingredients that went into it. Will give it that much.

free range charred chicken on a bed of baby carrots and pearl onions $230 (half portion)Delicious and moist, for a chicken. We devoured the breast savagely (it was juicy), but left some of the drumstick untouched because it was undercooked. Some bits were just too pink and the meat felt a bit raw. The best part of this dish, apart from the breast, is the bed of veg. It is not easy to cook a perfect bed of veg at all. Loved the effort they put into preparing the sweet and tender baby carrots (complete with the little tuft of green...where'd you get that?), pearl onions cooked in chicken jus/stock(?). The sauce was thinner than a gravy, and was flavorful (and a necessary component to flavour + moisten the chicken breast).

Desserts:

This is the second time that I visit this restaurant. Tried the steak last time but not as good as I expected, so this time I tried the chicken as main course. It is extrodinary delicious, very well presented in a pan, sauce is tasty and the chicken is tender and juicy, well done! Will definitely come and try again!

I ordered a cocktail, but....well, it is not as good as people said, I forgot the name but the one I ordered comes with a paper bag, looks cool but taste is a bit like medicine, sorry to say that!

Just had dinner at the Press Room and wanted to check out the place next door.

The first floor was a bar and second floor is the much acclaimed meat room.

Nevertheless, all we wanted was to grab a drink and some snacks. Waitress was attentive but really didn't have much to offer instead of hefty meat dishes.

At the end we tried the bone marrow, whig was probably jot their signature as it was too lightly seasoned.

Will try the steaks next time.

We had Brunch with a lovely baby girl

Starter options was good, though not everything's brilliant

Live Foie Gras Station - Good

Waffle station - waffle was too dry

Oyster, mussel and shrimp station - good oysters (be good if there are more lemon wedges instead of small bits of lemon), shrimp with not much taste and mussel is far too salty

Caesar salad was fresh and tasty

Herb cured salmon was the best starters out of the lot

For the main course, I have chosen the Hockey Smoked chicken (half); not too bad, but again with not much taste though loads of smokiness to it. The pan serving style does not make it easy to handle, so I have to ask for a plate in the end.

My 2 male friends had one waygu burger each; one asking for rare, the other medium rare. They were both happy with their mains.

On dessert, we order one each, as there are only 3 selections. The best one is chocolate bread pudding w/ banana rum ice cream. We all love that one. But strawberry shortbread is bland, while apple tart with vanilla ice cream was far too sweet.. Think it will be better if the apple tart is more sour, balancing the lot.

However, service-while is really good. But I won't go back just because of the service.

Also, it is quite pricy. costing HKD320 each

Made Reservations for Blue Butcher for A Tuesday evening.

We were greeted by the staff right when we walked in.

We sat down and our waiter was very knowledgeble about the specials, and even recommended the signature cocktails.

The Sunday Brunch here consists of a buffet of appetizers, one choice of main and one choice of dessert. You can also add the free flow sparkling wine option.

The appetizer buffet consists of:
1. "Live" Foie Gras station - order made pan fried foie gras served with toast and pickles
2. Fresh oysters and prawns
3. Smoked salmon salad
4. Various other salad dishes

Out of the above, the foie gras stood out as it was cooked perfectly and tasted rich. They oysters and prawns were ok. The salmon was way too salty. Salads were fresh in generally but mostly on the oily side.

For main, I chose the fish fillet (can't remember what fish it was) for an extra $70 but it was a disappointment.

The best food of the whole brunch was actually the dessert - I had the chocolate pudding which was rich enough without being too sweet. This would be the dish I come back for!

After a frantic search for restaurants to meet up with an old friend who had recently moved to Hong Kong, I finally settled on The Blue Butcher. The reviews were all stellar and the setting and atmosphere appeared to be perfect for catching up with a girlfriend, plus, the cocktail list looked inviting.

As we approached, I was instantly drawn to the intimate and well thought out interior; dark, rustic, with some splashes of neon. A modern tribute to the prohibition days. There is a large communal table and several wooden tables. Due to lack of reservation, window seating wasn't available, but a sure sign that the restaurant is of high quality is that it was relatively full on a week night.

After pouring over the menu, we (2 lone diners) settled on the salmon tartar, meatballs (a special for the night) and pig belly (half portion) with The Moonshine and Herbs Harvest, all in preparation for a girly catch up session.

As the food was served, the tantalizing smell of the wagyu meatballs were intoxicating. The presentation looked a bit messy, but the bit of greens, mushrooms and meat was amazing. The meat was tender and almost like a hamburger patty. The seasoning was a little heavy, however the mushrooms and green was able to bring a lighter taste to the whole dish, balancing out the flavors. The salmon tartar was a good mixture of finely chopped salmon , a good size to retain the flavor and fresh avocados. The texture wasn't overly mushy and there was no overwhelming fish taste. A great palate refresher after the heavy meat course, and it's light acidity was not overbearing. The final course was the pig belly sitting in a bed of beans. This was the least favored dish of the night - good flavors and hearty, however, it seemed almost too ordinary in comparison to the other two.

All in all, Blue Butcher is fast becoming one of my favorite restaurants in the Hong Kong dining scene. The food was spectacular, and the atmosphere was well thought out and little touches such as serving the drinks in brown paper bags demonstrates creativity and thoughtfulness.

We went to Blue Butch during the first week when it just opened. The food was amazing. The Bone In Rib Eye was definetely one of the best steak in Hong Kong. So I recommended it to a few other friends, and they all got the same feedback: great steak in town.

So yesterday, we all decided to go back and expected another great meal at Blue Butcher. However, this time we all got really disapointed.

Bread: It taste like re-heated bread. Not good.

Drinks One of us orderred a glass of Red Wine and we had to ask them 5 or 6 times before they finally bring the wine to our table. Highlight of the night is the absent cocktail we orderred. Starter: We orderred 3 starters: Salmon tartar, Pig hear terrine and a salad. All 3 dishes are OK, nothing stood out, but nothing was terriblely wrong.

Main: We orderred a seabass and two Bone In Rib Eye steak to share. To be honest, 32oz big steak for 1380HKD, that is quite reasonable price to me. But the problem the steak is completely different from the one we had last time! This time, one of the steak is way too fatty - 40% of the steak is pure fat and we couldn't eat it. At the same time, the other steak is under seasoning. We complained to the general manager, he said he will check with the chef and see what he can do. So we were waiting him to come back with at least an acknowledgement. However, they never came back with even a sorry.

The bill came and it is 830 HKD per head (6 ppl in total, and only had one drink each) . I won't mind the to pay this much if we had a good or OK steak. But becuase the steak was too fatty that each of us only had 1 slice. I don't think We will go back again. Very disappointed......

Calling & booking a table at Blue Butcher is not that easy since it always seems to be fully booked - my suggested is that people book well in advance.

The entrance is a treat for the eyes, but i can't say the same for the stairs - If i had known earlier i would've opted for something more comfortable to walk in than high heels!

The interior looked like a lot of thought was put into it and it kept my friend and myself busy taking a look around - it really did feel as if i've been swooped back to the 1920s.

We ordered the norwegian salmon tartar, bone marrow, dutch veal cheek and kurobuta pig belly and cheek. Norwegian salmon tartar was refreshing choice to have as a starter, a little zesty too. The bone marrow was surprisingly amazing and it just melted right in my mouth, if only they had bigger portions! The dutch veal cheek was alright too but the winner of best dish would definitely be the kurobuta pig belly and cheek! This dish just melted in my month and has to be one of the best pork dishes in town.

The chocolate pudding and rum banana ice cream was the cherry on top of the evening, not too sweet and the rum wasn't overpowering.

I'll definitely be coming back!

Went there for drinks with some friends as i had heard a bit about their cocktails. Tried the Blood and Sand (no blood - and cool ice!) and the mint julip (metal straw stirrer).
The atmosphere was great and we got the munchies on so tried the Pigs head terrine and the Ham & Egg - very tasty, so we decided to stay on. It did take a long time to find a table and all, but they were nice enough about it i guess.
The veal was amazing - the most tender piece of meat i've had in a while. No space for any beef though, the salt brick room looks pretty real so will try next time

Honestly, this was the worst dinning experience I've ever had in Hong Kong over the past 5 years... and believe me or not, I'm weighting my words. If you intend to spend a good time with your friends, chill or be treated with a decent service... well just go to Ebeenezer (or even grab a sandwich at the nearest 7/11 and sit on a bench) and I can guarantee you that your time will be more enjoyable.

We were 3 of us, squeezed next to the bar (i won't complain about that as the restaurant was crowded and we could have simply refused that sit and walk away) on a low rise table. After 30 min, we got a bunch (at least a dozen) of high school semi-drunk guys taking the place over and almost sitting on our knees. Let's put that apart, that's not the main issue here. What is really dramatic is to have to wait 1.5 hours to get your main course. Obviously, we checked a couple of time whether the order has been passed (and it was) or not but the staff was so disorganized that they were serving big tables (who came in after us) before us (and when you drive a restaurant, you gotta know that this is simply wrong). Well, we were starving so much that we decided to leave the restaurant and eat somewhere else (even though the appetizers were good - as you can see there is some positive comments in that whole story). When we called the manager (a 35 ish lady), she almost killed us with her look/eyes... she could have insulted us that it would have been the same (so wrong to have such an attitude when you manage a restaurant). When we asked for the bill, they somehow brought our plates 30 sec after. But by principle, we've decided to leave the restaurant as the attitude of the manager/staff was unbearable.

In case someone connected to this restaurant reads that... you gotta have to understand (as i prove it here) that the first thing such a client will do is to spread the word on how rubbish is the place and how bad was the dinning experience/service is. Another quick tip... next time don't be cheap with clients to whom you gave such a treatment and at least offer them a discount on the bill so that they can understand there was a willingness to do good but (somehow) things went wrong. At the end of the day, we are all human beings and can understand such situations. But what we can't understand is staffs who dare treating clients like piece of ...

Enjoy your dinner at the "Butcher"... it definitely were its name quite well.

Truly awesome dining experience. As soon as you enter the dining room you'll notice something no other place in Hong Kong has, a walk-in dry aging room lined with pink salts.....incredible display of meat in it. The decor was a very hip NY style taking you back to the Prohibition era. The dry aging of the steak is incredible, it certainly adds a big umph to the juice and flavor. Head chef Danny will hand shave fresh horseradish on your dish, a small detail I really love. Dishes I tried which I recommend - pork belly, quail, ox-tail tortellini, veal cheek w/ sweetbread, Ham & Egg, bone marrow, Endive salad. Cocktails are not my thing, but did try a few like Spam & Egg, Prescription Jullip, some moonshine cocktail and some absinth drink, worth a try if you like cocktails. There are a few big slabs of meat you can order with 48 hours notice like leg of lamb and whole prime rib. Good wine selection with good selection of affordable wines.