大面子香港車仔麵專門店 (灣仔)

We walked by Daimenko on the way to the old Wanchai Police Station and thought we'd give it a try another day. What a pleasant surprise! Should have come back last week instead of waste our meal at some random restaurant nearby this one... I have had these "rickshaw noodles" a couple of times before and was not very impressed. But I am a fan now.

I think this place just "started" and are trying out their new operations, since their menus are still printed on A4 paper and just sticky taped onto the counter at this time. They have digital menus and not a whole lot of instruction on how to order. However, it is not exactly rocket science to order a bowl of noodles and we figured it out soon enough. It was like ordering a salad or a pizza, except in this case, you order your noodles and pick your toppings. The cashier was not very friendly and did not appear very familiar with their computer system, so we took like a minute to place our order.

Once we ordered and paid, we were told to take a seat and pick up the noodles when they were ready. I was surprised they only accepted Octopus, which was great for me since I do not like carrying coins. The restaurant offers free seating using stools and the "tacky" street furniture. But on second thought, this actually went well nicely. I think the owners are proud of the heritage of their noodles and you can see a big poster of an old market food stall in the middle of the restaurant, probably of their old shop back in the day. I was told by my friend that this used to be a street food, hence the furniture I guess, which is appropriate.

Shortly after we picked a spot, our ticket was called (probably around 2 minutes after we paid) and we had to get up again to go get our noodles. Our noodles came in a stylish white Daimenko bowl with a handle, which we thought was pretty neat.

This is where things started getting better. I ordered my own combo including: Chicken Wings, Soy Egg, Beef Brisket and Curry Squid with Inaniwa Udon. My friend ordered some "dirty street hawker noodle", which according to him, is the traditional favourite. I passed on it because it included pork intestine which I am not that eager to try.

I started by eating the Chicken Wings. I will tell you that I have a bias as I generally like eating chicken wings and order it even when I go to Mcdonald's... That said, you wouldn't believe it, this is probably one of the BEST chicken wings I have had, a la Chinese style at a noodle shop in Hong Kong. The wings had the usual soy flavour which is good although not very strong - but the texture was PERFECT.

The Soy Egg was nice and had a soft yolk. Beef was good and so was the curry squid. I also ordered a fresh pear juice, which was nice.

The portions were just right and not very big. Some guys might like to have a "bigger" bowl of noodles, but I liked this size (as it left me "satisfied" with sufficient space for a dessert and not feeling very stuffed).

As for my friend, he liked the dirty street hawker noodle he had. Although he said the spicy soup could be "hotter", it was a good amount so that he could taste the other ingredients.

My friend tells me that my bowl of noodles was relatively pricey, but not expensive, given that a bowl of Inaniwa Udon would cost like 80-200 dollars at a Japanese restaurant. He thinks his bowl was good value at 33 dollars with like 5 toppings, especially for Wanchai. For me, I can simply say that I would pay 80-100 dollars for a bowl of noodles that looks like this and I ended up paying 50, so I am a happy camper.

We originally thought Daimenko was just another ramen place, but it is not. It is truly a Hong Kong noodle shop and much more than just a "ramen place" - even though they serve ramen too. It is not fair to benchmark this place using my New York "Zagat" comparison since this is not western food, but I would recommend this place to anyone who would like to have a delicious bowl of Hong Kong style noodles - without having to go to some dumpy, back alley shop with a 30 minute wait. Just goes to show that in Hong Kong, one can still "get lucky" like we did, just walking into an unknown shop.

Maybe Daimenko could do with a little music? But like I said many times before, the most important thing about a restaurant is the food and this place has what it takes to bring me back for another bowl.

Le Salon Restaurant et Croissanterie (銅鑼灣)

This is one of the new eateries in Hysan Place. If you can make a reservation, or are happy to wait in line, Le Salon is worth a trip for dinner.You will get a fine dining experience together with the full service, accessories, formal setting, great city night view... a big bill at the end? Maybe not as big as you would think! The dinner menu has a set dinner which could be had for HKD 400-500 a person (without alcohol). Sounds expensive? Please read on first...Consistent with many of the neighbouring restaurants at Hysan Place, Le Salon is positioned to be stylish, fashionable and relatively affordable given the good quality of the food. The key for me at all restaurants is the food... and the food here is not bad at all.

Apparently, Le Salon was opened by some of the same people who started The Drawing Room. You could see a slight connection with The Drawing Room because the quality of the food is relatively high by Hong Kong standards.

Before I go on, I would like to caution not to set expectations too high. Le Salon is not what I would consider a "must try" restaurant if you were visiting Hong Kong and could only have one fine dining experience. As I did not have any wine this time (driving), I did get a good handle on the food.Amuse Bouche: Sweet cherry puree with salmon. One word, disappointing. The good news was that the rest of my meal went up from here.Appetizer: Langoustine terrine with apple jelly. Interesting combination and well presented. Not wow, but refreshing. The appetizer selection at Le Salon was not great and can be so much more.Main Course: Beef bourguignon with French beans. The beef cheek was well executed. Cooked just right. Not too rich or savoury as some cheeks are often done, I finished EVERY item on this plate, including the garnishes (a poached carrot and mini asparagus which complimented the dish very well). This is always a good sign of a well thought out dish.

My partner ordered the chicken, which was also very good. One can always tell how good the chef is at a western restaurant by the chicken.Dessert: Brulee waffle with strawberries and fresh cream. I am not a dessert person. I finished this one. Not the most innovative, but tastes great.

In fine dining, it is often more difficult to reach a higher level with the main course when compared with the appetizer. Le Salon actually have the more difficult part of their menu reasonably well executed. This leaves plenty of opportunity for enthusiastic diners like me to come back again.

If we were to benchmark Le Salon to my dining history in New York, I would say that Le Salon would be similar to a solid 23-24 for Food in Zagat, but probably fall just short of one Michelin star. That is not to say it might not get one Michelin star in Hong Kong. Should Le Salon aspire to reach levels similar to a Michelin star in New York, the opportunity lies in the amuse bouche and appetizers. In fact, I would be so bold to say that if I only ate the main course and desserts on this trip, I would easily be giving Le Salon a 24-25 and one Michelin start in New York.

For us who live in Hong Kong and would like to try something new, why not give Le Salon a go? Maybe you can consider to skip the appetizers, have a main and try all the desserts? I will come again at some point and hope that the high standards of service and quality of the food can be maintained.

Liberty Private Works (中環)

I am not a big fan of the private kitchens in Hong Kong and do not frequent them often. For me, they tend to be relatively overpriced disappointments. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that Liberty Private Works is an exception.

I would like to begin by saying that I had not done any research about LPW prior to going and knew nothing about the chef/owner and their past exploits. Although the evening began slowly, it turned out to be a very enjoyable one, thanks to the solid culinary skills and casual dining atmosphere.

The evening started slowly because LPW is in Central, yet not in a major building or hotel. This can make it tricky to find for those who do not work in the district. Then, when you find the building, you might be shown into the cargo elevator, as I was, for a relatively long ride to the 26th floor. Once I got there, I found a very well put together, modern, bar dining room with decent views of the Mid-levels.

We were served a Tasting Menu (I think that is the only choice one gets) which included an amuse bouche, six cooked dishes and two desserts.

Amuse Bouche: Looked fantastic, did not taste good. Amongst the few blemishes of the evening was the amuse bouche, which looked great and was well worth the photo, but did not taste very good. If LPW has the aspirations to reach the higher echelons of the fine-dining world, my recommendation would be to elevate this dish, especially given where all the other ones are. I recall I had the good fortunate of having dinner at Le Bernardin in New York, one of my all-time favourite fine-dining spots, where we began the Chef's Tasting with a lovely salmon amuse bouche. The only plus for starting with a weak amuse bouche as LPW did when I was there, is it set my expectations for the food lower for the rest of the evening. That said, please read on and do not let this affect what I have to say about some of the cooked dishes below.

Sea urchin and tuna tartare, topped with caviar and cucumber thins on top of rice crispies: This dish was good, not great, but good. Although this dish tasted good, it was not impressive, given it is not hugely difficult to combine uni, caviar and tuna to make a delicious dish. This combination is not new for those who have been fine-dining for the past ten years. In fact, we even joked about this amongst my dinner party. However, the addition of the crunchy rice crispies underneath was a good touch.

Shellfish composition served on thin jelly: OK, this was the first moment in the evening where the food raised one of my eyebrows. It was a combination of shrimp, cuttlefish and clams on top of a thin slice of jelly. The flavours came together nicely. Not enough to be warrant a "wow", but this was very well done, given all the ingredients were cooked "just right", which is very well done because it is very easy to overcook these items.

Crispy amadai (fish) with peas and mushrooms: Definitely a dish one could expect to eat at any top fine-dining restaurant when eating fish. Great texture and complimentary flavours. If every dish on the Tasting Menu were executed to this level, LPW would be a two or three Michelin star restaurant.

Egg ravioli with caviar: The egg ravioli followed the fish, which was a great idea in this case as the excellent amadai was followed by a rich ravioli which was delicious. For me, this was when my dinner experience at LPW peaked in the evening. As such, although I had two more dishes after this, I probably drank a few more glasses of wine at this point, as such, would like to provide my review of the last two cooked dishes after my next visit!

The two desserts were good, with the first one being more spectacular in preparation, presentation and flavour. It was some combination of coconut and pineapple flavoured creams and bits of different textures.

For those familiar with the fine-dining ratings in New York or for the New Yorkers, if LPW was in New York, I think it would probably achieve one Michelin star and a solid 24-25 on Zagat's for food. I have decided to include these estimates as LPW deserves to be compared to restaurants in New York.

Overall, this is an experience I would recommend to anyone who enjoys modern fine-dining. From a culinary experience standpoint, LPW for me probably ranks just below the bar at Robuchon at this point. Nonetheless, more than worthwhile if you have three hours for dinner one evening, would like to impress a date and can afford to dish a thousand dollars per head.

Thank you Liberty Private Works, I had a great time!

22 Ships (灣仔)

22 Ships is located on 22 Ship Street, hence the name I guess. This is my first time to go to Ship Street as prior to this trip, I had not known there was a Ship Street in Hong Kong. Little did I know that this was simply the "other side street" where The Pawn is. This street is shaping up to be an interesting collection of restaurants catering to the expat professional living in Wan Chai, or more specifically, J Residence...

Lots of my gwai lo friends had been here already and were raving about this place. Despite that, I did not come with high expectations, despite the reviews and culinary acclaim of Jason Atherton, as I am not a big fan of traditional Spanish tapas. The good news was that this is not really Spanish tapas at all.Although the food and ownership are completely unrelated, I believe 22 Ships will end up on a similar journey as one of my local favourites, Yardbird. I say this because 22 Ships is yet another rare gem in Hong Kong which reminds me of my days in New York or London. Either way, coming here, if I was not to look out the window, the ambience and crowd are squarely "non-Hong Kong" locals meaning few "Cantonese" and certainly no "Mainlanders". Not that I have any "ill feeling" towards either being Chinese myself. What I am trying to depict is the type of "vibe" that 22 Ships carries. And until Yardbird came around, there were no such places I knew of in Hong Kong which exude this kind of vibe. Now, there is a second place. This is probably in part because such "no reservations" and "no service charge" concepts are generally more welcomed by the foreigner.Scallop Ceviche: Fresh taste with citrus in a classic ceviche setting, scallop always has wonderful texture, a recommended dish.Tuna Tartare: A+ for presentation and creativity, flavour could be better, not one that I would personally order again given the great amount of better choices at 22 Ships.Kanpachi: It is "marinated", but basically another ceviche type dish; interesting and will order again any day of the week and twice on Sundays (during summer).Salt and Pepper Squid: Basically the best calamari I have had in Hong Kong for a while.

Great ambience aside, the most important quality of any restaurant is the quality of the food. 22 Ships scores well in this regard. Probably not a Michelin star worthy story at this point, but a very solid score across the Taste, Presentation and Good Value criteria. If this were a restaurant in New York, the Food would probably get a solid 24 for Food.

The only thing stopping me from coming back more often is that it is quite crowded and I am not sure I would be eager to wait in the street coming into Winter for a quick meal. That said, I will be back and will recommend 22 Ships to any visitor or local "gwai lo" looking for a casual dining experience which is classy, yet good value, stylish, yet practical.

匯麵一九五0 (紅磡)

Located in the food mecca at Whampoa, MinMix 1950 is a very interesting, hi-tech noodle shop. I think this is how all fast food places will be one day. It is bright, clean and efficient. The menu user interface is very cool. The shop and concept is very well thought out. Arriving there, it kind of reminded me of Miso Cool, except the noodles are Hong Kong style and it is more casual.

I read about this place and thought we would give it a try. Whilst the place looks great, there is one slight problem, the food could be better tasting. Maybe I am not particularly fond of this style of Hong Kong food? Or maybe the owner has devoted too much on the packaging and overlooked the "delivery of the goods"? As I have said in the past, a restaurant is only as good as the food it serves. As such, MinMix 1950 is not a place I would recommend for a good bowl of noodles. But it is a pretty neat place to check out.

The interactive menu is one of the best I have seen in the market.

Some of the other great ideas: this is an Octopus-only restaurant, which I think is quite convenient. The menu is also in English and Japanese, which I imagine must make it very tourist friendly.

As for the food, well, I ordered a bowl of noodles with Beef, Beef tripe and Duck Kidneys (yes, my friend tells me these are popular Chinese items). My friend ordered several more exotic items like Intestine and Pig Blood???

The Beef was not bad. The Beef tripe was decent. The Duck Kidneys lacked flavour, but had good texture. The rice noodle was good. The soup was not great. The size was not bad. Despite it's relatively large appearance, the portion was just right because MinMix 1950 very cleverly sourced a bowl that slopes inwards towards the bottom, creating a relatively small base with a large surface area. I think this is quite smart.

I did not try what my friend had since I am not that adventurous. For those who are, you can come and try the more exotic items for yourself and let me know. However, my friend tells me that most other average noodle shops in town that serve things such as Pig's Blood would taste better and be less expensive.

From a food perspective, MinMix 1950 is not really worth benchmarking against other noodle places which I think are good. In New York, I would expect the Food rating for a restaurant like this to be under 18 on Zagat. Nonetheless, I thought it is quite cute and refreshing. I am told for this kind of food, the price tag is pretty steep, although I think it is relatively affordable, even if not of great value.