...........If you listen enough to Mr. Choi Larn, someone whom I do admire to an extent and is quite knowleagable yes (at least better than me overall), yet sometimes I think I disagree with him on certain issues as he's slightly biased and gets facts wrong sometimes. I remember on the odd occasion I read one of his articles, when he mentioned that when it comes to Sydney vs Melbourne's food - he claimed Melbourne is far more famous for fine dining than Sydney. In that same article, he even got the Chef's name of Tetsuya's in Sydney wrong - it should have been Wakuda Tetsuya, not Ikuda Tetsuya. Duh....

Anyway, I'm not old-fashioned like Choi Larn and I certainly wouldn't bring tourists to Vlado's in Melb for a steak, that place is ho-hum, way out-dated compared to the newer and much better steakhouses. The world has shifted, but he is caught unaware. His general comment that Melbourne has better fine dining foods than Sydney is also pretty seriously false - Sydney has much more capable fine dining venues infact charging much higher prices, this fact is supported by the number of 3 Hatted Restaurants far out-numbering the Melburnian ones by around 7-8 to 2. To me, what's interesting about Melbourne is that there are so many Hearty Restaurants everywhere which makes great tasting food - they are not the Haute Cuisine type, because people there are too laid back and relaxed to really enjoy those (but if you really desire them, count on Vue De Monde and Royal Hotel at Dunkeld to deliver, which are seriously world-class acts, perhaps even Jacque Reymonds during Winter when he's less susceptible to making Japanese-Westernised fusion dishes as when he always does in Spring/Summer, due to his Japanese training!), but anyway, its more about the down-to-earth dishes that you eat day in and day out there that you become addicted to but which are impossible to find in places like HK. Union J's Food, operated by Eric Johnson and Jason Casey, the two talented chefs who had once worked in the Michelin 3 Starred Jean-Georges, kind of reminds me of those hearty dishes but in an Americanised way. Union-J does the approachable and Bistrot type of food which suits everyone every night..... Pity it will be closing soon, due to the landlord kicking them out soonish.

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The Food here are not as simple as it seems on the surface either. When I got to bite into each dish and then talking to one of the chefs, I realised that a lot of extra thoughts have been injected into each individual dish and dessert than is apparent on the surface, esp. compared to how its printed simply on the menu - there are always hidden, secretive ingredients which were added in to elevate your bistrot styled dish to another level. If you ask my honest opinion, I think the complexity of the dishes here are even more sophisticated than say the dishes served at Michelin Starred French restaurants such as Petrus and Caprice (which are rated using the Traditional French System), even Cepage or Drawing Room - its a pity not many eaters or Michelin reviewers will ever understand the extra-thoughtfulness and complexity mixed into each dish to create more tasting layers. But as a wannabe cook myself I certainly suspected there's something more going on in the background than is perceivable on the surface. We're really receiving a bargain here. Every single dish probably consists of 10+ or more ingredients combined which are far too subtled to be picked up easily, but they really do make a micro-level difference in the end, but only if you look out for them.

I REALLY WISHED UNION-J WILL STAY OPERATING IN THE LONG RUN TO ASSUAGE MY HUNGER, I HOPE THEY FIND ANOTHER SPACE FOR ACCOMODATION AFTER HERE. ALTHOUGH THE EXTRA PRESSURE OF OPERATING A HIGHER CULINARY LEVEL RESTAURANT, ONE CLOSER TO HAUTE-CUISINE STYLE COULD BE MORE INTENSELY STRESSFUL, I REALLY FEEL THAT THE TWO J'S, "JOHNSON AND JASON" REALLY DO CARRY MORE THAN ENOUGH THE TALENT TO PULL OFF THIS STUNT MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE. PLEASE COME BACK AND SURPRISE US ALL IN THE END IN YOUR FUTURE ADVENTURES IN HONG KONG....

公司在雲咸街, 所以逢同事生日, 開會之後, 都多是在雲咸街或蘭桂坊一帶搵食, 這間Union J是少數食過又再食嘅.
在這一區午餐收200元一餐的餐廳很多, 大多都說是載譽以來, 怎麼怎麼星級酒店做過, 或怎麼米之連星級廚師, 其實很多不外如是, 都是在搞花臣, 應該味道才是最重要的.
這餐廳也會搞花臣, 但又keep到味道, 今次揀食蟹餅, 有兩塊, 雖然細細塊, 但裡面全是蟹肉, 沒有加那些怎麼豬肉呀菇呀來充數, 也喜歡他們的湯, 很鮮...唯一較差就是TIRA-MY-SU了, 大概這就是玩得太多花臣吧!

星期天要加班…幸好可以早個半鐘頭收工…雖然吃過早餐…不過吃得不多…所以收工就要去找東西吃…昨天其實已經到過中環…就是因為看到有很多餐廳都想試…所以今天又回到這裡…突然記起之前在openrice看到有人寫這裡有任選三款食物的Sunday brunch…就決定要來試一試….

差不多下午雨點...人客不多…待應安排我們坐在窗邊的位置…陽光從大玻璃窗透進來…很悠閒的感覺…

看到menu的時候發現本來應該寫上$188任選三款的字…被新的一張貼紙蓋著…變成了set brunch…只可以在煙肉和豬肉腸兩者之中選…而不是可以在下面的a la carte任選三款…是有點失望的啦…幸好煙三文魚和egg benedict 我也喜歡吃…所以最後還是點了這個brunch set….另外還單點了車打芝士煙肉薯餅和spicy sausage…

所有食物同時間端上來…好像很豐富…首先試吃車打芝士煙肉薯餅…薯餅由一條條粗粗的薯絲交織而成…很真材實料的感覺…表面呈橙金色…應該是車打芝士的顏色…看起來真的很吸引…不過當咬了第一口就出事了…薯餅溫度不足…只是微暖…外層一點也不脆…有點淋…咬落也不香口…坦白的說我覺得M記的薯餅比這更好吃…車打芝士味又不突出…我們甚至懷疑這到底是不是炸了很久才端出來…還是可能是翻炸了….最後我只吃了一半就放棄了…….

跟SET的豬肉腸和另外加的spicy sausage根本就是同一樣的東西…但是名字確實是不同啊…至少單點的spicy sausage應該會spicy…可惜沒有…味道普普通通的…沒什麼特別…

煙三文魚bagel…看賣相有點像我以前在挪威吃的那樣…挪威四處都會賣這種麵包…不論是塗在麵包上的芝士醬還是三文魚上面都加了很多翠綠的小葱粒…三文魚好吃…不過下面的麵包有點靭…就算用口咬也要用力扯…所以吃的時候有點狼狽…

egg benedict是當中最正常的一款…波蛋煮得剛剛好…切開的時候流出小量的蛋汁…被墊在下面的麵包完全吸收…上面的hollandaise sauce亦不俗…不過不算是我吃過最好的…

最後的French toast…可能是我自己誤會了…我真的以為是多士了…會塗牛油忌廉蜜糖果醬之類…但是是脆的多士…而這個就有點像熱香餅…厚厚的熱香餅…蜜糖和士多啤梨肉已經加在一起了…是熱香餅還好…這個是涼的…我不是十分喜歡….

最後生果很新鮮很fresh…不過莓類有點酸…

剛剛想起就是原來當天我們沒有點餐茶呢…including tea or coffee嘛…自己不記得…就連待應也不提醒我們…呃…也就算了….

結果這一餐是以一個非常疑惑的心情結束…其他的人的食評都很不錯啊…難道真的只是不合我的口味嗎….? 不過我應該會再來一次吃午餐…試試慢煮三文和Long Island Clam Chowder的…

second time around, i was disappointed as soon as i was led to the table.... or bench i should say.

lucky i was in pants.

anyway, the squid salad was great, but the maincourse was not that great. i had the chicken legs, it was too salty. my friend had the cheeseburger and she said it's not great at all.

oh well. at least the bread was still soft and great.

I know! I know! This entry is like my 3rd entries on Union J (1st & 2nd) , but hey, I like this place for being what it is! My foodie friend Babedolphin once mentioned that Union J is one of the few in Hong Kong where the chefs would actually deliver more than what are being described in the menu in terms of techniques and perhaps ingredients used. (Mr. Babedolphin put it in a slightly different way with more details of course, I will let him expand on his take in the comments section below) For me I like the atmosphere, I like the setting and I like how they don't try to pack tables close together even with the open spaces they have.

Did I mention my visit was on a Sunday? Yep, Union J started offering Brunch on Sunday ... wait, I mean they finally decided to OPEN on Sunday! Finally! So what do they offer on Sunday, particularly with its Sunday brunch offering? Well ... basically you can either go a la carte or pick from the list of 17 items! Took us quite a while to select because there were more than 5 items I want! I did not want to give up my Corn Beef Harsh for Smoked Bacon, I want both! I am not going to list all the items out, you can check out the menu below.

After a long 10 mins of thinking, I decided to go with Corned Beef Hash, Classic Egg Benedict, Spiced Pork Sausage, Huevos Rancheros and Bead Basket. Before I bring you to my dish, let us take a look of my friends' orders. I think we ALMOST ordered one of each items from the menu!

Wow, mine was a EGG FEAST! And such an pretty egg! Cannot see the items clearly? No worries, I zoomed in for some of them for your eye's pleasure!

The Classic Egg Benedict was pretty good, well prepare with yolk flowing out as it should be! The saltiness of the ham mixed well with the egg yolk and also the hollandaise sauce. Talking about hollandaise sauce reminds me of what Anthony Bourdain said and what I quoted from my breakfast venture at Mandarin Grill +Bar. I still like my hollandaise sauce so more the merrier!

The bread basket consisted of several kinds of bread and I liked the sourdough the most. I was getting a bit full at this point already!

This Huevos Rancheros was something new to me. I did not know what the heck it was when I was ordering it, all I know was that it has eggs and guacamole! Yum. However, it turns out to be rather disappointing in terms of of flavors which were rather weak and confusing in my opinion especially the spicy black beans paste (not spicy at all and very gluey ... interesting texture to be honest but flavors need some work) .... Almost forgot about the Tortilla chip which was ... soggy and almost impossible to cut apart or rip apart! Argh!

Look how pretty the egg was, I almost did not want to egg it and leave it there as it was for my eye's pleasure. Then again, I love eggs, I love food, how can I let decent food go to waste! Never!

Wait a second! Where was the Corned Beef Hash? Good question indeed, it was hiding under the pretty egg!! Nice touch! However, the texture was rather firm and flavors a bit too rich, but together with the egg the flavor balanced out so it was alright. Oh yes, the Pork Sausage was alright, no surprises there.

There were some disappointing items but overall it was a good relaxing brunch with good company and good atmosphere so I think I will come back soon to try the rest of their items

Likes:
-Atmosphere / Decor
-Wide selection of brunch items and portion was HUGE!
-Classic Egg Benedict - well prepared with yolk flowing out and flavors were good with the ham and hollandaise sauce

Dislikes:
-Huevos Rancheros - interesting marriage of flavors and a super tough Tortilla chips!
-Corned Beef Hash - texture was a bit too firm

Avg Spending: around HKD 250 per person

Original Blog Post: http://www.jasonbonvivant.com/2010/03/union-j-sunday-brunch-finally.html

7-5-2010

一直想同朋友 J 嚟呢度食 lunch, 但次次唔係佢被公事纏身, 就係我唔得閒, 經過多次改期, 是日終於「排除萬難」嚟了 Set lunch 包兩個 course 及飲品, 2 人就盡量叫唔同的食物方便試多 d, 另加一個 dessert share 食.

先嚟 table bread, 乜成個 potato 咁大 剛出爐熱辣辣, 咬落外鬆脆內鬆軟, 麵粉味重, 正! 掛住食, 無影相 tim.

仲有 grapefruit soda 做 welcoming drink, 味道一般, 不過實在有誠意, 感覺不錯.

First Dish 大家都揀了 Long Island Clam Chowder: 湯底 cream 味頗重, 質地算幼滑, 飲落夠香又唔太飽膩, 仲有大量洋蔥及 bacon, 加埋幾甜的蜆, 味道豐富唔少之餘, 亦咬口十足, 幾喜歡.

Second Dish #1 係 slow-cooked salmon, 下面的好似係 wild rice? 煮成 "risotto" 狀又有點 barley feel, 咬落煙煙韌韌又帶點粗糙, 幾得意; salmon 肉汁豐盈, 滑得無話可說, 帶淡淡魚油香, 食落夠味又唔膩, 好食喎 旁邊的 asparagus 亦清甜, 可惜有少少渣啦; 仲有少少啡色 sauce, 賣相味道都極似日式胡麻醬, 唔知乜來的?

Second Dish #2 係 roasted chicken with black olive-mustard crust, lemon potatoes and carrots... order 時以為係 chicken breast, 點知嚟了隻 chicken drumstick, presentation 仲好靚 雞皮軟軟的, 算薄, 食落唔油, 雞肉就夠軟熟; 不過最好食係個檸檬-based 醬汁, 酸得來帶點 creamy, 十分開胃, 好食 不過檸檬汁味的 carrots 及薯仔就唔多啱我, 食「漬物」一樣的感覺真係唔太喜歡.

甜品揀了 tiramisu, 不過嚟了咖啡 gelato + mascarpone 層 + 杏仁酒味餅底的一個「塔」, 雖然味道唔差, 但就絕對唔係 tiramisu

餐飲要了咖啡: 幾香, 夠濃, 不過有點澀, 對我嚟講亦有點太啃, 唔算十分喜歡.

食物不錯, 環境裝修簡潔好坐又乾淨, 自然光下食飯真不錯 店員們唔算十分 friendly, 但幾有禮貌, service 都不錯的.

埋單每人約 $220, 唔平, 不過地段-wise 算係咁吧, 而且食物真不錯, 都值得一試的.

眾人對美國菜的感覺,一向是大堆頭,而且是"大而無當".在香港可吃到精致一點的美國菜,早年的Bostonian,到今天,在蘭桂坊有Union J.

此餐廳在加州大廈二樓,說是走新派美國菜,名字Union J是代表兩位大廚,但在我方角度去想,是我與女友之聯盟,因為單字一個J,亦可代表我女友的名字.

在周末晚上六點多前來,樓下蘭桂坊尚未出現遊客,酒客潮.只有零星過路客,而餐廳亦只得我倆.或許六點多,對大多人來說是太早吧.餐廳佈置挺有格調,有廂房,亦有吧檯,想吃飯或飲兩杯,悉隨專便.我倆被安排坐在窗邊,與對面上樓情趣內衣店相對.

餐牌一張紙過,沒有幾十安士的牛扒,或者燒肋骨,內裏的菜式,有輕怡的沙律,有大廚媽媽秘方的周打蜆湯,主菜有慢煮三文魚,海膽意粉等等.另外此店亦有Set dinner選擇,三道菜只是$288.在蘭桂坊吃晚餐來說,價錢是便宜.

首先店員端上熱辣辣麵包,外脆內軟,配上海鹽同牛油吃,份外滋味.頭盤要了生牛肉他他,個人很喜歡這一道,如果餐廳有此一味的話,總不會逃出我的咀.Union J的Steak Tartar with cherry-olive tapenade,做得非常濕潤,因為是面頭上的慢煮蛋黃,蛋漿做得很sticky,味道香滑,是其他地方吃不到的驚喜味道.將蛋黃與混合了生牛肉吃,美味又滿足.

暖磨菇沙律清新怡人,沙律菜新鮮得爽脆,面頭的脆薯粒有如麵包糠,主角之一磨菇充滿濃香的菇味.dressing的香草醋,味道平衡.令人開胃.另一味店內主打長島周打蜆湯,果然是招牌貨,質感極為濃凋,奶油味道極為濃香,內裏的蜆肉份量十足,粒粒也鮮甜嫩滑.如果一個胃口不大的人,喝霸此湯之後也差不多半飽.

個人在大家樂挪威三文魚飯食評中說過,我吃三文魚一向吃煙燻或慢煮,如果是吃刺身的話,那天一定是走去"踢館",是夜的慢煮三文魚,真正做得外熟內嫩,入口香滑,兼充滿油潤感覺,是全熟三文魚吃不出的.在三文魚面頭的Hollandaise,與魚肉下面的薯茸,一樣地香滑,最有趣的是伴碟炸過的wild rice,很有吃米通的脆口感.

最後的甜品是70%朱古力蛋糕,每個人吃朱古力總會有心目中的程度,對我來說七十巴仙,是最舒服的定位.看看這個蛋糕賣相,有點像Sift的影子呢.朱古力蛋糕本身未吃已聞到其香氣,蛋糕入口濕潤,朱古力味濃厚而且甘,非常豐滿,另外的拖肥,開心果雪糕也是好吃,最得意是雪糕下藏著久違的爆炸糖.我想也有廿幾年,未試過被爆炸糖"口爆"的感覺了,這個七十巴仙朱古力蛋糕,果然新奇刺激又好玩,一次過滿足了三個願望.

我倆由頭盤吃到主菜,仍未有一個客人,有如包場,直到吃著主菜,食客才魚貫進場.不過也算包了一個小時的場,做人不要太過貪心好了.哈哈,

聽聞此店會做到年中便結業,如果屬實的話,便太過可惜了.

Had lunch there twice recently. The restaurant setting is very comfortable and bright during the day which makes it a great lunch place.

I had the crispy squid salad and braised beef cheeks the first time and steak tartare and crab cakes the second time. I think the squid and beef cheeks were a better and more satisfying combination. Especially the beef cheeks, which was very tender and flavorful.

My friend was a little surprised by the pork belly salad as it looked more like bacon served on lettuce rather than a chunk of pork belly.

So I came here the other day with a bunch of friends for dinner. Never been to Union J but I've heard good things. Was craving a burger and some of their signature duck fat fries.

Environment: I like the place. Probably a little more dimly lit than I would like for dinner (no so good for photos) but place was comfortable. I particularly like the large floor to ceiling windows all around. Must be nice and bright there during the day. The place has a New York Lower East Side feel to it.

Service: I think their waiters were friendly and knowledgeable. My major gripe of the night was food took too long to serve. Mind you my friend order a second appetizer after our first round of appetizers came so that may have slowed things down. In the end we asked a waiter to check on the mains since the wait between appetizers and mains I want to say was close to 15+ minutes. Considering the place was less than 1/2 full I would expect things to be served quickly. Outside of the slow service I thought the service at Union J was good.

We totally pigged out last night. Didn't help that my buddy knew the chefs and they sent us a few more desserts. Needed a wheel chair to leave Union J....haha.

Black Truffle Grilled Cheese - such a simple dish but just makes me so happy. The truffles provided an earthy note and were a perfect compliment to the grilled cheese.

Butternut Squash Soup - my favorite soup during the winter when I was I lived in New York was Butternut Squash soup. It's so healthy, revitalizing and hearty. Personally I'm just looking for a simple creamy/smooth butternut squash soup.

The butternut squash soup at Union J is pretty decent. The thickness of the soup I think is pretty close to what I like. Flavor wise...it's a little on the sweet side for me but I think it is still quite tasty. What I didn't particularly care for were the halves walnuts and croutons in the soup. The mushroom chunks were a nice touch. Overall I think all these extra things in the soup ruins the 'smoothness' of the soup slightly. Pretty decent soup overall.

Cheeseburger With Duck Fat Fries - Now onto the star! The cheeseburger was moist and juicy. Meat was flavorful and you knew it was high quality the minute you bit into it. Messy to eat (the sauce was a little on the sticky side) but I personally didn't mind. Definitely one of the better burgers I've had in HK.

Duck fat fries were definitely good too although I couldn't really tell how it was different to regular well cooked fries. I am a big fan of fries that are 'fat' and cut non-uniformly so this was a nice touch. The fries itself were crispy and the interiors were moist which was nice. I personally couldn't really taste how it was different from frying it in regular vegetable oil (didn't taste that much richer). Good fries overall.

I was already stuffed at this point but Chef Jason sent out a bunch of desserts for us:

ABC Ice Cream Takeaway - Very cute presentation in a little traditional Chinese takeout box. Creamsicle flavor (vanilla-orange) was pretty clean. Nice palette cleanser.

Cheese Cake - Very rich and quite tasty. Flavor was a little more subtle (some cheesecakes taste more on the cheesy side). Decent.

Chestnut Egg Tart - One of my favorite desserts of the night. The filo on top was crispy and sweet and the chestnut egg tart below was a nice twist to a local specialty. The crust of the egg tart was more pie like than even regular 'western' egg tarts in HK but I didn't mind this.

70% Chocolate Cake - The 'molton' cake was quite good and rich in flavor. An interesting twist to me was the pop rocks under the pistachio ice cream. One you let the ice cream sit in your mouth it has a fizzy sensation (I only had pop rocks as a kid). Pretty good.

Outside of the food being served slowly I thought the meal I had at Union J was quite good. A word of caution: the food is more on the expensive side. Excluding wine/food/drink, if you order an appetizer and main for yourself expect to pay $350-400/person. For burgers and fries...it's definitely more on the expensive side.

What a lovely restaurant the decor is simple and to the point loved the drawings of food and drink recipes on the chalk board well done! My date was impressed with their superb whiskey menu. The truffle grilled cheese is delish. I had the roast chicken, yeah I know a bit boring but I was really in the mood for some good home cooked roast chicken, as traveling in China for months my palette was craving something simple and down to Earth. To my pleasure it was so juicy and tasty. We were too full too try the desserts, next time as I will be back for sure.