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2016-03-31
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Between curiosity of the restaurant solely because of its name and discovery of the synergy of Po's Atelier and Cafe Deadend behind the scene, there lies an unexplainable transition of feeling which urges me to have a try and unveil the flip side of the two famous residents at Po Hing Fong.Sheung Wan is a unique district where you can find a peaceful mixture of citylife and downtown, and the area of Po Hing Fong is one of my favourite wandering spaces ever to be named in Hong Kong. Lower accessi
Between curiosity of the restaurant solely because of its name and discovery of the synergy of Po's Atelier and Cafe Deadend behind the scene, there lies an unexplainable transition of feeling which urges me to have a try and unveil the flip side of the two famous residents at Po Hing Fong.
Sheung Wan is a unique district where you can find a peaceful mixture of citylife and downtown, and the area of Po Hing Fong is one of my favourite wandering spaces ever to be named in Hong Kong. Lower accessibility of the area may turn a commonly-deemed-drawback into a favourable condition for businesses in slow motion to flourish, such as classy boutiques, art galleries, leather workshops and cafes, giving the neighbourhood a bohemian flair. Not yet going into Po Hing Fong area, you may pass by Sai Street which brings you upslope, between hectic city life and transquility.
However gimmicky it seems, the interesting name of the restaurant did appear tangibly at the shop front - for lunch, the entrance is on the A-side (on Sai Street), whilst for dinner, the entrance is on the back alley (without any street name). I was told by the server that the reason is about liquor license, though I am still puzzled after knowing this.
No twists and turns, seating area is all that is shown - a twenty-seat bar in simplistic design reminds me of the sushi bars where I enjoyed omasake meals. Distance between customers and chefs is even closer, not even 5 inches apart like sushi bars. Make sure that your knives, forks and tissue don't slip onto the kitchen area!
The outer area doesn't make up the whole kitchen, with part of it with baking utensils and stoves at the far end.
The seating area has nothing extra, and so is the wall decor. I love the colour of dark turquoise which goes so well with the white words making up the menu, with lunch on one side and dinner on the other. Comfort and stillness of air reigns with the caress of such a calming colour tone.
For the dinner menu, categories such as snacks at $55/plate, meats with chicken/steak/fish at $190-250, veggies at $95/plate featuring supplies from daily local farms as well as desserts at $85. Highlight is shed on veggies which are organically grown in the New Territories.
Looking into the attributes of various kinds of veggies, cooking method and seasoning is stated under the veggies as listed in details. Although consumer awareness of organic food is on the rise, customers do consider whether these organic veggies are worth their higher price. More expensive veggies such as kale, bellpepper well justify the price. It is even more rare to have watercress eaten in raw form, as the Chinese doesn't advocate this because of potential health risk. Thus, watercress has to be in excellent quality in order to be served raw, or not totally done.
While the dinner menu is in a la carte style, the same applies for lunch as well. Light and clean food is served, with soup at $70, salad at $90, sandwich at $105 and burger at $120. The first two are slightly overpriced while the latter two are acceptable in Sheung Wan. For drinks, brew coffee is at $45 and cold pressed juice is at $65. Highlight is perhaps an option of pastries from Po's at $30, though I failed to get one at 1pm, being told that the pastries hadn't arrived yet.
While one of the masterminds behind this restaurant and its siblings is an expert in art and photography, it is not strange to find books on design and architecture on the shelf. Featuring organic local farm produce, the books collection can't go without farming ones!
Salad isn't anything special, but I would like to go for one to try its organic veggies sourced locally. Salad of the week ($90) is kale salad which was fine for me. Talking about kale, I thought of Kale in Sheung Wan which serves nice salad combos with sliders!
As it was still in soft opening (grand opening in around mid-April), I was the only customer in the restaurant, together with a friend of a staff who dropped by for a coffee. The ambience was soothing and customer-friendly, with no barrier in between the two, discussing this and that on food and coffee.
It took some time to get the salad done, approximately 15 minutes. I started to feel impatient when it was 10 minutes after placing my order, as salad shouldn't take that long to be prepared; but after seeing what was served, I note the time and effort taken which was worth the wait!
Salad of the day - Kale salad
$90
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I recalled my dinner with floral elements at Marbling by Mr. Steak, which included this kind of edible flowers on a toast above the Lobster Bisque. It should be with decorative purpose only, admittedly having no particular impact on the taste.
Apart from parmesan cheese that was spread all over the kale leaves, chunks of gorgonzola and hazelnut chips were scattered around. Gorgonzola, being a type of blue cheese, is pungent in flavour and even has a sweet aftertaste. Bluish-green veins on gorgonzola cubes are what bring in the strong aroma. Together with hazelnut chips, it was like having a savory dish!
Shredded parmesan cheese, although tiny in size, had its influence on the taste as well. After moistened by kale leaves, part of the shredded pieces started melting and submerged into the greens. Parmesan cheese has a mild aroma, being fruity and nutty when compared to the strong gorgonzola. The two kinds of cheese were not mutually exclusive in bringing out the freshness of kale leaves!
Kale is a kind of greens that doesn't easily collapse or lose its shape. Being a superfood in its high nutrition value, kale is increasingly popular to be an element in salad. It isn't in strange flavour or texture, though being bitter sometimes if not treated properly. These kale leaves were fresh, not bitter in taste and stayed frilly after further mixing with cheese and hazelnuts. It served as a firm basis of greens for seasonings to perform.
Surpisingly, this toasted bread marked the climax of my seemingly plain salad lunch. It was basically a bruschetta without toppings, but with an olive oil spread. It remained crunchy when I had this after finishing all the greens. The grilled aroma was so strong that it wasn't greasy to have olive oil absorbed into the bread. Po's Atelier has long been a bakery that I wished to try when I passed by Po Hing Fong, and I finally got to try the amazing bread which is additive-free.
Spending half an hour here during my lunch break was a pleasant one, with a free tasting of the server's own coffee which was a souvenir from his friend.
Just wondered where exactly B-side is - I bet the entrance should be at this door. However, I couldn't really locate where the door was when I went to the back alley. It shouldn't be difficult to spot, if the door is open when night falls.
If you have used or at least, have seen a cassette, you will easily associate A-side/B-side with cassettes. After playing the audio on one side, then you have to take it out and flip it over to another to continue. A side/B side is an interesting episode to follow, after the establishment of Cafe Deadend and Po's Atelier, though on a 80% different style as a restaurant per se. Pricing of mains and veggies is not low, but acceptable given the vibes and highlight of organic local farm produce. Quite niche a market to be targetted I would say, but I will surely be back if I wish to chill with greens.
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