BonVivant's Profile

We had a group of 30 people and took up the entire restaurant, it's good that they have flexible doors that can fold up and open the space to cater for larger crowds. The wine cellar is gorgeous, worth going there just to have a drink.The 3 cheese platter and 4 cuts of cold meats were a good way to start drinking without getting too drunk too quickly.The 6 course menu looked really appetizing, and the food did not disappoint, everything was colourful, beautifully presented, with a great balance of colours, textures and flavoursThe amuse bouche was a scallop with (I think) cucumber foam, but as it wasn't specified in the menu, we all had a go guessing at what it was.Waygu carpaccio was just slightly sinewy with a little bit of fibrous bit left behind, but the uni was creamy and not too overpowering, a good mix of land and sea.The apple chunk was quite large, and appeared to take centre-stage instead of the lobster, but the apple added sweetness to the dish and it was lovely creamy texture.Turbot was sooooo smooth and melted in the mouth.I loved the veal tenderloin most, the sweet chestnut cream added a bit more depth to the dish and the meat was very tender, cooked to a nice even pinkish hue.A small bit of meringue with some berry compote, some crunchiness from the almond bits too.The panna cotta had a spring to it when you dig your spoon it, and wasn't too sweet as the figs were already quite sweet. Well balanced.…Read More

Having read the reviews for this restaurant, it's hard to imagine whether it's a great dining experience or a terrible mistake. It's hard to find a restaurant where the reviews are so polarizing, but somehow this place managed it. We would summarise our experience as "meh, it's average".Firstly it was empty on a Saturday night at 7pm which didn't bode well, but that may be because Potato Head opened right across from it and people were queueing up to get inside that joint instead. The tables were small and round, closely packed together, with one side a musty bench sofa and the other side backless stools. The wall paint was old and peeling in some places, but you could see the attempt at making it arabic and exotic, with lots of lamps and pictures to kit it out in a Middle Eastern theme.The bulldog was friendly but the lady owner/waitress quickly tied it up at the corner of the restaurant when we entered, and she kept going back to it to "shssh" it whenever it woofed for attention. Classic mistake - dogs don't know why you're shsshing at them, all they see is that you're giving them attention, so they keep barking when you leave them knowing that you will come back to them. Also I'm not sure what the hygiene officers would say to having a dog and a half eaten sandwich for it lying on the floor.We ordered the zaalouk which came with 3 pieces of slightly burnt pita bread, though the dip itself was nice enough. The kofta came in more of a balsamic vinaigrette than a tahini sauce, and that same sauce was in the haloumi cheese salad. The cheese was slightly overdone but not leather-like inedible as someone commented on.The chicken tagine had 6 pieces of tender chicken in it, but the sauce was a little gooey as if it was thickened with cornstarch, and a touch on the salty side. The couscous came in a bowl that you would see expect in a cha chaan teng where wonton noodles are served in, but the couscous itself was light and fluffy.Halfway through our meal another couple came in for dinner, but judging by the business this place is doing, I'd hazard a guess that they are trying to economise by not spending too much on upgrading the joint, which unfortunately gives it a dated and worn appearance. The shsshing got to us in the end, it was just uncomfortable to hear someone talking to a dog throughout our meal.…Read More

At the reception. Instead of saying "may I take your umbrella", it was "you have to leave your umbrella here". Abrupt and to the point.I ordered the lunch special - signature salad and prime rib, my friend ordered the beetroot salad and fish and chips. Out came a soup and beetroot salad, I remarked that I had ordered a salad, so the waiter put the beetroot salad in front of me and left with the soup. No apologies (even if predictor).Then came the big carving contraption, the waitress said "you can pay more for either the mashed corn or creamed spinach". So I asked for the spinach (and I always say please and thank you), but it never came. I thought maybe it is a separate thing from the kitchen, so afterwards I told the waiter when he came to pick up the plates that my spinach didn't come, the manager standing nearby said "I know". Um, as opposed to "I'm sorry your order of creamed spinach didn't come." When I asked if it's because the kitchen didn't get the order, he said the spinach comes from the same carving trolley, but didn't elaborate why they couldn't put some on my plate when they carved up a slice of beef for me at the same time. So much for the hard sell of pay more for some overpriced greens.I asked for the dessert to be dog bagged for takeaway, but the waitress proceeded to put down dessert cutlery for both my friend (who didn't order dessert) and myself. Strange.The food was decent, the beef was tender, but the service was frustrating to say the least, I'd never go back, it's not like there is no competition for similar food in town.…Read More

My friend put me onto this place, me who hardly ever ventures to the Dark Side, but for food, I will. And I was not disappointed. Far from it, I was blown away - the decor, the staff, the quality of food, the execution by the chefs, the ambience, the attention to details, the value for money .... unbeatable, fantabulous, I could wax lyricals about it until I run out of space here. In one word, AWESOME.There's a great vibe on the ground floor for people having drinks and nibbles, dog-friendly too. Upstairs you can see through the open kitchen where the chefs are busy preparing food, I love watching people cook (so much easier than doing it myself). The bread basket was cute, tin box with the butter inside.We had a nicoise salad that was beautifully served and a very generous portion it was. I couldn't remember what the dish is next to it, but clearly it wasn't as memorable.Spaghetti carbonara almost had more pancetta than noodles, way to go!And finally what we've been waiting for... the cote de boeuf that came at a fraction of the price in Central and twice the taste. Perfect amount of fat, cooked to medium as instructed, fat chips and a lovely jus and creamy eggy Hollandaise-ish sauce to go alongside.... heaven.Normally I would persevere and finish it all off, but this time I decided not to waste it by eating mindlessly, and asked for the beef to be doggy-bagged. And it came in a sealed plastic bag inside a very cute box. Such a thoughtful idea.One waiter was manning the whole floor, and there was a difficult customer at one table who complained about his beef multiple times, and another table of 10+ girls having rounds and rounds of drinks... but the guy kept his smile and charm up, courteous to a fault, these days a worker like that is worth his weight in gold. I could come here once a week and still love every bite of it.…Read More

We called half an hour in advance to try making a reservation, the staff said just come over and try your luck, they'll give us a bar table if there are no standard tables left. So we tried, et voila, we had a good streetside spot for people watching while munching on our food.Beer was cold and refreshing. Tapas were of decent portions and generally tasty, but nothing stood out for me. The calamari lacked texture, the tomato sauce a tad watery, but the chorizo saved the day. The garlic prawns were fresh but again the flavours were a bit one-dimensional. The best was the suckling pig that came with creamy potato mash, and my husband seemed to enjoy his burger as well.Overall, for the price I'd go again and get a good feed if I'm in the neighbourhood.…Read More

No frills. Hearty portions. Tastes like your Korean friend's mum's cooking. Super air-conditioning if you go for the hotpot option in summer. Cockcroaches running around outside of the restaurant (we didn't see any inside, but who knows) - that's what you get for eating inside an industrial building. I honestly don't know how they managed to get their F&B license but here in HK anything goes. And I can attest to their cleaniness as it's been two days and my stomach is perfectly fine (read - no food poisoning). But life is so much less colourful if everything was sanitised and proper, right? Go venture into Kwun Tong and look for this building where the signboard doesn't show the restaurant's name, and you wander into the cargo lift then peer out to see the massive MARS MENU sign in red and white to your right.Standard Korean fare here, and their speciality is the ginormous hotpot that can easily serve 4 people, or 2 body builders that's just been working out. We had bibimbap that was served in a warm bowl (no hotstone bowls, but that's OK, burnt rice is carcinogenic anyway), the grilled pork belly with kimchi, and the beef rib stew (good portion, a bit sweet for me but that's just your average Korean seasoning). Staff were friendly and helpful, they have an outdoor terrace that would be a good place to hang out in colder months.…Read More

Being outside of Central/Wanchai districts allows more space for restaurants to get creative with their decor, and La Paloma is a sprawling artsy joint that felt spacious and warm. We opted for the chef menu $398pax which is a bunch of tapas and a couple of mains, and we added a suckling pig and lamb short ribs to feed our party of 5 hungry people.Portions were generous for tapas, and great value as well (just look at the plate of jamon!), and we heartily tucked in while having catch up conversations. That's what tapas are for. My faves were the tuna, jamon and foie gras.The garlic prawns were pretty massive and super garlicky, and the chorizo was juicy and fatty, with bread to mop up more of the sauce.Suckling pig was good, but I'm not convinced about the sauce, as it made the skin less crispy. The lamb was awesome and great value, could have had another dish. The only let down was the paella, as you can see there wasn't much seafood on it, mostly rice and even then it was on the dry side. Hard to stomach.There is a free corkage for the first bottle if you buy one of theirs, or order a jug of sangria, which is pretty fair.…Read More

No reservations, good thing we went earlier and beat the crowd, this place gets busy even on a Monday night. Some reviews earlier about poor service, but I think the management got the message and now the service is friendly, prompt and unintrusive. We were greeted with smiles and hello's from every staff, we had a table upstairs just by the entrance/corridor but the staff never once bumped into us while they shuttle back and forth between the kitchen and the tables. Food was served at a reasonable pace, the aroma and spices of each dish was different and a lot of thought went into creating the dishes, even if they might sound like standard fare. We had cured salmon (slightly small-ish portion but tasty) and eggplant fatoush which had crunchy za'atar croutons that gave the dish an interesting twist; roasted cauliflower with harissa was a much bigger portion and the combination worked really well; the pulled lamb shoulder was a little dry and made it feel as if there wasn't much meat to it; so we added a shish taouk (two thumbs up!) and grilled halloumi to round it off.Will come again to try the other dishes.  …Read More

I love meat, and being on a low-carb diet can sometimes mean paying a fair amount more to keep me nourished and sated. Yes, there are questions about dubious sources of meat raised in confinement systems that are pumped with antibiotics and hormones, carbon-foot print and animal welfare. Let's just focus on tasty meat. And Braza is one place that does it right. Perfectly charred meat that is still super juicy and succulent, just the right amount of seasoning to let you really taste the original flavour of the beef, none of the sugary sweet BBQ sauce smothered on the ribs so you can really appreciate the pork, and small but tender and tasty pieces of drumsticks (that don't look anything like the Frankenstein-sized ones we are so used to). I originally thought I will hold off the salad buffet to save my appetite for the meat, but when I laid eyes on the bountiful spread before me, my knees became weak and my will power melted away instantly. Salmon carpaccio, seared tuna slices, freshly shaved ham and salami, beetroot in creamy sauce, fresh fluffy salad greens and much much more. I did manage to stay away from the bread basket, but man those fluffy balls of dough looked awesome too. I don't know how my friend managed dessert, but when it came we all took a spoon and dipped in to test the flavours, beautiful passionfruit sauce with caramelised bananas and chococlate balls rolled in nuts.And guess what, it's $118 for the salad buffet and only an extra $50 for all you can eat meat. That's an amazing lunch time deal, especially if you've just gone to the gym for a workout.Bravo Braza! We need you in Hong Kong!…Read More

Three girls, one big meal. That pretty much sums up what we did to ourselves at a lunch gathering. Everything looked so enticing from the menu that we ended up ordering more than we could fit in, but somehow we managed. The only disappointment was that they didn't have the pork belly on the day we went. The ingredients are all fresh, and that's already off to a good start. And with descriptions like "grass-fed", "hand-ground", "free-range", you can tell they cater to a particular demographic of clients that are health-conscious and willing to pay the premium for it.To start with we had the whitebait with aioli, with the batter so light and the aioli so tasty it was easy to over consume had the portion not been a limiting factor. The yellow fin tuna with watermelon was a refreshing and interesting combination. The grass-fed beef tartare was beautifully hand chopped and seasoned, with herby-flavoured thin chips (we had to pace ourselves here, as there was a lot of chips with the coming dishes too).The succulent juicy veal and pork meatballs were awesome, just the right size but still able to retain the moisture, and was bursting with flavours. The barramundi was fresh and cooked to perfection, paired with a citrus-sy sauce vierge and a hint of saltiness from the capers. The prime sirloin was good, but less of a stand out compared with the other items. …Read More

It's nice to visit a restaurant where you can eat a little bit of this and a little bit of that, try everything, and not go away feeling like an overstuffed turkey bursting at the seams. Zahrabel offers a la carte dining, or a fixed price menu per person that allows you to choose from a list of popular items. They also serve lesser known beers and exotic cocktails to help you relax and prepare for the food to come. The lighting was just the right amount of dimness and the small yet intimate setting also had a good view of open space just skimming the tops of the buildings in front of it, allowing you to leave behind the hustle and bustle of the Wan Chai streets far below you.We had the falafels, hummus, haloumi, wrapped vine leaves as starters, everything was deliciously spiced and seasoned to perfection and presented beautifully.For mains we had to have several kinds of meat, including the chicken elmina, chicken taouk, and the lamb kebabs and kibbe (lamb patties) which were succulent and juicy. The eggplant was smokey and grilled to perfection, mixed in with a deliciously spiced sauce that was moreish and satisfying.The service was swift, perhaps just a tad overly so, but they weren't intrusive or overbearing.…Read More

The decor looks nice, and the lunch crowd started filing in through the door. We expected the food to match the ambience, but alas, it fell WAY short of baseline. The whole experience could be described as eating in a faux western restaurant, with western sounding names of dishes and imported ingredients cooked local style. The staff didn't flinch when I specifically ordered a "hot" macchiato, then when it came out cold, said they forgot to inform me that the macchiato only came in a cold version. The cappuccino was like a Christmas tree gone wrong, sometimes when things work just fine, don't mess with it. Just give me the good ol' cappucino with a dusting of cocoa powder on top, rather than red and green syrup draped over the top. The tuna was cold, uninspiring and needed much more seasoning. The salad was standard, nothing to write home about. Just because you added jamon to a salad or the tortilla doesn't automatically make it better, you still have to get the basic right, i.e. not turning out a dense tortilla that manages to be watery at the same time.I didn't even take a photo of the steak, it was so bland no amount of seasoning could have salvaged it.…Read More

It was cool to check out the place, but with unpredictable seafood prices (the only predictable part was the prices ain't gonna be cheap), horrible soggy chips and doughy corn fritters that could choke a dog, cajun wings that had a one-dimensional taste to it, mushy prawns with too much batter, not even the good seafood stew could make me go back again.…Read More

This was the only meal we ate out during the 5-day Easter break because we were too lazy to leave the house. But we decided to get dressed and eat something that is casual, indulgent but still healthy. Burger, healthy you say?! Yes, Tasmanian grass-fed beef (or NZ Wagyu), Mangalican pork, super fresh salads and premium fries, that's what I'm talking about baby. And boy we were in for a treat.First up, the decor was fab. Industrial chic (can one ever get tired of this description), friendly staff, casual vibe, cool music that's not too loud, that's a winning formula. Then comes the drinks - interesting beers to try out, indulgent milkshakes, wines and plenty others. We paid $8 for sparkling water that's filtered and carbonated in-house and served in reusable bottles, and $5 goes to Hong Kong Cleanup. That's a great way to give back to the community and reducing carbon footprint. Hubby also ordered the Dude, milkshake with a shot of vodka and kahlua. It was liquid dessert with a straw from The Big Lebowski culture.Then it was the food. The sticky finger ribs were so good we went for a second order. They weren't too sweet which can be a bit sickly, but sticky it was, topped with a few rice crispies that gave a lovely contrast to the texture. The sweet potato fries came with a deliciously garlicky mustard which we asked for seconds and which I licked clean with my fingers. We tried the grilled cheese and beet salad (and scotched the scotch eggs which the waitress recommended) and we were happy with the crispy on the outside, gooey on the inside cheese. The sweetness of the beets complimented the cheese perfectly. Then came the mains - we had 3 burgers between the two of us. For a paleo-inclined eater, I always feel a bit left out at burger joints, and I hate wasting a bun. This place made me feel like I'm at home - ditch the bun and get a big fresh salad for an extra $15!! I love it, they really do cater for everyone. I had the Mangalican pork which was oh-so-moist-and-tender-juici-liciously good..... Hubby had the bacon and cheese coz it was a blokey thing to do, then we both decided that, oh go on, let's share a third - a black pepper burger without the bun. Four thumbs up from us - the size of the burger was perfect so things don't spill out when you try and bite into it, the patty was lovingly crafted to the right thickness so it retained the moisture when cooked, and the garnishing such as pickled cornichons and cheese gave it flavour and texture. I have to say that the two swirls of round bacon-y "chips" from my pork burger were divine. I could eat a bag of those, and then some.Just when we thought we'd died and gone to heaven, the lovely Gigi brought us an awesome looking apple pie on the house. We struggled, we barely made it.That bill could have easily fed a family of 4. We did ourselves proud. And we're going back this Sunday for more. I'm getting the grass fed NZ Wagyu next time, and maybe the lamb burger.... I'm going to dream about this tonight.…Read More

The reason why people go for business lunches is because it's good value for money. Which is true unless you're someone who prefers to be a camel and stuff yourself at lunch before your carefully scheduled intermittent fasting (actually I still had dinner tonight as well, so much for the fasting). I skipped the bread though, served with butter and chimichurri. I agree with HK Mag's take on the chimichurri, too oily, and not spicy. More like chopped pepper drenched in oil. I prefer the puree blended type.So while everyone went for the 3 course lunch deals, I went for the a la carte menu. And because I couldn't decide which ceviche to have, I took the sampler. Which was beautifully plated on a dish that had no edge so the sauce dripped everywhere when we tried passing it around. Nobody said you have to be smart as well as beautiful, Ceviches. I would have liked mine with a little tartness to it, but otherwise it was all lovingly seasoned and balanced. Someone had the crab causita which didn't wow me. It was a dollop of crab mixed with diced veg in a creamy sauce with some mash on the side. The grilled tiger prawns were perfectly cooked, except the apple and green jalapeno chutney was a tad too sweet. If they were hoping to use it as glue to fix the prawns then it did the trick.The set lunch had 200g churrasco de chorizo (sirloin) or 120g medallion of lomo (fillet) on offer, but those weren't going to make me happy. Super size me! From the a la carte menu, first you choose from 4 cuts: rump, sirloin, ribeye or fillet. It was a tough call between the ribeye and the the fillet, as the latter is usually my preference for tender meat, but I wanted the fat from the ribeye today. After making the hardest decision of the day, I had to decide which cut to go for. As I've never had a spiral cut before, and 500g was an awesome figure (1% of my body weight), I went for it. All in. And it didn't disappoint. I worked my way from one end to the other, trying to decipher when one texture of meat ended and the other finished. The ribeye was surprisingly lean (I love grass-fed beef), save for a small bite of fat in the middle of the cut which dissolved in my mouth and the whole thing didn't have a shred of stringy sinewy bit to it. It was divine. I finished it, feeling gluttonous, guilty, and greatful that a cow sacrificed itself to make my day. And the worst part was, I caught myself thinking what 800g would be like.... is that for one person, or is it for sharing? Could I possibly do it on my own? 1.6% of my body weight? Surely the 1.2kg sampler or the 2kg asado de chorizo are for sharing...Decor - funky, black and white, cow hide, just so you won't forget you're a carnivorous bovine mass murderer and greenhouse gas and carbon footprint contributor. But man, that was goo-oo-ood. Price-wise? Not cheap, but it's worth that splurge for a special occassion.…Read More