zhangistan 's Profile

Fan Tang is back ! but as a wholly private establishment - accessible only to friends of the owner or if you are lucky enough to be part of a group that have been invited to the restaurant by the owner or one of the owners friends The rooms are totally refurbished in line with the needs of the HK/Chinese tycoons who frequent the place . Large luxurious in hues of pigeon grey not unlike a salon at Christian Dior， there are no more public dining areas but 3 large private rooms A wine cellar and walk in humidor have been added to the mix with a collection that would make a grown man cry…..Food remains consistent and the menu is largely intact in the sense that you can order pretty much what you want from their repertoire of Cantonese and Szechuan dishes as the original chef has not left. They have added a few more dishes to the mix, most notably xinjiang lamb skewers and the tastes are a tad stronger reflecting the preferences of the mainland guests so if you aren’t a fan please tell the maitre to cook the dishes “HK style” The bill is not for the faint hearted but I guess if you are one of the few who can enter past it’s secret entrance the bill should be the least of your concerns …Read More

I remember Barry and his lovely Australian accented partner m/wife who helmed Beet in Kau U Fong and came from Portland Street in London. Beet was an excellent farm to table restaurant and it was a shame it did not survive but the memories of the excellent meals I had there remain indelible Singapore comfort food may not be considered Michelin’esque in the spectrum of gourmet cuisine it has taken a Michelin rated chef like Barry to finally to get the quintessential overseas Chiu Chow dish - the mercurial , heart and stomach warming bak chor mee ..right in HK. Bak Chor Mee is basically Chiu Chow Minced Meet Noodles , an exclusively Singaporean chiuchow creation much like how Hainanese chicken rice has nothing to do with Hainan..I imagine a traditional Chiu Chow fish all noodle vendor meeting a Nonya compatriot in Singapore and figuring out a way to incorporate the stronger tastes of the Peninsula Malaysian cuisine and its affinity to stronger tastes with chili into the quinessential Chiu Chow fish ball noodle soup dish and the rest is history...Spore street food has come a long way in hk since I moved here in 1997 when we had to endure the overpriced chicken rice from the Mandarin Oriental (which one could hardly consider authentic) . Cafe Malacca , Bibi Baba, Asam and Rempah have flown the flag well with great renditions of old faithful dishes like Poh Piah, Hainan Chicken Rice, Laksa , Prawn Noodles and Pork Rib soon and the like but the Holy Trinity of black carrot cake, hokkien fried noodles and bak chor mee had yet to be addressed . Many a chef and a restaurant in HK had come to the altar but all were found wanting ...From the use of vinegar, the springiness of the noodles , the overall texture of the dish (moist but not wet or too dry) and the use of pork lard, minced pork and real chili paste not the stupid chili jam that Uncle Roger gives Jamie Oliver grief for - this is a faithful and 99 percent authentic recreation of a dish I grew up with as a child where I would visit the hawker stalls in the wet market and watch the noodles tossed by an elderly uncle and dipped a few times in steaming broth before he expertly mixed in the noodles with condiments , meat and vegetables in a plastic bowl with his hands and arms working in perfect unison and harmony with his ladle as it expertly tossed the noodles and imbibed it with the flavours that make this dish the equivalent of Ratatouille to the French Uncle Quek’s is part of Joint Asian Kitchen in the lobby of the Nexxus Building - it’s almost a Maxims like set up - nothing is fancy here it’s just good old fashioned heart warming food served and created by accomplished Korean , Chinese and Vietnamese chefs. Many other dishes remain untried on the menu but based on the bak chor mee i have super high hopes and I will be back …Read More