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2019-08-21
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Summary: Innovative and mostly excellent food for better-than-expected-for-this-type-of-restaurant prices. Points lost for over-maximization of space, but service and decor are otherwise tasteful and inviting. An enjoyable addition to HK's mid-upper tier of dining, where it's rare to a find a restaurant charging what its drinks/food are actually worth. Just make sure to get a booth.Kinship is a collaboration between one former chef from Gough on Gough and one from Lily & Bloom, promising a new
Kinship is a collaboration between one former chef from Gough on Gough and one from Lily & Bloom, promising a new take on modern Anglo-American cuisine. Located on Shelley Street right next to Ninety’s, it’s a relatively small space that they’ve chosen to decorate similarly to every other restaurant opened in 2018-19; warm lighting, globe type ceiling lamps, slightly industrial, with wood accents everywhere. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pleasant, but it's getting boring.
The one real problem i had with the setting was that they’ve crammed too many tables in – I heard every word of conversation from both tables around us. Given the timing of our meal (during the 2019 Summer HK protests), it was hard not to get distracted by the discussions, and just generally, you'd expect a bit more privacy for dinner in this kind of restaurant. The service is good, though a bit… how do I describe it… inauthentic? They kept asking how the food was, and when I did tell them what I thought about the duck ravioli (not a fan), it was met with shock and some unpracticed platitudes about how they’d tell the chef. They’re trying I suppose.Anyway, on to the food!
Food Menu - charmingly small and filled with interesting choices
Drinks Menu
Can i give a shout out for a glass of wine that's less than 100 HKD? In a city with no import tax on wine, the amount restaurants here charge for a normal glass of wine is actually criminal. If your bottles are too expensive, then carry cheaper ones; if the bottles are cheap and you're still charging $100/glass... god save you. Many restaurants' cheapest wines are lower quality than the every-day drinking wines you can find at 150$ RETAIL. They're just trying to make up for rental costs, and I'm not particularly interested in helping. Anyway, thank you to Kinship for pricing some glasses of wine at the still-high-for-almost-any-other-city-but-great-for-HK price of $78, because what's a meal without at least a bit of wine? Here’s what we ate:
Chicken Liver Mousse
A smooth, rich liver mousse that even non-pate people would enjoy. Interesting choice to serve it with an oat cookie, which my friend loved, finishing the remaining half even after the mousse was gone. The re-hydrated raisin salad was a cool touch – we couldn’t figure out what fruit it was at first: however it's done, re-hydration turns the raisins into tiny, juicy yet strangely firm grapes. The juicy sweetness goes well with the crunchy/slightly sweet cookie and salty pate – nothing revolutionary but unquestionably tasty. Smoked Salmon
The most memorable dish of the night for me – house-cured smoked salmon, served with a fabulous (and picturesque!) chili-curry sauce, and a jicama coleslaw. The salmon alone is quite salty (though it’s still tasty in small bites) – however eaten together with the chili sauce and chicory, and the flavour really blooms. The saltiness is offset by the cool jicama, and the slight spice from the chili brings out the depth of the curing. Just a great dish, and not a typical combinationBurnt Onion Risotto
Okay to be totally fair, I think my expectations were too high. It’s kind of billed as one of their specialties, and they offer a full-size version of this for 268, which could easily have fed 4 people. In the end, it’s a well-cooked risotto with a tasty sprinkling of burnt onions, and a breaded and deep fried onsen egg. It’s nothing more or less than that. The onsen egg is a bit gratuitous, not really complementing the dish (though of course onsen eggs rarely detract from anything), and the rest is what you’d expect. I’d say it's worth trying, but don’t expect the worldDuck Ravioli
The only true failure of the night – from this picture, it looks like a typical ravioli with a perhaps pesto cream sauce - looks great. Underneath sadly, it’s a mess of caramelized duck that crosses into cloying sweetness, destroying any balance in this dish. No matter how you eat it, it’s just too much over-sweetened duck - nothing of the ravioli comes through at all. It’s not that big but we couldn’t even finish it.Spring Chicken
Almost my perfect dish – the sauce is a combination of pesto, gnocchi, pancetta and a thick tomato base. Incredibly rich deep flavours, with pillowy gnocci to sop it all up. If they had just served this combination as a pasta dish, I would have ordered it directly. The chicken itself is nicely cooked and juicy but takes a backseat to the incredible sauce. One note, our chicken had parts that were extremely salty– likely uneven seasoning at the end, as it was fine with the skin removed.Lemon Crème Brulee
Tasty, and loved the lemon accents in the garnish, whipped cream and crème brulee. The texture FYI, is more of a thickened mousse than a crème custard, if that makes senseOverall, I like Kinship. In the mid-high end range of HK dining, i expect strong execution at a minimum, with some memorable originality. Apart from the duck ravioli and weirdly salted chicken, the execution was good (that pancetta and gnocchi wow), and there were enough creative flourishes (salmon with chili curry?) to make the meal both vivid and delicious. For the two of us with 3 appetizers, two mains, dessert and a glass of wine, it came out to just under $1100. FYI, there is a family meal option for 488++ pp, which is basically a tasting menu selected by the chefs, and comes out to about the same for two people. Kinship is recommended for basically any occasion where intimacy isn't required; celebrations, casual get-togethers, company meals etc... and if they sort out their tables, date night would work too. Definitely near the top of my new-openings list.
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