Issaya Siamese Club, Hong Kong - Smoke and Mirrors

Choo-Chee Salmon Rom Kwan at Issaya Siamese Club, Hong Kong

Let me start by saying this: Issaya Siamese Club is a gorgeous looking restaurant.

Edo & Bibo - Mediocrity at its best

Oysters!

I heard recently that the owners of the Sai Kung private kitchen One Thirty-One* had opened this new place, Edo & Bibo in Causeway Bay. I've never been to One Thirty-One, because every time I tried to book they were full (it would always be on a weekend, because what other time would I be in Sai Kung?) So when I heard about the new Causeway location I couldn't wait to try it.

Tamashii & Daruma, Causeway Bay - Ramen in Hong Kong doesn't always make sense

Daruma

If you live in Hong Kong, you would have noticed a crazy number of ramen openings in the past 18 months or so. While this has done wonders to kick places like Ajisen in the butt, it's also meant that restaurants and marketers have had the chance to take advantage of HKers' relative lack of knowledge about ramen and their burning desire to find the "best" or "most authentic". Urgh. The most obvious  new ramen openings in Causeway Bay were probably Ippudo and Butao (I went to the one in Central), and I haven't been to either because of the crazy queues. Instead, I went to Daruma and Tamashii.

Lawry's The Prime Rib - Steak a Break

'American' food to had always meant everything on the menu at Dan Ryan's or Ruby Tuesdays - ribs, huge sundays, and burger-heights reminiscent of the Empire State Building. ('New American' is a different matter entirely). So when Lawry's opened in the SAR, I wasn't exactly in a rush to get there, if at all.

A phone call comes from mother in the middle of a rainy week (we've had a couple of those recently), declaring she was in no mood to be home for dinner, and that we should go to Lawry's. Both were weird requests coming from my mother, who finds every opportunity to frown whenever I tell her I won't be home for dinner and has made 'almost vegetarian' a lifestyle choice. Regardless, who was I not to submit to her majesty's demand?

I wasn't exactly expecting much (Dan Ryan's being the only portrayal of American 'cuisine' I grew up with), but was very pleasantly surprised. Everything we had - lobster bisque, crab shell, 'spinning' salad, beef (Cali cuts) - bar one - apple pie - was genuinely delicious. I don't think it's 'fine' food in anyone's books, but it was mad tasty.

Probably the best 'traditional' American (as opposed to 'New American') restaurant export around. A big thumbs up for the crab shell - which was filled with chunky strands of crab meat, as well as the uber crisp lettuce in the spinning salad - especially in this town where we've sadly become accustomed to limp mesculun with browning edges.

You'll be licking the plates clean and full to the brim by the time you're done with the steak and yorkshire pud, so rest assured that skipping dessert here is no biggie (rather, that would be my suggestion).

lobster bisque; crab shell; spinning salad; cali cut with mash and yorkshire pudding; yorkshire pudding; apple pie

(Apologies about the low quality photos - I took them on my phone - though I must say, my phone seemed to have done a pretty good job despite the low lights)

Lawry's The Prime Rib 
4/F Lee Gardens
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
+852 2907 2218

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Bad photos, decent food - Le Marron

Here's another 'private kitchen' for ya. Located above a PC games place in a commercial building in Causeway Bay is this surprisingly well fitted out French restaurant with fairly decent food.

The interiors, I had decided on the night, should be called 'shabby opulent', that, unlike it's 'chic' sister, is more lacy and Victorian, but nonetheless seemingly haphazardly put together.

Despite all this lace (or perhaps because of it), it's not such a great place for that romantic candlelit 6-and-a-half month anniversary. Tables are all partitioned with lace drapes, but basically it's a large apartment with wooden boards all round, the perfect springboard for bouncy sound waves.

The menu is surprisingly large, considering most speakeasies have set menus, but it's probably because this place does more covers - it's almost impossible to book on the day - you'd be better off booking a week ahead!

L-R, from top left: beef carpaccio; escargot; duck confit (a little too salty for my liking, but quite tender); kurobuta pork (very juicy, nicely done, shame about the thick gravy thingy); grand marnier souffle (forget it, looks ok from the outside but was undercooked and tasted like diluted cough syrup); a bad latte.

apologies about the inexcusably bad photos... i really shouldn't rely on my camera phone so much and start bringing my real camera out with me again...

nota bene: minimum per person is $280 - so choosing your meal requires a bit of mental jigsawing...

Le Marron
12/f Ying Kong Mansion
2-6 Yee Wo St (opp. Sogo)
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong
+852 2881 6662

Le French May, the agnès b way

Ah, agnès b, the epitome of French culture, after the Eiffel Tower - in Asia anyway.

The fashion brand has now expanded its business into several florists and a couple of eateries. I guess that's what you call capitalising upon brand equity. The danger in doing that though, as marketing textbooks will tell you, is that one of the new businesses might screw you over if it diverts from the brand's image and personality.

I think in this case, agnès b has done exceptionally well - all these outlets exude class, elegance and a slightly offbeat, disregard for the mainstream artsy element that is basically what the brand is about. Although the cynical amongst us can tell that this is just another way to position oneself in the market.

Anyway, marketing aside - as if I haven't had enough of it already - the food is pretty good. The rule is, stick to the things that can't go too wrong, and you should have a good meal. For example, I've yet to have a good streak when it comes to grilled fish, it's a seemingly 'simple' dish that I usually avoid (my fellow diner did not, and was predictably disappointed - it's one of those times that just makes you want to squeal "I told you so!!" and stick your tongue out.... haha).

There was a special Le French May menu, but their usual menu already offers more than any decision-phobic person would like and they all looked so enticing...

Clockwise from top left: Warm baby artichoke (Le French May menu); Slow-cooked Pyrenées Milk-fed lamb; Salted cod with paprika tomatoes and savoy cabbage.

The baby artichoke was, in my opinion, underseasoned - I could taste olive oil and olive oil. The sprinkle of bacon was a good idea in theory, if only they'd be more crisp in the execution.

I'm a sucker for slow-cooked everything, but this lamb was one of the best things I had (the soufflé - keep reading - would be its closest rival tonight). Tender, flavoursome, moist in most cases - excellent with bread, but the white beans that came along with it, while perfectly fine on their own, were too mushy to create a contrast.

Salted cod - a nice way to make fish when you're noso sure about how juicy you can keep it when frying - IMO, anyway, because the flesh will be firmer and easier to handle after being kept in a salt crust overnight/ for a few hours. It gets a bit too salty by the end, but it's one the sodium lovers will like, and others too, given a good glass of white.

Desserts: Pure evil - there's a whole freaking page AND a patisserie selection!!

Hazelnut and praline soufflé (crisp on the outside, soft within - as all good soufflés should be... mmm~); Fresh fig, mascarpone, pinenuts on brioche (the brioche was just like any other piece of (dried) bread... oh well)

If it's a proper sit-down dinner you're after, remember to book a table in the dining room inside - otherwise you'd be in a cafe-like atmosphere - which is nice, but not always appropriate.

And by the way, don't expect too much from the service - it's awkward and a little try-hard - how many times have I ranted about the service in Hong Kong again?

agnès b le pain grillé
Shop 1 & 2A
2-4 Kingston Street
Fashion Walk
Causeway Bay
Tel: +852 577 0370

Localization of the palate (as well as my brain) - Three coffees

Work is driving me nuts, but fortunately in this world, there are restaurants and their trusty accomplice, food, that provide either a source of relaxation (when the eatery and company are good) or of release (when it's bad and I can rant on and on and on about it).

As usual, I've been having lots of coffee, but I've been trying to make each cuppa more worthwhile than merely feeding my addiction by having them in different places. None warrant a return trip (except KK merely because of its proximity to work...!)

Sad but true (L-R): A HK$40 mediocre latte from Sit n Read Cafe; passable caffe latte from Caffé Habitu, the self-proclaimed expert in coffee; an unexpectedly decent coffee from KK while I sat until I wanted to re-enter the fluro-glow jailhouse that they try to call an office.

Sit n Read Café
3/F 506 Lockhart Road
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong

Caffé Habitu (multiple locations)
G/F Hutchison House
Central
Hong Kong

Krispy Kreme (multiple locations)
B/F Times Square
Causeway Bay
Hong Kong