20 best dishes of 2017 - Hong Kong

One of the best things I ate in Hong Kong in 2017

It's that time of year again when I scroll through my Google photos and am reminded of the ridiculous amounts of food I eat, and how fortunate I am to call it my job. I did a lot of travel this year, including pretty epic trips to Chicago and San Sebastián, and there are still a few new restaurants I've been wanting to go to but haven't. This isn't a list of new places, although I have tried to stop myself from falling back on the classics (Seventh Son's suckling pig and The Chairman's steamed crab still haven't been beat though). Here's my list of 2017's best bites in Hong Kong in alphabetical order:

Tallinn - An Overview, and Restaurants Not To Miss

Tallinn Old Town in winter

But first, allow me to explain why we were in Tallinn.

I'd hardly heard of Estonia until they introduced the relatively avant-garde concept of an e-Residency. (read more here). It kind of sounds like setting up a company on the Cayman Islands, except the residency is for you, personally, for instance, you can open a bank account like a local and even start a medical record and get prescriptions. Almost any generally law-abiding person from almost anywhere in the world can get one, giving you the right to operate out of Estonia without even having set foot in the country. I decided that at some point, I wanted to visit a country that thinks so out-of-the-box.

Scandinavia - Yes, Fäviken and Frantzén, but so much more

Around Lakselvbukt, near Tromsø, Northern Norway

We had known for a while that our honeymoon was going to feature the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis), but when we got to planning the wedding, we knew we wouldn't be able to make it that year (we were married in late March) - whether we went to Alaska or Norway - so we did it almost a year later, over Chinese New Year of 2014.

Attica, Melbourne, and a chef who walks the talk

Deep-fried mussels

I've been procrastinating about this post about Attica, because there is so much to say, and when that happens, I end up like a clumsy teenage nerd on her first date and I ramble and fail to say what I really want to say. This blog post is not going to be anywhere as lyrical as the meal.

Attica

The restaurant is in Ripponlea, an inconspicuous suburb in the south, on what is essentially the suburb's high street, amidst pharmacies, second-hand bookshops and takeaway eateries - basically, it's not where you'd expect to find one of Australia's best restaurants, which is refreshing.

Strip House - More than Steak, Hong Kong

Porterhouse for two

My review for Harlan's steakhouse came out in Time Out. The photos I'm putting up are actually from two meals. The first one I had there was for the review, and the second was an invitation from the big man himself. One thing to note that, like I said in my old blog post of the now-closed Tuscany by H, Harlan is the man (or should we say da man!) when it comes to consistency. When I went in for the review, I'm 100% sure he didn't notice me (he walked right past me a number of times) and needless to say I didn't make myself known. I noted my experience and then went back for the invited dinner the next week, and we had a few of the same dishes - guess what - they were exactly the same.

Peking Duck, Kowloon Tang

Carving up the duck!

I know, I know, I've said it before, I get a bit annoyed sometimes when people come to Hong Kong asking specifically for Peking duck. It's not because I don't like Peking duck (au contraire) but it's the same kind of feeling I get when people say, "it's my first time in China, and I'm surprised by its efficiency," when their only stop is Hong Kong. Yes, technically, Hong Kong is part of China now, but you have not seen China by coming to Hong Kong. To that end, I feel weird saying that I had the best Peking duck I've ever had in Hong Kong.

8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA - Push the gondola out

Rib (for two)

Just look at that. Geezus. Tender, juicy, with the right amount of fat, good bite, excellent beefy flavour. Oh, if I could just eat that off the day-m screen now. It might seem weird that I crave steak from an Italian restaurant (that's not a steak Florentine), but this one from 8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana is better than any I've had at steakhouses in Hong Kong. (Though I'm yet to go to talk of the steak-town, Steakhouse at Grand Hyatt, which I've heard very good things about).