Lobster Bar and Grill

Another long overdue review which should have been posted way back in December 2009. I just never got around to it for various reasons. On this cold evening a few of us simply wanted to sit back and relax after a long day of work. I never really liked December or Christmas for that matter. As the end of the year approaches, people often evaluate their New Year's resolution made at the beginning of the year. For some odd reasons, people often discuss what they have achieved but rarely what they failed to achieve. Missed resolutions are often treated as new ones for the upcoming new year, roll over to the next so to speak. I am guilty of such act with my so-called diet plans. I think we should all focus on the missed objectives and try to complete them so to make room for new ones! That's just what I think and I hope to achieve that this year as well!

Tugged away in the corner inside the Island Shangari-la hotel, Lobster Bar has become (so far) one of my favorite places for live music, ranks after Salon de Ning of course.

Their selection of cocktails was alright with an extensive collection of Macallan Single Malt whisky which includes the 1970 vintage.

This brings me to my next point concerning their service. First of all, the staff which took our order was not familiar with the cocktail menu, he has to peek over to LOOK at the menu to see which one we were referring to. Secondly, I was repeatedly being recommended the rare collection of Macallan whisky, especially the vintage collection. At the end I just ordered the Macallan 12 years. I don't like to be pushed so stop pushing me in to ordering the expensive set please!

As I mentioned, it was the live music which attracted me to return, definitely not the service. If they change the band, I might have to say pass to this place unless service is improved.

Likes:

• Great live band
• Great collection of Macallan Single Malt Whisky

Dislikes:

• Staff needs to get more familiar with the drinks menu
• Rather pushy in promoting their Macallan collection

Avg Spending: HKD 100 - 200 per person

Lobster Bar and Grill
6/F, Island Shangri-La Hong Kong, Pacific Place,
88 Queensway, Admiralty
Tel: 2820 8560
http://www.shangri-la.com/en/property/hongkong/islandshangrila/dining/restaurant/lobsterbarandgrill


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Salon de Ning (Revisited II)

I felt like I have neglected this place for a while, not only the place, the music but also the drinks as well. After a tough day of work, sometimes I just need to chill for a bit over few glasses of single malt whisky, wines or cocktails. Well, sometimes desserts would do the trick as well. Their cocktail list is not the most extensive in Hong Kong and not the most outstanding in my humble opinion; but I do find a few that I personally enjoyed very much. One of them was the tomato juice based Sexy Doll cocktail I tried on my previous visit.



In addition to my usual favorite "Sexy Doll" cocktail, I also enjoy the element of surprised from their daily cocktail special named Ning's Mind. The delightful surprise tonight was a pineapple juice based drink with vodka if I am correct. It was very nice an refreshing indeed! Not sure if they have it every night but I would definite ask them for it to make it if possible!!!!



I mentioned many times that I enjoy the music from this place very much but I found them rather loud in volume. Even after many feedback to their management, the volume of the music seems to remain the same. Perhaps it was the environment / decor (low ceiling) that amplified the music. In any case, the place remains to be one of my favorite chill out places. (perhaps the Lobsters Bar @ the Island Shangri-la is a close second because of its band and not their drinks or services! - to be reviewed soon)

Likes:

• excellent services!
• the element of surprise from their daily cocktail

Dislikes:

• the music volume remains to be loud through the night ...

Salon de Ning
UG, The Peninsula Hong Kong,
19-21 Salisbury Road, TST
Tel: 2315 3355
http://www.salondening.com/


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Posto Pubblico

I had no clue that it was the opening night for this restaurant when I stepped into it and no wonder it was so crowded! The front half of the establishment was occupied by the bar area so my friend and I had to squeeze through the crowd to get into the main dining area. It wasn't as big as I imagined, with only a dozen or so tables from a quick scan.

The first thing you will see when you enter the dining area is the open kitchen RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE of the premise. A bold move indeed to have such a huge open kitchen smack in the middle of the restaurant. (Did I mention that there is a NO SERVICE CHARGE POLICY? and it said on the menu that "when it comes to tipping, whatever you feel reflects the meal") Yet another bold move by Hong Kong's standard of course! (the no service charge policy is how it always works in many parts of the world to my humble knowledge, ie: United States. TIPS are always extra, on top of the bill and not included)

Aside from the above-mentioned, the decor was very nice with brick styled walls and has a true bistro feel to it. There were many items on the minimalistic menu that I wasn't sure what they were so I asked the waitstaff in explain to us in details. Throughout our attempt to ask the waitstaff to translate many of the items in Italian that we were unfamiliar with, the following two words were being repeated many times: Organic & Homemade. Alright, I get it, your ingredients are mostly organic and most pasta (& sauces) were homemade (including the Mozzarella cheese). Hence the homemade bread basket arrived soon after ordering.

(1) Roasted Potatoes, Rosemary
The skin was crisp and the potatoes were still very hot. The waitress informed me when ordering that the potatoes would be a bit on the sweet side but I found it quite the opposite. The rosemary was more to show than anything else because I did not really notice much rosemary flavors. In any case, it was a nice dish to start with; o o o crispy skinned hot and mushy roasted potatoes, my favorite!



(2) Beets & Leaves, Ricotta, Salata, Pin Nuts
The organic beets, as repeated by the waitress, were nice but no surprised here. The Ricotta was not as strong as I hoped.



(3) Cacio e Pepe Pasta
So what exactly is Cacio e Pepe? It is a traditional Italian pasta with pecorino romano sheep cheese and black pepper. You really have to know your pasta in order to come here. I had to ask in quite a detailed manner to know what they are because I had no clue but I am learning new things about food everyday and I am enjoying every second of it! I tried some and the pasta was al dente indeed (perhaps slightly, just slightly undercooked). Cheese flavor was rich and strong. Simple yet satisfying.



(4) Bombardoni Pubblico Veal, Pork, Beef

The bombardoni was al dente but the sauce was rather salty to my likely, a bit strong in terms of flavors but by no means bad. Italian pasta sauces tend to be quite rich and strong to my understanding, but it was too strong for me. Obviously with the strong flavors I could not really distinguish the various meat being used but it was a comforting dish indeed.

Note to self: I think it is I either use the flash or buy a DSLR. Tough decision indeed!

Likes:

• Roasted Potatoes - skin crisp, hot and mushy in the inside.
• Cacio e Pepe Pasta - rich cheese flavors and a simple pasta dish
• The relatively massive open kitchen was a nice touch (and yet bold move). Every square inch is valuable real estate especially in Hong Kong.
  

Dislikes:

• It gets quite NOISY when full house!
• The table arrangement was quite packed within the dining area

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

Check out CNNGo's review on Posto Pubblico as well!

Posto Pubblico
G/F, 28 Elgin Street, Central
Tel: 2577 7160


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Salon de Ning @ The Peninsula (Revisited)

Quality time can be spent either by yourself or in a crowded bar @ LFK shouting from the start to end. I personally prefer the former which can be a lively experience as well. Salon de Ning is one of the few places where I can and I would spend the whole night by myself enjoying the live music from a great band! Now that this place offers Happy Hour promotion, I have one less excuse to come here more often during the week. Too bad the live band performance starts around 9pm, after the Happy Hour period.



I came here tonight during the Happy Hour and stayed for 2.5 hours to chill, to relax and to enjoy some great vocal and Jazz from the live band after 9pm. I come here a few times a month (with friends and by myself) not just for the music but for the atmosphere. I tried many cocktails on their menu before including the heavily promoted Hong Kong Dragon but I personally like the cocktail Sexy Doll the most. Aside from its interesting name, it was a tomato juice based cocktail which I found to be very comforting.



A worthwhile note was the excellent service. It was a minor act but it is often the most trivial act that make the world of differences. A variety of snacks were being served to each guest and tonight I had the Ning's chocolate, sour cream chips and some corn puffs (I think). I finished the chips within 10 mins and without further request, one of the female staff (whom also acts as bartender occasionally) noticed that somehow and returned with a big plate of chips for my enjoyment. Thumbs up!

Likes:

• Atmosphere / Decor & Excellent Services
• Wonderful live band performances

Dislikes:

• Music volume can be a bit loud sometimes
• No song requests (I wonder if they would change this rule / guideline later)
  

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

Salon de Ning
UG, The Peninsula Hong Kong,
19-21 Salisbury Road, TST
Tel: 2315 3355
http://www.salondening.com/


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Union J (a Re-Union)

Many would agree that Happy Hour on a Friday evening is a wonderful way to end the week; but I think it is equally wonderful to start the week off doing Happy Hour on a Monday evening. Actually it would be wonderful to end everyday with a Happy Hour session in celebration of the long day of work! My previous visit to Union J was during lunch hour and tonight, with my friend's invitation, it was time for Happy Hour. The layout of the restaurant remains clean and spacious; and with the dimmed lights plus candles, the atmosphere was very cozy indeed. The music was Jazzy and most importantly, the volume of the music was just right as a background music (unlike many lounges and bars nearby which play their music so loud that you would have mistaken the day of the week as Sat!) Thumbs up on the music and its volume control, well done! Great Ambiance!

(1) Litchi & Lychee Champagne

One of the main reasons for coming here was for this drink, which a friend recommended to my friend. It was wonderful! I was not sure about the brand of Champagne being used but it was bubbly enough and not too acidic, likely due to the mixture of lychee juice. From just a single sip, you can taste a strong lychee flavor, but it was not overly strong to a point that would affect the Champagne flavors. Nicely done! In my opinion, the highlight of this drink was the lychee sitting at the bottom of the glass. You have to eat that at the end! Tiny bubbles seem to be exploding on very bite with both residue Champagne and lychee fruit juice watering your mouth. What a great UNION!

(2) Duck Fat Fries

How can we not have snacks along with our drinks !! Before today, I usually categorize fries into 2 distinct types, one is normal thinly sliced fries and the other would be wedges. However, I think I am going to create a new category of my own, big fat fries which lies in between the two. The name of this dish was duck fat fries and it literally means Duck Fat + really Fat fries. In other words, deep-fried with duck fat / oil and sliced fatter than normal. From the pattern of the potato skins and the size of the fries, I think all the pieces came from one single potato. You can actually carefully piece them back into one single piece! The fries were freshly prepared and it came with some steak sauce. I was happy with just the fries which has a crisp and thin layer with soft and mash-y interior. Due to the fact that they are FAT fries, it was hard to compared with those from Press Room or even MacDonald's, but I did enjoyed it and ended up ordering another one later into the evening. Well done! Thumbs up!

(3) Sourdough

To my surprise, the sourdough here was not free of charge. If they dare to charge me for bread even during dinner and lunch, it better be good. Well, it was! It was fresh and still hot so it must be right out from the oven not too long ago. The crust was crisp and firm while the inside was soft and warm. Also, the bread was served with butter and some sea salt. Sometimes it is as simple as butter, salt and bread which would make your day! Thumbs up! If it were free of charge, two thumbs up!

(4) Hamachi, Cucumbers and Wasabi Ice

Now this one was definitely an interesting creation. It consisted of diced hamachi and cucumbers with wasabi flavored shaved ice. The wasabi ice allow you to get the wasabi flavor needed for the fish while giving you a very refreshing sensation. Very interesting concept indeed. However, because it was shaved ice, it melt pretty fast and you have to eat it fairly quick. It was cook to serve it in a glass but with the shaved ice on top, it did not look appealing to me. Maybe placing the ice at the bottom would look better?

(5) Cherry Crumbles

I had my fair share of apple crumbles but it was my first attempt at cherry crumbles this evening. To my surprise it was alright. The cherry filling was not too sweet and the crust was crisp. The crumbles on top was flaky enough but a bit too sweet especially with the icing sparkled over the top.

(6) Banana Split

When I ordered it, I had an image of how the dish was going to look with two bananas on the side and a few scoops of ice cream in between. That is how a classic Hong Kong style banana split would look like. Of course the way how they prepare here would be different and it certainly surprised me in a delightful way. There were two bananas alright but not just two piece of sliced banana. The surface of the sliced banana was caramelized resulted in a thin and crisp layer on top. The combination was very nice in terms of flavors and textures, especially with the ice cream as well. (P.S. - I was not sure what the thing on top of the ice cream was but it was too chewy and too sweet, not my cup of tea)

Likes:

• Atmosphere + Music (of the right volume and Jazz as well)
• Litchi & Lychee Champagne - make sure you eat the litchi !
• Sourdough - simple and wonderful ...

Dislikes:

• the shaved wasabi ice melt too fast and somehow diluted the strength of the wasabi as well
• Cherry Crumbles - crumbles slightly too sweet(too much icing as well in my opinion)
  

Avg Spending: HKD 300 - 400 per person

Union J
1/F California Tower,
30-32 D'Aguilar Street, Central
Tel: 2537 2368


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Jimmy's Kitchen @ TST

Tonight was my first visit to Jimmy's Kitchen @ TST since it moved to street level from the floor above. One thing for sure, it was way easier to find! It modernized itself with a bar area in front of the dining area which would certainly increase happy hour business which they did not have before in my opinion. However, the modernized layout and location did take away the exclusivity element compared with the old venue. Anyhow, I was here for Happy Hour this Friday evening.



It was a long week, at least it seemed long to me. Someone asked me why I "sigh" so much lately and I can't help myself but to wonder as well. So what is the cause of the "sigh-ing"? Where should I start ... the list can go on and on and on and on ... longer than the Energizer bunny can play its drum. (Maybe a monthly mood swing?) Sometimes having a drink alone can be a good activity or good setting for personal reflections.

(1) Black Sheep Ale
For some odd reasons, I find myself constantly going against common trends such as supporting the underdog sport teams (just for the sake of supporting one) or picking something new and unfamiliar on the drink list. I never consider myself as an adventurous person yet I strive to differ and be unique at times. Maybe I am just too stubborn. Instead of picking the common beers, I opted for this Black Sheep Ale which I never tried before. It was love at first sight! ... Not because of the taste / flavors or texture but the bottle has the description of the ale already! - "Crisp, Dry & Bittersweet." It certainly saved me time to think of the right words to describe the ale. Well, how accurate was the description? It was Dry and Bittersweet for sure but I am unable to experience what it meant by Crisp. How can liquid be crisp? I have much to learn indeed!



(2) Fuller's London Porter
Moments of personal reflection can be dull and boring at times, so I chatted with the waitress for some recommendations for snacks and another ale / beer. She recommended me this London Porter because it is her personal favorite. She warned / informed me that the Porter is a dry stout beer similar to that of Guinness but since I am a fan of stout, I was fine with it. Apparently stout was said to be derived from porter beer but their history are intertwined according to wiki. Is it a trend of UK's marketing traditions to include detailed description of the drink on the bottle? Well, as long as the description is accurate, I am more than happy to read it. For the Porter, the description says: Rich, Dark & Complex. It was very rich in flavors with strong traces of chocolate and coffee taste as well. Very complex it was! I enjoyed it very much, better than Guinness actually because its flavors were richer, stronger and most importantly, less thick / creamy compared with Guinness. Thumbs up!



(3) The Ploughman's Platter
(smoked ham, cheese, coleslaw, pickled egg, fruit chutney, apple and crusty bread)
If you are a fan of pickled items, this is definitely one of your favorite dish! In addition to the items listed on menu, there were some pickled beetroots, pickled fruit chutney and slightly pickled salad. So many things were pickled. I like pickled stuff very much but I think some items here were overly sour, ie: pickled eggs. Aside from the pickled issue, I have to say that the portion was rather generous indeed especially with the number of sliced cheeses. I wish they can give me more bread to go along with the pickled items. Good that there were some sliced granny apple and tomatoes to balance the sour flavor. It was definitely an upgraded version of a ploughman's lunch.



So what did I get out of this personal reflection moment? Nothing, absolutely nothing, NIL and zip! Maybe another session is needed with stronger drinks like whiskey or wines. In the meantime ... SIGH ...

Likes:

• environment and great service
• a good list of less common ales / stout / porter

Dislikes:

• Too many pickled items for the ploughman's platter.

Avg Spending: HKD 100 - 200 per person

Jimmy's Kitchen
Shop C & C1, G/F Kowloon Centre,
29 Ashley Road, TST
Tel: 2376 0327

Portal: Work & Play

Since its opening in 2004, Langham Place (and the Langham Hotel) has become a landmark in the busy district of Mong Kok for the its height and contemporary architecture. Within the area, the Langham Hotel is the only 5-star hotel to my understanding. I have only been to the Chinese restaurant, Ming Court, before and there seems to be a new Japanese restaurant named Tokoro specializing in robatayaki. Maybe it is worth trying next time.



While waiting for my friend to arrive, I wandered around the mall and I somehow walked towards the hotel trying to find some tranquility. Although it was not as tranquil as I hoped, it was way better than that in the mall, especially in the open podium level where there seems to have a huge echoing issue in my opinion. I like the name of the lounge, Portal - Work & Play, Work hard and Play hard ! Well for me it would be Work hard and Eat better !!



It was happy hour and 2 for 1 was the special deal. However, there were only a handful of selection that qualify for the deal and I mean only 6 - 8 choices of drinks of which already includes a limited selection of beer, wines and sparkling wines. I forgot the mark down the name of the sparkling wine I ordered but honestly, not worth remembering. It was overly citrus and overly carbonated in my opinion. One minor thing I really wanted to mention was its menu; the pages are all worn out and there were stains on some pages. I had to flip through the pages with my thumb and index finger only. Now that I think of it, it is not a minor issue at all, it is indeed a big concern especially for a 5-star rated hotel. You can call me picky if you want but minor things like this (considering all relevant underlying factors of course) really put me off.

Likes:

• A good place to chill in the MK area (due to the lack of other options options of course)

Dislikes:

• Pretty noisy and with a DJ at 6 PM ?? (they used to have a live band but I guess it did not work out at the end)
  
• Menu - worn out with stains
  

Avg Spending: Around HKD 100 per person

Portal: Work & Play
5/F, Langham Place Hotel,
555 Shanghai Street, Mong Kok
Tel: 3552 3232

M Bar

After my House of Chocolate venture at La Maison du Chocolat, my friends finally completed their long day of work. We headed to the M Bar at the top floor of the Mandarin Hotel. It was my first time and I was surprised I did not discover this pretty location until now. The place was not big but it is cozy enough to spend a relaxing evening over a few drinks with a few friends.

Compared with other near by places for Friday Happy Hour, this location has the ambiance, the decor and of course the nice view which many lacked. (Sevva has the view as well but in order to enjoy the whole view, you you have stand outdoors which I am not a big fan of during this summer weather!)

Ever since I was introduced to the single malt Lagavulin, I am in love with it. It was extremely smokey in flavors but very smooth at the same time. It is very hard to describe but I enjoyed it very much. Note: It is very difficult to find it Hong Kong for some reasons, very few, and I mean very very few bar / lounges in Hong Kong (even for hotels) carry it. Therefore, if you so happens to see it on the drink menu, do give it a try especially you are starting to enjoy whiskey. Try the 16-year-old first, I do not dare to try the higher vintage because (1) the ever so high price tag !! (2) I might enjoy it too much that I cannot go back to the basic 16-year-old one; and/or (3) I might be able to appreciate its sophistication or smoothness yet at this stage.

Likes:

• Very attentive service with very friendly staff (all of them end conversations with a nice smile)
• Decor+ view
• Frequent renewal of snacks (chips and nuts)

Dislikes:

• Not enough sofa seats but too many high / bar table seats.

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

M Bar
25/F, Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong,
5 Connaught Road Central, Central
Tel: 2825 4002

SOHO No 8

Carrying my bad mood into the evening, the best thing was to go for a happy hour session on this Friday evening. Initially my friends and I wanted to head to Yorkhshire Pudding but it was pretty full so instead we headed to Soho No. 8 next door. To our surprise, tonight was the first day it opened, the opening night! However, they can't serve alcoholic beverages yet unfortunately. Anyhow, we were too lazy to continue our search so we decided to give this place a try anyhow. The place is located right beside the mid level escalator and its logo is pretty catchy to attract attention to those passing by. Being its first opening night, I can still smell the renovation scent flowing in the air.

I could not really point out what kind of cuisine this place is serving, be it English, American or Italian because it serves different varieties. Let's call it international cuisine I guess. We sat on the first floor and we were informed that there is actually another dinning area on the second floor. (I wonder how it looked.) We also discovered that this restaurant belongs to the same group as the Yorkshire Pudding.



(1) Gunner
Since no alcoholic beverages were allowed, I ordered this drink called Gunner (from Yorkshire Pudding's drinks menu). I had no idea what was in there so I asked. Apparently it was a mixture of Ginger Ale + Ginger Beer + Bitters. Bitters is actually a highly concentrated food and beverages flavouring made from herbs and spices. Angostura Bitters was the brand they used. It reminds me of Unicum. I liked it but I think I will try a variation of Bitters drinks next time because I wanted a more concentrated Bitters flavors.



(2) Kaffir Lime Leaf Chicken Satay's
The presentation was nice but it was too salty for some reasons. In addition to the leaf taste, the flavor was more like Thai style herbs and spices. As you can see, it serves Asian delights as well so very international indeed. This dish would be nice to go with some cold beer ! Maybe next time.



(3) Baby Spinach Salad with Seasonal Pears, Feta and Toasted Spicy Walnuts
Since we were only having happy hour, we opted for some light salads while waiting for one of our friends who were still working very hard at the office. The combination of Seasonal Pears and Walnuts were very refreshing, just like what I had for lunch today, the Apple Brie Cheese Walnuts on Rye. A good dish to have on a hot and humid evening. The dish name mentioned about spicy walnut, nut I wonder what it means by spicy because they tasted like normal walnuts too be. O yes, a nice touch to serve the dressing on the side because I like minimal dressing on my salads and I can now pour the right amount to my liking.



(4) Romaine Hearts Salad with Quails Eggs, Crispy Parma Ham and Green Goddess Dressing
(With Grilled Prawns) Yummy quails eggs! The combination of ingredients was again very good. The romaines were crisp and fresh, quails eggs were tasty and the crispy parma hams were salty enough the balance the flavor of the dressing which was slightly sour. I still have no idea what a Goddess dressing is but an interesting name indeed. With the addition of the grilled prawns, this can serve as a main dish in my opinion. (o yes, the prawns were a bit salty as well)



Service wise, it was alright, very attentive but it reminded my of my Habibi experience. The staff came by the clean out our plates and drinks very frequently and ask if we wanted another beverages when my drink is still HALF FULL (maybe to them it was HALF EMPTY). As soon as I had my last sip of my first Gunner (I ordered two Gunners all together), someone came by immediately and picked it up and ask me if I wanted another one. Chill people, chill! There was no need to be that attentive or were they trying to rush us out on their first opening night on a Friday when they don't even allow to serve alcohol. Hmmm ... Anyhow, will go back to try their main dishes when they can serve alcohol !

Likes:

• Comfortable Atmosphere
• Good Salads

Dislikes:

• over-attentive services

Avg Spending: HKD 200 - 300 per person

SOHO No 8
8 Staunton Street,
SoHo, Central
Tel: 2536 9068