Resto Round-up: Southeast Asian Sensations

CHÔMCHÔM

Viet Street Om Nom Nom
$350+ per person

No pho? No worry! The VFC (Vietnamese Fried Chicken), Cha Ca Hanoi, and Shaking Beef washed down with an ice cold Vietnamese beer will have you forgetting about pho in no time.
Chef Peter nails this joint with crowds spilling into the street on the weekends. This is no typical Vietnamese resto. It's a bia hơi street stall at heart.


58-60 Peel St, Central, Hong Kong
M-F 6pm on, Sa-Su 4pm on
2810 0850, No Reservations

FATTY CRAB

Fatty Malay-Inspired Foods
$450+ per person

Another New York transplant that's all about the vibe. Give the photogenic 'plateaus' and sliders a pass and go straight for the Watermelon Pickle & Crispy Pork, Fatty Duck, and namesake Fatty Crab– complete with thick bread to soak up the juices. Enjoy the adventurous cocktails at the bar while you wait for a table, and brace yourself for a pickleback (a shot of whiskey chased by a shot of pickle brine) or three!

11-13 Old Bailey St, Central, Hong Kong
Tu-W 6pm-12am, Th-Sa 6pm-1am
2521 2033, No Reservations

CHACHAWAN

Hot Hot HOT
$120+ per person lunch, $400+ per person dinner

Have your hanky ready– a nose and eye-watering night ahead, in the best of ways. Isaan Thai is no ordinary Thai. The spicy goodness of the Som Dtum Gai (grilled chicken thigh) and Larp Moo (minced pork) make you thank goodness for water and sticky rice. The dessert– Kanom Dtom, warm coconut rice dumplings served in salted coconut cream, is most definitely worth trying. It gets loud in here, so get ready for a sensory overload!

206 Hollywood Rd, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Tu-Su 12pm-3pm, 6:30pm - 12am
2549 0020, No Reservations

Prices are based on dinner and include an alcoholic beverage. Meals are not compensated for unless expressed otherwise. Photographs are taken with an iPhone only.

Gallery Hopping

It's officially Hong Kong Art Gallery Week, organised by the Hong Kong Art Gallery Association which consists of over 50 members, whose mission is to "advance the Hong Kong art gallery community by providing one voice to its members, reaching out to the local and international art communities, and helping deepen market knowledge and best practices." You can find them on Facebook here!

Hong Kong has a fast-growing art market, with record sales constantly made at Sotheby's and Christie's auction houses, the launch of Art Basel this year, and the arrival of many international galleries. 

It is therefore incongruent that there is not more of a 'gallery culture' amongst Hong Kong's residents. People are often intimidated by the white cubes and rarely venture into galleries, afraid that a lack of art knowledge or intent to buy would be judged or unwelcome. This art week gives the public the feeling of 'safety in numbers,' and to encourage exploration of art and its appreciation, even if the viewer has no interest in collecting. 

Galleries have organised lectures and fun activities, and opened their doors wide open for all to enjoy. As expressed in an interview with one of the organisers, "We want people to see why it's important to have art, and to see how much visual art can give depth to a person, a society, and a city."

Today was a beautiful day to be strolling the streets and popping into galleries. My friends and I made our way from Sheung Wan into Central, making a pitstop in Soho for a lazy brunch along the route. The gallery owners were eager to introduce us to their collections and the artists they represent, and the sheer diversity of the art ensures that everyone can find their own piece of inspiration somewhere. 

You can find a detailed map with locations and event descriptions here, or click after the jump for more photos and a list of my personal favourite galleries!

Diageo Reserve World Class Bartender

On Tuesday, Diageo Reserve held the winter round for The World Class Hong Kong Bartender of the Year. I got to sample the cocktails from the four finalists (winners of each of the four categories- 'Warm Cocktail,' 'Gentleman's Tonic,' 'The Celebration,' and 'The American Cocktail') in the always swanky Zuma.

My personal favourite of the night was from John Ng of Wyndham the 4th, shown above holding 'The Great Gatsby'. It's a smooth melding of Singleton Whisky with apricot liqueur and two different bitters. 

Cherry Lam of Origin put on quite a show with her 'winter warmer' - playing with fire! Details on the winners and their cocktails will be updated in this post as I receive them. Already looking forward to the finals!

Farewell to Summer BBQ

Another beautiful day, another reason to enjoy the outdoors. Get your BBQ kit packed and head to your favourite pits – be they in Shek O Beach, Lamma Island, or at your country club (Photos here were taken at Middle Island). Click here and here for site suggestions!

We had a wonderful spread of tiger prawns, corn, potatoes, chicken drumsticks, steak, and sausages. Don't forget wine and beer! For tips on preparation, hop over to Secret Ingredient's blog post on this little outing! If you're short on prep time, I recommend ordering a premade 'sizzle set' here.

See after the jump for more yummy photos!

Herb & Cheese Toast Soldiers with Soft Boiled Eggs

Breakfast – The most important meal of the day! I love nothing more than having hearty breakfasts which allow time to mull over coffee and the day's papers (I'm an old soul, really.) Unfortunately, I'm not one for the early morning hours and often am just chowing down a bowl of cereal before running out the door. Whenever I am able to rouse myself at a reasonable hour (and on weekends when a reasonable hour is just before noon), I indulge in this easy treat.

Believe me – That smell when you open the oven when baking the buttery toast soldiers is to-die-for.

Recipe and instructions after the jump!

Picnic in the Park

Well, there are worse things 

Than staring at the water on a Sunday

With the weather mild, this is the perfect month for picnics. You can take your pick of the perfect spot from the two lists here and here. For utmost convenience, well kept lawns, and a view of the water, we chose the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park in Sai Ying Pun. 

Max of Secret Ingredient prepared some sandwiches – Proscuitto, Rocket, and Roasted Pepper on Ciabatta, and a quinoa salad. Yum! I brought along some fruits (grapes are perfect for picnics), flavoured water (I added cucumbers, lemon and mint to mine and refrigerated it overnight for the flavours to infuse), and a nice bottle of Rose wine from Sancerre. 

Other items to bring on a picnic? A picnic blanket, some towels, the usual cutlery, wine glasses (there are disposable plastic ones from supermarkets that work just as well), and most importantly... a wine bottle opener (if your wine if not a twist-off)!

For these little collaborations between Secret Ingredient and me, go on ahead to their blog right here for the recipes and instructions. Look after the jump for a few more photos!

To Autumn - A Pear & Apple Gin Cocktail

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

  Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; 

Conspiring with him how to load and bless 

  With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; 

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees, 

  And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core; 

    To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells 

  With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, 

And still more, later flowers for the bees, 

Until they think warm days will never cease, 

  For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

– "To Autumn" by John Keats

I love autumn, and the poem excerpt above is one of the most beautiful odes to the season I have ever read. On the east coast in the States, you would be galavanting around orchards, picking apples and hopping on hay rides right about now. 

Alas, we are in Hong Kong. But autumn still means phenomenal (read: dry) weather and crisp air. I've always loved a fresh-squeezed apple and pear juice to cleanse my system. When adding a few drops of lemon to the mix, the drink suddenly called for gin. And so I answered. 

Now, I warn that this cocktail may not be one for the guests. Despite my adding copious amounts of lemon juice right after juicing, the colour still ultimately changes from a fresh-looking (albeit, halloween-ish) green to a murky, sick brown. So goes oxidation. If you can forgive the cosmetic issues, this is such a refreshing drink that masquerades as a lean green cleansing machine. You can find the recipe after the jump!

Bao Inspired: Fried Mantou with Green Tea Ice Cream & Condensed Milk

(I burnt it a tad :( )

After a lovely dinner at my neighbouring shop, Little Bao, I was excited to recreate their delicious dessert at home. Mantous were a childhood favourite snack of mine, and I was impressed with Little Bao's use of three simple ingredients to create something so refreshingly new. Here's all you need:

INGREDIENTS

• Green tea ice cream
• Mantou (you can get them in all shapes and sizes in supermarkets)
• Condensed milk (they come in convenient toothpaste-like tubes!)

DIRECTIONS

1. Steam the mantou- either in a steamer over a wok of boiling water, or covered with a wet paper towel for a minute in the microwave.
2. Cut it in half and deep-fry it by dropping it in a pan of hot oil. I didn't want to waste too much oil, so I just poured a thin layer in a saucepan and flipped the mantou around with tongs (keep an eye on it or you'll burn it like I did!)
3. Allow the mantou to cool a little before squeezing some condensed milk on the inside surfaces
4. 'Cut' a slice of ice cream from the pint and sandwich it between the mantou halves (for better-looking presentation, run hot water outside the pint, pop out the ice cream, slice them, then put it back into the freezer to solidify again before sandwiching)

That's it! An easy recreation of this oh-so-popular and all-over-Instagram dessert!