Outback, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Outback is a chain of steakhouses (of American origin so I believe) that have branched out to Hong Kong. I was here on a Saturday at their Wanchai restaurant (which was decked out in Australian type decor) that was not that busy on this lunchtime, as it is in a commercial area.

We were sat in a booth and I ordered first before my wife as I needed to head off sharp for football game. They do a set lunch consisting a main, soup, salad and drink, so I opted for that.

The soup and salad arrived first, along with the Bushmans bread, shown below. My first impressions was that the portions looked a tad small. However the Mushroom Soup had a good flavour with small slices of mushroom at the bottom. The salad of basic leaves and cherry tomatoes was fine and came with a thousand island dressing. I was impressed with the bread, which was warm, soft and sweet.

Salad, Soup & Bread

I chose the pasta as the main, which was served in a big plate shown below. This had penne and chicken strips mixed with flavoursome pesto, herbs, peas and oil. This large plateful of food was great and very filling, loading up my carbs in time for some exercise.

So, whilst the starters looked small, the main was big and I just managed to finish the whole meal.

Pasta Main Course

Waiter service seemed rushed in that there was not much staff for the number of patrons at that time, so did not seem that friendly. They also did not have a butter knife and gave me a teaspoon to spread butter on my bread. I maybe should have stuck to the steak knife that was already laid out.

However it is not bad value given the amount of food you get for your dollar, and it is tasty fare so it would warrant another visit.

Scores:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 2/5
Setting: 3/5

Overall: 12/20

Total Bill: $211, about £9 a head

I ate: Set Lunch.

I drank: Fanta, which was included in the price.

I wore: Team GB football shirt.

Petrus, Shangri-la Hotel, Admiralty

I celebrated my wedding anniversary with my wife for this entry, with a fine dining visit to Petrus, in the Shangri-la hotel in Admiralty. The restaurant is perched at the top of the hotel and views from here facing the east of Hong Kong Island are not bad at all.

The decor in Petrus is very classical and ornate, with elegant furniture of a gold and cream colour scheme and sparkling chandeliers. There's even a harp, although no one was playing it.

Condiments and the View in the background

We were given the menu and this is where it got interesting. They had a 4 course tasting menu called 'Carte Blanche' made up of 16 main ingredients, (which are split into four categories of vegetable, fish, meat and dessert) to choose from. In theory there was nothing stopping you from choosing all four dessert options. However, I went for the conventional option of choosing one category each. I also opted for a glass of white wine to drink.

After ordering, Smoked Sturgeon was served to us first as the Amuse Bouche, shown below. It was a dainty, light and flavoursome dish that had a slight smokiness to it. Slices of beetroot came with it as well for some colour and crunch.

Amuse Bouche

The first course was the Vegetable category and I chose Cous Cous, shown below, which was accompanied with some finely prepared and tasty vegetables. There were also various sauces to mix the cous cous with. The sour cream and hot sauce were really good but the cucumber sauce not so good. 

'Vegetable' Course

My fish course was Calamari. The dish consisted of two pieces, of which both pieces were great. The fully cooked piece was chewy and half cooked piece was crumbly in texture. The chorizo slice and sauce covering it was the best part, adding some spice to it.

'Fish' Course

The meat course was Chicken. This was a stewed fillet, which was tender and served with a sweet chutney. It also came with a  macaroni cheese that was disappointingly dry.

'Meat' Course

A raspberry sorbet was served in a cocktail glass to clean our palette as shown below. It was cool and sour and prepared us for the dessert course to follow.

Raspberry Sorbet

My dessert consisted of berries, meringue and mousse. The berries were of mixed variety and tasted fresh with a nice creme fraiche to accompany it. The meringue was crunchy and flavoured mouse was airy. All in all a great sweet and sour dessert combination. As I had informed the restaurant of our special occasion they wrote a message on the plate on chocolate lettering, which was very good of them.

'Dessert' Course

This was the most expensive lunch I have paid for. It is just about worth it, as the quality and quantity of food and service is great. All the food was exquisitely presented, which one would expect from this type of establishment. However, if spending that much money I would head for Caprice for a top-notch lunch.

Scores:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 5/5
Service: 4/5
Setting: 5/5

Overall: 18/20

Total Bill: $1680, about £70 a head.

I ate: Four course 'Carte Blanche' tasting menu.

I drank: Sparkling Water, White Wine.

I wore: Platinum wedding band.

Cammino, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

This Italian restaurant is situated on the first floor of the Excelsior Hotel in Causeway Bay. 

I was running late due to rare trouble on the public transport system. However, with the help of technology I was able to order the set lunch items through my wife, who had arrived first.

It was not exceedingly busy but I had booked ahead in case. The waiter instinctively knew who my wife was (probably because she was the only lone luncher?) and pointed out where she was sitting.  

As I sat down I was promptly poured some water and handed my unfolded napkin. I then got up again to head to their buffet selection.

When I returned from the buffet selection the daily soup had arrived, seeing as it was ordered in my absence . It was Bean and Bacon flavour as shown below, which was served at a good temperature and very hearty. 

Soup of the Day

My buffet selection consisted of a potato salad, salad leaves and Parma ham with melon. All this combined well as a nice appetiser before the main course.

Anitpasti Buffet

I chose the veal as my main. It tasted nice and tender and was fried with a light breadcrumb outer and came with a portion of lemon. The rice was a little too cheesy and they said there was saffron but it did not seem that flavoursome.

Veal and Risotto

Ricotta cannelloni was my dessert choice, shown in the picture below. The ricotta had a slight orange taste to it, like a Jacobs Club. This was unexpected as it was not noted on the menu but nice nonetheless. The cannelloni part to it was a crunchy biscuit roll.

Ricotta Cannelloni

My wife had the Mango Napolitean, shown below.

Mango Napolitain

There was a bit of an inconsistency in our tea orders at the end of our meal. I asked for an English Breakfast Tea and was given a Lipton black tea in a bag, whereas my wife got her Earl Grey order with leaves and a sieve. Nevertheless, I still drank mine without complaint.

The food was generally good, of decent portions and  presented well in Cammino. The buffet selection was also quite wide, given the small-ish size of the restaurant, which lent itself to the service being friendly, quick and attentive. As it is fairly priced I would recommend a visit.

Scores:

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 4/5

Service: 4/5

Setting: 4/5

Overall: 15/ 20

Total Bill: $509 about £21 a head.

I ate: Three course set lunch with antipasti buffet.

I drank: Water, Lipton Tea.

I wore: Casio calculator watch.

Fairwood, Tai Wai, Hong Kong

For this entry I am lunching at another one of Hong Kong's popular fast food chains, the orange colour branded Fairwood.

Shop Frontage

As with other branded fast food outlets there is an order counter and then you collect your food from the kitchen counter, canteen style. I ordered a meal that had the letter 'G' designated on it for ordering. Cash was exchanged and I went to the kitchen counter to get my food. 

The wait for my food was not that long but it was interesting that the uncooked item of my order, my 7-up, took the longest. It was more of a logistical reason for the delay rather than a technical one. After receipt of food in all its plastic tableware, I managed to find a seat in the busy restaurant.

My order

I ate the chicken wing first, which was roasted well enough to be quite tender and had a decent flavour.

When I lifted the lid of the noodles it still partly resembled the  out-of-the packet dried cake form. It tasted very instant like also, so a little disappointing. There was a half circle of luncheon meat and a fried egg to accompany the noodles as well.

The toast was a thick slice but there was not enough peanut butter and condensed milk to spread. It tasted sweet enough to pass as a dessert course and quite filling. 

Discounting the noodles this lunch was not that bad and it was decent value. Service is efficiently professional and as there are branches everywhere in Hong Kong so it is very likely I will be popping in here again.

Scores:

Food: 3/5

Presentation: 2/5

Service: 3/5

Setting: 3/5

Overall: 11 / 20

Total Bill: $33, about £2.75.

I ate: Noodles, chicken wing, toast.

I drank: 7-up.

I wore: Fred Perry Polo Shirt.

Le Jardin de Joel Robuchon, Central, Hong Kong

We go from cheap eats from my last blog to Michelin stars in this one. As a birthday treat, my wife took me out to L'atelier de Joel Robuchon in Central for lunch.

This place is split into two and we were sat at 'Le Jardin'. This is a more comfortable setting then the bar table set up they have at the other part of the restaurant. Here we sat on a sofa chair overlooking the rest of the dining area (shown below) and the roof garden, which was very pleasant.

Restaurant Interior

Menus were given to us and we selected our food choices and drinks to start off with. They had a set lunch meal of three courses of quite extensive options so we both went for that. I chose a Heineken to drink.

Bread Basket Selection

After ordering we were given bread and the basket was left with us as shown above. The Amuse Bouche, shown below soon followed, which consisted of a cold asparagus soup and a little cake. These were cute little things that was a good indication presentation wise, of the remaining food to come.

Amuse Bouche

I decided to go for the 'Jambon de Boeuf Wagyu', as written on their menu as my appetizer. This was slices of Wagyu Beef ham sat on top of a Focaccia base with goats cheese, onion and pepper, finished off with peach slices around the perimeter. This was an excellent starter with the ingredients combining really well.

Starter

For the main course I went for the rabbit. I chose this primarily as I had never seen 'lapin' before on a Hong Kong menu. As much as I would like to say it tasted like chicken, it was lean so tasted more like turkey. Thin rolls of cannelloni that were stuffed with garlic and mushroom accompanied the rabbit, which was good and filled up the dish quite nicely. It was also served with a creamy mash potato that was a bit on the cold side. 

Rabbit Main Course

For my dessert course I went for the Dessert Platter, where I chose three the three sweet items shown below. The item in the foreground is the vanilla slice, which was my favourite of that trio. They also prepared a birthday message on a white chocolate slice as shown below, for that special touch.

Dessert

All the food is beautifully presented and tasted pretty good as expected, with the beef ham starter my top pick out of the three dishes. Service is very good although they may have made that extra effort to make you feel that bit more special. The leftover bread in our basket was given to us to takeaway after a slight error in their waiting.

Whilst the decor is very upmarket it did feel slightly cramped when the waiters were pushing the dessert trolley around. There was also a fly buzzing in our vicinity, which is a little disconcerting considering the high quality establishment we were in. A little quirk is that the toilets have an automatic door, which did not add that great benefit though.

All in all, if you save up and want to splash out for an expensive lunch, this is not a bad place at all to go to.

Scores:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 5/5
Service: 4/5
Setting: 4/5

Total: 17/20

Cost for Set Lunch: $588 a head, about £50.

I ate: Set lunch, three course meal (four can be chosen at an additional price).

I drank: Heineken beer.

I wore: Hardy Amies Shirt.

Spraying Water Chicken Rice, Chiayi, Taiwan

This is our second visit to this restaurant as we enjoyed their signature dish, chicken rice, on the first night we arrived in Taiwan. We stopped by here again en route to southern Taiwan to get another fix of their rice.

My wife and I ordered a bowl each, along with with a plate of Morning Glory vegetables as a side dish.

The rice arrived very quickly as there were staff making it constantly whilst we were there. It is a simple dish of rice, sauce and shredded pieces of chicken as shown below. All mixed together this tastes great. The secret maybe in the gravy sauce but the rice is well cooked also.

The morning glory is stir fried with a lot of garlic and some chilli to give it good flavour and was a nice accompaniment.

Rice in foreground, Vegetables in background

The restaurant is unassuming with basic furniture, plastic plates and bowls and communal napkin dispensers to get your serviettes. However, it was still busy with the lunch time business and was like this when we visited during the evening so the food speaks for itself, really. The staff seemed amiable enough (my wife did the talking in Mandarin) and very efficient. 

We left to continue our journey to southern Taiwan very satisfied and having had sufficient.

It is an oddly named restaurant but it is the direct translation from their Chinese name. I am not sure of the origin of the name in all honesty. So if you are ever in central Taiwan get yourself to this restaurant for a bowl of chicken rice for less than a pound.

Scores:
Food: 4/5
Presentation: 3/5
Service: 3/5
Setting: 2/5

Total: 12/20

Total Bill: 120NT about £1.50 a head.

I ate: Chicken Rice, Morning Glory.

I drank: Nothing.

I wore: Shorts & t-shirt.

Business Class, Dragonair, South China Sea

My wife and I were lucky enough to get upgraded to Business Class on this Dragonair flight to Taiwan. It was a midday departure so lunch was served for us.

Similar to the Cathay Pacific flight I was recently flying on before they provided you with a menu and served the tray with the starter first, as shown in the photograph below, then followed up with the main course.

Starter

The starter was fresh fruit and bread from their roll selection. Being business class we lunched with silver cutlery and a cloth napkin. It was fairly basic ceramic bowl consisting of slices of melon, grape, orange and water melon, which started things off adequately.

As it was lunch time they served us with drinks, which I chose a Bloody Mary. This was quite well made (although no celery stick garnish) and served as a nice aperitif before the main course, and served in a proper glass.

Drinks

For the main course I selected the Oriental choice of pig neck and rice, which is shown below, presented in a white bowl. The slices of meat were steamed and probably too chewy for my liking but they had a decent flavour from the shrimp paste it was cooked with. The meat sat on a bed of tofu, which was really nice, soft but still cohesive. It also came with a healthy portion of white rice, two sticks of steamed choi sum and a little carrot flower. 

Main Course

The meal was filling enough and service was very good as you would expect from business class. The seats were large and comfortable but they did not recline the full 180 degrees like the seat on Cathay, although that could be down to the short duration of the flight. However, it was still a very pleasant flying experience with them.

Scores:
Food: 3/5
Presentation: 4/5
Service: 4/5
Setting: 3/5

Total: 14/20

Cost: Came with frequent flyer redeemed airline fare.

I ate: All of the above.

I drank: Bloody Mary, water, tea.

I wore: Star Wars t-shirt.