CAFE GREY DELUXE

Hong Kong

Located in the ultra chic and stylish Upper House Hotel, Café Grey is a Hong Kong landmark for fine dining and some of the city's best panoramic views overlooking Victoria Harbour. With world-renowned formerly New York based Gray Kunz as the patron and head chef, expectations were very high and the hard-to-get reservations were made 2 weeks prior to my arrival in Hong Kong. The interior of the restaurant does nothing but raise the expectations even higher; the beautifully decorated dining room is in line with the modernist and simple theme of the hotel, adorned in dark timber tones that are elegantly lit up with bespoke light fittings that gild the dining room. Tables are arranged in an open yet cozy space, where our table was perfectly located in the centre and seats were in a comfortable and plush sofa/booth style. Everything from the sterling silver candle holder, to the high thread count napkins and fine bone china made us even more excited about our meal ahead, which lasted a solid three hours. 

The menu, presented in a leather bound book, made our mouths water and stomachs rumble. To start, we opted for the crab cakes that come served with a lime and mango salsa, the steak tartare with gaufrettes on a bed of beef carpaccio, and the yellow Hamachi carpaccio tartare. All were delicious and beautifully presented, with special mention to be made to the Hamachi which was just sublime; we had to order another one. For mains  I  requested to try the burger, which is not on their dinner menu, but allegedly the best burger in Hong Kong and Southeast Asia (unfortunately I forgot to take a picture before I  devoured it). Despite people giving me strange looks for having ordered a burger for dinner in such a place, it was definitely worth it. It was perfectly cooked and the beef was a fine mix of Australian beef and wagyu. My friends opted for more socially acceptable items of the dinner menu. The sea bass in a creamy white wine sauce with chives, topped with caviar was a rich and delicious choice, as well as the sea bass stew which came served in a lobster broth with mixed vegetables. To conclude our epic meal we ordered the deconstructed banoffee pie and the panna cotta, which were both prepared to perfection and perfectly capped our perfect dinner. The high quality of the food, the beautiful presentation, the exceptionally attentive staff and incredible vistas across Hong Kong, make Café Grey one of my favourite restaurants and worth every penny spent.

www.cafegrayhk.com

SPIT & ROAST

London, UK

Spit and Roast manages to satisfy two cravings I almost always have; a craving for a good burger and for fried chicken. In London, burgers are all over its food grid, but when it comes to fried chicken, it still remains a rarity to come across that excellent piece of juicy and crispy poultry. This is not say there aren't any good places serving fried chicken; it’s just not as common as finding a good burger, which makes the experience of finding a place that perfects it ever the more precious and enjoyable. Enter Spit and Roast, which I had the pleasure of trying on one of my lunch breaks from work at my new favorite eating spot in London: the Kerb food market in Granary Square. The Kerb is also home to The Grilling Greek, and the previous home of Bleecker Street Burger, both of which have been reviewed on the Food Grid. It was a sunny Wednesday, and arriving at the Kerb the queue stretched quite far back, but I happily waited eager to try the food emerging from the van with the longest line. Thirty minutes later, I ordered their classic and most famous dish, the fried chicken bap alongside an order of French fries, naturally. Ready within five minutes, I rushed to find a place to sit and dig in. The burger not only looks delicious, it tastes amazing. The fried buttermilk chicken is tender, crispy and just the right amount of oily, complemented with their crunchy slaw and Korean hot sauce, making this burger a fusion burger I suppose. With the summer season upon us, I have no doubt the lines ahead of Spit and Roast will keep getting longer, but I will gladly wait to have another one of their delicious fried chicken baps. 

www.kerbfood.com/traders/spit-roast

KUROBUTA

London, UK

What started as relatively low-key pop up restaurant on Kings Road has quickly become one of London’s most sought-after dining destinations, with tables booked weeks in advance. Kurobuta is a gem of a place, rare in its breed in London’s food jungle, serving fresh quality Japanese fusion food in a cozy and comfortable setting. It’s indeed very fitting to its location; it screams Kensington and Chelsea, in that it is small, charming, charismatic and the people are just beautiful boasting the latest designer fashions as they walk through its small inconspicuous door. Kurobuta came to my attention by coincidence while walking on Kings Road and I stopped to chat to a friend I ran into, otherwise it's very easy to miss as its store front is very low key, which let's face it makes it even more endearing. I immediately booked a table. As I write this post I have been to Kurobuta twice already within a 2-week time period and the culinary highlights include the Tuna Sashimi Pizza that comes served with a truffle ponzu sauce. The flavours of this dish ignite fireworks in my mouth. Next up are the Wagyu beef sliders at £20 for two, which are bite-sized patties of pure delight and quality; the texture of the beef is unparalleled. The Maki Rolls are also phenomenal, their take on the spicy tuna roll is refreshing and equally delicious; on both dining occasions the spicy tuna was ordered twice! The beef fillet tataki and yellow tail sashimi were also excellent and spurred flurries of joy and delight; each bite drew a smile on my face. We also ordered spare ribs and pork hirata buns, neither of which were good. In an otherwise perfect meal, these pulled the impression down. Special mention must be made however to a snack that is so often taken for granted and overlooked in Japanese restaurants: Edamame. The edamame here is unmatched by any that I have had; it's flamed with Sake, lemon, butter and maldon salt. An innovative approach to such a simple dish, this is testament to the finesse and reinvention of many dishes prepared at Kurobuta. With many new restaurants always opening, Kurobuta jumps to being one of our London favourites, and we are just anxiously awaiting our next meal there and very much look forward to their main restaurant opening in summer. An interesting fact: none of the chefs are Japanese.  

   

www.kurobuta-london.com

POLLEN STREET SOCIAL 

With one Michelin Star, Pollen Street Social is the brainchild of Jason Atherton, a Gordon Ramsay veteran and quite interestingly the first Brit to cook at the former El Buli. Since its inception in 2011, Pollen Street Social has steadily been one of the hottest and trendiest spots in London, if not Europe, attracting food connoisseurs through its glass doors located off the cosy and charming Pollen Street in the heart of Mayfair. I visited Pollen Street Social on a Thursday evening, and when I stepped into the restaurant I was instantly greeted by the very friendly maître-d who quickly showed me to the bar as I waited for the rest of my party to arrive. The drinks menu is extensive, varied and mouthwatering; the Fizzy Pink Lemonade is what caught my attention. Presented on the menu as a non-alcoholic cocktail, the waiter jazzed it up with three types of rum. The drink was delicious although a bit too heavy on the rum that disguised the pink grapefruit, and grape flavours of the lemonade. Once my party arrived, we were promptly escorted to our table in the adjacent dining room. The layout and interior of the restaurant is in fact quite simple, where the restaurant is split into two separate rooms. The main dining room features the iconic dessert bar, which allows diners to watch the pastry chefs prepare the desserts; it’s quite the spectacle! Once seated, we rushed to look at the menu, as we were very hangry. To start with, I ordered the Orkney Sea Scallop Carpaccio served with frozen pink grapefruit, lemon skin puree and black olives. My friends ordered the Irish deer tartare which comes served smoked beetroot. Both options were delicious; the sea scallop carpaccio was sheer perfection with a unique flavour and texture, and the deer tartare was rich and decadent. 

For my main I ordered the rack of lamb with a tomato chutney and artichokes. My friend ordered the sea bass with parsley mousseline (essentially a foamed texture of parsley) that is served with cockles and winkles; which sound disgusting but they are actually really delicious little clams and snails. The lamb was delectable. It was perfectly cooked to medium and it melted in my mouth. My only complaint would be that there was not enough of it, in fact for the price tag of £40 a plate, the portion was extremely small and left me quite disappointed; unnecessarily pretentious if you ask me. The sea bass on the other hand was generously portioned and was divine, the parsley mousseline in particular was nothing like what I’ve tasted before, the texture and the taste ignited fireworks in my mouth; this is gastronomy at its finest. 

 

As a conclusion to our delicious meal we ordered the PBJ: A Peanut Parfait with a cherry yuzu sorbet and nitro peanut (liquid nitrogen frozen peanut butter ice cream). It was nothing short of heavenly. We also ordered the chocolate ganache with banana ice cream, which was not as good as the PBJ but was nevertheless yummy. Pollen Street Social is definitely a destination for any true foodie. My visit left me very happy and satisfied and it comes as no surprise that it’s one of the most sought after dining destinations in London.

8 - 10 Pollen Street, London W1S 1NQ

THE PROVIDORES AND TAPA ROOM

London, UK

It was a rainy Sunday afternoon and after walking down Marylebone High Street we decided to stop for some afternoon dessert at the Tapas Room; the informal ground floor dining room for The Providores. A Marylebone landmark, the Tapa Room is a cozy and chic enclave offering an extensive and excellent choice of tapas, wines and desserts. Ahead of our desserts we ordered cappuccinos to warm up and to kill time until four which is when dessert would be served. The cappuccino was perfect, and had the right amount of milk and was served at the right temperature. For dessert we ordered the lemon custard with spiced hazelnut biscuits that came served with passion fruit and whipped cream; it was a delightful and sweet choice and the passion fruit balanced out the sweetness of the custard. The warm spiced ginger loaf with toffee was an interesting choice, served with a chili cream sorbet. The cardamom crème brûlée was also a delicious option; the sugar was burnt at exactly the right level and it was smooth and creamy with subtle hints of cardamom which delighted me with every bite. The poached rhubarb with honey yoghurt cream and pink tapioca, however, was also good, but was a bit too sweet; which for some might not be an issue. The Tapa room is not cheap but is well worth the visit and to this day has never ceased to impress me. 

109 Marylebone High Street,  London, W1U 4RX, UK