Hong Kong 1 week, eating & walking, loved it.
 

This trip was a combined xmas/birthday gift for my sister, a chef. It was myself Dh & Ds, we are all in our 'late' 40's. Dh & I are fairly well travelled, (I usually hang out over on the Europe board) this was ds first trip for about 18 years. We left all the restaurant bookings to her, I know she stalked chowhound.com for quite a few months.

We were booked out of Brisbane on an 11am flight..............after over an hour at check in and half an hour in customs our flight was showing boarding as soon as we were cleared. So much for looking around the duty free shops. As 'luck' would have it there was engineering problems and we were delayed nearly two hours. Plenty of time for shopping ( :-( ) and ds had time to line up and get sales tax back on a camera she bought. One quick question, WHY do they feel it necessary to tell us that there is something wrong with the plane and the engineering dept. is deciding if the plane is 'servicable'? Not a paniced flyer but I'd rather 'be in the dark re the reason', if we don't fly we don't fly..........I don't need to know why, you tend to hear every little rattle after that!

Uneventful flight, quite 'bumpy' on approach to HK. We loved our seats, second last row where the 4 seat configeration turns to 3, perfect. (side note...this was our first economy flight for quite a few years.....sure was a reality check :-) )

Arrival into HK was quick and easy. The airport was very easy to navigate and the taxi setup is great. A counter near the door with a lady that told us which 'color' cab to use and approx what it should cost. Fun ride to Harbour Plaza Metropolis, Kowloon (250HKD). It was good that I'd printed out the hotel address c/w map.

Checked in to our 1 bedroom suite, ds slept on the sofa bed and said it was quite comfortable. Had a good size kitchen although the only provisions were, 2 cups, 2 glass's & 2 two tsp. Weird, had a microwave and cooktop but absolutely nothing to use in them. Wasn't a problem for us we were eating out and I always take my coffee and plunger.

We were really tired it was about 11pm but ds had booked the chinese restaurant in the hotel, so up we went. Certainly didn't need to book..........but after a bit of deliberation we just ordered stirfried chicken in chilli that was served with the most beautiful deep fried leaves, we have no idea what they were but boy they were yummy as was the chicken. Also ordered prawns wrapped around a variety of vegies and some rice. Just what we needed. Hit the bed and slept like babies. As HK is only two hours behind Brisbane it was nice not to have jetlag issues.

The next morning we were wide awake by 8am. Headed downstairs and decided to start our day with breakfast in the hotel breakfast buffet. Which worked out really well for us, dh had fresh omelettes and ds & I tried our luck with dumplings and pork buns. I have to confess I did have toast and vegimite as well :-). Breakfast seamed reasonable to us at $158HKD and a nice way to start the day with a full tummy and their coffee was good.

We used the free shuttle bus which takes you to & from the Hotel to Kowloon Hotel, Middle rd, which is just behind the Pennisula, around the corner from Nathan Rd and right beside a subway station. It was very handy and we used it often, runs every 20mins.

We had a lovely walk up Nathan road, it was a bit early for the shops but we enjoyed the walk and the street was lovely and wide and clean. Later in the day it was quite manic, so we were glad we got to see it like this. Dh declined to join us in the shops and took himself off for a walk, ended up using the ferry and going to central for a look. We met back up and had a coffee at the Langham (ds had a lovely chocolate desert as well) Then we figured out the subway (which was embarassly easy)and went to Mong Kok to the ladies Market. I know some of the regulars hate these places, we really enjoyed it.

Subwayed back but we were relying too heavily on dh, who had just taken a call from work, and not taking enough notice and got off too early. Ended up walking all the way back down Nathan rd. Feet getting very tired. Used shuttle back to hotel and had some lovely wine that dh bought at Brisbane airport, very nice.

Tonight is the special birthday dinner for ds, I will post what we ate for all the foodies but hope I don't bore you all too much.

Used the shuttle back to Middle rd and walked a block or so to 1 Peking Road, to the <b>Hutong Restaurant </b> on the 28th floor. What a lovely place, very dark which helped with the amazing view and the service was awsome, we had a lovely night.

<b> Entree </b> – Scallops tossed with pomelo segments (Hutong signature dish)
Crabmeat & turnip rolls wrapped with crab leg meat & sesame sauce
Vegetarian Spring rolls with mushroom & scallion
Crispy shrimp rolls wrapped with dried tofu sheet

<b>Main</b> - Crispy de-boned lamb ribs (Hutong signature dish)
Dragon Red lobster fired with red pepper & sweet chilli sauce
Grilled vegie platter, string beans, asparagus, eggplant, black mushroom & garlic

<b> Desert </b> - Mango pudding, Apple Rolls, Pannacotta & and icecream platter.

And we were so happy to find one (two bottles as it happened) of our favourite wines on the list. Shaw & smith chardonnay from the Adelaide Hills.

A really lovely night. Total inc 2 x bottles of wine & coffee $3641HKD. (for any Aussies out there that equates to about $500 AUD. expensive yes, worth it....absolutely)

DH & I decided early on we were going to use chopsticks, what fun. We were actually pretty good by the end of the week and after seeing a very ‘rude’ interaction later in the week at a street market eatery we were very pleased with ourselves.

Ps. meant to say the weather the first day was beautiful. Nearly perfectly clear, we were thinking we should have gone to The Peak this day, but just didn't fit it in.

Is it only me who thinks that is extreme? <b>$500.00</b>. For <i>dinner!</i>. Obviously you were celebrating a large lottery win.

My dinners at the Majestic Dining Hall in Mumbai were costing me $1.50 a pop. Not that it matters, but I've just realised you could have fed me for <B>one year</b> on the proceeds of that dinner. lol lol lol. Ditch that husband and take ME out, instead. No, I'm not fussed you spent that cash - just <i>amazed</i>.

Obviously, I have to get out more.

Great report so far aussie, looking forward to more!!

Thanks laartista, I will attempt to finish quickly (maybe without including prices of the restaurants :-) )

The next day was cooler and quite cloudy, we were very fortunate not to have any rain the whole time we were there. And the temp was moderate all the time. We again breakfasted in the hotel and shuttled to TST (Tsim Sha Tsui) and got the Ferry to Central. Decided to jump on a tram, they are great. Tall skinny double deckers, cost us $2HKD ea and we stayed on for nearly two hours. What a great way to see the city, even took us right through a wet market. What fun. We even changed trams and went to Happy Valley for a look at the racecourse. Lovely green oasis in the city. We had planned to have some dimsum this day but time just got away, so we had wine and cheese in our room.

Back to Hotel to get ready for our dinner at the Peninsulas’ <b>Spring Moon</b>. Used the shuttle to get back to TST and only had to walk around the corner to enter the hotel. Went up to Felix on the 28th floor first for a predinner cocktail. DS & I both had champagne cocktails and dh had a beer. Found it to be very expensive & full of 'beautiful' people. The view was great.

Made our way back down to the first floor to the restaurant.

We decided this would be a great place for Peking Duck, which is served there over two courses. With the help of our lovely waiter it was decided that it would be sufficient for the three of us for entree and to order another dish or two for mains.

For the <b>entree</b>, a table was wheeled over with steamer baskets and lots of little plates. A very 'proper' gentleman carried over our whole duck. WOH! He then proceeded to slice the breasts very finely and place them beautifully on a tray. When he was done, he opened the steamer baskets which were full of delicious pancakes. He made up the pancakes one at a time with duck, lettuce, capsicum and a plum sauce and then served us. Each time we were finished with a pancake he 'appeared' and made more. From memory we had 3, maybe 4 each. He then took the duck away and explained that they would mince the remainder of the meat and serve for the main.

So for <b>main</b> we had the duck served in lettuce cups with more plum sauce and we ordered a lamb, bean & olive stir fry and stir fried greens.

It was a very hands on meal and I'm proud to say we ate it all with chopsticks & fingers....absolutely delicious. We only shared one bottle of wine this night and passed on desert. We were all too full. (&1573HKD if anyone is interested, I know it helps me when you can get a handle of cost at different places)

We woke the next day to a warm sunny day. We were booked for a lunch so skipped hotel breakfast and believe it or not........grabbed some macdonalds! Gotta tell ya, I really enjoyed it. Headed over to central on the ferry and had about an hour and a half before lunch so had a good look around the IFC, great shops all a bit high end, but fun to look. Dh found the supermarket which is fantastic. It was decided we would come back on the way home and grab some dinner provisions. So many choices and even a great wine selection.

Lunch is at <b>Amber</b> in the Landmark Hotel. Its a set tasting menu which is wine matched. What a great restaurant, service was the best, from all the staff. The food was amazing, not sure if to list it all here, don't want to bore anyone. Quite happy to if anyone is interested. It really was the best meal!

I'm really enjoying your report. I love the food details and even the prices. Hey, this was a birthay trip for your sister the chef - AUD 500 for three people including two good bottles of wine - a deal! Perhaps this report will expand dogster's food horizons.

Yes, please. Here is a vote for more information on Amber, including details on the food and service that impressed you.

Nice read Aussie. It's nice to fine dine vicariously thru people as I'm an eat on the run, microwave kind of gal, I think it's from all the years in the studio. I would however in a blink drop that 1500 HK on a pair of shoes :)) Speaking of any shopping?? Please continue.

Thanks heaps, I was about to give up. I get the shoe thing although shoes aren't my thing...........but we all like to splurge and our 'thing' is food. We drove for two days over xmas to go to a restaurant in Victoria and then about 12 hours 'out of our way' on the way home to try another one.

I will be back later today to report on Amber, we took some great photos I will try and include (I've never had much luck with photos on fodors, but I'll have another go)

The only 'shopping' we did realy was at the Ladies Market, nothing too exciting.

Don't know about you, but in my humble opinion, if you can afford all those fancy meals, you can afford a hotel that's more convenient than the Metropolis.

Ya know rkkwan, your probably right. But we didn't really know HK or what we may end up doing. The shuttle worked fine for us................thanks for your input.

loving the report and all the details....the costs are an important part i feel for newbies...

<b>Amber</b> is on the 7th floor of the Landmark hotel. Our lunch was a set wine matched menu. I have saved some photos of all the lovely food and some other shots from the trip on Flickr. First time using this program hope it works.


http://www.flickr.com/photos/4905586...th/4496072156/

We started with an <b>amuse bouche</b> (Small tasters served at the beginning of the meal to tempt your taste buds).

Duck Foie Gras lolly pops c/w red currant toffee
Small crisp balls with a mustard centre
A prawn in a lovely chive 'soup'
Came with a lovely glass of NV veuve clicquot champagne.

My<b>entree</b> - Dungeness Crab with lemon & Chive over cauliflower panna cotta. (Quite a strong flavour but lovely)
Dh <b>entree</b> same as me, (he thought it too strong).
Ds <b>entre</b> Sea Urchin in a lobster jello with cauliflower & crispy seaweed waffle. (She enjoyed I passed on tasting ;-) ). All our entrees came complete with 'gold leaf'.

We had a choice of two wines with each course. The sommelier was there to helps us choose a wine for our particular choice.

My <b> Middle Course</b> Diver Scallops with lambs lettuce, black truffle, squash & hazelnut puree. (devine)
DH <b> Middle Course</b> Paimpol Coco Bean Veloute with alkorta fish chorizo & lardo tartine. (He enjoyed, but again said the flavours were very strong).
DS<b> Middle Course</b> Duck Foie gras & Sth Australian lobster ravioli simmered in a green pea veloute. (She loved it)

Each plate that had a Veloute or sauce was served and then the sauce was poured over at the table, a lovely touch.

My <b> Main Course </b> Le poitou lamb shoulder confit with aubergine silver beet & capers. (absolutely Beautiful)
Dh<b> Main Course </b> Bresse Poulard breast poached, its leg minced with belotta ham creamy morels & asparagus. (He really enjoyed)
When we asked what the Bresse Poulard was, we were told "it isn't chicken and its not duck", we just figured 'poultry'!
DS<b> Main Course </b> Dover Sole steamed, lemon & sarawak pepper glaze, rosotto of cevenne onions & peas. (I think the word was WOH!)

Desert was 'just' a tasting of a few different deserts. We nearly died when we all got one of each.

Wild Strawberry prepared with mascarpone & meringue
Menton lemon chilboust (like a cream patisserie) in a crispy cannelloni with lemon & bsil sorbet.
Guanaja Chocolate pudding with raspberry cream & raspberry sorbet.

I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Each one that came was declared my new favourite :-).

We then ordered coffee and out came to platters of petite fours. But we battled on and enjoyed, Tiny Choc madelaines, Pistachio macaroons, marshmallow & fudge.

What a lovely way to end a fabulous meal. The service was second to none and we asked a lot of questions about each course. When the sommelier found out we were going to Europe for an extended visit he suggested wines from the regions we would be visiting.

This was my favourite meal of the trip. ($2157HKD inc wine)

If it tasted as pretty as it looks must have been delic!!!
pics are great!

Phew, so I guess it worked? Thanks

I enjoyed the gorgeous and generously detailed description of your meal. The scallops dish -- wow. The use of cauliflower in both entrees -- and cauliflower panna cotta, no less -- amazes me.

Thanks to this account, I just extended my food vocabulary (alkorta fish, silver beet, chilboust). Did you decide that poulard is hen? I still have one more question. Does "with gold leaf" refer to edible gold? If so, what on the entree is gilded?

Great descriptions, great photos!

My food vocabulary was helped along by google! Just a sprinkling of Gold Leaf on the top.

Thanks so much, it did take a bit of time to write this up but love doing it if someone enjoys.

I will come back and finish later today............especially want to report on how happy I was we took IMODIUM!!!!!! ;-)