Central Space

Today I went to Holly Brown Coffee on Stanley Street in Central to meet a friend.  I have been there at night to get some Gelato for Cayenne after dinner at Luk Yu, but never actually set down for a cup of Joe.  It is a really big place with almost about 1500sf ground level and another similar size upstairs lounging seating area.  It was around 245pm and it was quite busy with people coming in and out for coffee, ice-cream and a light lunch.  My friend and I set down upstairs for a about 1.5hrs, I had a sandwich and Latte, and he had a latte and muffin.  I cannot help but wonder, can a place like this survive in Central with such high rent? Each person that goes in and out of there will have an average ticket about $50 to be generous. With a little rule of thumb calculation, they will need to serve about 150-200 customer a day to make ends meet.  I really enjoyed the spacious and comfortable environment, quality food, good efficient service and freshly roasted Tall Skim Latte for $38.  I actually think that they have everything that you can think of for breakfast, Lunch, simple dinner Dessert and even some coffee beans to take home.  I think it is a nice break away from crowded Central, will they survive the cruel rent of Central,  I hope they do, cause I like it!

After some errands and meeting Jonathan for a wine tasting event, I decided to go find some dinner while waiting for Jonathan to finish up.  Walking along Wellington Street, thinking what I should eat and what I want to eat, I stumble into Wang Fu 王府 traditional Beijing dumplings and dishes.  Small hole in the wall about say 700sf dining space, seats about 40ppl max.  I ordered their special of the day Fennel and Pork Dumpling, a cold potato salad and pickled cucumber.   It was delicious and the whole dinner cost me about $90.  The older gentleman manning the cash register, looks like he is from Beijing, also speaks good English.  He was helping the French table next to me navigate the menu.  I think his English is almost better than the French.  They have been in this location for quite some time.  With an average check for about $90 per person.  Again with some simple rule of thumb math, they need to serve 40-50 people a day to make it.  I have seen their place at lunch, it is always packed with people dining and people waiting outside for take-out.  I think they are doing quite ok, I hope they do cause I like it!

Table side at the Verandah

Having Jonathan in the F&B industry certainly has it perks.  With a week day off, we got a dinner reservation at the Verandah at Repulse Bay.

The Verandah at the Repulse Bay is a place where you can surround yourself with old world hospitality and classic cuisine.  Arrived early, we had our before dinner drinks at the bamboo themed bar, an Absolute Grasshopper seems to fit the bill.

We went into the dining room filled with candle lights, shiny silvers and the pianist playing.  The hallway was filled with table-side service trolley rolling back and forth like a mini highway, carrying Roasted Lamp Rack, Smoked Salmon, after dinner drinks, made to order steak tartar and their famous Caesar salad.  Most of their must have dishes were table side service.  With lots of goodies to choose from, we decided to go tartar style.  We first have the scallop and Ebi Shrimp Tartar, light and sweet with a hint of truffles.  Then comes the dozen French Oyster over ice, salty and creamy.  Our trolley arrived with all the ingredients to make our steak tartar.  It took the waiter almost 15mins mixing one or two ingredient at a time, it was such an experience that I was mesmerized.  Only a few place in HK will do these type of time consuming stuff.  Then came my Caesar Salad trolley, Romain freshly tossed with extra spicy dressing to my request, croutons were crisp and accompany with smoked organic Irish Salmon, define!

Call me old soul but I was completely tickled.  The classic sometimes gives you a sense of comfort and grounds you to the core.  It was not a fancy fusion dinner which kept you guessing, but it sure makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside.  We spent the rest of the evening talking about kids and life so far and it was definitely a perfect setting to bring back old memories.

SML...room for improvement

Last Saturday, we were looking for a meet up place in Causeway Bay for lunch with some friends and the kids.  Everytime I think of Causeway Bay, I think of the mounts of people, traffic and Jonathan getting into a fight with people who cut in front of him.  Where is a good place that is child friendly and relatively not as crowded?  Maybe Time Square?  Well, we thought of SML, always wanted to try it, decor seems nice and open.  We called at about 10am and got a reservation for 4 adult and 2 kids. 


When we arrived, the whole front of the restaurant was setup with 3 long table of 20 people for birthday parties.  Then at the back, close to the kitchen is where we were seated.  Quite roomy but very noisy.  The menu were very extensive, but not sure if they specialize on any cuisine.  I thought it was Spanish but there were lots of other stuff on the menu too.  We quickly ordered some pasta, salad, Paella, finger foods and some drinks for the kids.  As we sat and talked, it got more and more uncomfortable.  The restaurant was so busy and people were running around us.  I felt like I was in a fast food joint like Cafe De Coral.  Then our food start arriving.  When we ask what that was, the server had no idea even though she was the expediter.  Then two other dishes arrived at our table and it did not belong to us.  I thought the food was ok but the atmosphere made everything seems cheap.  At the end, we all became so restless that we ate quickly and left. 

The bill end up to be about $1000, it was not cheap but I felt cheap after dining in that restaurant.