Featuring: Spoon by Alain Ducasse, Alzina, TokyoLima, Rech by Alain Ducasse…
HONG Kong’s spring months are usually a pleasant respite before the humid, blistering heat arrives and the swathe of wine fairs start up again. Last year was Vinexpo 2016 and this year ProWine Asia is set to come over to Hong Kong’s shores from May 8-11.
One of the biggest restaurant news to hit late in 2016 was the announcement that the long-standing Michelin-starred Spoon by Alain Ducasse at the InterContinental Hotel would close, have a swift lick of paint and then reopen as Rech by Alain Ducasse – bearing the same name as his seafood palace in Paris.
Its last night of service was January 1 and it reopened in mid-February, serving up Ducasse’s signature dish of pan-seared, line-caught sole with new potatoes as well as a plethora of piscine plates flown in directly from France. The kitchen is helmed by Stephane Gortina, a veteran who has worked in different parts of the Ducasse restaurant empire for the past 11 years and Marie Deroudilhe oversaw the revamp who also masterminded the set design of Rech in 2012. Rech, InterContinental, 18 Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui; phone +852 2721 1211.
Hong Kong generally lacks good mid-price Spanish restaurants. At the lower end there’s traces of using frozen seafood and the upper range Fofo by El Willy, Catalunya and Zafran are excellent but painful on everyone’s wallets.
Enter Alzina, a lively and bright cantina that has transformed a rather quiet part of Tsim Sha Tsui. Run by executive chef Juanjo Carrillo, former owner of Barcelona’s Folquer restaurant, Alzina dishes up hearty paella and the most delightful Caldoso de Bogavante, a coastal dish of a whole lobster crowning a rich rice-based stock of clams, octopus, prawns, garlic, white wine and peppers. Another menu highlight is a plate of Spanish barnacles (percebes) from Galicia which have been poached for precisely 35 seconds in Canatabrico seawater. Alzina, 29-31 Chatham , South, Tsim Sha Tsui; phone +852 2723 9833
From the team which brought Wan Chai favourites, The Optimist and Pirata, Japanese-Peruvian hybrid TokyoLima has arrived. It’s a funky, late-night venue which blends Japan’s drinking habits with authentic Nikkei and Peruvian cuisine in an izakaya atmosphere. Plates vary from yakitori to ceviche and there’s an omakase menu for groups and those with a big appetite who can’t decide what they want. TokyoLima’s drinks are looked after by Pirata Group bar manager Isabella Vannoni – the genius behind the widely popular cocktail lists at The Optimist and Pirata – and there’s also a sizeable sake list, too. TokyoLima, G/F, 18-20 Lyndhurst Tce, Central; phone + 852 2811 1152.