Featuring: The Flying Elk, Ryota Kappou, Artemis & Apollo…
SWEDISH chef, Bjorn Frantzen brought the effortlessly cool Scandi upscale dining concept to Hong Kong with the eponymously named Frantzen which took up residence in an effortlessly cool side alley in Sheung Wan.
Now the quiet, headline shunning chef has opened a new venture in the form of The Flying Elk which takes the place of Maximal Concepts’ Fish & Meat on Wyndham Street.
The Flying Elk is not Frantzen, where you’re looking at a sizeable hole in your wallet before you even get to your main course, as it’s as casual, as er, Swedish food can be.
Think deep fried pigs’ ears, a pork cheek open sandwich, baby chicken and lobster pot au feu, smoked venison and probably some of the best smoked salmon you’ll experience in town.
Portion sizes are decent, and the wine list well populated with small-scale Old and New World producers. It’s already a hit with the Soho crowd and pulling in punters from all corners of town.
The Flying Elk, 32 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2565 6788
Typical of the usual hype surrounding any Black Sheep restaurant opening, its new taverna, Artemis & Apollo was certainly being teased out like a Greek epic in the lead up to its launch. Modelling itself on the slower pace of Mediterranean life, Artemis & Apollo is the antithesis of most Hong Kong local eateries where you eat, get shouted at by the servers and pay – all in about 15 minutes.
Like with all places nowadays, the menu is meant to be shared family style, but there’s no greater feeling than plunging straight into freshly made mezzes including bright fava mash made from pureed yellow split peas, to traditional taramasalata, or creamy mullet roe dip all with warm bread.
Mains include fresh seafood — think grilled calamari drizzled with lemon — to a hearty selection of spit-roasted meats, including chicken or pork souvlakis served with warm pitta and yogurt, and charcoal-roasted Tasmanian lamb.
Meanwhile, the wine list does a brilliant job of showing off some of Greece’s diverse wine offering, with Artemis & Apollo’s charming courtyard just made for polishing off a few glasses.
Artemis & Apollo, G/F, 9 and 11 Moon Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong, +852 2818 8681
Sometimes, it may feel like Hong Kong is overpopulated with Japanese restaurants. There is certainly no other nation which Hong Kongers seem to ape so much, which is why any new Japanese eatery gets instantly booked up.
The newcomer is headed up by Ryota Kanesawa, from Tenku RyuGin (the Hong Kong outlet of the three-Michelin-starred Tokyo restaurant) and Ryota Kappou is his first solo venture.
Everything from the interior design to the eight-course tasting menu has been thought about – very thoroughly. The menu goes into such intricate detail that you wonder if you should eat each course or display it on your mantelpiece. There’s sweetcorn tempura, Karuna shrimp, foie gras topped with sweet raspberry – each dish more convoluted than the last. The tableware has even been handpicked in Osaka and Kyoto. Come ready for an authentically detailed and stylish dining experience – but the evidently carefully thought through sake pairing really takes it up a notch.
Ryota Kappou Modern, 21/F, 18 On Lan Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2628-189.