Pizzeria Jacomax

While Hong Kong in general has amazing food, the landscape of available global cuisine does have several stadium-sized craters in it.  Italian food is one of those areas.  Yes, you can go to Va Bene, and it will taste good, but it’s not an everyday place for most folks.  Posto Pubblico is closer, but it doesn’t quite match my need for “everyday Italian”.  My hat is always tipped to the kind folks at ABC Kitchen, but they are so damn busy you can never go there on a whim.  And pizza… forget about it.

Until now.

Pizzeria Jacomax recently opened in Sheung Wan.  It’s a small pizza joint that actually feels relaxed and cozy, nestled near the entrance to the MTR station on Wing Lok St.  The menu claims authenticity from the fact that the proprietors lived IN NEW YORK CITY, which I suppose is reasonable.  Not everyone can claim to be from Napoli, after all.

On to the pizza.  We ordered the crudo, which has prosciutto, shaved Parmigiano-Reggiano, and rocket over a light tomato sauce sprinkled with mozzarella.  The crust was thin, flavorful, and had a crispness that I had never before tasted in Hong Kong (I’m looking at you, 208, with your soggy fare).  The toppings were just right – enough to provide a combination of flavors, but not enough to overload the slice.  Everything tasted fresh, but it was truly the crust that stole my heart.

We ordered a dinner set for two, which included a salad, pizza, and two drinks for around 200 HKD.

Finally, an everyday pizzeria in the neighborhood, with spectacular food!

Food: A
Service: A
Ambiance: A
Value: B
Overall: A-

Pizzeria Jacomax
38-42 Wing Lok St
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong [map]
+852 2851 4688

山東餃子館 / Shandong Dumpling Restaurant

I’ll go out on a limb and say that my favorite neighborhood where I discover new restaurants is Sham Shui Po.  Every time I go there, I find a new gem.  Is it because one of my best friends grew up there, so I have access to great local knowledge?  Perhaps.  In any case, you should go there.  It’s a food experience boiled down to its hot, sticky, bubbling essence.

I stopped for a quick dinner before heading home from visiting the Jockey Club Creative Arts Center (JCCAC), which is a fantastic artist and exhibition space.  They are now hosting a great exhibit on the history of Sham Shui Po – highly recommended.

My friend had dinner plans, so I dropped into the restaurant solo and ordered the first item on the menu, which is my custom in places without English menus.  I told the server that I wanted dumplings and noodles, as both are well regarded, and she disappeared.  About ten minutes later, a steaming bowl of dumplings and noodles showed up.

The dumplings were superb.  Pork, ginger, scallions, and other herbs were bursting out of the skin.  They tasted fresh with a great texture from the ginger and scallions, and were more than enough to fill me up.  The noodles were also good – toothsome indeed – but not quite up to the standard of the dumplings.  I heard the noodles are handmade in-house, so perhaps I’ll go back and give them another try.

One bowl of noodles with five stellar dumplings ran HKD 22.

I saw other tables ordering plates of dumplings and other noodle dishes, so I think I’ll head back again soon and explore the menu further.  There are photos on the wall, so as long as you can point, you will be able to place your order.

Food: A
Service: C+
Ambiance: B
Value: A
Overall: B

山東餃子館 (Shandong Dumpling Restaurant)
81C Un Chau Street
Sham Shui Po, Kowloon
[map]

Delicious Kitchen

Pisco found himself in Causeway Bay tonight, and thought it was a good opportunity to try some new food.  He recently started using Foursquare, and this was the perfect chance to see if it provided any interesting suggestions via its location-based “Food” list.

The first suggestion was Saboten, a new-ish Japanese tonkatsu joint that someone had mentioned to me a few weeks ago.  It was only a couple blocks away, so I strolled over.  On arrival, though, it looked quite classy – perhaps too classy for this hot, humid evening.

The next suggestion was Tonkichi, in the World Trade Centre.  Again, a great option, but a little bit of a production for a weeknight, and in any case, I didn’t really want to eat in a mall.

Finally I came across Delicious Kitchen, which had several positive reviews, nearly all of which recommended the pork and rice.  I ran over to Cleveland Street to find the restaurant still busy after 10pm.

Brightly lit and quite clean, I sat down in a corner and ran through the menu.  Obviously I was going to order the “pork rib and vegetable rice”; I also ordered something that looked like a sliced cucumber with garlic.

The cucumber (or rather, this particular Asian equivalent) showed up in a light vinegar sauce, sprinkled with garlic.  It was outrageously good; cool and crisp and perfect for this hot night.

The pork rib showed up ten minutes later, the meat sliced into four pieces, sitting in a small bowl of rice, a veritable hand grenade of calories waiting to explode.  It can’t possibly be good for you, eating a whole deep fried pork chop, but my goodness is it delicious.  Slightly sweet, richer than Li Ka-shing, with a crunchy exterior, it will put a smile on your face and a glow in your belly.  There is not much vegetable to speak of in the rice bowl, but you’ll eat it all up anyway as you continue to fool yourself into thinking you are eating a healthy meal.

It’s an amazing dish that you should try at least once in your life; it is now on my list of most memorable Hong Kong foods.  I am sure I’ll be back frequently, even as my arteries quiver in anticipation.

Finally I have a great restaurant suggestion in Causeway Bay besides Mist.  If you have any favorites in CWB, leave a comment please!

The staff speak Cantonese but the menu is in English and you should get by with no problems.

The two dishes ran around 80 HKD.

Delicious Kitchen
G/F, 9-11 Cleveland Street
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
+852 2577 8350
[map]