Pisco stopped in for a quick meal at this Okinawan restaurant in Causeway Bay and was instantly transported back to Naha, surrounded by hundreds of bottles of awamori in the dimly lit space.

The goya champuru and tofuyo were excellent, and every bit as good as the dishes I tasted in Japan.  Several more visits will be planned to explore the rest of the menu along with the vast selection of awamori.

Tang Lung Street seems to have a lot of restaurants on it, and one establishment has 30 tables lined up on the side of the road, filled with people eating and drinking – another good option to try, from the number of smiles I saw on the patrons’ faces.

Two dishes and one otoshi ran around 150 HKD.

Ku-Suya Rakuen
12/F, Circle Tower
28 Tang Lung St.
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong [map]
+852 3580 8858

Pisco and K dropped by as we heard that they had tacos on the menu, and if there is something that Hong Kong desperately needs, it’s more tacos.  We arrived around dusk and sat at a table adjacent to the sidewalk.  The space on the ground level was completely open and the opportunity to dine al fresco on this mild evening was wonderful.  More tables are located upstairs on the first floor, where bookings are accommodated.

The menu is relatively compact, with sections listing tacos, appetizers, sandwiches, mains/larger plates, and desserts.  Sandwiches were not available at dinner, although it was not clear if that was standard policy or a one-off on this evening.

Heirloom offers four kinds of taco: carnitas, fish, black bean, and chicken mole.  We chose two fish tacos, one carnitas, and one chicken mole.  The salads look interesting, so we ordered a Balinese salad, with red cabbage, chopped long beans, kaffir lime leaf, and chicken, with a lime/lemongrass dressing.

The server informed me that the chicken in the salad would be 30 dollars extra, even though the description on the menu included chicken and had no mention of a surcharge.  Note to management: make sure your menu clearly communicates pricing.  While the dollar value of the charge is not large, it left a bad taste in my mouth (figuratively) and felt unprofessional, as it wasn’t clear if it was a menu printing error or if they had just changed the price in the few weeks they had been open.

I declined the chicken upsell.

The salad arrived first, and it is a colorful explosion of a dish, with a few slices of avocado lying on a Jackson Pollock mess of shredded purple cabbage.  Small bits of long beans are scattered throughout.  The texture and taste were quite good, with the rich avocado serving as a counterpoint to the crisp cabbage.  The taste of kaffir lime leaf is quite strong; some may feel it’s overpowering but I quite liked it.  Overall the salad has a refreshing taste and something I would order again on a humid summer night.

It is an absolutely monstrous portion, and I find it unlikely that one person would be able to finish it.  Our party of two barely finished it.

Of course, when the tacos arrived, I realized why we would need to finish the salad.  There is no diplomatic way to say this, so let’s just state that the tacos are small.  Diminutive.  Larger than microscopic, as they are visible with the naked eye; a crestfallen eye undoubtedly moistened with sadness and disappointment.

The tacos are served on small corn tortillas, but they use one per taco, where most tacos I’ve eaten are served on two (long internet debate; TL;DR – it depends).  It did not help that they were a little greasy, either, so some of the tacos ended up being greasy globs of goodness (look at the carnitas, front left in photo) wrapped in a greasy tortilla that was practically falling apart.  Not exactly what I wanted in my taco.

The taco fillings are generally delicious, if limited in quantity due to the single-tortilla policy.  The whitefish tacos were perfect, with the chunks of fish meat cooked just right so they were done but not falling apart.  The carnitas was competent if not spectacular.  The chicken mole was a little tough and forgettable, but as nothing can come close to the mole I regularly ate at La Carta de Oaxaca, you should probably order it and judge for yourself.

If the fish tacos were doubled in size, three would make a decent meal.  As it stands, you probably need to order eighteen to fill your belly.  Alternatively, order the Balinese salad and you will be fine.

The space at Heirloom is literally a breath of fresh air, and the actual food is promising; I am sure the execution will improve as they have just opened.  I salute the ambition of the menu to combine some traditional Mexican flavors with an Asian twist (eg, lemongrass and kaffir lime leaf).  Nobody else in town is exploring this palette of flavors and they deserve to be tried at least once.

The one aspect of the experience that prevents me from recommending repeat visits is the price.  One salad, four tacos, and a cup of tea ran 263 HKD with no service charge; I added a modest 10% gratuity, bringing the total for the meal to a frankly extortionate 290 HKD.

As expat incursions continue eastward, I am quite certain Heirloom will be successful, overrun with a stream of guests hopping out of taxis that were hailed in Mid-Levels.

But if I see any of them misbehaving at Mr Taco Truck in Quarry Bay, while I am eating the best tacos in Hong Kong and drowning in horchata, you will hear from me.

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

Heirloom
226 Hollywood Road
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
+852 2547 8008
[map]

We tried three kinds of chicken: one kind with a crispy skin, covered with green onion; a second dish with a sweet, slightly spicy BBQ sauce; and a third plate of medium-spiced chicken.  Each had its charms, but I preferred the first two dishes.  Fans of spicy cuisine should order the third kind (sorry, no photo of the spicy chicken).

A wide variety of Korean refreshments are available, including draft pitchers of Hite beer, bottles of soju, and kettles of makgeolli.

Korean music videos played on the flatscreen TV.  Between the Girls’ Generation, fried chicken, and soju bombs, when you close your eyes you’ll think you are in Seoul.  You might continue to think you are in Seoul even after you open them…

李家 chicken HOF & SOJU
84 Kimberley Road (approximately)
Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon
Hong Kong
[map]
+852 2375 8080

[OpenRice]

The Spice House is your answer.  It’s a very small restaurant in the back of a Thai food store in Wan Chai.  Located on a small street filled with open market stalls, it is surrounded by other Thai and Philippine groceries.

I visited with a friend, and we ordered three dishes: pad thai, som tam, and pork over rice.  The pad thai was light, filled with scrambled eggs and the occasional shrimp – delicious.  Both the som tam and the pork were authentically spicy – the blow-your-head off kind, even though we asked that they tone it down.  The som tam brought me back to Thailand, the papaya and peanuts giving good texture while you waited for the occasional chili to explode, sending you to the rice for comfort.

The kitchen is in back, and you can see a glass counter where they keep fish and some other foodstuffs.  We asked if we could try something wrapped in a leaf on that counter, but our server, a friendly Thai woman, simply smiled and shook her head.  We took it to mean “it’s so spicy, don’t even bother”, so we dropped the subject.

Three dishes and two sodas ran around 160 HKD.

They close around 8pm, so go early and enjoy.  Pick up some Thai supplies at the store when you are finished.

To find the restaurant, walk about halfway down the block (walking south) and it will be on your right, in a store with a lot of bags for sale in front.  The sign over the shop will read “The Spice House”.

The Spice House
水渠街19號 (19 Stone Nullah Lane)
Wan Chai, Hong Kong
[map]

Review on OpenRice, note the displayed map is not correct

And the shio ramen at Yachiyo was delicious and restored my strength for the evening.

Note that Yachiyo will move to a new location on Lyndhurst Terrace in the next few days.  Call ahead to ensure you visit the correct establishment during the transition.

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

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]

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]

The rear seating area

The ‘pop’ in Cantopop might refer to the Pop Art-style decoration, in addition to the local music playing in the background.  It feels like Roy Lichtenstein himself put the crisp black Ben-Day dots on the wall along with the happy speech bubbles in English and Cantonese.  It’s a very cheery room, muted only by the relatively moderate lighting.  The color scheme is overwhelmingly orange, so if your date is Dutch – it’s your lucky day.

It it a rather large room, perhaps seating in excess of fifty patrons, and it must be an absolute madhouse at lunch (both of my visits were late dinners).  The service is fast, friendly, and quite caring – a refreshing change from typically brusque cha chaan teng staff.

Sous vide cha siu

Pisco went with a large group on the first visit, and with a friend on the second, so he had the opportunity to taste many different dishes.  Here is the sous vide cha siu, which was excellent.  While it was not mind-blowing, it absolutely has the potential to be a life-changing dish, so you should give it a try.  I thought it would be as impressive as the sous vide fried chicken at Green Waffle Diner, but that is an outrageously high standard, and this dish was merely excellent.  Grade: B+

As tasty as it is life-threatening

Next up was the Cantonese scotch egg.  Not having grown up in the UK, this was Pisco’s very first experience with this legendary food item.  Eggs, sausage meat, bread crumbs, and a deep fryer?  Sign me up!  It’s an amazing dish that I promise to eat once a year, until they decide to serve it with a side of Lipitor.  The egg was soft-boiled, and you can see the yolk oozing down the side of the egg… a sight to make a grown man’s knees tremble.  Mine did, anyway.  Grade: A

Amaranth

A brief sojourn to the land of vegetables brought us this gem.  Delicious.  Grade: B+

The “baked chicken” dish is essentially the classic Cantonese dish “bak ji gai” (locals: please let me know the correct spelling), but instead of steaming the chicken, it is baked.  The flavor is richer, the texture is more substantial, and the overall effect is a slightly weightier dish than the original.  It is served with ginger/scallion sauce on the side, along with a few salt crystals.  The dish is little on the salty side, but as that is how the dish is traditionally served, I can’t fault the preparation or presentation.  It is delicious and highly recommended; a simple and modern twist on a classic.  Grade: A-

Lastly, the clams arrived, piled high in a small wok, interspersed with a couple chopped green and bell peppers, with a layer of mung bean threads on the bottom.  The clams were delicious, and the sauce had a slightly spicy kick to it, which added a nice dimension that was not present in our other choices.  Grade: B+

Overall, Cantopop is a welcome addition to the Hong Kong scene.  The food is fresh, locally sourced, and respects the local culture while adding small innovations that are quite successful.  The space feels playful and bright, and the service is solid.  The prices are extremely reasonable and this could easily become an everyday haunt for those that enjoy cha chaan teng fare.

They are also open late (midnight during the week, 2am on weekends), so you now have another option besides Tsui Wah for late night snacks.

Full disclosure: on Pisco’s second visit, he spotted a daan taat on the counter on his way out of the restaurant.  Overcome by a sharp desire for a sweet, happy ending to the meal, he pulled out his wallet and tried to buy it, but the lass at the register would not take his money.  After some confused discussion, it turned out that the manager said it was on the house.  Was it a gesture of appreciation for eating there two days in a row?  Or was it the SLR on the table?  No doubt in my mind that it was Pisco’s grace and charm as a patron that inspired this act of generosity.

And for the record, the daan taat was good, but nowhere near as good as you get at Honolulu on Stanley St.

A full meal runs around 100-200 HKD per person, but you can get away for much less.

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

Cantopop
UG/F, The L Place
139 Queen’s Road Central
Central, Hong Kong
+852 2857 2608

The interior is quite beautiful and calming.  There is a central bar area with a couple seats, and tables on either side.  While not a huge space, the room probably seats close to forty diners, but it doesn’t feel particularly crowded.  The walls are painted in muted yellow, and there are tasteful black and white photographs of Vietnam displayed everywhere.  Add a touch of triphop and the environment feels sleek and modern.

The clientele on this evening was 95% Aussie, so if you’re from Sydney and you are homesick, this might be the place for you.

The service is adequate but could use some improvement. None of the service oversights were egregious but I did expect tighter service given the price levels (eg, don’t make me ask to refill my water glass).  Although it was a Saturday night, they were not close to full and nailing the basics is not an unreasonable request.

We ordered three dishes: soft-shell crab and avocado summer roll, beef salad, and green papaya and mango salad with prawn.

The soft-shell crab and avocado rice paper rolls were delicious.  It’s a great combination, with the rich avocado balancing the vinegar dipping sauce.  The crab was fried just right and it filled the roll in copious quantity.  It’s the one dish you should certainly order.

The beef salad was serviceable.  I felt the beef was a little tasteless and slightly chewy, but K enjoyed it thoroughly.

The green papaya and mango salad packs quite a punch.  It has a little kick from a few chopped chillies, but there are other strong flavors that are anything but subtle.  The kaffir lime leaf hits you over the head, so if you enjoy this flavor, you’ll love this dish.  The prawn were fine, if tasteless, but the tasty mango and papaya make this dish worth ordering.

Three small plates and one drink ran around 330 HKD.  If you order mains and a couple drinks, the bill will be substantially higher.

Song is a slick, modern restaurant that serves healthy Vietnamese cuisine.  The food quality is a little uneven but the environment is well-executed and polished.  If you need the security of a booking on a busy night, Song could be the place for you.  For a higher standard of Vietnamese fare, I recommend standing in line at Nha Trang.

Food: B
Service: B-
Environment: A-
Value: C
Overall: B-

Song
75 Hollywood Road
Central, Hong Kong
+852 2559 0997
[map]