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Dining<br />
We ’ ve Changed.<br />
FIRST BITE We tuck into the hottest new tables in town.<br />
Keeping It Old-School<br />
New TST dining destination Esmé at Maison Eight sticks to old-world charms.<br />
Want to come face-to-face with the richest man in<br />
19th-century Hong Kong? You can at new TST<br />
dining destination Maison Eight: Sit in the<br />
company of the bald, stern-faced noble<br />
merchant Howqua as you savor craft<br />
cocktails from world-renowned<br />
bartender Salvatore Calabrese<br />
underneath a thousand twinkling<br />
chandelier lights. To your left is the<br />
“Ballroom” for late-night dancing,<br />
and to your right—the world’s first<br />
Bollinger champagne room, housing some<br />
2,300 bottles including their Special Cuvée blends<br />
and key vintage Bollinger bubbles.<br />
Starting to sound like another snooty place to drop a fortune? Despite having<br />
all the makings of a style-over-substance fine dining establishment, prices at Maison<br />
Eight remain surprisingly fair—and the quality is consistent enough to make this a<br />
place we could return to regularly, especially to skirt the island-side crowds while<br />
enjoying a unique vantage point of the harbor.<br />
Maison Eight’s 8,000-sq.-ft space is separated into four distinct sections: the<br />
bar Salvatore at Maison Eight; the Ballroom, with retro Art Deco-style furnishings<br />
and jazzy tunes on the weekend; the<br />
Bollinger champagne room Le Club 1829;<br />
and Esmé, a refined French restaurant.<br />
Heading up the kitchen at Esmé is<br />
executive chef Joe Chan, who honed his<br />
skills at the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong<br />
before coming to Maison Eight. Softspoken,<br />
chef Joe’s style comes through in his food, which<br />
“There ’ s no modernist<br />
cooking here, which is<br />
a breath of fresh air “<br />
progressively impressed us as the night wore on. There’s not a strain of modernist<br />
cooking here, which is a breath of fresh air; instead you’ll find simple, beautifully<br />
presented interpretations of classic French dishes executed with modesty and<br />
attention to detail.<br />
We started off the meal with a savory mille-feuillle of Scottish salmon, pressed<br />
between layers of buttery homemade puff pastry sheets with a tart Bollinger rosé<br />
RESTAURANT REVIEWS<br />
Good BBQ ★★★★★<br />
Roast meat. Shop 2, Li Yuen St. East, Central, 9852-1062.<br />
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hk-magazine.com<br />
A new takeaway shop in Central, Good<br />
BBQ offers siu mei boxes (char siu, siu<br />
yuk crispy pork belly, poached chicken,<br />
roasted duck and soy sauce chicken)<br />
ranging from $40-80, with modern<br />
touches such as bright blue packaging<br />
and WhatsApp delivery service.<br />
HIT Good BBQ’s USP is their sousvide<br />
style slow-cooked pork, resulting<br />
in char siu that’s more juicy and tender<br />
than traditional roasting methods. You<br />
can choose from one-, two- or threeitem<br />
boxes, mixing and matching lean<br />
or fatty pork cuts, and different parts of<br />
the duck and chicken. The char siu was<br />
sensational—thickly cut, succulent pieces<br />
with a good fat-to-meat ratio and a<br />
dark, sticky caramelized edge. The meat<br />
was tender and evenly cooked, proving<br />
the merits of the slow-cooked method.<br />
We also enjoyed the poached chicken<br />
breast, with tender, almost pinkish meat<br />
and a silky, ginger-scented skin.<br />
MISS While the other roasted<br />
meats looked promising, the texture<br />
disappointed. Both the pork belly<br />
and roasted duck breast were on the<br />
dry side, although the pork belly had<br />
an appropriately crispy and delicious<br />
crackling. The vegetable sides were a<br />
joke, with a few pieces of broccoli and<br />
roasted eggplant going for $8 each;<br />
however the onsen egg was a nice<br />
addition to the extras menu ($9 each).<br />
BOTTOM LINE A good delivery<br />
option the next time you’re craving<br />
char siu for lunch but want to appear<br />
a bit more trendy and eco-conscious<br />
in the office.<br />
Open Mon-Fri, Sun 11am-8pm<br />
(delivery weekdays 11am-2pm). $<br />
Ratings<br />
★ Don’t go ★★ Disappointing ★★★ We’ll be back ★★★★ We’ll be back—with friends ★★★★★ You MUST go<br />
Price Guide<br />
$ Less than $200 $$ $200-$399 $$$ $400-$599 $$$$ $600-$799 $$$$$ $800 and up<br />
18 HK MAGAZINE FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016
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