Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Fish School (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I was supposed to take my buddy V out for dinner in September to celebrate his birthday but both of us got tangled up with different stuff the last little while so we ended up waiting almost 2 months to finally catch up.

Picking a place to dine with V is always a challenge coz he knows so much about dining in the city. After weighing my options, I decided to go with Fish School for no better reason other than the fact that I am a fan of Chef David Lai. Although this is somewhat of a peculiar choice since neither of us likes fish to begin with.




The place was very lively (and packed) this evening. I elected to go with the counter tables and at times, it got a bit too close for comfort (with the staff and some neighbours) which was slightly annoying. But like I said many times here, I do anything for good food so it didn't really bother me enough to affect my appetite.

 

Two To Mango ($55) - I started things off the same way I did last time with one of their spiced mocktails, Two To Mango. This time around, I've asked the bartender to ditch the pepper for good coz I was looking for something more refreshing tonight.



Monkfish liver and foie gras presse, aged tangerine peel ($165) - This is still every bit as good as last time. The citrus fragrance and flavors from the aged tangerine peel (陳皮) meshed so well with the foie gras, monk fish liver, roselle purée and confit roselle. I definitely won't mind having this again next time.



Charcoal grilled seasonal shrimps ($115) - This comes in a generous portion. I really wanted to eat them along with the shells but they weren't all that crispy. Nevertheless, the shrimps were tasty with a bit of smoky flavor. Not bad.



Cuttlefish tagliatelle with shrimp paste and ficiode leaves ($130) - I was tempted to order this last time until I found out that it was served cold. This is the chef's modern take on the traditional Cantonese dish, sautéed squid with shrimp paste (蝦醬鮮鱿). V and I decided to give it a go tonight and it was really pretty nice. The tagliatelle was obviously made with strings of cuttlefish and it was fairly tender. The mix of flavors was also a very familiar one but somehow I wasn't blown away like I thought I would be.




Australian wagyu bavette ($330) - If there's one thing that I haven't tried at Fish School, it's their non-seafood items so we thought it's high time that we checked this off our list. The Australian wagyu bavette, served medium, turned out to be a pretty good choice for us. Tender, juicy and full of flavors. The supporting cast was a little interesting (some pear and kale?) though.



Pumpkin ice-cream with persimmon and melon ($75) - I was too full to try their desserts out last time so I was out to make amends this time around. The two of us winded up sharing the pumpkin ice-cream with persimmon, melon purée and melon seeds. It was a very interesting combination of flavors and textures that gave us a refreshing finish to our dinner.




There were a lot of foodies in the house tonight including some of the top food bloggers in the city (let's not name names here.) as well as our "Neighborhood Gourmet" (街坊廚神) - Kitty Yuen Siu Yee (阮小儀). It really goes to show that the expectation is high on this place.

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: 100 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Sai Ying Pun
Tel: +852 2361-2966
Website: www.fishschool.hk


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