Holytan Grill 葆里湛西洋料理 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Holytan Grill, the sister restaurant of the 2-star Michelin Tenku Ryugin (天空龍吟) has been on my radar screen for quite some time. Situated on the second floor of the trendy boutique hotel, The Pottinger, this new Japanese steakhouse combines French cooking techniques and quality Japanese ingredients into their dishes. But too bad during its soft opening, the restaurant was open for dinner only with one single tasting menu ($1,280). Perhaps better to wait for the official opening?

So what's the buzz about Holytan Grill, you asked? Is it the top quality wagyu beef from Kobe and Kagoshima cooked with French techniques? Or is it the Far Infrared Oven which I heard was so good in its two-stage grilling process that gives the beef its extra tenderness? I am dying to find out myself...

After almost a month of waiting, finally I got confirmation on Holytan Grill's official opening this week. 



The dining room was surprisingly quiet in its opening week. From where I was seated, I could see Chef Goto Mitsuo and his team working hard behind the counter in the open kitchen. In case you are wondering who Chef Goto Mitsuo is - he's the former Chef de Cuisine of Holytan Japan, co-inventor of the Far Infrared Oven and the executive chef of new Holytan Hong Kong.

The current 4-course lunch set consists of a salad, a soup of the day, one main course of your choice and a dessert of the day. The total damage to your wallet which can vary anywhere from $380 to $780, depends solely on what you order as your main course. 

Take this lunch for example. I picked the sautéed wagyu beef from Kagoshima as my main course and this will set me back for $480. Definitely not cheap!



My first course, Holytan's style special salad, was anything but special. The ingredients were certainly top-notch. The tomatoes were very sweet and juicy. The garden greens and cured meat was not bad but I was expecting a much bigger pleasant surprise (4.5/10). 



Soup was a fairly intense and less-than-half-full shrimp soup. It was very flavorful but in my opinion too flavorful (5/10).



This was THE dish I have been waiting for - sautéed wagyu beef with seasonal vegetables and potato tower. The beef was nicely done with the usual tenderness one would expect from a Kagoshima beef. But whether it's the result of the Far Infrared Oven, I guess we would never know (7/10).

 


The dessert duo of the day was a chocolate brownie with rum flavored cream along with a simple panna cotta (5/10).



At $480, I was expecting far more than just a well executed Kagoshima beef. There are way too many places to spend the same amount of cash in Central with far better quality of food.




Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$$$
Address: 2/F The Pottinger, 74 Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2351-5808