Neighborhood (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Neighborhood is billed as a neighborhood bistro that serves a hearty European fare in the heart of Soho (hence the name). Located in the quiet corner of Hollywood Road with the entrance (on Man Hing Lane) facing the diminutive Pak Tsz Lane Park, the tiny bistro provides the perfect hiatus from the busy streets of Soho.



Neighborhood is yet another success story from owner-chef David Lai who also operates culinary gems like On Lot 10 and Bistronomique.



It's easy to forget that not too long ago, this place used to be called "Jaan Kitchen" but what a difference a few months made. After the sleek transformation, Neighborhood is now one of the most sought-after restaurants in Central.




The dishes are meant to be shared at Neighborhood as the portions are just slightly bigger than bite-sized. But before they pepper us with their hearty dishes, we first started things off with a pretty good loaf of bread.



I was a little depressed when I learned that the beef tripe gratin had been taken off the menu. Let's hope that the spicy beef tripe terrine is nearly as good! 

To my pleasant surprise, the beef tripe was wonderfully tender and combining well with the terrine to provide quite a very interesting bite (7/10).



How can we miss out on the house specialty - chicken deep fried frog's legs? This was very flavorful, perhaps a little too flavorful for my liking but there's no denying the perfect texture of the meat, both tender and moist (6/10).



Onto our pasta and risotto now, first up was a dish I was really looking forward to - spaghetti carbonara with sea urchin but surprisingly it turned out to be the weakest link of the meal.

Honestly, it tasted a little too bland and plain for a dish with fresh sea urchin and truffle. Even the fragrance (or the lack of it) didn't feel right (4/10).



On the other hand, the bone marrow risotto was nicely executed. I really like the small chunks of bone marrow in the rice for its contrasting texture (6.5/10).



The meat of the day was a lovely slow roasted pork belly on a bed of lentils. The dish was a little oily but who could resist such as gorgeous piece of perfectly cooked pork that was crispy on the outside and juicy inside (7/10).




Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: 61-63 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2617-0891
Website: Link