Cafe Deco Pizzeria at Elements (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Cafe Deco Pizzeria has recently moved up a floor at Elements Shopping Mall. Its new location is right next to the cinema and 2/3 Dolci, a French patisserie turned gelato shop who just rose from the dead. 



I have always enjoyed visiting Cafe Deco Pizzeria and this recent renovation has made our dining experience even more enjoyable thanks to the additional space which is especially important when you have kids around (like us).



We were seated in a quiet corner that overlooks an open area connecting to Xiqu Centre. There's a lot of space there. I wonder if they allow kids to ride their scooters there (someone better starts cleaning those windows soon!). 



Carbonara linguine ($158) - This meal was right after my little nugget's rugby game so everyone including the parents was super hungry. Not surprisingly, the carbonara with dried pancetta, parmesan, egg yolk and cream didn't last very long.



Triple A Grade braised pork belly and pumpkin risotto ($168) - I am a pumpkin freak so this was the perfect start for me. The risotto came with silky smooth pumpkin purée and together with ingredients like kale, hazelnut and roasted pumpkin seeds, it had the making of a solid healthy dish.



Hawaiian Pizza ($152) - Came with tomato sauce, mozzarella, honey glazed ham and pineapple. A very nice Hawaiian pizza that everyone including the kids enjoyed very much.



We were going to get a couple scoops of gelato (from 2/3 dolci) right after our meal but since the kids couldn't wait to get to the playground, we decided to postpone dessert until after our play time.

Cafe Deco Pizzeria has been a very serviceable option for us at Elements along with Habitu and Greyhound Cafe. But now with the additional space at its new location, it has given them an edge over the rest of competition, at least for those customers with kids.


Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 2133, 2/F, Elements, 1 Austin Road West, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Kowloon
Tel: +852 2196-8099
Opening Hours: 11:30pm - 11:00pm daily

My Meat Run Laboratory 走肉蔬食研究所 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Recently opened at D2 Place Phase 1 in Lai Chi Kok, My Meat Run Laboratory (走肉蔬食研究所) is the latest local restaurant who has forged partnership with Impossible Foods to bring their plant-based faux meat to the dining scene on Kowloon side. I read about their opening online and decided to take a closer look during the weekend.



This is like going back to school. Interesting throw-back theme.



It does look like a cafeteria inside an old high school. 



But here comes the bad news for me. They only offer Impossible Foods during dinner service but for lunch, only one prix fixe menu (with 6 choices of main dish) is available and no Impossible Foods. Weep...

I thought since I'm already here, I may as well check out what they've got (without the Impossible Foods dishes) in store.



The salad bar was included so let's see if there's anything interesting there.



Not much there.



Finally, my lunch set was ready to be served. This came with some stir-fried vegetables including cabbage and carrot.



A couple of spring rolls made with the same cabbage and carrot. Despite the average presentation, they were pretty tasty.



My main dish was sweet corn and vegetarian minced pork.



Not bad and I was particularly happy to see all these water chestnut.

I thought $73 is a little too heavy of a price tag to pay for this set lunch today. Very poor value for money in my opinion but I'm not ready to write them off just yet. At least not before I try their Impossible Foods dishes.

Food Rating: 4/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 302, 3/F, D2 Place One, 9 Cheung Yee Street, Lai Chi Kok, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Lai Chi Kok
Tel: +852 3619-7581

Red House 紅樓 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Little nugget's rugby class has provided me a weekly chance to stop by Causeway Bay and check out some of the new eateries in the area. Today, we are having dim sum before his game at Red House (紅樓).



Like sister restaurant SHÈ (舍) at IFC, Red House (紅樓) is Gaia Group's foray into modern Chinese cuisine offering signature roast meats, top-notch seafood dishes to vegetarian bites and dim sum.



This branch at Midtown on Tang Lung Street is sharing half a floor with Wang Jia Sha (王家沙花樣年華), the popular Shanghainese concept also by Gaia Group. We have had a lot of good dim sum of late so naturally, the bar was set pretty high coming in.



My first impression of Red House was a very good one, not because of the nice decor but rather a result of a very long list of "half price" (which we decided to take full advantage of).



Rose gold har gao (香檳金蝦餃) ($26) - We had this signature dim sum when we visited SHÈ (舍) late last year. Very eye-catching champagne color with a bit of gold brushed on top. Absolutely love the nice, crunchy texture from the prawns there.



Veggie conpoy dumpling (瑤柱菜苗餃) ($19) - This tasted a bit like the Shanghainese vegetable soup dumplings.



Not bad.



Beef and water chestnut balls in broth (清湯牛肉球) ($16) - Little one's favorite dim sum. This came with some nice, bitter notes from the sun-dried tangerine peel (陳皮) which surprisingly went unnoticed by my little one.



Steamed rice flour rolls with Kurobuta barbecued pork (黑豚肉叉燒腸粉) ($24) - Pretty delicate and the Kurobuta barbecued pork was really tasty.



Pan-fried turnip cake (高橋蘿蔔糕) ($19) - A modern twist at last!



The turnip cake was sliced into long strips before they deep-fried them in high heat. Very delicious and there's a bit of spicy kick that came with it.



Signature soup noodle with barbecued pork (招牌叉燒湯麵) ($118) - On top of all the discounted dim sum, we also ordered some regular-priced dishes including this noodle soup for the up-and-coming rugby star.



The highlight was of course the barbecued pork made with Kurobuta pork which we had a bit earlier. This was pretty decent. The honey glaze was slightly over the top and the meat was a little on the fat side. Expected more from a signature dish.



Redhouse signature fried rice (紅樓招牌炒飯) ($128) - Had this before at SHÈ as well and was quite impressed with the wok hei (鑊氣) at the time. This wasn't delivered with the same wok hei but nevertheless pretty delicious. Always love my fried rice with abalone in it.



Yin Tang style sponge cake (太極馬拉糕) ($42) - Looked very good on paper with the sponge cake offered in both original and black sesame flavor. But I thought the brown sugar and black sesame flavors were way too overpowering.



Food Rating: 5.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 1/F, Soundwill Plaza 2, 1-29 Tang Lung Street, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay
Tel: +852 2383-4038
Opening Hours: 11:00am - 10:30pm (Weekday), 10:00am - 10:30pm (Weekend)

Gontran Cherrier at K11 Musea (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Hong Kong gets its first taste of Gontran Cherrier this week when the celebrity French baker and pastry chef makes his debut at art-themed K11 Musea. I got my first taste a few years ago in Tokyo and later in Seoul so this was more of a re-union for me.



Gontran Cherrier's flagship at K11 Musea is by far one of his biggest establishments in Asia, which is fully equipped with its bakery kitchen onsite as well as a café, bakery shop and more.



It's always a luxury to have your own bakery kitchen in Hong Kong. 



I got a very close look at how these pastries were produced from the open kitchen.



I'm not going anywhere near that lineup in front of the bakery shop this afternoon. Everyone wanted a piece of Gontran's croissant but I've said it many times - I hate lineups!



So, I decided to go to the take-out counter instead to order my drink and pastry to go. All these looked really promising. 



I ended up getting this vanilla éclair topped with roasted pecans ($45).



The chef himself was on hand this afternoon to host a couple of workshops with the media and fans. Of course, I had to sneak in for a few photos.



This was a picture-perfect éclair (love those roasted pecans on top) with a deliciously crisp and puffy choux pastry. Reminded me a little of L'Éclair de Génie which sadly is no longer in the Hong Kong market.



Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop B205-B207, B2/F, K11 Musea, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui / Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3468-2430
Opening Hours: 10:00am - 10:00pm daily

Gaddi's 吉地士 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

With Jelloman out of town this weekend, I had little nugget all to myself. We have been talking about a father-son date for a while so I decided to kick off our father-son weekend by bringing him to some place nice so we could both enjoy a quiet afternoon together.



I have been itching to come back to Gaddi's ever since new Chef de cuisine Albin Gobil took over the helm a few months ago. After spending 10 years at Joel Robuchon and Helene Darroze at The Connaught in London, the 29-year old up-and-coming chef was ready for the next challenge. I have heard nothing but good things about his cuisine since his arrival at the prestigious French restaurant at Peninsula Hong Kong but seeing is believing. They will have to really convince me that he's for real.



Like my previous meals at Gaddi's, things started off with some exquisite bread from their bakery. I honestly think they have the best bread in any fine-dining restaurants in town and that includes three-Michelin starred Caprice. Their brioche with ham is my all-time favorite and the milk bun with charcoal isn't far behind.



Lunch got off with a brilliant start thanks to a trio of lovely nibbles. First, there was the beetroot cone with ricotta cheese. The kick of acidity got my taste buds awaken in a hurry.



It was followed by a squid-ink crispy pita topped with salmon roes and dill, and a small tomato gazpacho tartlet.



While I was still busy taking photos of the three nibbles, a further amuse bouche arrived in the form of a seaweed jelly, beautifully decorated with cauliflower cream and smoked eel on top.



A gorgeous dish that I had the honor of having two since little nugget wanted no part of it.



First up for me was hamachi tartare served with radish, green apple and small dabs of avocado. 



A scoop of basil ice-cream on top provided some nice variation of temperature to the hamachi.



While I was enjoying my starter, little nugget also got his spaghetti carbonara ($288). It was the first time I ordered a pasta dish at Gaddi's. In fact, I didn't even know they have all these off-menu items for kids.



The second dish of the tasting menu was pan-seared Hokkaido scallop.



It was superbly matched with a rich and tangy sauce made with cockles. I really enjoyed the creaminess of the sauce working brightly with the flavors from the scallop, cockles, celeriac and bottarga. And there was the hint of finger lime to provide the dish with a sublime finish.



My main dish was hake which was hidden underneath a layer of crispy potato strings.



The design of this dish was very similar to the scallop dish I had earlier. Serving with the hake fish was creamy shellfish bouillon and an array of ingredients including French white beans, mussels, tomatoes and seaweed. The crispy potato strings made it slightly more interesting but it was otherwise a very safe dish that tasted reasonably good yet without much surprises.



Executive Pastry Chef François Delaire has been a great addition to Peninsula Hong Kong's culinary team since his arrival in 2018. He never failed to amaze me with his creativity and artistic sense, as shown in this beautifully decorated dessert.



Madagascar chocolate mousse and oolong tea sponge, served with vanilla ice-cream. A perfect finish to a remarkable meal.



Little nugget was really behaving himself this afternoon so I got to quietly enjoy my cup of tea. 



And some chocolate.



I had a very nice first impression on Chef Albin Gobil's modern French cuisine this afternoon. Everyone has been saying how Gaddi's has slowly shifted from the grand daddy of traditional French fine-dining to the modern French restaurant today. Some thought it's a step backward but I certainly didn't see it that way. Traditional haute cuisine is often praised for its richness, suavity, balance and elegant presentation. I can still see these qualities in some of today's dishes, just that the techniques and interpretations have evolved immensely over the years, and there were also influences from other cuisines.

I haven't said this for a long long time but I'm really happy with this meal at Gaddi's today. This is going to be interesting when Christmas finally arrives. Could Gaddi's finally find themselves back in Michelin's good books? If I were a Michelin inspector today, they would definitely have one star to boot in the upcoming release. That's my honest opinion. Looking forward to coming back again pretty soon!


Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 1/F, The Peninsula Hong Kong, 22 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2696-6763
Website: www.peninsula.com/en/hong-kong/hotel-fine-dining/gaddis-french-restaurant
Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 7:00pm - 10:30pm (Tue - Sat)