Nakame No Teppen なかめのてっぺん中目黑 (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Little nugget's midterm exams are finally over this week. Needless to say, all of the people concerned can breathe a sigh of relief until the report card eventually comes out. But we are just going to enjoy the moment for now and a little indulgence certainly won't hurt.

Hidden in the basement of Kowloon Hotel shopping arcade, Nakame No Teppen (なかめのてっぺん中目黑) is a modern izakaya from Tokyo which has been on my radar screen for quite some time. In fact, when J.E.R.K. got together a few weeks ago, I recommended this place but only to have a better alternative came up at the end. So, this was an itch that I was happy to scratch.

I was hoping that we could sit at these Japanese tatami seats but without advanced booking, fat chance!

Oita shiitake mushroom (大分椎茸) – I've always enjoyed the produce from Fukuoka (eggplant in particular) so I was thrilled to start off the meal with some shiitake mushrooms from Oita. 

I thought this was supposed to be chargrilled but there was no charred mark what so ever, only sweetness from the sweet soy. 

Pollock roe in olive oil with French baguette (熱橄欖油明太子伴法包) – One of the many signature dishes here.

The pollock roes came on top of a pool of sizzling hot olive oil and what I thought were thin strips of arrowroot. 

Following our server's instructions carefully, we started putting the spicy pollock roes and arrowroot on top of the baguette. Not bad.

Grilled crab miso in shell (蟹味噌甲羅燒) – Another popular item on the menu. This came with a bit of crab roes infused with miso and crab meat.

Sushi platter (壽司盛合) – Jelloman and little one were both happy to see this platter arrive. The scallops and toro in particular garnered some serious attention and we had to literally fight for half a piece of the sushi!

Australia wagyu yakisoba (澳洲和牛日式炒麵) – Growing up in Vancouver, we had a ton of Japanese restaurants (opened by Chinese people) and this yakisoba dish was one that I used to be very fond of as a kid. Hm.....I could still remember that flavor.

Grilled Japanese Junwakei chicken wing (純和雞手羽先) – Any good izakaya should have this on their menu. Perfectly crispy skin and the flesh was firm and flavorful. Very nice.  

Slow-cooked beef short-rib with bone (燒慢煮牛肋肉) – We asked our server to make sure that the short-rib was a little more cooked than usual.

Despite looking a little dry, I thought the meaty short rib was reasonably tender and full of flavor. Not so much marbling though.

Homemade vanilla ice-cream sandwich (自家製雲呢拿雪糕三文治) – Only three desserts to choose from, their homemade vanilla ice-cream sandwich, matcha ice-cream and black sesame ice-cream. The vanilla ice-cream sandwich came highly recommended by our server cuz almost everything including the bread was made in-house.

This guy couldn't wait to get his hands on one of these ice-cream sandwich.

Arrrr......

I was told the bread was a little hard but the ice-cream wasn't bad.

Black sesame ice-cream (芝麻雪糕) – The black sesame ice-cream was a bit more grainy than some of the ones I had in the past. I could actually taste some of the black sesame seeds in the middle. Pretty interesting texture. 

This is a pretty authentic izakaya experience. Too bad we didn't get to try all of the signature dishes out (i.e. grilled beef tongue, pollock roes etc.). Little nugget was already asking for a return trip but I told him let's wait a couple of months when they have some new items on the menu first.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop B3-01, B3/F, The Kowloon Hotel, 19-21 Nathan Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui

Tel: +852 2367-9368

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 3:00pm, 5:30pm - 10:30pm daily

Roganic (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Following the disappointment from some of my recent meals (Petrus and Seventh Son), I figured I needed something delicious but safe at the same time. After all, I have just recovered from my month-long flu so a delicious meal is exactly what the doctor orders. Out of all the restaurants which have been consistently great for me over the past few years, Roganic is near the top of the list and for very good reasons. Needless to say, it's going to be the safe bet that I was looking for this afternoon.



As usual, I parked myself just in front of the open kitchen at the Michelin starred British restaurant. A familiar territory for me.

Whipped ceps with yeast, lovage and grains – The lone nibble today was a crispy cracker topped with a mix of whipped ceps, yeast, lovage purée and grains.

The layers of complex flavors were so strong that I could hardly taste the individual ingredients there.

Parker house roll with brown cultured English butter – My favorite soda bread was gone!! 😢 I tried to plead my case to my server but without success.

This wasn't bad especially with the decadent brown cultured butter but it's still no comparison to the pillowy, muffin-like soda bread.

Marjoram brined sweetheart cabbage, crispy hen of the wood mushroom, turnip broth – I had this cabbage dish for a few times now but every time it came with a different presentation and details.

This time around, the slightly burnt cabbage was rolled up into a cylinder, and garnished with crispy hen of the wood mushrooms and microgreens before being finishing off with a mildly-flavored turnip broth. A sharp contrast to the previous dish with a much simpler flavors.

Dry aged duck with smoked beetroot, aromatic herbs and elderflower vinegar – This was the dish that I have been patiently waiting for since I stepped through those doors. 

The duck from Hop Wo Ho poultry was aged in-house for 14 days before it’s glazed in a special local honey giving the flesh unbelievable texture and flavor.  The second serving of the duck came in the form of confit duck meat, which was decorated beautifully with poached beetroot cylinders, pickled beetroot ribbons, orange and mustard seeds.

Perfect proportion of crispy skin, fat and flesh. I love the sauce made with duck bones, wings and neck, blended with smoked beetroot juice for some extra sweetness. Nothing from the duck was wasted here.

Roasted chicory root custard tart with Taiwan vanilla ice cream and molasses – I was a little tired of the milk tea custard tart so was definitely thrilled to see a different dessert on the menu today.

The chicory root custard came with this sweet yet savory taste which was very interesting for my palate. It meshed with the toppings of chicory root powder, cocoa powder and Taiwan vanilla ice-cream on the side. Just the perfect ending to a very good meal.

Food Rating: 7.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 8, UG/F, Sino Plaza, 255 Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay

Tel: +852 2817-8383

Website: www.roganic.com.hk

Opening Hours: 12:00pm - 2:30pm, 6:00pm - 10:30pm (Tue - Sun)

The Baker & The Bottleman (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

Last month, The Baker & The Bottleman announced the appointment of their new bakery head chef, Benjamin Lee on the social media. While I knew absolutely nothing about Chef Lee himself, I did hear about some of his latest creations since taking over, including his caramelized white chocolate donut, hazelnut coffee cookie and almond citrus cookie. Those already gave me enough incentives for a return trip to the British bakery.

I can really see the excitement around here by just looking at the new additions and upgraded ones.

Caramelized white chocolate donut – Their earl grey donut used to be one of my favorites in town but looked like it's out of the window now. Taking its place in the display counter is another donut, this from our new head chef Mr. Lee.

The fried dough was perfectly fluffy and was filled up nicely by custard cream in the middle. And there was the hint of yuzu (or citrus) to balance out the sweetness of the custard. Really not bad!

Food Rating: 6.1/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop G14 & G15, G/F, Lee Tung Avenue, 200 Queen’s Road East, Wanchai, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Wanchai

Tel: +852 2817-8383

Website: https://thebakerandthebottleman.hk/

Opening Hours: 8:00am - 5:00pm (Tue - Sun)