Sorry to usurp Nick’s position as restaurant correspondent but, alas, he was not with me on my recent travels. As in so many Asian cities, most of the fine dining in Hong Kong is concentrated in the big hotels. I have spent more than my fair share of HK time enjoying the ultimately French cuisine of, for example, Pétrus in the Shangri-La (where I had an excellent Japanese lunch in its Nada Man restaurant) or that of the Mandarin Grill in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel (due to close for refurbishment at the end of 2005 – although I’m told that Mandarin fans can content themselves with a smaller version at the Conrad in the interim).
But if you’re like me, you can tire of musak and the other-worldliness of hotels and want to get out into the real world. I was delighted therefore on the last trip to be introduced to Alvin Leung Jr and his extraordinary Bo restaurant in an airy, defiantly modern upper room in the T M Leung Building in the bustling heart of one of Hong Kong’s many shopping districts. Alvin looks like a Monkee. With his shades and mop of shiny dark hair, you expect him to produce a guitar and a Cmaj7 rather than a stream of extraordinary dishes from his tiny kitchen.
And it is the dishes as well as their contents that provide so much satisfaction to the eye as well as the palate. We began with a black truffle milkshake, a seriously clever little glass of goodness that did not, in truth, need the 2002 Muller Catoir Riesling we enjoyed with it. Other standouts in the succession of 10 dishes he managed to produce in the ridiculously short time I had before setting off for the airport included pumpkin foam with green tea jelly and braised scallops, a stunning cauliflower ‘risotto’ (it looked like risotto but comprised crunchy grains of cauliflower rather than rice) with black truffle and pigeon juice, a souffle made fri hairy crab at the tail end of the season with beautifully aged jiangsu vinegar and pea shoot salad, and the most delicious real risotto with asparagus and wasabi and stunning wagyu beef which went beautifully with a fully mature 1997 Vosne-Romanée, Clos Goillotte from Prieuré Roch. I ashamed to say that I didn’t notice the supplement for this rarity and may even have left some – extremely rude. But the total price per head for such an extraordinary menu is less than £40 a head, and the whole thing could hardly be more stylish.
Not every course works to perfection, but enough do to make you quite certain that Alvin Leung Jr is a major talent and will surely not be confined to this single room for that much longer. He is seriously interested in wine and the place has become a hangout for some of Hong Kong’s wine aficionados. I thoroughly recommend it, but you must book. See also some further HK restaurant recommendations below.
Bo Innoseki (Fusion), T M Leung Building, 16 Gilman’s Bazaar, Central, Hong Kong
tel +852 2850 8371 dine@boinnoseki.com www.boinnoseki.com
Hong Kong-based wine writer Jeannie Cho Lee (a trusted guide, I have found) also suggests the following:
I will only suggest the top private kitchens/quasi-legal restaurants that have opened up recently which are really worth the time. FYI, private kitchens in HK have been a growing trend in the last two or three years and they offer the best value and the best food compared to standard restaurants. Some of them have become legal restaurants since its inception because it has become so popular. Corkage is minimal, places are usually tiny (15-25 seats total) and reservations are necessary for most nights.
Ingredients (Continental)
See menu/details below. Ask for John, he is the owner & chef
43 Gough Street, Central
25445133
La Bouteille (French)
Very new, no ambience but excellent food at very reasonable prices.
Mr Ha is owner & chef
10/F, 80 Queens Rd, Central
9121 7921
Xi yan (Best Chinese chef in HK; Very difficult to get reservations; Combination of Szechuan & Cantonese)
Owner Jacky Yu
3/F Hang Wai Commercial Building
231 Queens Rd East, Wanchai
9020 9196