Anthony’s Ranch
Over our break, we made the food pilgrimage to Saikung. I would love to visit more but we don’t go because of the distance. Since time isn’t an issue over our break, we made it there twice. The first time, we went specially for Anthony’s Ranch.
I’m part Seattleite and Washington state, and perhaps the entire Pacific Northwest, is not known for good BBQ but still there were pockets of good barbie to be found if you knew where to look. I’ve been deprived of good barbie since coming back five years ago, because I tell you, I haven’t had anything decent in the last five years. Tony Romas is about the best available.
I had high hopes when Time Out gave Anthony’s five stars, praising it to high heaven for its ribs and brisket, and so I made a trip to Saikung on our must-do list this time.
We sat down around 1ish on boxing day and there wasn’t much of a crowd. The sole server (could have been Anthony himself, but I don’t know for sure) was bustling around taking drinks orders and bringing around peanuts. The service was slow, but what do you expect from a one man band. I took a quick and rather perfunctory look at the menu (I already knew what we wanted) and went straight for the ribs. C dwaddled a bit and ended up with the beef brisket sandwich, a recommendation from the server.
The ribs came first, and I think my heart dropped. It looked dry and hard, and wasn’t glistening with sauce like good barbie is. I took a first bite, and it confirmed my suspicions, hard meat. Perhaps I shouldn’t have been surprised…other openrice comments described the ribs as being just average and were often hard. That just goes against what I know as good ribs: a shinny coat of bbq sauce, juicy and tender meat that is ready to fall off the bone. These ribs needed quite of bit of knife work, which speaks volumes.
I guess I could excuse some of that after dipping the ribs into extra sauce on the side. The ribs weren’t sweet enough on its own, so dipping became mandatory instead of just optional. My disappointment is palpable because of my expectations perhaps. It was heralded as the best place to get real American food, and it fell way way short from what I’m used to, even from the non-BBQ town of Seattle.
The bbq beef brisket sandwich was somewhat better. C liked it a lot more (maybe also the fact that she had the sense to order it and I didn’t). Several things were really good – the toasted (brioche I think) bun was excellent, and just the right amount of butter. It was a hefty portion for a reasonable amount of money, as well, which is always good. The beef, though not melt in your mouth, was at least tender.
But the menu said BBQ…and I didn’t taste a hint of barbie in there. C didn’t even know it was supposed to be a BBQ sandwich until I told her, which says a lot.
Well, I must admit, I was disappointed. I’m willing to give it another chance, perhaps go in the evenings where perhaps Anthony makes an appearance in the kitchen. He’s supposed to be a CIA graduate (Culinary Institute of America…), so there must be some chops somewhere. I’m waiting to see it.
Vacation
One of the best things about being in publishing is the two-week vacation at the end. Granted elsewhere I’ve worked could come to even 3 weeks, I’m not complaining. But sigh, it’s almost over and I have absolutely no idea where all the time went.
On the bright side, this has been a vacation of food. C and I were able to go check out some places we had always talked about going, but never did in the end, such as Classified in Wanchai, Anthony’s Ranch in Saikung, Australian Dairy & Tim Kee at Jordan.We also revisited a few old favourites – we had a very enjoyable Xmas afternoon sitting outside Epoch watching the cars go by. Xmas and NY’s were quiet affairs at home, as we turned down dinner invites at the last minute in favour of a home-cooked meal.
I promise to write more, but for now, it’s time to enjoy the blue skies outside.
A new year
Wow, reading my last post just serves to remind how long it has been since I’ve written here. It comes down to much less time (a lot more work) and a lot less energy to do so, though I must say the level of eating hasn’t slowed down.
C and I have agreed to spend less on food, which means cooking and eating at home more, though we still keep our weekend tradition of having one, or a few, nice meals.
2008 has been a great food year for me. A new job earlier this year meant that all of a sudden I had more disposable income which we spent happily at a number of fine restaurants in town. Although we went for lunch most of the time, we still managed to indulge in some good food. Eating at home more in the last few months also brings about the side benefit ofan expanded recipe list, which C appreciates. No matter how much she loves me, I’m sure she wants to eat something else other than corned beef and braised chicken every other day.
So what’s in stall for 2009. We’ll continue to enjoy our weekend lunches, scouring sites like openrice and other foodie sites for good and inexpensive suggestions. I’ll be the first to admit that my ability to cook Chinese food is…well…shit, so this year, I’m going to improve on that. The big plan for me this year is to buy a flat, and the place I’ve got my sights on allows for an open kitchen, which is what I’m desperately saving towards, so wish me luck.
As for other things, there is nothing more important than good health, good relationships and happiness all around. I wish that for myself and all the people I love.
Previous Post
I took a well deserved afternoon off yesterday and chilled out with C, who was also free.
She picked me up from work and we took a minibus ride up to the peak. It was on a part whim, to do something that we haven’t done together before. Our initial plan was to enjoy the ride up, admire the lavishness (known as mansions on the peak), and wolf down burger king. We got through the first two parts of the plan and stalled on the third.
We decided on a small splurge and headed to Bubba Gump. It was an excellent choice. We were treated to a window-side table with a sprawling view of Hong Kong and the harbour below us as we ate. Trust me, you’ll never get the window seat with just a walk-in during the weekends. We knew the portions would be big, so we settled for an appetizer and a main to share.
First up were the cajun prawns. I hesistated slightly when C decided on them but they turned out to be a fine choice. The prawns appeared to have been stir-fried in some kind of spicy cajun (duh!) sauce. I am pretty sure there was garlic and some cheese in there. There were two slices of garlic bread used to mop up the oily sauce, which C and I both attacked with no consideration of our waistlines. We enjoyed the sauce even though it was mostly oil, and I could’ve gladly used another two slices of bread on it.
Next came the main of BBQ-ribs. I preface this by saying I love ribs, especially the fall off the bone variety. I’ve had some good BBQ even in Seattle (which is not a BBQ town) and I’ve always been slightly dissapointed by the offerings in Asia. Tony Romas is good once in a while, but it lacks that real meatiness that I crave.
Bubba Gump does a respectable rendition, and is perhaps the best I’ve had so far in Hong Kong. It fell off the bone, though the meat could have been slightly thicker. I thought the sauce didn’t have that smokey taste found elsewhere, but it had an unmistakably BBQ taste. Next, I’ll really angling to try out the offerings at Anthony’s Ranch in Saikung, perhaps we’ll go this weekend…
The desserts looked great too but we decided to devote our stomachs and cash to tea somewhere else. Next time though, I’ll really like to try the Key Lime Pie.
We enjoyed a walk around the peak lookout and decided to head to Wanchai for coffee at Epoch near Pacific Place 3. C has been wanting to check it out for a while but we never found the opportunity. I’ve been several times for coffee before, and I thought it was ok, though a little pretentious for me. It was nearly full on the weekday afternoon, filled with “beautiful” people. I wonder why everyone’s quite so free…
Anyways, we were there for coffee. C went for regular, which is from illy, and I just had a smoothie. I’ve quite successfully kicked the coffee habit so much so that I hardly drink any nowadays. Between us, we also had a small slice of 7-layer chocolate cake.
The cake came as a surprise. You would’ve expected so many kinds of chocolate in one mouthful to be really heavy, and that’s where it was genuis. While it wasn’t light, the flavours came together quite harmoniously, with perhaps a slight emphasis on dark chocolate. There were several other kinds of pastry that looked equally appealing, so it looks like we’ll be back.
As we walked out, C had a grin on her face that said “I love this place”. We’ve concluded that the pastries at Epoch are probably one up over Caffe Habitu, but the latter is still where we like our cuppa. Personally, Habitu’s just a more comfortable place to sit, that doesn’t appear quite so upmarket. When I drink coffee and chill out, I want to do it comfortably instead of asking whether I fit in or not.
Bubba Gump Shrimp
Address: Shop 304 & 305, Level 3, The Peak Tower, 128 Peak Road
Tel: 2849 2867
Epoch Coffee Bar
Thoughts
I haven’t had much energy recently. The collapse in the financial system comes at somewhat personal costs. I’m not referring to my job – that’s keeping me extremely busy at the moment and while any position is dispensible I reckon mine’s safe for now.
Nonetheless, it does take an emotional toll to look on and contemplate the after effects, both professional and personal.
I’m not a real fan of obnoxious bankers (which are a good majority are, admittedly). But some of these people affected are people I know personally personally. Some franchises that will go, are those I am familiar with. I feel for them, because behind the corporate greed, there are some real people, decent folks.
That’s why I don’t understand when I hear some acquaintance cackle at the bad news, gleeful when this bank goes down or another firm is humiliated. Is it jealousy or petty vindictiveness that wants to see another fall from grace? There is a good amount of hubris among bankers I meet, but no sympathy? Kicking them while they’re down is bad taste.
I wonder if these acquaintances understand the personal economic costs. The inevitable slowdown means jobs will go, wages could be cut, more work, less perks. It could either fulfill all that doom and gloom, or be of varying effect. Being enveloped by this blanket of economic insecurity is getting to me. I know it makes me tense and I’m working my way around it, but the fear is palpable.
Maybe it’s because of some personal experiences. I looked on in awe at the bounty of jobs over the last few years that I’ve also benefited immensely from. But five years ago when I came out to work, it was hell frozen over.
It took me six months to get a job, out of four months of serious searching. At that time, it didn’t matter that I had a respectable degree (go UW!), nearly everyone took that kind of time to get a job that paid peanuts.
I sent hundreds of resumes and didn’t get very many responses. I jumped at the first job, a bit of a shit-hole, and was paid a humbling amount of money. I left within months after being approached by another firm that gave me living wage.
I remember those months of sitting around twiddling thumbs, the emotion, the angst, the uncertainty. Those are good lessons.That’s why when I’m headed to work on a sunday, I try not to be too upset about it.
Olive
One saturday afternoon we made our way to Olive in Soho because we were craving something middle eastern. The last time I was here was some 2.5 years ago when I brought mom to dinner when she came to visit. It wasn’t a pleasant experience and I crossed it out of my list.
This time it was much better. I rememberd being turned off by aloof service the last time, but this around the staff were very accomodating.
The lunch deals are pretty good especially because of the hefty portions. We took one each of the set meals.
C choose to go with a falafel of lamb in mint and yogurt sauce. We almost missed out on this because I thought C didn’t like mint, but thankfully we didn’t. The best part about this is the freshly baked pita bread. To be honest, I haven’t had such good pita in a while – the supermarket and chain restaurant varieties just don’t cut it.
Lamb and mint + yogurt is always a killer combination. The lamb at Olive was pretty tender and any lambiness (as usual, for lack of better word) was well covered by the sauce. I’ll heartily recommend this dish.
The other set meal came with a choice of appetizers and we chose to go with a traditional bread salad, which neither of us had tried before. It was an interesting choice of cucumber and beet (which I didn’t touch), fried bread (which was very good) and a citrus dressing of sorts. It was perhaps much healthier than if I had gone with greek salad.
I went for a pistachio crusted lamb, which C raved about. But then, C’s a lamb fanatic and will devour anything put in front of her. It was good, but perhaps not great. I thought it was a little too well-done for my tastes, which made it slightly tough, but then the pistachio crust made up for it.
It came with a side of salad with what resembled greek salad dressing. And so, I did get to sooth my cravings for good feta cheese. I enjoyed the whole meal and no more hestitations about coming back.
One thing to note though. The meal comes with a free drink and when I was done with my coke, they asked if I wanted a refill. I stupidly said yes, and that was HK$30 for fizzed out pop. So don’t repeat my mistake.
富東海鮮飯店
I have a confession to make. I have lived around the corner from 富東海鮮飯店 for a few years and it’s only now that I made my way there. To make up for my remiss, I went twice this month alone.
C and I have always wanted to try it out, but it just didn’t seem to make sense seeing that it’s just us two. So when a friend came over for dinner one evening we decided to try 富東. I’ve read plenty about it, how it’s owned by the disciple of Ah Yat, and that it’s one of the more famous restaurants around town. All in the humble Tin Hau neighbourhood.
I won’t list out all the things we ate, just the highlights. Actually, it’s because some of the dishes weren’t as memorable, and I can no longer remember much about it…
The must-eat dish is the 鮑汁鵝掌. It seems everyone knows about this already, judging on how it showed on literally every table. I absolutely loved it. The goose feet (I think that’s how it’s translated, but correct me if I’m wrong) were well braised and falling off the bones as you bit into them. The portions were on the puny side, with just four webs for about HK$120, but the abalone sauce was really the highlight. I think I wolfed down a bowl of rice at each sitting just because I wanted more of the gravy.
On my second visit, I looked at openrice and it seemed that 蒜香牛利 was another popular dish. When it came, it wasn’t what I had envisioned, but it was great all the same. The beef tongues were cut up into bite sized pieces and either pan or deep fried with silvers of garlic. I thought the beef was well seasoned, and didn’t have that off-putting beefy flavour that sometimes beef tongue has. The garlic was golden brown and I didn’t spy any that were burnt.
The second time round, we ordered the 杏汁蛋白 for dessert, for an additional HK$10, which is a real steal. C, who normally turns her nose at any thing almond cream like, liked this one. I thought it was good, but I prefer the traditional ones. Give me a hulking bowl of almond cream any time, and I’ll wolf it down. As you can tell, I’m not really a fan of egg desserts. But to be fair, of the almond cream + egg that I’ve tried, this one is actually above average, and I won’t hesitate to order it again next time.
Address: 92-94 Electric Road, B-C shop
Tel: 2566-8689
Flame @ Towngas
C loves to remind me how often I update this blog lately (which obviously is infrequent…). I love to write more, but it has been a rather depressing few weeks, in particular since i have to cover the state of the economy. My colleagues and I have become to immune to bank failures nowadays, though the depressing air has set in and refuses to dissapate.
Anyways, let’s get back to the food. Last weekend, C and I were walking around Causeway Bay (of no surprise to any of my regular readers, all 3 of you out there) and wanted to rest our legs. We were waling in the general direction of the World Trade Center for a drink at MIX when we saw the newly renovated Towngas restaurant. I’ve been lately, one of my sources invited me for lunch there, and it was pretty good. Seeing how reasonable the teasets were, we decided to pamper ourselves.
I went for the beautiful-sounding serrandu on dreamland, which is essentially 木糠布甸. C didn’t want anything other than coffee, so I asked for a bottle of San Pellegrino. You can never go wrong with overpriced carbonated water on a blazing day.
I think our jaws dropped when the dessert arrived. It was served on a bed of dry ice, which gives it that, well, dreamy effect. Whatever your thoughts about the appearances, the dessert was good. Actually I’ve had it during my last lunch meeting and remember it to be an interesting twist on tiramisu. This time, it was just as good.
I tend to like softer 木糠布甸 as opposed to the ice cream-like consistency that is sold in most places. Here, it’s creamy and rich, and the biscuit bits fold nicely in. Every scoopful is horribly decadent and added too many calories.
The only downer was that service was slightly cool and aloof. I’m not saying it should be effeversant, but it would be nice if the service staff (one in particular) could manage a smile. That said, this is probably a nice place for lunch or tea, especially if you grab a seat by the window and enjoy the people watching. The comfy chairs make this quite a good place for that.
Address: G/F 59-65, Paterson Street (Causeway Bay)
Tel: 2367 2710
The ongoing list…
I’m bored. Yes, I’m utterly bored. There usually isn’t much time in a writer’s day that I have the luxury of saying so.
So while I can, let me day dream about the things I like to eat, the things I miss, and the food I swear I’ll eat in the coming months.
Things I want to eat
In Seattle
2. Dick’s drive-in – an irreplaceable Seattle icon
3. Fresh Pacific Northwest salmon
4. Apple Pancake at Kirkland’s Original Pancake House
5. Starbucks Caramel Apple Cider – the drink that got me through senior year in college
6. Frozen mango pieces on the cheap from Trader Joes
7. Real Popeye’s chicken and biscuits
8. Walla walla sweet onions
In Hong Kong
1. Tonkichi – much as I love this place, the 2 hour wait is really a significant turn-off.
2. Pierce fried chicken
3. Chili beef burger at Burgeroom
4. 建興亞婆豆腐花 on Lamma Island
5. Lobster Risotto at Pressroom
The Omnivore’s Hundred
Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food – but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.
Here’s what I want you to do:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
P’s Omnivore’s Hundred (56 out of 100):
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
