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
