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Review:
 One corner of The Eugenia's awesome 5 foot square wall-mounted bug collection I’ve tried out a number of hotels in Bangkok over the past few years since I first stayed in the Eugenia back in 2006 (review here). Getting around Bangkok is still a bit of a nightmare, so you have to mitigate this by planning where you stay very sensibly in relation to what you want to go and do.
I made the mistake of staying near the palace during one visit and spent more time stuck in traffic jams than I did sleeping, eating, shopping and getting massages combined.
For me, the Eugenia is still number one on my list for the following reasons:
- It’s pretty quick to get to and from the airport.
- I love the styling.
- It’s got a pool.
- It’s tiny – just 12 bedrooms, which is my kind of boutique hotel.
- I love the breakfast in your bedroom at no extra cost.
- It’s a 10 minute walk or 3 minute hotel tuk-tuk ride to the Sky Train.
- It’s close to Siam by Sky Train which is where I like to shop.
- It’s within a 5 minute walk of some awesome home-furnishing shops like Incredible and Almeta Silk.
- My favourite foot massage joint in Bangkok is within a 5 minute walk – Mulberry Spa.
- It’s close to a lot of good restaurants, bars and clubs.
- It’s on the right side of town to get down to Silom and some of my other favourite restaurants and bars by taxi if I don’t want to get the sky-train.
So for convenience and style it ticks lots of boxes, and makes up for what it lacks in facilities and flawless service by being tiny and friendly.
Rooms:
 Still Life I’ve stayed in both the 1st floor Eugenia rooms which are at the front of the hotel and open onto a terrace, and the Sawadee rooms on the 2nd floor which are at the back. What you lose in terrace you gain in peace and quiet, and I was very happy staying in the Sawadee rooms this time round.
The Eugenia is all about colonial shabby chic, so floorboards creak, air-con is quite noisy, and there’s no lift, but that just adds to the feeling that you’re staying in someone’s house rather than a hotel, and that’s just fine with me.
When I first stayed here the rooms had the most fantastic heavy linen sheets, but now they have gone back to cotton (albeit very high quality), I was unaccountably disappointed by this.
Beds are very comfortable though, huge deep mattresses and lovely duvets.
All the drinks in the minibar are free which is a nice touch, and as they don’t really have a breakfast room, they bring it to you in your room as a matter of course, which is perfect. We also got a good wifi connection in the room which was useful.
Bathrooms:
I love The Eugenia’s monotone floor tiles. The showers are hot and strong, and the copper bathtubs a lovely treat.
The only quibble is that although their organic, homemade bath products all smell fantastic, they aren’t that great at doing the job of lathering up, and tend to leave me feeling a bit gunky. Must try harder on that front.
Service:
Don’t expect perfect English here. The staff are all very helpful and are as attentive as they need to be, without being overbearing. I tend to try and find one staff member who I can go to for everything rather than having to explain things a couple of times to different people who don’t understand. This trip it was Ong-Art Rungsamai, the reservation manager. He was efficient and used his initiative to help us find and book what we needed in the city.
Facilities:
There is a good if tiny restaurant downstairs: the D.B Bradley room, which I’ll review separately, and the Zheng He Lounge for reading and drinks, both beautifully decorated, and very chilled.
The swimming pool at the back of the hotel is big enough to exercise in, and there is a little sala bar beside the pool which is a lovely spot to hang out and have a pre-dinner drink.
Where: All the contact details are at the bottom of this post here, which has more photos and blather too.
Price:
Costs have risen since we first stayed (although that was very soon after it had opened), but not by much. We paid US$230 a night this time round for a smaller Sawadee room rather than US$166 for the larger Eugenia room back in 2006, but I still think it’s great value for what you get.
Hong Kong corners:
I’m feeling all bucolic at the moment. I think it’s spending more time on Lantau with the cows that’s doing it.
 Sunset and low tide in Sham Wat Bay I’ve always been slightly reticent to reveal my favourite “secret” places in Hong Kong in case more people decide to descend, but I’ve realised that very few civilians can be bothered to or have time to investigate the furthest reaches of our nobbly territory, so I’m going to start sharing, (albeit I’m still not going to give you my most favourite places for now, we’re going to start small).
Tucked down in one of the most hidden corners of Lantau is Sham Shek Tsuen and Sham Wat Bay.
If you ever walk between Tai O and Tung Chung (a highly recommended, easy walk around the coast, through some fantastic villages), then you will come to Sham Wat which is below the Big Buddha.
There are a couple of little eateries, and the locals are just super lovely. The muddy bay is chock full with oysters, mussels, cockles and crabs, and the village is known for its oyster omelettes and dried seaweed.
A beautiful corner of Hong Kong, where you can sit with a can of beer, dangle your legs over the sea wall and watch the sun slip below the horizon into the sea and the locals harvesting their seafood. Chill-mc-chillin.
 The villagers insisted on giving us lots of fruit from their orchards. The best way to get there (as most of you don’t have a Lantau permit) is actually to do it as part of the walk to or from Tai O, or by bike if you’ve got legs of steel.
But if you fancy a last beer after a day on the beaches of South Lantau then the only way to go is by taxi, and get ready for a pretty hairy ride up and down the Sham Wat Road.
Call taxis on 2984 1328 or 2984 1268. Be persistent, taxis can be wildly difficult to get through to here.
Once again, Thailand comes up trumps with an easy long-weekend getaway from Hong Kong.
 Spectacular karst scenery on Cheow Lan Lake
Khao Sok contains the oldest rainforest on the planet, and together with Klong Saen and Klong Nakkha wildlife sanctuaries, and the smaller adjacent parks of Sri Phangnga and Klong Phanom, it encompasses a huge protected area of 4,400km² – four times larger than the whole of Hong Kong’s territory.
What that means for us, is that there’s a great big national park about 2.5hours drive from Phuket airport where we can go to play.
I first visited Khao Sok back in 2004 and in the intervening six years, it’s barely changed – which is both surprising and gratifying.
There are a few more guest-houses and a couple more places to get a (pretty poor) massage, but not much else.
Here’s the lowdown:
Where and what?
Khao Sok is about 2.5hrs drive north of Phuket, and about 1hr north-east of Khao Lak and an hour or so west of Surat Thani.
For visitors, it’s split into two parts. The settlement around the park headquarters along the Sok river where all the guesthouses are and from where you can trek into the forest, and then Cheow Lan Lake in the north where you can go and stay in raft-huts.
Cheow Lan Lake was formed when the Rachabrapah Dam was built in the early 80′s. A blessing and a curse, as most large hydroelectric projects are, the lake covered a huge area of virgin rainforest, causing massive harm to the local wildlife and has made the most remote parts of Khao Sok accessible to rampant poaching.
It does, however provided sporadic supplies of electricity, and is absolutely one of the most awe-inspiring landscapes I’ve ever visited – beats both Halong Bay and Phang Nga Bay on that front.
Glam it most certainly is not, but awesome it is, young grasshopper.
When?
For a Brit, one of the bonuses of spending so much time in sub-tropical Hong Kong is that when it comes to holidays I do not need to head for the beach to get some sun in my bones. Khao Sok is a real all-year-round destination.
But if you were splitting hairs, I’d say the best time is on the cusp between the wet and dry season so that the reservoir is full, the waterfalls gushing, but you’re guaranteed some sunshine, and hopefully when it’s not too busy.
I like the rainy season personally, but I’m a contrarian.
Getting there – Driving is the only sensible option.
Most tourists visit Khao Sok as an organised 2-3 day trip from Phuket, or are backpacking through as it is on the trail and it can be super cheap. This means that 99.9% of visitors have to take part in organised activities which mostly have to stick to the same schedules.
Either fly into Phuket or into Surat Thani, hire a car and drive up. The roads are beautiful, it’s very easy to find, and the scenery is spectacular. You’ll also be able to stay in the best hotel – The Cliff and River – and make your own itineraries, which is highly preferable.
First Things First:
Get a hold of Waterfalls & Gibbon Calls - Exploring Khao Sok National Park by Thom Henley. Whether you do this when you arrive at Khao Sok or manage somehow to get a hold of a copy pre-arrival, it’s really worth reading before you decide how you want to spend your time in the park. Plus, a percentage of the cash goes to a children’s educational trust.
Tells you all about the flora, fauna and history as well as having a rundown on the places to stay and eat. Invaluable.
Accommodation – Park Headquarters
You can either have a spin round the village and take a look at all the different bungalows on offer, or you can just choose out of the ones I think are the best options.
 Looking down to the restaurant from our balcony at the Cliff If you have to stay around park HQ, then I would recommend The Khao Sok Rainforest Resort. It has a few “mountainside” bungalows set up a hill that look out over a bit more scenery than most of the bungalows which are at ground level. It’s also run by one of the best guides in the park – a poacher turned gamekeeper who will take you on some great treks, hacking his way through the forest with his machete. They have good food, and really the only reason to choose The Cliff and River over this is that The Cliff is more stylish and has air-con.
We also stayed at Las Orquideas for one night, which was new, neat and tidy and run by a very friendly Spanish chap and his Thai wife. There’s only a handful of bungalows and it’s quite a way away from both headquarters and the main restaurant area. He’s planted some beautiful gardens, but with a THB1500 price tag, I’d take The Cliff at THB2000, or the Rainforest Resort at just THB600 instead. Sorry, but you fall between two stools.
If you want something a bit more special though, there’s only one option: The Cliff and River, about 10-15mins drive from the park entrance. This is where a car comes in handy again. You’d be completely reliant on this hotel’s facilities and activities if you didn’t have your own transport which, in all honesty, you don’t want to be.
The bungalows c1-c5 are some of the best, being up the hill halfway between the restaurant (downhill), the spa and reception (up-hill) and a few footsteps away from the lovely swimming pool/jacuzzi. But most important are the stunning views of a sheer karst cliff rising hundreds of feet above you. Breathtaking.
The rooms are large, have air-con and TV. They have lovely terraces and cute little indoor/outdoor bathrooms. Well worth the THB2000 per night.
Take note: This is a pretty new concern. Service is friendly but a bit haphazard, and they only take cash. In the low season, they don’t have many staff, so it’s more difficult to organise massages etc (we turned up for our pre-booked massages only to be told that there was just one therapist so we’d couldn’t have them simultaneously, which kind of defeated the purpose of booking).
All of the accommodation includes breakfast in the price, and as usual the breakfast is pretty darn generous and tasty in all of these hotels.
Food – Park Headquarters
It seems there are only two restaurants that are not part of a guesthouse complex. One is Thai Herb, the other is Pawn’s.
Thai Herb is a pretty good little restaurant. It’s set on stilts on a couple of different levels and is surrounded by a very pretty garden. The food was good and it was shooper cheap. Definitely recommended.
However.
Pawn’s is a whole different kettle of fish. She cooks some of the most delightfully balanced food I’ve ever eaten. It’s not just the fact that she plucks most of the ingredients out of her back garden so that they are super fresh, she just has the chef’s gift of being able to tweak her dishes to perfection. But she deserves a separate panegyric altogether, (Oo, look at me and my new Thesaurus…)
Activities – Headquarters areas.
You can go kayaking or inner-tubing down the Sok looking for wildlife and spinning out of control. You can follow the trails by yourself through the park or hire a guide to take you off the beaten track. If you haven’t tried it, inner tubing is great fun. It’s not just for the backpackers in Laos, grown adults are allowed to enjoy it too!
Next time we go back we are going to go and do a bit of jungle survival with a couple of likely-looking guerrilla types for 4-5 days living off the land, and weaving our own hammocks etc – all very Ray Mears.
I have to say I was a bit offended when one of the guys pointed at me and said, “Of course if your girlfriend comes we’ll have to only do maybe 50%. Not 100%.” Caustic Candy then set him straight by dislocating his shoulder in one smooth movement and telling him the story of how she lost her eye and what happened to the perpetrator of that attack.
I usually delight in chauvinism and use it against them as it makes men foolish and incautious, but as I wasn’t working I thought I could show my hand and teach this little scalawag a lesson.
There are also options to go trekking by elephant if that’s your thing. I’m still confused about whether it’s a good or a bad thing for the lovely Lelfants, so I tend to steer clear myself. The world is a complicated place sometimes.
Wildlife and Flora.
Wild animals are obviously pretty shy and the locals say that the rise in tourists has driven many of the animals deeper into the park.
Don’t go expecting to see tigers and bears, but do expect to see their traces if you go hiking off trail. We saw big cat paw prints and evidence of bears sharpening their claws on tree trunks.
We heard and saw gibbons and macaques, countless snakes and insects as well as eagles, hornbills and lots of other birds. You definitely hear more than you see, but for me that’s the magic of forests and jungles: the sitting and the listening.
We also went to see the Rafflesia, but frankly I was more concerned I might step on one the new buds hidden in the mulch, and decided that maybe it was better to see some things on the TV, and that I didn’t really need to experience all the wonders of the world up close, if it meant I might hasten their extinction.
Permits:
Poaching is still a big issue with trapping rather than hunting being the modus operandi. I’d happily pay THB1000 a day for a permit to visit if it meant more rangers could patrol. The permits are only THB200 right now which is very generous.
So. Lots to do and much cheapness. It’s all sounding good for Khao Sok so far.
And now, any trip to Khao Sok should really include a visit to Cheow Lan Lake, but as this post is now getting a little long, I’ll tackle that separately.
One of the facts I like most about Gibraltar is that the tiny enclave gave us the word gibberish. The Spanish/English version of our own dear Chinglish here in HK. Thank you Gibraltar.
Another fact, for those of you who didn’t go to school, is that the Rock of Gibraltar is the northern Pillar of Hercules.
Various versions of the Greek and Roman myths of Hercules’ Labours have him smashing the mountain of Atlas in two rather than having to climb over it to get where he was going to, and this event created the Straits of Gibraltar.
Thus was the Med connected to the Atlantic, and one part of the split mountain is The Rock, and the other Monte Hacho or Jebel Musa across the water in Morocco, (that’s Morocco across the water in the photo below).
Poor, dear, run-down, misrepresented, ignored, forgotten and maligned Gibraltar. Known more recently as the poor-man’s cruising destination, home to online-gambling giants, British squaddies, and for having the worst food in the Med. It’s a crime, it really is.
Don’t get me wrong. It has a long way to go, but Gibraltar is massively better than it used to be. What’s more frustrating is that it doesn’t have to be like this.
It needs one champion. One patron who will buy both The Caleta and The Rock hotels and restore them to 1920′s glory (David Tang, Lungarno, Rocco Forte or Byblos would be my choices). The rest of what’s needed will follow.
I love the place. I think it’s delightful, and there is more history packed into its 6.8 km² area that almost anywhere else on Earth.
I tell people I’m going every year and there are either blank looks returned by non-Europeans, or looks of commiseration by my fellow Brits or Continentals.
This is what I love:
- It has a great climate.
- It is in an amazing location.
- It has staggering natural beauty.
- It has low tax status.
- It has some frikkin’ awesome architecture from Napoleonic docks and fortifications, to old-school Spanish streets and art-deco hotels.
- Is has a truly fascinating history, with some quite wonderful landmarks.
- It has some beautiful gardens.
- It’s super retro in the best 70s tradition.
- I can indulge my interest in trade, ports and naval strategy.
- (This may sound strange coming from me), it has possibly the coolest bowling alley in the world.
- Because it’s so ignored it’s not very busy, and I can happily gets lots of work done and not be tempted out to restaurants, delis and clubs.
Everything is there to make it into an even better version of Monaco, but unfortunately no one who could do anything about it has realised this yet. Shame on you British Government.
What you have to ignore though to appreciate all of the above is:
1) Truly horrendous dining options.
There are no great restaurants, there aren’t even any good restaurants. Really there aren’t.
I mean, we’re on the Med, at the southern tip of Spain in a town that has been ruled over by the Moors, the Spanish, the French and the British and has been a trading port for thousands of years, starting off with the Phoenicians in 950BC by crikey. (Another useless fact, is that archeological evidence suggests that the caves of Gib seem to have been the last bastion of Neanderthal man before they were finally wiped out by good old Homo Sapiens.)
This place should have spectacular cuisine! At the very least you should be able to get fresh bbq’d fish straight out of the sea on every street corner, yet it is impossible to find.
Pizza Express seems to be the epitome of modern sophistication in the town, and The Rock hotel which is meant have the best restaurant, clings onto it’s 1970′s Robert Carrier style menu like there’s no tomorrow. It’s one thing to hark back and recreate 70′s French food in new, lighter and exciting ways, it’s quite another to have stuck with the same heavy stodge since that decade, serving it in 90°C heat in Fawlty Towers’ dining room.
Queensway Quay, which is meant to be the hip, hot and happening Mega-Yacht marina is bland, bland, badly built and a bit more bland.
2) Traffic.
Get you’re damn roads sorted out, and quickly. I don’t want to sit in a traffic jam every time I want to go anywhere.
3) Hotels.
The Rock and The Caleta on either side of the rock, are wonderful examples of art-deco architecture, and they have great swimming pools. But they are pretty dreadful establishments. Shabby, disorganised, slack and with bad restaurants and facilities. Staff are often overwhelmed and rude at the Rock, but both have a certain retro charm, that is crying out to be refurbed beautifully.
The Eliott, more in the centre of town, had an upgrade about 4 years ago, and scores highest on efficiency as well as actually having working internet access in every room (unlike the Rock where you either have to sit in the lobby or mostly stand on one foot facing west if you want to get even a bar of signal in many of the rooms). It’s probably the best of a rum-ish bunch.
4) Development
A few year’s ago (pre-financial world blow-up) there was a brilliant plan to reclaim more land from the sea (strongly opposed by the Spanish) and build Gibraltar out a little, putting in a marina that could take huge yachts and building on the marine repair and engineering facilities and skills that are already in the town.
Every year the mega-yachts have to pass through the strait on their seasonal shift from winter in the Caribbean to summer in the Med. What better place to get your repairs done and take on fuel than in tax-free Gibraltar? And if there were a couple of decent hotels and some great restaurants it would also start attracting the users of those yachts to board in Gib rather than further into the Med.
That’s the sort of tourism you want. Not package tourists who come and spend a few pennies in Marks & Spencer, for crying out loud! And who go to the pub and grab a couple of pints and a pie, only to go back on board for their dinner and disco dancing.
That is not the quality tourism that can keep an economy vibrant and fresh. You need people to stay in town for 3-4 nights and splash some cash around.
Instead, what Gibraltar now has is a stucco, albeit low-rise, marina complex called Queensway Quay. It’s stuffed with themed and franchised restaurants (like Pizza Express), pumping out low quality, non-local food at extortionate prices. It’ll do, as it still has better restaurants than other parts of town, but it’s utterly generic. In fact, it’s rather like The Waterfront in our own dear Discovery Bay, but with even less charm.
5) Casino
Can you believe that the only casino in the town is run by Gala, better known for its Bingo Halls in the UK?
No thank you.
I prefer my casinos to be more of the Mando standard in Macau, or 50 St James in London: Small and refined.
Apparently the casino will move to a new building at some stage, so one can only hope it will have a bit more class.
6) Macaques
I hate them. Anyone who hikes the Maclehose in Hong Kong, or has been to Ubud in Bali will know what I’m talking about here.
There are other things lacking in Gibraltar like unique shops, good local food stores, decent customer service etc, but really you can’t expect those things in the Gibraltar of the present day. The population is really small, and is still caught between working in some sort of support role to the British military, catering to the dreariest form of tourism, or to the worst end of the financial services industry, poor loves.
Hopefully some hedge-funds will start choosing Gib over Geneva and Monaco and the whole place will change overnight.
 - Spot HM’s sub
Upshot.
I’ve stayed in a room with sea view and balcony at The Rock. I’ve never had breakfast there or dinner, but have partooken of a few sundowners and snacks on the Wisteria Terrace. I’ve also stayed at the Eliott more recently and apart from the choking-ly expensive GBP18 fee for 24 hours of internet usage, it was of a higher standard decor and efficiency than the Rock, if a little less charming architecturally.
We lunch at The Caleta and dine mainly on Queensway Quay. We drink down in Grande Casemates Square often at the Lord Nelson, bowl in King’s Bastion and for some reason, even have late night kebabs and have, on more than one occasion, almost got into a fight. How British is that?!
It’s a lovely town to walk around, plus there is a diversity of history which is obvious and fascinating, with lots of different places to visit or hike to.
If you’re London based, a nostalgia freak or just a little bit twisted, and have been most everywhere in Europe for a long weekend, Gibraltar is close and easy to get to. It really is a great little place to discover, and get some sun in the bones. It’s tiny, hot, super-quiet and has enough to do to keep you happy for a good few days.
Alternatively, if you just want to slip into oblivion for a while – concentrate on getting a project finished or just collect your thoughts, there’s a lot worse places to sit on a terrace and watch the Qatar Gas II Project in action than The Rock.
Update:
I had an email from LPW to confirm that the kitchen will continue to operate after the Exchange Square restaurant/bar opens. Thank the lord.
Review:
A complete stranger felt compelled to tell me about the fabulous meal he’d had at a new chef’s table back in September 09. I was at a gallery preview of some rather self-indulgent black and white, semi-porno photograhs and this chap was the most interesting thing about the whole affair.
Unfortunately I was about to go deep field for a few months and so have only just had the opportunity to go to Liberty Private Works. And thank the lord I did! Renovation work is already underway in a space in Exchange Square and chef Makoto Ono is not sure whether he’s going to be able to keep Liberty operating as well as the new mega-resto.
On to the experience:
Food: Set menu, which suits me perfectly. I’m a busy, harassed bee and have to make far to many decisions every day already, so the mental overload that occurs when I have to then tackle the choosing of what I want to shove down my gullet sometimes diminishes the whole experience of enjoying my food. I’d much prefer to leave it in the capable hands of a trained master, and believe me, Makoto Ono is that.
Unpretentious, well-executed, super-tasty, pleasingly surprising, playful food. He looks proper pleased when you like his food, when you appreciate his taste and texture combos. The guy and his team are genuinely and seriously good.
What did we have? Home-cured gravlax, plumptious scallops, beautiful beef, local sea bass, asparagus, fruit compote, tomato jelly, all sorts, and all beautifully balanced.
Drink: Doesn’t get better than this. They do have a wine-list and bar, but you can bring your own wine and don’t have to pay corkage! Bloomin’ marvelous.
As it was gorgeous boy’s birthday, I snaffled a bottle of Ruinart Rose champagne (HK$498 and maybe the best widely available punk out there folks) and a wonderfully good value Torbreck Woodcutters 2006 Shiraz (HK$288) into the restaurant earlier in the day – some of his favourite vinos and perfect choices for an eclectic 6 course meal.
My wonderful Coutt’s concierge had these put by at Rare&Fine Wines on the edge of Queen’s Road West, so I just swooped in, was strong-armed (!@*&?) into a swift tasting of some lovely New Zealand wines and then barreled off down the road to deposit them at LPW pre-meal, with boyf none the wiser. Brilliant party trick that. Many brownie points garnered and lovely to get one over on “He-Who-Usually-Stores-Surprises-Up-His-Sleeve”.
BTW – I do highly recommend Rare&Fine Wines – check em out.
Ambience & Service: Usually I would review these two aspects separately, but because the only people you interact with are the team of Makato Ono and his sidekicks Albert and Claire, I have to consider them together. Liberty Private Works is super small and intimate. The space is maybe 400 sq-ft in total. That’s it: 14 bar stools, bar area/kitchen, team of 3 chefs and a blackboard.
The chefs are respectful, sweet, attentive, easy-going, bloody talented, happy to chat and tell you exactly what you’re getting. Makoto even started doing the washing up whilst waiting for the actual washer-uppers to arrive – and I don’t think he was indicating that it was time for us to leave, I think he just has pride in his kitchen and isn’t worried about getting stuck in.
Just a really chilled, welcoming, happy atmosphere of people making good food and other people enjoying that food. We were a real mixed bunched that evening. Me and the boy, another HK couple, a gweilo/HK business foursome, and an HK/mainland business six-some. Nice.
Hope I’m not boring you with the gushing praise…Anyhow, more good news to come.
Cost: $620 per person. Jeez, you could go to most outlets in So-Lo and spend that on three courses. I would have paid double. Couple that with the $0 corkage and it’s worth the 3 storey climb.
Location: 3F, 12 Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong. (Opp California Fitness). Tel +852 5186 3282. email: info@libertypw.com
Liberty’s future is uncertain my dear readers. The night we went Ono-sama told us that they’d swung the first sledgehammer of the renovation of Aria. Yes, this chef who left Beijing because our Northern Friends still aren’t quite able to let go of historical umbrage and shunned his Japanese restaurant (woop woop HK’s gain), has the backing to take over a large, prime piece of banker/lawyer territory in Exchange Square. And, whilst I agree that this town could do with a restaurant that crafts its French onion soup over an 8 hour period, and that knows how to produce a decent Caesar salad (both stated aims), I can’t help crying into my bubbly and raising my hands and eyes to the sky in exhortation that this surely isn’t the only ambition of the man? In Hong Kong. At the moment. Ono is one seriously hot property.
Readers: Dine with him before he hits the big time and you potentially lose him to soup and salad.
Makato Ono: Do not sit back and drown in a vat of HK mediocrity: let the 5* hotels concentrate on comfort food. You sir, need to keep pushing the envelope.
Review:
Crikey Moses! I didn’t sleep for two nights after I ate at Mau Kee in Pui O, South Lantau. As you can probably tell, I finally had a weekend in Lantau last week, and it was after my visit to Dai Long Wan, and discovered the Island Club that my hiking partner and I finally found ourselves in Pui O just in time for an early dinner last Sunday. It had been a beautiful day, one of those that makes you wonder in amazement (but praying it stays that way) why you’d only seen 4 other groups of people out on the trails of this wonderful island.
Food: A mind boggling menu. Everything from chicken a la king, steak and chips through chicken and sweetcorn soup, to salt & pepper squid. We opted for Cantonese and had chicken and sweetcorn soup which came with a garnish of diced savaloy (enough for 12 and I was praying it was corn starch that had given it the consistency of snot), beef and celery – (very tasty, but super salty), chicken with chilli and peppers (tasty and hot), and some Yangchow fried rice (tasty).
Flash forward one hour and I was itching like a mofo, and sweating buckets. Flash forward another 6 hours and I still couldn’t get to sleep properly. Flash forward another 3 hours and I had the most horrendous nightmare I have ever had that actually made me so distraught I couldn’t go back to sleep and made me start shaking when I told my boyfriend about it.
Boyfriend also complained about disturbed sleep. So, me thinks, maybe a soupcon too much MSG…
Ambience: Village restaurant, everything you would expect: noisy, TV’s blaring, people shouting, bamboo chairs, i.e. the usual, (The only slight issue I had was with the dog that they allowed customers to bring in and wander up to diners. Somehow if it’s an outdoor restaurant I have no issue with this, but indoors? I just think it’s a bit rough).
Service: Staff were friendly and attentive, no issues there.
Price: Decent price, what you’d expect. Dishes from $20 to $70 ish.
Location: Opposite the first bus stop that you get to when you are properly in the village of Pui O from the direction of Mui Wo, Lantau, Hong Kong. Tel: +852 2984 1151
I tell you what, if you are sensitive to MSG, this little restaurant is definitely not a destination for you. Holy Bloody Moly it was a full-on 36 hour trip! I thought the drugs were bad but MSG is a whole different ball game. Mau Kee? Never.Ever.Again.
Of course nothing could replace the Frog & Toad on Lantau, it was a unique institution. But, I am interested to see that The Island Club has now been set up in Chi Ma Wan’s Dai Long Wan village. I met the very nice Shirley Chan on a reconnaissance trip last weekend, and discovered not only an organic veggie farm, but also her Island Club.
Dai Long Wan has a lovely beach and although has no road access it’s actually very straightforward to get to – either walking a quick 25mins from Chi Ma Wan prison, by 20min kaido from Cheung Chau, or by junk. It’s not really on the junk trip radar anymore, but the Island Club will provide you with all sorts of watersports equipment, bbqs and booze. Either $350 or $450 per person for all the food and booze you can tuck away (including those lovely organic veggies), I think it would make an awesome stop off for a lazy weekend beach party. Certainly of more interest than the hideous Stoep on Cheung Sha.
We carried on round the coast to Sea Ranch for a bit of a gander. Fantastic walk, really pretty path from Chi Ma Wan Prison all the way to Sea Ranch, but Oh My God! What a horrible canker on the bottom of Lantau that former “luxury” resort is. It’s post-apocalyptic, it’s rotten, it’s spine-chilling frankly. Broken windows, broken blinds, desiccated pot-plants left out for years on balconies, one house had a bunch of weird statues of 4ft tall african tribesman standing outside their front door – oddness. A couple of the flats/houses are lived in and there are 24hour guards, but it really feels like hell descended and just ate everyone up. Shpooky. We ran away ‘toot sweet’.
Anyway: Click here for all the contact details and how to get there.
Update 21.5.10:…or not.
A post was seen on a Lantau community page with a lot of kitchen equipment for sale very recently from Eddie’s. Maybe it’s all over. I think a case of decent food, wrong venue, wrong location. If anyone knows get in touch.
Review:
Well, Eddie’s is still hanging on there in Tong Fuk. My original review way back when I started blogging last summer provoked a tornado (i.e. windy but brief) of localised reaction, including some unrepeatable opinions which even made me blush – unfortunately for you my dear readers, I have some kind of moral conscience and so decided not to publish the comments as it would have started an even bigger s**tstorm.
Anyhew, I found myself deciding to give Eddie’s another go a few weeks back and we had a very good meal of fish and chips. Admittedly both were under-seasoned, but that’s easily corrected at table, so not a biggy. The fish was really very good. Big, luscious slabs of meaty, perfectly flaky fish, and although I’m a breaded rather than battered fan, the batter was nicely crispy and not doughy and cloying at all.
The portions were a very generous size as was the side-salad accompaniment.
The service was better if still a little amateur, but this time it was endearing and friendly rather than rude and frustrating, so that’s a step in the right direction.
I still think Eddie’s would do better business out of Tong Fuk. I think they should have grabbed the Thai restaurant’s space next to The Stoep when that came up for rent renewal a few months back. The Stoep is a dreadful restaurant and Eddie’s seafood/sustainable theme would be perfect for junk trippers and the quality starved natives of that village.
And one final point – Eddie’s you’ve got to change your website from being Flash based, and take down the notice in the news section that “due to unforeseen circumstances” you can only open on weekends for dinner. Re-brand poppet! Call Eddie’s the best Weekend Dining Retreat in Lantau. You could claim that like many Lantau residents you go there at weekends to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and your stressful weekday job… Positives chaps, not negatives, (I don’t know why I feel it necessary to give you advice, but I just think you are still getting this thing wrong).
Your site architecture at the moment means that search engines can’t find you. If I were you, I’d use WordPress, Joomla or Expression Engine to host your website – free, and so easy to use that you don’t need to pay anyone for design and developing. That way, my reviews won’t come so close to the top of the searches, which I’m sure would be a great relief!
Location: 17B Tong Fuk Village, South Lantau, Hong Kong. Tel: 2980- 2636
Following on from the widely held belief here in Hong Kong that Aqua Group has completely screwed up the opening of Hullett House in Heritage 1881 so far, comes the news that all is not going well up in Beijing. All four of their outlets in the Legation Quarter have now been closed for 2 weeks apparently over a big old cat fight between them and the landlords. Ever with his paw on the pulse, Beijing Boyce has the details here.
Review:
I’ve had lunch at The Grand Stage on the 2nd floor of Western Market twice in the past couple of weeks, and I’m pretty impressed, and only have one quibble.
 - Photo snatched from their wedding club website
Food: Fairly comprehensive offering of trad Dim Sum. Beef balls, siu mei, wanton, turnip pasties, radish cakes, cha siu bao, sticky rice in lotus leaves – you get the picture. The execution is also exceedingly good, and I think that it’s some of the tastiest Dim Sum in Hong Kong. It had a certain freshness and crispiness which was very pleasing.
However, and this is just stupidity – it arrived at the table barely warm which really took the edge off for me, and was frustrating – otherwise I’d have been jumping up and down on sofas and declaring a love of Katie Holmes.
The first time I went and experienced this lukewarm fare I put it down to being part of a large group and never being the first to dip into the baskets, but the second time I went we were just a party of four, so the sad fact is their service process must be all screwed up. It just goes to show how good it is though that the taste and freshness shone through the lack of warmth.
Ambience: The Grand Stage must be one of the biggest spaces in Hong Kong. It is fantastic to be under such a soaring ceiling. It’s all a bit Mainland nightclub what with the red walls and the neon lighting, but it’s a lot of fun and I love the chandeliers. The great thing about the high ceilings is that even when you’re surrounded by 400 other people, the sound gets whipped away into the rafters so you don’t feel that it’s super noisy.
Service: Pretty typical Hong Kong. I’m a gweilo with non-existent Canto skills so I’m used to being misunderstood in Dim Sum restaurants. It was always easy to catch someone’s attention even if it was difficult to convey my meaning, so the fact you got swift service was good enough in my book.
Price: Not much more than $100 per person for a really decent amount of food, so good value.
Location: In Western Market right at the end of Des Voeux Road in Sheung Wan. Best to book ahead as it seems to always be busy. Tel: (852) 2815 2311.
As I’m often in Sheung Wan I shall return to The Grand Stage again I’m sure. If I had holidaying visitors coming to Hong Kong I would probably take them here over Luk Yu Teahouse and the Dynasty in Wanchai’s Renaissance Harbour View just because it’s a bit more fun in the case of Dynasty and better food and service in the case of Luk Yu. For business lunch though, I would definitely opt for Dynasty.
I was vacillating over the category of The Grand Stage – Mama/Huhu or Candy, but even though the temperature wasn’t spot on, the food was very good and the overall experience has tipped it into the candy category for me – maybe it’s the New Year spirit that is making me feel generous!
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