Where to Eat: Top Restaurants to Try This May | Prestige Online
It’s a meat-heavy month with our favourite places to eat in May, so prepare to visit these restaurants hungry.
Jorges Vera Gutierrez’s New Menu at Henry
Previously of Rosewood Hong Kong’s Bayfare Social, chef Jorge Vera Gutierrez has now taken over the hotel’s beloved classic American steakhouse, Henry. With him at the helm, the restaurant’s menu has also received an overhaul, which we’re simply in love with. For the meat lovers, you’ve got your signature Porterhouse, Cowboy Ribeye, Tomahawk and a series of other smaller cuts, sourced from countries all over the globe including the US, New Zealand, Italy and Australia. Other signature sides include a short rib pappardelle, grilled Boston lobster and a succulent Iberico pork chop. Don’t overlook the appetisers either – standouts for us include their Maryland crab cake, buttermilk fried chicke and made-on-the-spot Caesar salad. – Jeff Yeung
5/F, Rosewood Hong Kong Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Rd, Tsim Sha Tsui
Casual Fine Lunch at Clarence
Constantly endeavouring to put a casual yet modern twist to traditional fine-dining, chef Olivier Elzer and his team at Clarence have launched a new lunch menu to showcase their latest creations. Luxury dishes at relatively accessible prices, the set include dishes such as tuna with two spices, avocado purée and shallot dressing, yellow chicken cooked crapaudine with Basquaise garnish and chicken juice, pork cordon bleu with lemon relish mustard and butter lettuce, and ribeye with green pepper sauce, french fries and butter lettuce. Wrap up your indulgent lunch with a decadent serving of red wine poached pear with whipped cream and Normandy milk ice cream, vanilla cream with salted caramel and hazelnut, or the croffle with salted caramel and Normandy milk ice cream. – Jeff Yeung
25F, H Code, 45 Pottinger St, Central
Rebirth of Jimmy’s Kitchen
A staple of Central’s dining scene, Jimmy’s Kitchen has been around since 1928, but the unfortunate circumstances of Covid led to its shuttering in 2020. Luckily for those who grew up eating at the restaurant, the historic establishment has reopened its doors for business, this time on the first floor of the famed Pedder Building. With chef Russell Doctrove – whose CV includes Maximal Concepts, Limewood and Fish and Meat – at the helm, Jimmy’s Kitchen is looking to keep traditions alive while redefining itself for a more contemporary audience. For a full experience at the restaurant, go for the King Crab leg, seared Hokkaido scallops with bacon marmalada, Chicken Supreme Kiev, Jimmy’s chicken madras, seared Prince de Dombes duck breast, and the hefty 24oz Cavalier Wagyu sirloin, sourced directly from South Africa. Oh, and never forget the Baked Alaska. – Jeff Yeung
Beef Wellington at Melody: House of Food and Music
If you’re looking for a hearty English meal in the middle of the week, look no further than Welly Wednesdays at Melody: House of Food and Music, the venue that formerly housed Potato Head in the charming streets of Sai Ying Pun. As the name suggests, the dish is a perfectly-crafted Beef Wellington, served with abundant sides and a bottle of red wine for HK$888 (for two people). Known as the Welly Wizard, Chef Jamie Draper serves up the perfectly pink beef fillet, wrapped in mushroom duxelle and crispy puff pastry, every Wednesday from 17 April onwards. Alongside the show-stopping centrepiece dish, you will get to enjoy a bottle of house red wine and accompaniments like the ridiculously cheesy pomme aligot, al dente spring asparagus spears and a glossy Bordelaise sauce made with beef marrow for an extra smack of umami decadence. – Andre Neveling
100 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun
New dégustation experiences at Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic
Cristal Room by Anne-Sophie Pic only opened last November but it has already garnered one Michelin star and top accolades by the best critics in town – no mean feat by the incredible team helmed by head chef March Mantovani and PIC Executive Sommelier Chef, Paz Levinson. As we enter a new season, the team is offering new dégustation menus for both lunch and dinner, showcasing the best of Pic and her interpretation of Asian flavours. It’s travesty to even assume we can highlight just one dish as a stand out – a meal at the Cristal Room is an entire experience – still, you can expect seasonal vegetables and seafood to shine, from Green Asparagus from Provence marinated with marigold and barbecued with green shiso and accompanied by kaffir lime ice cream; to the signature Les Berlingots ASP, umami-packed pasta parcels, each bite a burst of 24-month aged Comté and voatsiperifery pepper swimming in a champignon consommé steeped with tangerine Pu’er tea; and line-caught turbot with pea gnocchi, the brightness of the dish pairing perfectly with a dashi broth infused with geranium roast and lovage. There’s an exceptional wine pairing option for both the lunch and dinner menus as well. But if you’re a non-drinker, the non-alcoholic pairing sounds equally, if not more, enticing. – Stephanie Ip
Gloucester Tower, Landmark, Forty-Five, Central. Make your reservations here.
Epic Boodle Fight at Barkada
Prestige 40 Under 40 honoree Jen Balisi put modern Filipino fare on the Hong Kong dining map when she launched Barkada, the open-air restaurant right in the heart of Central, last year. And just in case you needed another reason to visit other than the killer Adobo popcorn chicken and first-class cocktails, they’ve just added their most exciting group dining concept yet: an authentic Filipino Boodle Fight. Based on the food sharing tradition from the sunny islands, also known as a kamayan feast, a Boodle Fight is a delicious medley of meat, seafood, fish, salad and rice served on a banana leaf. Guests are encouraged to eat with their hands (gloves are provided), muck in, and eat until their hearts content! Though it takes a bit of time to get used to eating without utensils, the whole experience is a riot of fun. We went in a group of four, but a boodle fight can accommodate much larger groups too, making it an making it an ideal choice for birthdays and work events with a twist. – Madelaine Clark
48 Cochrane Street, Central
