Address: 28^th Floor, 1 Peking Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon ,Hong Kong

Telephone number: + (852) 342 88 342

Website: http://www.aqua.com.hk/

    http://www.aqua.com.hk/#/?eng&hutong&concept

Date of visit: March 2010

Approximate cost per head: $500 plus. There is a tasting menu at $888 per head.

Comments on wine list/beer: Really upmarket list for HK. Prices start at $450 + per bottle and you can get first growth at a ridiculous price

Summary:

This is part of the Aqua Restaurant group – url included – they serve northern chinese style food in this restaurant.

Aqua specialise in upmarket restaurant (Italian, Chinese, Japanese etc) located in “specialist” buildings. They have a restaurant ontop of the “old” Dickens and Jones, Regent St, London.

Hutong occupies the whole of the 28^th floor of a building sited on the Kowloon side of the harbour. This place has probably the best HK skyline night view – better than Felix (Peninsula Hotel). The view from the Kowloon side is more interesting as the view on the Central District water front has all the interesting buildings (HSBC, Bank of China etc) whilst the Kowloon side is more standarsised.

We shared spring rolls, lamb kebabs, braised prawns, string beans with minced pork, steamed bread rolls and apple strudel (chinese version). This was washed down with a bottle of Italian water and a bottle of 2001 Barbera (Piedmont). Total bill came to $1481 including 10% service charge.

The food here is strong on presentation. Food on the whole tastes quite good.

The two dishes that were a bit bland were the prawns and the steamed bread rolls.

Re the others: the vegetarian spring rolls were served with a spring onions and black vinegar dip on a black tile. The lamb kebabs were very spicy but moreish. The string beans were just right with a good bite and the minced pork extremely lean. Portions side were pretty good.

It was a great meal in a fantastic place ruined by MNBA (Virgin Amex card) who refused to authorise the transaction – this was the third time that same day when I had trouble. Twice I had to take a call from their Indian call centre asking the same questions to make sure that my card wasn’t stolen. Each time, they promised to put on record that I was in HK and spending money. This time, I had to call UK to get the transaction cleared (the call took 15 minutes as the operator kept having to put me on hold). That was the last time I used the card in HK. No such trouble with my Waitrose (HSBC) card.

 By the way, you will need to book days if not weeks ahead. You can book online. They do not take bookings more than a month ahead.

E