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Thursday, February 26, 2009

HK for a Few Days

Beautiful clear skies. Excellent steak at, mmm, where was that brilliant restaurant agaan? Ah, that's right... Woollomooloo in LKF. I had Boeuf en Croute, aka on the menu, Beef Wellington - how 70's is that? Nice Shiraz, too, Leeuwin Estate.

I'm in my heaven, all's right with the world.

Cheers, you lot.

However, I haven't had a chance to get down to Wanchai and catch up with all the bad boys, do the expat vortex thing yet. Might not, in fact, as I have limited time.

I did get to see where my restaurant group is putting in its next venue. It's at the top of 256 Hennesey Rd, new building next to Caltex House - we will have a rooftop bar area. This is the view:





Not bad, eh? Stop drooling you people, just get up there and spend money, let's kick start this economy, Wooloomooloo restaurant by Wooloomooloo restaurant. This place should be open just before R7s, which, incidentally, this year, I may not be attending. Working - in Pattaya of all places.

Speaking of steaks, I had an absolutely desengauno experience at the overpriced Brasserie Wolf in Singapore last Saturday night. I went there feeling like a nice chunk of fillet steak, and after I fucked up the order and asked for the *rib-eye fillet*, which is actually what I would called a *Scotch fillet*, though I really wanted was a *tenderloin fillet*, which is what I would call an *eye-fillet*...

... and got something that looked like it had been boiled last Thursday and reheated in a microwave this afternoon, with the XX grill grid just painted on as an afterthought. I sent it back (nearly in tears) and got a smaller, thicker version of the same sad thing. Neither piece of meat sported that "just grilled" flavour, the crisp caramelised juices on the outer surface of a recently heat-seared piece of steak which makes your mouth water... This was dead cow. Grey, sad, horrible. Worst steak(s) I have ever had.

The Woolies steak tonight, need I say it? was superb.

There are only two people who can a steak the way I like it: me and the guy at Woolies. OK, OK, Greg from the upcoming Chilis in Singapore, he can BBQ a mean EYE fillet.

E@L

p.s. did I mention that I have an slight financial interest in the Wooloomooloo restaurant group?

p.p.s. no vegemite at the Excelsior breakfast buffet!

13 comments:

Spike said...

so you gonna have some free time to hang out with grumpy old me while you're here?

savannah said...

these are the times when i envy ya'll, sugar! just this part, this HK experience! damn yore eyes! ;)
xoxox

expat@large said...

Spike: check your facebook.

Sav: it's busy, it's buzzing, it's all together, & it's so incredibly VERTICAL - all hills and skycrapers.

Someone said tonight that Dubai construction has just turned off, like a switch. People sacked, kicked out with minimal notice, leave the keys in the car at the airport, don't come back... HK was like this in 97', like this in 2003 with SARS, it'll keep going.

Skippy-san said...

Thanks for the pictures to depress me on a Wednesday.

Have fun in Hong Kong and have a beer for me!

Luke said...

Ahh, so it was you! I did wonder, by the time I got to my third pint; but then you left. Mind you the only time I have met you before was at about two in the morning, in Neptune, when you were wearing a dinner jacket. By the way, my name isn't Neil.

Momentary Madness said...

I've never been so high before.

Dick Headley said...

...feeling like a nice chunk of fillet steak....boy I know exactly what you mean.

expat@large said...

Luke/Neil: whatever... Like, I am so unrecognizable?

MM: 31st floor. Dizzying. Great height for G&Ts.

DH: yep...

dibabear said...

The Excelsior? I stayed there on my first visit to HK way back in...mmmm...1992. There's a very good a-numbah-one dim sum joint right behind (towards Lockhart Rd.) Or there was. I really need a HK junket soon. It's been 11 years. I probably won't recognize the place.

expat@large said...

Di: 11 years ago is when I moved into HK on my first Tour of Duty. It has changed drastically, there are fewer girlie bars.

Excelsior is now part of the Mandarin Oriental Group. I had dim-sum three times last week! Yum cha? -- yum yum!

dibabear said...

Yes but are the ones that remain "quality" girlie bars? Wait, don't answer that! Korea cleaned up its girlie bar industry in the early 90s. Last I knew one could still get a full service haircut there though.

Still, I could use a dose of HK if for nothing other than the dim sum and congee.

expat@large said...

Diba: re: Korea. Up the hill behind Itaewon are plenty of girlie and b-j bars.

re:HK girlie bars. Other than the maid/overstayer pick-up bars like Laguna, Fenwicks (you want coke-aine with that?), Neptunes and Boracay, I don't do girlie bars anymore. That was a dark period of my life, creditcard-wise. I haven't been into any of the Old Mamasan Grab You Come Inside Behind Velvet Curtain Dancing Bikini Girl Up On Stage You Buy Drink For Lady Give HJ/BJ In Corner type bars for years.

dibabear said...

I think Itaewon is the last hold out mostly because it's popular with the nearby GIs. On my last trip to Korea I befriended a comely young lass who suggested we hit Itaewon before retiring to her place. As I had to work the next day and didn't need a soju hangover or a huge credit card bill I took a pass. Damned shame in retrospect but there ya go.

And if I visit any of the places any longer it's just to drink Coke (the Real Thing) and watch the show. And by show I don't mean the girl on the stage. I'm finding in my middle years that people watching, when sober, can be a real hoot.

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