This trip to Hong Kong has been a very exciting one, to say the least.  My trip over was uneventful, getting to Chris and Tehlin’s place in South Horizons (near Aberdeen in the southwestern part of HK island) was pretty easy, and while it was a bit aways from the heart of the action I found transportation in and out of their ocean-front condominium to be easy.

The entire Bel Air Residences faces the ocean and there is a steady stream of ships of all shapes and sizes visible from the balcony.  This is of great enjoyment for their two-year-old son Sam, who is fascinated by transportation of all kinds.  He knows ships, he knows planes, he knows busses.  And this weekend he was very big on taking the red taxi.  “Red taxi?  Red taxi?” he kept asking as we were waiting for the bus.  “No,” his mother replied, “we’re taxing the bus.”  When the bus arrived, Sam said in a voice filled with awe, “biig bus.”

Right: Sam enjoys playing on his balcony where he can watch ships go past and busses and taxis go by on the driveway below.

As with every trip I take, food seems to take center stage.  Friday night found me double-booked for dinner, first at eight o’clock with Chris and Tehlin and another couple whom I had met at their wedding.  Chris made reservations at Peking Garden, a fancy Beijing-style restaurant in Alexandra House, in Central.

The elegant atmosphere complemented the food, which included shrimps in sweet and spicy garlic and shallot chili sauce and a Peking style roast duck with pancakes.  Careful not to eat too much, I limited myself to just a few bites of each dish.

Not finishing until 9:30, I had a quick walk to the MTR and rode two stops under the harbour to Tsim Sha Tsui to meet Dr. Chris and his partner Antony at Aqua.  (I’ll refer to him as “Dr. Chris” just to avoid any confusion with my own name or the name of Tehlin’s husband.)  Aqua is one of the more celebrated places to dine in HK, based on the reviews I read, a Japanese-Italian fusion restaurant that fuses innovative cuisine with a stunning location.

Two blocks away at the corner of Peking Road and Kowloon Park Drive is the recently constructed One Peking building, the latest in a series of buildings that is pushing the TST skyline ever higher.  The entrance was up a nondescript pair of elevators, past a lone security guard, and into a high-speed elevator to the 28^th floor. 

Stepping out of the elevator, you enter a small but elegantly modern room that has a maitre d’hôtel at her podium.  There appears to be no doors exiting the room other than the elevator door through which you entered.

The response I received upon saying the party I was meeting was a bit curious.  The maitre d’ responded, “Oh, you’re with Chris’ party,” in a way that led me to believe that she knew Dr. Chris personally.  Choosing between waiting at the table and the bar, I opted for the bar, and a hostess was instructed to take me to the bar, being told again that I was “with Chris’ party.”

There is another person in this entry room, a lady who is standing in front of a waist-high metal post.  At first appearance she is doing nothing by standing there greeting people.  But when the hostess turns to take you to the bar or to the restaurant, a door reveals itself in the otherwise apparently solid walls, sliding open on the command of the woman at the post like something in Star Trek. 

There are lots of “watch your step, please” moments as there are water features you step across and small flights of steps here and there.  Definite trip hazards.  Up several of those flights is the bar, up on the 29^th and top floor of the building.  It is dark and elegant with small cocktail tables, a mirrored bar, and a DJ at the end of the bar spinning Buddha-bar like grooves.  The bar was also quite crowded with fashionable locals and expats and I began to conclude that Dr. Chris must have some connection at the restaurant when the hostess went to great lengths to create a space for me at the bar.

Enjoying a lychee belini, I took in the view of Hong Kong Island.  The bar overlooks the restaurant, resulting in a two-story glass wall that commands perhaps the best view of the Island and the neon-esque luminescence of glass and steel and light and color against the mountains and clouds and water that is Hong Kong’s signature appearance.

While enjoying the drink and the view, one of the restaurant managers came over and confirmed that I was “with Chris’ party.”  The frequency with which this was being said was making me wonder whether I had not been let in on some elaborate practical joke.  Where’s Alan Funt?

The Party Arrives

The hostess returned about fifteen minutes later and told me two other guests had arrived and asked whether I would like to be seated with them.  While I had not met Antony, Dr. Chris’ partner, before I immediately recognized him just by virtue of knowing Dr. Chris’ taste in men!  A tall, handsome Australian with a shaved head and eyes that contain a perpetual twinkle of good humor, it was a pleasure to finally meet him. 

Antony was joined by Debbie, a fifty-something lady with eighteen years living in Hong Kong who is now the director of the Australian Chamber of Commerce.   He and Debbie had attended the HK Philharmonic Symphony’s performance that evening so it made perfect sense when, as Dr. Chris arrived a few moments later, Antony announced that they had invited a fifth person, the executive director of the symphony, to join us.  Tim, who arrived just a few minutes later, was a tall, thin, goateed Australian who has been at the symphony for just a year now.

As you can imagine, it was an interesting dinner with conversations about things that are within my tastes (travel, music, food) but perhaps still a bit out of my budget in terms of frequency and opulence!

The restaurant manager came over and said hello, obviously familiar with Dr. Chris and Antony, and the chef soon made his appearance as well.  Handshakes and introductions all around, then he asked us what we were in the mood for and Antony, taking the lead, suggested just a variety of things starting with some sort of an appetizer and perhaps a seafood and a meat dish.  The chef promised to prepare some wonderful treats for us and headed to the kitchen with a smile on his face.  This just further fueled my curiosity about which of these people Dr. Chris knew so well.

The curiosity was answered shortly when a sharply-dressed man who was nearly a spitting image of Dr. Chris came walking up, said hello, and was introduced as David who I quickly learned, was not only Dr. Chris’ brother but also the proprietor of the Aqua restaurant group.  That explained everything.  Such a sense of sophistication and connection – I know famous people!

The Meal Itself

The chef, Dick, worked off the menu and created four lovely courses for us followed by dessert.  With each course, he appeared alongside the waiters who delivered the food, explaining what we were about to enjoy and gauging what we would enjoy next.  The courses were (alas with no photos!):

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  Salad of tomato, mozzarella cheese and balsamic jelly served alongside a seared rosemary scallop.  The salad, an artful interpretation of the classic Caprese salad, was served in a dessert wine glass.  The ingredients were in small (1cm) cubes and instead of being dressed with the usual balsamic vinaigrette the chef had made balsamic jelly.  So as you ate it, there were little explosions of the sweet balsamic richness each time you encountered one of the jelly cubes.  Lovely.
  
  
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  The salad was followed by a dish of six raw tuna slices, lightly seared, in yuzu (a Japanese citrus fruit) mayonnaise with rocket and herbed oil.  This fatty richness of the seared tuna was countered by the tartness of the mayonnaise sauce.
  
  
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  Our third dish was a medallion of poached spiny lobster tail, wrapped in spinach leaf and served in a French sarda (type of cous cous-like pasta), lobster and moscato emulsion.  It had the sweet richness of a light curry sauce and complemented the fresh, clean flavor of the lobster.
  
  
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  Getting full as it was late (and I had eaten a previous meal) our tasting menu thankfully concluded with a single Parmesan crumbed lamb rib chop with a compote of Sicilian laponata (type of eggplant), pine nuts and raisins, served with a Alacia lemon honey glaze.

The food was really tasty with lots of interesting flavor combinations.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the 2003 Ridge Vineyards Lytton Springs Zinfandel blend on the wine list, a particular wine that I’ve enjoyed every time I find it.  It paired perfectly with our meal and I remarked at how ironic it is that while this wine is made in the Santa Cruz Mountains, just a twenty minute drive from my childhood home, I’ve mostly found this wine in far-spread places like London (where I was introduced to it by a wine merchant ex of one of Tawn’s friends), Salt Lake City, and Hong Kong.

For dessert, a large platter arrived containing an assortment of all the treats offered by the restaurant.  This one was so spectacular, with the arrangement of roses with a tea candle in the center, that I had to break out the camera to capture it.  Unfortunately, I will be unable to do justice to the amazing flavors that were on the tray.  These included fried mango springrolls, chocolate crème brulée with green tea ice cream, tiramisu, mandarin orange panna cotta, a molten chocolate cake, and the piece de resistance served in the martini glass: diced hearts of palm in a Japanese plum gelatin topped with gold leaf.

Just as the evening was coming to an end, the bill was settled (undoubtedly at a nicely discounted price – thanks David!) when the waiter stopped by with five champagne flutes and opened a bottle of Moet & Chandon Brut Imperial Rose Champagne.  What a plesant way to end the meal.

It was about 12:30 so everyone headed their separate ways.  I caught a cab back to the other side of the harbour, which requires a bit of insider knowledge and a special hand gesture as when the hour gets late the taxi drivers are hesitant to venture across the harbour because they are uncertain to get a fare for the return.  More about that some other time, though.

Lots more to add about the rest of the weekend but it is late.  More upon my return to Bangkok.