The News Room, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

A friend of ‘The Mother’s’, ‘The Captain’ is actually living in Hong Kong – he quit his corporate life to travel around the world before scoring a scholarship to study journalism in Hong Kong. The Newsroom can be found in Quarry Bay – a 10 to 15 minute walk from where we live. I have wondered about this place, the menu looked reasonable and sounded good.

It was relatively empty when we rocked up on Sunday morning at 10.30am. The restaurant is quite spacious, lots of seating area inside and outside. I had already perused the menu previously and knew exactly what I wanted. Eggs (sunny side up) with mushroom, tomato and goats cheese, corn cob and asked for a side of bacon. The stack of mushroom, tomato and goats cheese were good and the eggs oozed with yolk.

‘The Mother’ opt for the baked eggs with chorizo – this was good, lots of flavour, and lots of tomatoes. ‘The Mother’ basically cleaned the stone pot with bread until there was nothing left.

‘The Captain’ wanted something more substantial and ordered the black squid ink pasta which was served with lots of garlic and chorizo. I didn’t have any of this but was informed that it was good.

I was pleasantly surprised with their food, have heard mix reviews about this place but I enjoyed it. it was quiet, the food came relatively quickly and most importantly we didn’t have to queue and it’s relatively close to home. ‘The Mother’ and I sat there for the next hour or so feeding Dragon and we weren’t ushered out which was nice.

Came back about three weeks later, it was relatively busy this time round, however, the service was slow and one of the waiters kept getting our drinks order wrong. The food was good, but service was definitely better the first time round.

GA’s ratings: 7.5 / 10

The News Room

Taikoo Fong, 33 Tong Chong Street

Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

Ph: +852 2562 3444

Itacho Sushi, Quarry Bay

If you don’t know already, ‘The Mother’, Dragon and I are currently living in Hong Kong. We moved in early August and there’s no exact time frame how long we will be here. I guess we will see how things go and take it from there. ‘The Mother’ came to Hong Kong a month earlier to find a place for us and I have to say that I was highly impressed with his choice. It’s not quite ‘home’ as we are still in the midst of unpacking our stuff. I am looking forward to our new lives here in Hong Kong, enjoying the food and shopping and hopefully there will be a bit of travel during our stay here.

It was our first day in Hong Kong and Dragon was a little tired from the flight and a little fussy so thought we would eat locally and check out the hood. I was craving Japanese, yes, after almost a year of not eating sashimi I am still craving it and can’t get enough of it. Thought we would check out Itacho Sushi, there are many branches of Itacho and Itamae Sushi in Hong Kong, and the one we went too is actually inside Jusco supermarket in Quarry Bay. The restaurant was relatively busy when we rocked up at 1.30pm.

We started with salmon and king fish sushi – the salmon was incredibly plump, fresh and delicious.

‘The Mother’ couldn’t resist the mackerel sushi and they were incredibly tasty, not too slimy.

A serving of tuna sashimi, they were good, but I definitely prefer salmon sashimi.

Cute little salmon and roe don, could definitely have done with more salmon and less rice!

One of my favourite, unagi, eel and egg don. Again could definitely have done with more eel and less rice!

And lastly crispy salmon skin, it was crunchy but moist and tender at the same time. Possibly one of my favourites.

Service minimal, I can’t remember how much each dish costs but I think total meal was around HKD350 which is less than AUD50. I wouldn’t say it’s the best Japanese I have had but nice to know I can get my fix here.

GA’s ratings: 6 / 10

Itacho Sushi

Shop L017A, Komhill Plaza South,

1 Komhill Road

Quarry Bay

Ph: +852 2904 8030

Belgos East @ QB

Our eating troops have not been the same lately. One member is not working in Central, so it makes it difficult for all of us to have lunch now. It doesn’t stop us from catching up for dinner / drinks and even board games, but lunch is just not the same anymore! So when Ms G suggested lunch in her working hood, I was more than happy to go… food… catch up… girlie chit chat… how can I say no to that?

She suggested this place call Belgos East, and invited Hubby also. Funnily, Hubby works in the same location and I have never ever had lunch with him. Why? I guess it’s not something we do. In Sydney, we both work in the city and I don’t think we have ever had lunch together.. EVER.. In the 6 years that we have been together – NEVER! So it was quite a novelty to see him for lunch and I was extremely happy to see, G!

Belgos East can be found in Quarry Bay, in Oxford House. I wouldn’t have even known this place existed if G hadn’t recommended it. The menu is quite extensive, ranging from salads, mussels, steak, and ribs. They have different types of Belgium beers, but since we all came for lunch, we didn’t have any!

We started off with fresh bread and pate, which was chicken liver. Bread was warm, crunchy and soft. Chicken liver was nice but have definitely had better.

We ordered a pot of tomato based mussels with olives and white wine. The mussels were cooked to perfection, sauce full of flavour! I haven’t had mussels for a long time, and forgot how tasty they were! (will have to visit the Belgian beer café in Sydney I think for some mussels!)

I was going through a salad phase, so ordered a chicken Caesar salad. The chicken was grilled and salad refreshing! It was missing egg though – I really do like my Caesar salad with egg. Thankfully there were no anchovies, as I am not a big fan at all!

G ordered ribs with chips – I had one rib as I was getting pretty full at this stage, it wasn’t too bad, but wasn’t the best ribs I have tasted. I still think Hurricanes in Sydney are still the best ribs I have tasted. The flavour at Hurricanes was so much better, and the pork ribs were meatier and tender. Regardless, it’s still wasn’t too bad.

Hubby was a little stressed that day, pre-meeting jitters or whatever you want to call it, so was a little quiet, however, G and I – kept chatting and chatting. It was great catching up with G and Hubby.

It’s a great little spot for business lunches or farewell lunches. It can get a tad bit noisy but otherwise, great for mussels if you are craving them.

GA’s ratings: 6.5 / 10

Belgos East

G/F, Oxford House, 979 King’s Road

Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

Ph: +852 2250 5020