New restaurants rarely manage to open on time; especially
when they're totally renovated from scratch like "Life"
(Bookworm-offspring in Soho, Central), renovated on-and-off like "The Full
Monty" and "The Waterfront", or renovated in-a-hurry like "Omi" (new
dessert place on Back Street, where Thai Thai used to be). To be reviewed
as soon as any of these "Opening soon!" restaurants actually officially
opens.
All the places above have unfortunately missed
probably the best weekend of the year for the local food & beverage
business: Easter. We might have gotten pretty close again this year to
those
all-time-high visitor arrival figures of last Easter. Glorious
weather, many shops/restaurants full to capacity, but it was almost
impossible to squeeze through the slowly moving herds on Main Street. We
really love tourists (at least their cash) coming in and patronising our
shops & restaurants, but do they all need to visit on the very same
weekend!?
Recent news & developments:
Is it a sign of still tough times that some
restaurants are teaming up, selling each other's food on commission?
Island Bar is selling the Bistro's food. New
Holiday Mood has THREE menus these days, offering their own
Western-style dishes, Chinese from Lung Wah Rest. (opposite Spicy
Island) and Indian from Spicy Island. What next?
Lamma Bistro is looking for full-time and
part-time staff. Interested?
A disclaimer from Lamma-Gung:
Some of
the restaurants mentioned in this regular monthly feature are
Lamma-zine advertisers (Deli, Diesel's, Spicy Island, Island
Bar,...). But that has not stopped me in the past to be honest and
slam anybody for bad food or service, if encountered. I've gotten
away with it so far, fortunately.
Many
places getting good comments below are not advertisers (Bookworm, Man
Kee, Tropicana). But this regular monthly feature is basically
promotional in nature, trying to get you to go out more and patronise
the wide variety of great restaurants on Lamma, helping to improve
the local economy!
I try
to be honest and fair in my own comments, but as many of my
advertisers pay partially in food/drinks barter, I'll obviously tend
to visit them more frequently, highlighting their promotions and
special events more, also taking more pictures of their dishes. Food
reviews from readers are always highly encouraged and will be
published, good or bad!!
(click to enlarge)
Deli Lamma: My first pizza ever ordered in the Deli and it was delicious! Too generous for one person, share it or get a doggy bag!
Deli Lamma: Grilled salmon. My first-ever dish eaten in the Deli, 2+ years ago. A big disappointment back then, it's one of my favourites these days.
Deli Lamma: STILL the best (and the biggest) Tiramisu on Lamma! Share it with a loved one...
Diesel's Sunday Roast: Lamma-Por's and my favourite roast. So popular these days that you have to pre-order, especially the chicken roast!
Diesel's Sunday Roast: I have to admit that I just love most of Chef Jack's food. They call it "pub grub", what an understatement!
Emily's: Ice cream promo: Easily misunderstood, somebody added a photo of Hannibal from "Silence of the Lambs".
Emily's: They've got Ben & Jerry's now, 1-pound tub for $54. Cherry Garcia is my own favourite.
Emily's: Checking out another tub at home. Hmmm, I love Chunky Monkey, too.
Emily's: The 3rd tub of Ben & Jerry's eaten in one week? Lamma-Por and I might have become addicted! Aieeyah!
New Holiday Mood: Lamb chops. These place is vastly underrated and has improved so much over the last few months, becoming one of my firm favourites.
Man Kee: Sirloin steak hot plate, $60. Always reliable, cheap, cheerful & popular, but we didn't know about their succulent, HUGE 1-inch-thick steaks!
Tropicana: Would you believe that this is a hot dog? Ah-Can ran out of buns and improvised. Best hot dog in the village, with all the trimmings.
B&B: Spare ribs: Sorry, but this was my worst meal of the month. Totally burnt, stone-hard cross fries, meatless bones, bottle sauce. I miss MeatFest!
Spicy Island: Artwork created by a happy customer.
Island Bar: Low-key farewell party for "Keef" the manager, becoming a comrade running an Australian pub/rest. in South China. Kumar has taken over.
The Waterfront: The renovation is progressing again a little bit. In another 5 years or so it might be half-completed...
The Waterfront: Lamma Oldsters might remember this bar door with fond but vague memories?
Catching the really fresh "Special of the Day" for the seafood restaurant behind them?
Bookworm Café: Preview of future "Life"
restaurant in SOHO, Central, Hong Kong:
Blackboard announcing "The Good News".
1st weekly mass email: announcing "Life", opening real soon now!
2nd mass email: explaining the background & "philosophy" behind the "restaurant concept".
3rd mass email: HK organic scene backgrounder, pretty interesting & honest.
Special preview menu of the future "Life" chef, offered only during March weekends in the Bookworm Café.
"The Bean Scene", one of the future "Life" dishes, $68: unusual & very mild, but interesting, crunchy and quite tasty.
"Seasonal Tart", $78: Recommended by the waitress. Lamma-Por (a really strict non-vegetarian) liked it a lot.
By far the most popular dish in Bookworm Café, the Beanburger, around $70. Isn't it ironic?
To
send comments, get more info, get high-res files for printing, or to publish
your own Lamma-related photos & galleries on
Lamma.com.hk or in the
Lamma-zine:
email
Lamma-Gung.
All pictures and text may be freely reproduced for non-commercial purposes
only,
but only with explicit permission from the author, photographer or artist.
Commercial enquiries are most welcome! Last update:
September 29, 2019 11:12 AM
