Nocte-- re-defining healthy Spanish gourmet

A close family friend of ours, who is a registered dietitian and former Little Bao chef has recently opened up his own Spanish joint Nocte in Tai Hang, a restaurant that will surely re-define healthy gourmet. To say my friend is a food enthusiast will be an under-statement. He is a perfectionist when it comes to food. He uses only the freshest ingredients to ensure food quality. In fact all the herbs and spices he has been using for the soft opening week is organically home grown by himself. Even the pasta used is homemade rather than wholesale ready-made!


I have had the many privileges of tasting his fine culinary arts and never was I ever disappointed. When I heard he is finally pursuing his dream of opening up his own restaurant, my only thought was "Damn, I wish I were in Hong Kong!"



Do not be fooled by it's name and owl logo, though it is fully licensed for liquor and the nocturnal; Nocte also serves brunch as well.


Address: G/F, 9 Warren Street, Tai Hang 大坑華倫街9號地舖
Phone number: 2355-7899

Follow Nocte on Instagram: @noctehk

Check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NocteHK

Their website is on it's way:
http://www.nocte.com.hk/

Email: info@nocte.com.hk

(No that is not me in the photo, I wish I were there. Yes I am fully affiliated and hence endorsing this restaurant in hopes he will pay me back with good food when I'm back in town!)

 

Collective restaurant review

I don't always do restaurant reviews because sometimes I feel the restaurant I go to is not new and prolly has tons of reviews about them anyway, and sometimes when I am eating with friends I try not to focus my time on picture taking but rather the good time with them. But I thought to myself what the hell, a small collective one wouldn't hurt, prolly help you guys find or avoid certain restaurants or dishes. So let's start!!

In late June I was at SML in Times Square to meet up a dear friend I haven't seen in a while and it was my first visit to this concept restaurant. If you haven't heard before basically their dishes come in sizes: small medium and large to cater your various portion needs. I walked in to our reservation around 6 and the summer sun was just about to call it a day, but i still got a peek of the chilled alfresco area behind the bar before i sat down towards the end. I can't remember the drink i ordered but it was rather refreshing (or maybe i was just scorching earlier and needed it lol) anyway i ordered a small salmon tar tar and a small seafood paella. 

The salmon tar tar looked very dainty with several condiments to try out. I didn't put in the quail egg as I have high cholesterol (don't ask me why lol) But I remember putting in the lemon in that shooter glass and it was quite a nice combination. Was it the best tar tar I've had? No. But was it okay? Yes. The seafood paella on the other hand was rather disappointing, it was honestly nothing special, not particularly delicious or anything. The portion for someone as petite as me was just right and I can sample the food out with my friend without damaging our wallets too much. Small however really is small so maybe as an appetizer for us adults or something for kids. For men or if you are in a bigger group you would need at at least medium or large.I wasn't exactly full when I left but figured I could get dessert...somewhere else lol. Price wise I don't think it was worth it as it really came down to about HK$200 each for a meal I wasn't blown away by nor was full. Will I come again? Prolly not for dining, but a chilled drink on the patio would be okay. Note: there were actually a number of ill-etiquetted mainlanders around, I guess it's part of the Causeway Bay invasion, but yea. 

Next stop: Caffe Habitu! I've had coffee and cakes there many times but never really sat down for dinner, but after a long day at work my colleague and I were hunting for comfort food around Festival Walk. It was a hundred-table wait at Itamae and Kushiyaki and a super long line at Simplylife so we decided to give Habitu a try and I was surprised at the quality of food because after all it is just a cafe. We ordered chicken quesadillas, a truffle pizza and a salad I can't seem to remember to share. Everything tasted great, even the rosemary potato sides were superb!!(we cleared all of them) The salsa and guacamole dip for the quesadillas were so good! And the truffle pizza's aroma kept luring me as I was still eating my quesadillas. And the aroma was no false advertisement, it was sooo rich when it entered my mouth! I was like "O yeah!!" lol Quite simply put our mouths were too busy and our brains were indecisive everytime we stopped for our next bite, as everything was great! The bill came down to I recall HK$180 which we happily paid up. I will come again for dinner!

Tsui Wah itself of course is nothing new to me but it was the first time I tried its "truffle prawn risotto" and to be honest it was as authentic as HK$70 can get lol  

I was hanging with some friends watching Despicable Me 2 one night, I went even though I was sick and still recovering as the tickets were booked and i already wasted my MU tickets the day before. Anyhow, we went to a Korean place called Jang in L Place in Central for dinner afterwards. They feasted out to authentic Korean cuisine like beef bourguignon while I lamely stuck with a hot veggie soup served with rice...which was quite salty. That was the only thing I tried out as my stomach was quite fragile and I didn't wanna upset it, but I can see why the place was rather quiet on a Saturday night. The bill came down to about HK$175 each. Will I go again? Prolly not. 

Next stop: Grappas!! I have had dinner at the Grappas in Central before but it was the first time having lunch at the TST Kimberly branch. We opted for the buffet appetizer and dessert plus a main and drink deal. We were so full!!!! The buffet selection was not bad. Salmon and salami bruschettas, pasta salad, potato salad, and greens you can pick out yourself as well as hot mushroom soup. The pasta salad was not well cooked and a bit on the hard end, which was the same for my dad's pasta main. But the potato salad, bruschettas and soup were very good! My main, the grilled chicken breast in tomato sauce with yellow zucchinis and roasted potatoes was quite nice! The dessert buffet had cheese cake and tiramisu as well as an array of fruits. The cheese cake texture was a bit too soft for me, but the tiramisu more than made up for it! the coffee aroma won me over! My fresh grapefruit juice was very refreshing was well. The staff was very very attentive and nice. I was surprised it wasn't too busy that day. Although it was daddy's treat I kinda did the calculation in my head and it was prolly about $200 each. But for the portion, ambience and service, it was worth it. 

Later that night I hit up this middle eastern/mediterranean restaurant called RA in Tsim Sha Tsui near Mody Road with a friend. We walked in around 7:30 and there were already people shishaing up. We sat down and ordered drinks and a platter to start with but the platter was so fulfilling it became our main and we just ordered an extra Moroccan soup to end things. The shrimps and sauage were very yummy and I think the key was the condiments like hummus in the middle. The left hand side condiment was nice as well but the one on the right was too nutty for our palate. The four cheesy rolls were the culprit of making us full, I wasn't even able to try a samosa. The food was a little bit spicy though so be aware if you can't take spicy. It was quite quiet though and we were the only table with actual food. The belly dancing added a bit of amusement to the night though, and resembled K11's Al Pasha. Good times.

Shatin's Newtown Plaza the new Canton Road?

Not long ago has Shatin's Newtown Plaza opened up a Victoria's Secret beauty store, and now along side with it's novelty Michael Kors shop, I am starting to ruminate: Is Newtown Plaza becoming the new Canton Road? Although the VS store is by no comparison as satisfying as the ones in US, it was however able to create a frenzy on the opening day. With Newtown's growing clientele of international designer brands and high accessibility to Shenzhen, Shatin seems to have bloomed as mainlanders' new amusement park. You're starting to hear more Mandarin being spoken then Cantonese and I can't really blame them, there are fashion and food outlets galore that lure them to linger. This trend has become vividly apparent to me during my visit today.

I started off hunting for a place to satisfy my gastronomic needs, and found this Thai place called Tom Yum Kung Kung crowded with people. So I went over and saw their promotional limited 50 bowls per day Tom Yum Vermicelli with Canadian Crab Leg for only HK$36!! After inquiring if there were any left I was escorted to a table. Given the price you would imagine you're not sitting in a 5star environment but that was okay because the food was great! Note: You do need to know how to read Chinese or at least go with someone who can as the ordering sheets are in Chinese. I ordered a fish cake as an appetizer, the vermicelli and a soda. Which in total came down to a mere $64! Great option for a quick lunch!=)

The fish cake was your typical Thai fish cake accompanied with sweet chili sauce that I did not try so I wouldn't comment. The cake itself however was nice and hot and tasted great.

The vermicelli was thoroughly satisfying. Because of the price I was expecting mediocre food, but the crab leg was a surprising portion, and the tom yum tasted a great mix of spice and lime. Though the crab leg was not filleted with no genuine tools but chopsticks to help open it, it was however considerably hammered open and came with wet-naps. Pretty good for $36!!=)






I then headed to check out the new Michael Kors store. This is only the second Michael Kors shop in Hong Kong after the Peninsula Haute Coutour store. Differing from the Peninsula one, the Shatin one is a lifestyle store, translate: more wallet-friendly. I was trying to look for a tote I saw at the airport duty free but failed. I however, after chatting with one of the friendly and knowledgeable saleswomen, found out that Michael Kors not only designed an Asia limited edition bag called Jetset, but also designed sunglasses that catered to Asian noses. That's very cute Mr. Kors!=)

Orto Vino Ristorante

About a week ago, I had the privilege to visit a new restaurant Orto Vino Ristorante which is situated at the heart of our city--Central, on Stanley Street right across Holly Brown . Although the interior is not very spacious but the intimacy adds to the ambience. The patio is still waiting for its license which will come end of this month but with an exclusive sneak peak into it, it immediately stimulates you to imagine a nice alfresco brunch or happy hour after work. =)

First things first, some Bera Austi Spumante 2011:

Nice and fruity, not too strong, very appropriate for girls like me who just want take it easy before a crazy night at the very close by LKF. XP I had two of these babies and only started flushing by the time we left, not bad for a wimp drinker like me! 

Our Terra Antipasti: the ham platter: 

There were 5 kinds, from left to right: a salami-ish ham, and then the one next to it was our favorite with rich tastes, the third was a bit spicy, the forth tasted like turkey and the last was Parma. The portions were very generous as well. 

Crispy fried risotto and cheese balls with green salad:

The aroma of it will lure you instantly. Unique, crispy and cheesy but not too heavy. And you know how those interior cheesy things usually turns out like a volcano and all the cheese just blasts out and turns messy? Well you ain't gonna get that here, which add's to it's charisma =)

My friend and I seated at the bar:

Best recommendation of all night, our Mare antipasti: the Tuna tartar:

Done absolutely perfect, marinated with citrus dressing and thyme, it's light and tangy with a perfect balance of a marine taste. And the presentation was dainty and alluring. Although I do prefer tuna tartars with avocado and spicy radish, this still won me over, and I will definitely come back for more!=)

 Our mare secondi piatti: Grilled mixed seafood (Calamari, Lobster, Salmon and Squid):

This was our safe bet, knowing we can't go wrong with some grilled seafood, but by the time this course came we were way too full to really appreciate it. That being said, we had no problems with it. Side note: everything was nicely cut up so you don't have to worry about your table manners when chewing calamari or squid or cracking that lobster claw which added five points for me!=)

Tirimisu with Amaro:

I think we made the right decision of ordering the tirimsu for dessert despite being food pregnant full because you could really taste the difference of the Amaro as opposed to rum or whisky--the pungent smell is simply divine and sublime.

The overall experience was great, the staff were very friendly, the atmosphere was nice and the food to die for. I do recommend it!