So…I’ve been to a 1 Michelin Star restaurant (which has now gained a second Michelin star!), and a 2 Michelin Star restaurant, so why not add a 3 Michelin Star restaurant?
Hello, Bo Innovation.
There’s something great about really good restaurants that do affordable lunch menus. We were going to do it at Dinner by Heston, but then got sucked in by the Meat Fruit…But it was the lunch menu that was the draw-card for Bo Innovation. For those unfamiliar, the restaurant markets itself as ‘extreme Chinese cuisine’. You can only imagine what that entails. You have amazing new creations, but also your staple dishes that you get at every yum cha place around town – done with a twist. You’ll see dishes you know – but they aren’t quite the same.
For HK$288 (approximately AU$40) you get so. much. food.
Start with a choice of 2 Dim Sum or Classic ‘bo’ dishes. I picked the Chicken, pesto bamboo shoot spring roll and the Black truffle “cheung fun”. Both were utterly amazing – I have never seen the inside of a spring roll so brightly green and the combination of flavours was incredibly fresh. It was awesome having a dish you know so well taken to the next level. The cheung fun was also amazing – more because of the simplicity of the dish. Beautiful, delicate sheets of rice noodle, and tiny specks of truffle hidden amongst it. The winning factor lies in the simplicity of the dish.
DS picked the Deep fried cuttlefish, kaffir lime sauce and the “Har gau” black truffle XO. The cuttlefish is fun – the kaffir lime sauce is bewildering at first, not only for it’s bright colour. The Har gau is fun; another great rendition of an old yum-cha staple, with the XO giving the dumpling a good kick.
And I simply could not resist this beauty – the all famous Molecular xiao long bao (extra HK$90). It’s so amazing I’m not sure how to describe it – a delicate skin, on top of which sits a vinegar soaked piece of ginger (so you got the vinegar & ginger dipping sauce all sorted already!), houses an all-liquid centre. But the crazy part is, even though it is purely liquid, it tastes exactly like you just ate a normal xiao long bao – skin, soup, meat, and sauce all in one. Brilliant.
After sharing all our starters (most of which come in pairs which is handy!) we each had a main course. I had the Slow cooked, suckling pig, Chinese vinegar, egg. Again, it’s not really what you expect. Personally I found the flavours a bit overwhelming and the pork slightly dry, but perhaps I’ve been spoilt by juicy suckling pig all along.
DS had the Pigeon, shiitake mushroom cake, pigeon jus infused sour plum which he absolutely loved. Thumbs up for pigeon, guys! Don’t know why it’s not eaten more in Western culture, especially when we eat quail a lot… Special mention goes to the shiitake mushroom cake. Great flavours, could’ve had at least 2.
To accompany our mains we had our…’starch’. Yes, it’s labelled as starch in the menu which we didn’t quite understand until it came out – you gotta have rice with your meal! It was an amazing simple, almost rustic fried rice. While I’m not sure what the exact ingredients were (I think there were some pickled vegetables?!) , it was flavoursome without taking away any of the flavours of the main meals – in other words, it did its job perfectly.
And finally, dessert was included too! Dessert du jour was some sort of soft taro cake with mango, freeze dried raspberries and pomelo. Not a huge fan of Asian desserts anyway, but this was a light and refreshing end to our meal – a good way to prepare us before we headed back out to 90+ humidity HK summer.
Highly, highly recommend Bo Innovation for a very affordable fine dining experience.
Shop 13, 2/F, J Residence
60 Johnston Road (Entrance via Ship St)
Wan Chai
Hong Kong
http://www.boinnovation.com/