If it’s not the limited, one-day only Diwali menus or a very delicious collaboration with reputed siu mei store Sun Kwai Heung from Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel that’ll tempt you for this week’s New Eats, perhaps it’s a trip to your local McDonald’s that’ll be the most tempting, with the familiar interiors now primed all over with Mirror merch. Expect fries and a side of selfie crowds…
Diwali at Chaat on 4 November
With the Hindu Festival of Lights, Diwali, set on 4 November, chef de cuisine Manav Tuli is bringing together a colourful feast for celebrating family and friends. The one-night-only, sharing-style menu is packed with holiday stalwarts and some venue favourites including the Tandoori Kebab Platter, serving Lamb Boti Kebab, Tandoori Pork Ribs and Tandoori Foie Gras. Also on the agenda, a South-Indian style Lobster Rasam soup, Kerali-style pan-fried Halibut Polichathu, Bengali-style butternut squash stir-fry, Methi Kaddu, Rajathani-style Dal Panchmel featuring five types of lentils and, of course, the buttery soft Lacha Naan. For dessert, chef Manav takes a different turn with a twist on the classic English Eton Mess, adding traditional Indian spiced and strained yogurt with fresh berries.
Find the menu here. Reservations for the Chaat Diwali menu (HK$1,288/ person) can be made via hongkong.restaurantreservations@rosewoodhotels.com.
Chaat, Level 5, Rosewood Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong, +852 5239 9220
Chef Palash Dreams of Diwali on Black Sheep GO
Black Sheep Restaurants’ chef Palash Mitra has put together a gorgeous meal in time for Diwali; available either for at-home enjoyment on GO or for dine-in up at The Peak’s Rajasthan Rifles. For the former, the takeaway set caters up to 20 with a choice of the veggie-friendly Dhanlakshmi, featuring Aloo Samosa or Saag Paneer, or Dhamaka, with Lamb Rogan Josh and Chicken Tikka. For the latter, the Anglo-Indian mess hall is also registering to chef Palash’s theme with a one-night only sharing menu featuring bites from the restaurant’s first chaat counter, savoury Indian snacks, tandoor specials and Diwali holiday favourites, including a Goan-style stir fry (Carrot and Bean Foogath) and almond-stuffed potatoes (Barwan Dum Aloo Barnarasi).
To mark an extra special holiday, chef Palash has worked with the team at New Punjab Club for a curated boxset of six handmade mithai (meaning “sweets”), traditionally shared during Diwali. It’s prepared in two flavours: a rich kaju barfi with pistachio and hazelnut and soft coconut barfi with hints of camphor.
Orders for Chef Palash’s Dreams of Diwali is available via GO with 48-hour notice from 28 October through 6 November. Reservations for Rajasthan Rifles can be made here.
Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel’s savoury menu with Sun Kwai Heung
Rather than yet another visit to the bing sutt around the corner, make the trip to Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel for the newly launched savoury menu created with reputed siu mei stall Sun Kwai Heung (新桂香燒臘), a Chai Wan staple for over 40 years. At the pâtissier, the collaborative menu features comforting Hong Kong classics including char siu and egg-stuffed croissant, a Hong Kong-style borscht served with either alphabet pasta or garlic toasts (like they do at local cha chaan tengs), lobster bisque with macaroni and OmniPork luncheon and egg croissant.
Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel, various locations including Shop 2, G/F, 80 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong, +852 3482 7735
Autumn season specials at Cornerstone
In accompany to the welcomed breeze, modern Australian bistro Cornerstone devises a brand new menu featuring fresh autumn harvest led by head chef Neal Ledesma, highlighted upon the new weekly dinner set from Monday to Wednesday for HK$488 each. Among a renewed take on the signature grilled octopus, now served with spiced chickpeas and a house-made lemon mayonnaise, there’s also a beetroot and carrot salad; mushroom risotto, made with a mix of girolles, morels and lemon mascarpone; milk chocolate mousse with hazelnut dacquoise; and a very autumnal, hearty Sagabuta pork loin served with chestnuts and burnt apple chutney. Like usual, the new menu registers to Cornerstone’s simple, uncomplicated flavours. As chef Neal describes, “modern and modest cooking.” It’ll be like a freshly made home-cooked meal, but so much tastier.
Cornerstone, G/F, 49 Hollywood Road, Central, Hong Kong
Citywide Mirror-themed McDonald’s
If you count yourself a true Mirror fan, you won’t need this update. But just in case you’re not and wondering why your neighbourhood McDonald’s is plastered with happy, smiling faces: Mirror is taking over citywide McDonald’s locations. In celebration of their third anniversary, Maccies is changing into full Mirror-themed interiors (every location will spotlight a different member) with framed posters, dividers, banners and balloons along with special Mirror-themed AR packaging personalised with each member’s portrait and QR code to scan for their respective themed autographs. This also marks the debut of a brand new garlic herb crispy thigh, where you can watch a Mirror-themed ASMR of four members taking their first bite here. Through ordering on the McDonald’s app, collect all 16 limited-edition flashcards and call yourself a super super Mirror fan, otherwise, you’ll have to patiently wait it out and enjoy your McNugget meal next to a sticker of Keung To’s face over the next four weeks.
Limited blends from the KiKi Tea x Shanghai Tang collaboration
You might not have guessed it but Taiwanese tea house, KiKi Tea, and Hong Kong-based fashion brand Shanghai Tang have a couple things in common. One in specific: Chinese tea traditions. In an honest tribute to traditional tea craftsmanship –– particularly Longjing leaves, a beloved green tea originated from China’s Zhejiang province dating back to the Ming Dynasty, and Oolong tea, sourced from Taiwan and known elegantly as the “champagne” of red teas –– both brands have created limited-time specials (available until 12 December) each designed in their own way to highlight both tea blends.
From KiKi Tea, both leaves have been brewed into two refreshing beverages: Longjing tea with aiyu jelly and a sea salt and cream cheese foam, and Oolong tea with Oolong-infused jelly and cream mousse. While at Shanghai Tang, the tea blends are distilled into a new “Chinese Tea Home Fragrance” collection in either a candle or illustrative floral-printed ceramic room diffuser –– Longjing Dew with added notes of jasmine and orange flowers and Oolong Glam scented with light peach and citrus.
Kiki Tea, various locations including Shop 2017, Podium L2, ifc mall, 1 Harbour View Street, Central, Hong Kong, +852 2114 3426
Header image courtesy of Chaat.
Lorria Sahmet
Editor
After two years writing in luxury retail, Lorria now covers food and drink happenings in Hong Kong. When not taste-testing for the best fries in the city (shoestring, always!), find her at home obsessing over tableware and attempting a fruit garden on her tiny bay window. She is happiest by the ocean with a giant fishbowl-glass of Aperol Spritz.
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