A gourmet food importer’s favourite restaurant picks
Austrian Stefan Gross is the managing director of Blue Danube Gourmet, which imports food and wine from his homeland.
I’m lucky to have grown up in Austria, a country with a lot of local agricultural produce, so we don’t depend on imports. We always had quality comfort food such as schinkenfleckerl, Austria’s answer to macaroni and cheese.
I went to hotel school and worked in Vienna and Switzerland. I got bored with Europe and went to New York. I also lived in Malta, Edinburgh, the Caribbean and eventually settled in Hong Kong.
I eat at Chef’s Cuts (Shop G01G03, Central Market, 93 Queen’s Road, Central. Tel: 9574 4254) two or three times a week. I love the vibe. The seafood and bone marrow are good. The pork knuckle is also authentically made.
You might also see me at Soho
Banh Mi (Shop 2D, 1/F, The Center, 99 Queen’s Road Central. Tel: 5498 4236). The bread is the crispiest in town. I love the pâté made from locally sourced pork liver. The bun (rice noodle) salad is great in summer.
Before a night of drinking, I love having the city’s best fish and chips at Hooked (86-88 Caine Road, Mid-Levels. Tel: 2915 1118). I love the blue cod.
For local food, Chuan Yue Lou
(7/F, Coda Plaza, 51 Garden Road, Mid-Levels. Tel: 2838 2828) is my dim sum place. It’s Sichuan and Cantonese. If you can get a table by the window, the view is great.
Another favourite is Sister Wah
(13A Electric Road, Tin Hau. Tel: 2807 0181). It is Michelinrecommended. The beef brisket resembles tafelspitz, Viennese boiled beef and tripe.
For visitors, I might take them to Shanghai Lane (three locations including 35-37 Gough Street, Central. Tel: 2850 7788). Often, you can see them making the dumplings. It’s real comfort food. Outside the city, I go to
Rainbow Seafood Restaurant (2327 First Street, Sok Kwu Wan, Lamma Island. Tel; 2982 8100) a few times a year but it can be pricey. In the New Territories, I like Fu Kee Restaurant (56 Shan Tseng Village, 41-63 Castle Peak Road, Sham Tseng. Tel: 2491 8002) for roast goose after a hike. Dragon Inn Seafood Restaurant (12 Tsing Ha Lane, Castle Peak Bay, Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun. Tel: 2450 6366) is a good option if you are in the Gold Coast area.
As told to Andrew Sun