Restaurant Review: The Chinnery, Mandarin Oriental

It always surprises me that the best Indian food in Hong Kong is served at The Chinnery, a place with a decided English old world charm. While I expected the food to be less spicy and not really appealing to an Indian palate, I was in for a surprise on my first visit and have loved The Chinnery ever since.

And what's not to love about the place?  The ambience is great and very relaxed - just sitting in one of the booths makes you feel less stressed.

The staff is friendly - they arranged drinks for us which are not on the menu, encouraged us to stick around even after it's time for them to wrap up, brought us a mug of beer (in pewter mugs!) on the house and always had a smile.

The cocktails and recommendations are just right and the food is well worth every penny! Over a couple of visits, we've had Chicken Tandoori,

Prawn masala with rice

And some excellent garlic naan

The bit I look forward to the most - when cookies or chocolate sticks appear on the table after the meal! All in all, The Chinnery is a place for happy times and worth looking forward to for our monthly visits.

Are there any restaurants which have taken you by surprise? Would love to know more!

The Chinnery
Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road, Central, Hong Kong
Phone: 2825 4009
Email: mohkg-chinnery@mohg.com

Restaurant Review: Oolaa, SoHo

Somebody recommended that I try Oolaa brunches and boy was it a great recommendation!

The husband and I booked a table at Oolaa last Saturday (yes, reservations are a must here) and had the most perfect mid-day meal. The staff was friendly and the food was reasonably priced for the portion size. The place was absolutely buzzing and the service super-fast. 

The only down-side is that you can only sit-in and dine in the restaurant section for 90 minutes over the weekend. This is the kind of traffic they get. On weekdays though, one can linger and use the wifi for hours on end as long as you have some food on your table. 

Oolaa's Big Breakfast

The husband prefers to take the easy way out while ordering his breakfast and always goes for the Big Breakfast. At Oolaa, he got a huge breakfast - he literally gasped when he saw his plate! The restaurant owners seem to believe in 'big is beautiful' - Oolaa is huge by HK standards and so are the portion sizes. I don't hear anybody complaining!

Muesli

I thought I would take the healthier route and have a bowl of muesli followed by bruschetta. Boy, was I in for a surprise! As you can see, my small 'bowl' of muesli was a heaping plate full.

Breakfast bruschetta

...and have a look at the bruschetta! I had imagined the bruschetta to look like this, instead I got the above! It was great!

Asparagus

On top of the above, we had also ordered a side of asparagus. This again was absolutely flavourful and crunchy.

We went in famished and came out stuffed. All in all, a great weekend meal indeed!

With its large open spaces, comfortable vibe, Oolaa is a must visit for people who visit SoHo.

Oolaa

G/F, Bridges Street, Centrestage

SoHo, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong

Reservations: 2803 2083