French diplomat residence house / Hong Kong / China

Hong Kong – House & Hotel Magazine features a house, but not a normal one, in my favourite city.

The French government sold its Hong Kong diplomat’s residence in the highly-sought after HK peak district for 75 million US $ in the city’s surging market.

The French government is not a speculator but if the french can make a good deal, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t be as smart as man other people in Hong Kong.
The 11,222-square foot property making it one of the most expensive sales in the world.
The building sits at the top of the Peak.

Lovely.

Resto tip in HK : St Betty

On the second floor of the IFC shopping mall in Central Hong Kong is St Betty, a slightly unlikely location for the latest venture of Alan Yau (founder of Wagamama and Hakkasan).

The formula for St Betty is not entirely obvious: vaguely European food with Asian touches, with a shopping centre location, 130 cover size and lack of tablecloths hinting at a quite casual format, but the level of work in the dishes and the pricing suggesting otherwise.

The dining room has a large display of fruit at the entrance, a stone floor and a white wall on one side, a view out from the mall through picture windows on the other. There is a short wine list, with wines such as Te Mania Sauvignon Blanc 2010.

The “21st century egg” took chopped century egg (a Chinese preserved egg) with black truffle, poached and rolled with Parmesan and then deep fried and garnished with a sliver of truffle. This was served with asparagus that had been cooked on the Josper grill (an enclosed grill that keeps the flavour in) and topped with Parmesan, served with lemon mayonnaise. This had been made using whole eggs rather than just the yolks in order to make it lighter.

The dish was dressed with hazelnut in vinaigrette. The overall creation was fantastic.

Followed by a beef carpaccio which was served with capers and a red wine vinaigrette. The beef had fantastic flavour, the capers lifting the dish. Yummy.

No dessert for us.

It was a nice evening.

My favourite old airport in HK (closed 1998)