Love beer and food? We have the beer-fect recommendation for you: from now till 8 September, selected Lan Kwai Fong eateries will be offering special beer-infused summer tasting menus, so you can literally have your beer and eat it too. With 17 restaurants going all out to create special dishes infused with beer along with seasonal summer ingredients, there’s a whole wide world of cuisines to choose from, including Argentinian, Cantonese, Italian, Japanese and Thai.
We previewed a couple of the beer-infused tasting menus (you’re welcome), starting with Café Siam’s Thai beer-infused three-course menu ($388). This hits the spot if you’re looking for Thai-tastic classics washed down with Thailand’s favourite Singha beer. While you get a choice between two mains, we liked the oven-baked Singha-marinated fish served in panang sauce. The lightly battered fish was complemented by the creamy, moderately spicy panang curry sauce, and the Singha marinade added a unique dimension, providing a subtle hoppy aftertaste. You basically get a whole fish when you order this dish, so come hungry!
Although the dessert – sticky coconut rice with mango – wasn’t infused with any beer, we couldn’t fault the warm, pillow-y puffs of rice soaked in coconut milk sauce and topped with fresh mango. We also liked that the dish was served with both white and purple sticky rice, which offered a slightly sweeter spin on the otherwise ubiquitous Thai dessert.
2/F and 3/F, The Plaza, 21 D’Aguilar Street, LKF, Central, 2851 4803
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Next up, we headed to Kyoto Joe. Their seven-course tasting menu ($490) is an elaborate treat, featuring classic Japanese dishes with a modern twist. Serving up a trio of impeccable-quality sashimi mori (raw sashimi platter), signature Kyoto Joe salad and fragrant basil sushi rolls as starters cemented the restaurant’s reputation as a destination for luxury dining in the heart of Lan Kwai Fong, but it was the beer-infused dishes we were most interested in.
Beer-battered prawn and mixed vegetable tempura, one of the highlights of the menu, should come as no surprise, arguably one of the easiest ways to incorporate beer into a dish. The evenly fried tempura was excellently prepared; equal parts light and crispy on the tongue and juicy and meaty within, this deep-fried snack tasted indulgent, without all the fatty oil. The chicken teriyaki, with bubbly beer foam atop each morsel, was a creative stunner. Well glazed and savoury, the grilled chicken had a bouncy, firm texture with just a hint of hop from the beer, which we enjoyed for its subtle taste. And what‘s a beer-infused tasting menu without some themed drinks? Kyoto Joe‘s contribution is a zesty draught beer cocktail, a refreshing (and very generous) mix of Campari, egg white, fresh lime juice and, of course, beer.
We wrapped up the meal with traditional beef udon and dessert of mini crème brûlée cups in matcha, coffee and sesame flavours. This tasting set is an easy option when one wants a delicious, filling meal with thoughtful variety, prepared with ingredients of such premium quality that you can taste it. Kyoto Joe‘s seven-course beer-infused menu is available until the end of summer – and hard to beat at such a price point.
2/F, 1 Lan Kwai Fong, LKF, Central, 2804 6800
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This write-up is based on complimentary media tastings provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation.
