Causeway Bay has an insane selection of restaurants and the dining vibe changes from street to street, with a vast collection of everything from lush cheap eats and hidden gems to fine-dining venues. By this account, the newest concept to hit the Lee Garden Two area is housed inside the top floor of the mall known mostly for its children’s shops like Seed and Mothercare and formerly housing garden-chic restaurant Seasons by Olivier E – that is, until the space was taken over by high-end family members’ club Maggie & Rose.
The club, of which there is also a longer-standing location at The Pulse in Repulse Bay, is only open until 7pm, leaving the large dining room and huge terrace empty in the evenings. With rents as exorbitant as they are in Hong Kong, this is never the best business plan, so they’ve recently created an evening concept for the space.
It’s a tricky concept to pull off: private family club by day, classic cocktail terrace by night. We visited in the soft- opening stage while they The Leah is perfecting how the transition from day to night works. The British comfort food served is reminiscent of choice gastropub dishes, done by a chef who earned his chops under René Redzepi and Tom Aikens before embarking on a two-year escapade with pop-up concept One Star House Party, building restaurants in far-flung locations (Mount Everest for one!) for one or two nights.
James Sharman, the charming and down-to earth chef, describes the menu at The Leah as fuss-free British comfort food. There is also an accomplished drink menu serving up a fine selection of wines and classic long drinks along with contemporary British faves like Pimm’s.
Here’s a look at some of the dishes from the soft-opening stage that are still being honed:
Scallops and leek with black pudding crumb ($228)
Chervil, walnut and wood-ear mushroom risotto with Parmesan ($148)
Scotch soft-boiled duck egg with sourdough soldiers ($98)
Sous-vide pork tenderloin with caramelised sweet potato and chorizo ($228)
Chicken thigh and leek pie ($158)
Beef Wellington with mashed potato and red wine sauce ($788)
It’s not British if there’s no trifle ($88)…
Blueberry oat crumble ($88)
Verdict
If it’s British comfort food you seek, you’ll find it at The Leah, which is old English for “meadow”, an apt moniker given that the terrace offers more grass than you’re likely to see in most parts of Hong Kong. Everything is prepared with care in-house, and although they are still working out some kinks (the prices are a bit all over the place), fine-tuning the menu and taking the restaurant from a daytime kids’ club to a nightspot for dining and drinking, The Leah’s got some great dishes that aren’t easy to find done well in Hong Kong. Intensely rich, the chicken and leek pie was everything you hope a good British pie will be, but three times more robustly flavourful. It was definitely our favourite from the evening.
Shop 308 and 311, 3/F, Lee Garden Two, 28 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay, 2337 7651
This write-up is based on a complimentary media tasting provided in exchange for an honest review and no monetary compensation. The opinions expressed here represent the author’s.
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