Having got bored with finishing our Lantau hikes at the China Bear in Mui Wo, my hiking buddy and I decided to check out the new(-ish) Eddie’s restaurant in Tong Fuk yesterday. South Lantau Road is between it and the beach, so its “beach bistro” tag is a little bit of marketing licence, but this is a very welcome option indeed for quality food at reasonable prices on Lantau.
eddie's restaurant in Tong Fuk, Lantau Island
We arrived only a few minutes after the 6pm opening time, and were greeted by the very friendly and competent waiter. After quick trips to the gents to change our very sweaty hiking shirts we sat in comfortable easy chairs at one end of the restaurant (which essentially feels like a conservatory tacked on the front of the main building) and perused the menu and drinks list. The drinks list was exactly as on the website, but the food menu has evolved a little. 6-8pm is happy hour so draught beer and house wines by the glass are 2-for-1. The house wines are the drinkable (but nothing flash) Oxford Landing Sauvignon Blanc and CabSauv/Shiraz blend from Australia, but I was very pleasantly surprised to find that the house pour appears to be 175ml, which means that before 8pm you get a whole bottle of house wine for $90; frankly this is the best deal I know in town (even cheaper than the house wine at the FCC). Unlike some other places, they were very happy to supply large complimentary glasses of chilled water.
I was feeling hungrier than my companion, so I ordered a “lemony lentil & salmon salad ($68)” to start, followed by the “chicken breast stuffed with fontina cheese and wrapped in parma ham, served with potato and carrot mash ($98)”. He decided just to order the “Club Salad ($78)” and maybe save room for dessert.
We moved to one of the simple dark wood tables adorned with wicker place mats and linen napkins, with a view out over the road (but not really the beach). When my salad arrived my companion immediately regretted his reticence, accepted the waiter’s offer of a plate, and grabbed a large portion of it. It was exactly as advertised, the quality of the ingredients was apparent (the restaurant attempts to use organic and sustainable supplies), and the flavours of the salmon (which was lightly poached), lentils and lemony dressing were perfectly balanced. For a “starter size” salad it was quite large so no problem for two to share.
One thing that did surprise me slightly about the meal was that no bread was offered at any point, which seemed a bit unusual for this standard of place. Anyway, we then moved on to the main courses. My companion was also very enthusiastic about his Club Salad (again the size of a large starter or moderate main course), enjoying the flavours of the ingredients, which were lightly dressed but not so much that they were drowned out. My chicken was quite simple but very nicely done – the cheese helping to keep the chicken moist and the ham just slightly crispy around it. The potato and carrot mashes again had all the characteristics of home-grown, rather than industrial, vegetables, as did the perfectly steamed asparagus.
We decided we weren’t ready to finish there. My companion has a sweet tooth so he ordered the “tart of the day ($48)”, which was plum and lemon, having been advised that it was still baking in the oven (we were there quite early in the evening) and that it would take 20 minutes. This was fine as we were in no rush. Still having some house red to drink I felt more in the mood for cheese, and despite the fact that it wasn’t on the menu, the chef was happy to rustle up a very nicely presented plate containing four different cheeses (cheddar, emmental, a blue, and one that I didn’t recognise) with some strawberry segments and blueberries dotted around, and some biscuits ($78).
The tart when it arrived was absolutely superb – a proper fresh, homemade fruit tart served (on request) with a small pot of cream (and, of course, that means proper single cream, not something out of an aerosol can). I was sorely tempted to order a portion for myself even after 3 courses already, but I just managed to resist.
We decided to finish with tea (for my companion) and an espresso for me, accompanied in my case by a whisky digestif. The spirits list here is very short (basically one whisky – a 5 year old scotch – one VSOP brandy, amaretto, vodka, gin, rum) but I enjoyed the scotch with just a dash of water.
As well as the excellent waiter, the owner/chef (who isn’t called Eddie – that’s his dog!) came out at various points to check that everything was OK and to chat, and to give advice on transport home.
All in all we had a very enjoyable meal and the bill for the entire thing (two salads, one main course, one dessert, a cheese plate, an orange juice, a bottle of wine (2 * 2 175ml glasses on happy hour), a coffee, a tea and a scotch came to $560. On Hong Kong Island it would have been at least double, and probably treble that for food of this quality. No service charge is added to the menu prices, so that is entirely at diners’ discretion. The only thing I would say is that the drinks selection is quite limited, and I forgot to check their attitude / corkage for BYO, but I suspect it would be very reasonable, and the house wines are very drinkable (and superb value in happy hour).
(A side note that currently credit cards are not accepted (“coming soon”) – so make sure you have enough cash – the nearest ATM is quite some distance away!) EDIT 26/8/09: Visa, Mastercard & JCB are now accepted
All my Lantau hikes for the foreseeable future are going to finish here, and I would almost say it is worth a special trip (maybe combined with the beach) even if you don’t enjoy roaming the hills of Lantau. Eddie’s is very highly recommended!
July 19, 2009 at 01:48
That sounds very good. Will try it out next time. Does it occupy the old space of The Gallery or is it an entirely new restaurant?
July 19, 2009 at 02:02
The Gallery is still there, about 30 yards down the road, so these two are straight competitors; Eddie’s is adjacent to the Fairview Inn. I understand that it is packed for weekend breakfasts so reservations are necessary then.
July 19, 2009 at 02:55
Thanks!
Also worth a try on Lantau is the Turkish place in Mui Wo… Dolmabahce? Service is slow but it has some great food.
July 23, 2009 at 01:45
Take 2…
We went back tonight after another excellent hike on the hills of Lantau. My companion had what appears an odd combination as a starter, but it works really well: watermelon, olive oil, parsley and parmesan. I had the steak and blue cheese salad, which was very nicely done. And then (maybe the owner is reading) we got some rather nice bread (brown with seeds and a nice nutty flavour, lightly toasted) and butter while we waited for our main courses.
My companion had the parma ham wrapped chicken that I had last week (and was equally delighted with it); I had a dish of lamb fillet, served on a bed of couscous with a gravy, tzatziki, and asparagus. This was the least impressive dish of all those we have had here so far – to me lamb is an inherently fatty meat, and that is where a lot of the flavour comes from, but these were very lean pieces of flesh which didn’t really do much for me. (It was, moreover, quite expensive at $168 – the other main courses are far better value).
I then had the plum and lemon tart that I had managed to resist last week (fresh out of the oven again), and it was indeed excellent.
I may have slightly exaggerated the house wine pours last week, but they are at least 150ml. So this week, two starters, two mains, one dessert, one coffee (still out of decaf, hence the fact that I am writing this at 1:45am), one cranberry juice, and 4 glasses of the house wine (on happy hour) came to $580. Again, an excellent meal at a good price for Hong Kong.
August 27, 2009 at 01:29
Take 3…
Eddie’s now takes Visa, Mastercard & JCB (but not Amex), and they have decaf coffee.
Regrettably the excellent watermelon starter has disappeared from the menu…
The banoffee pie is very nice.
September 7, 2009 at 01:02
Thank you, thank you Smog for linking to my blog. no need to post this. just know i appreciate it hugeleh!
September 18, 2009 at 22:52
I love this – one of the search terms that brought someone here was:
restaurants “tong fuk ” -noisy -scary
I guess (from what I’ve heard) that they are trying to avoid The Gallery!
September 28, 2009 at 00:41
What is wrong with the Gallery,
September 28, 2009 at 00:54
From what I’ve heard it (or its proprietor at least) has a habit of getting noisy and scary (and a bit irascible) after a few drinks of an evening. But to be honest that’s second hand information (I’ve never been there) and from a couple of years ago. It may have changed since.
October 2, 2009 at 22:06
I have been going to the Gallery for over 6 years. Pizzas are the best in HK and the owner had served the commutity when the times were the hardest and gave credit who couldn’t pay. Shame you have to publish heresay remarks without having the decency to try the Gallery. Perhaps you should give a whirl after yur next hike in Lantau. I have been to Eddies and it is nice. It is good to have somewhere else to go that offers decent food and drink. However,the Gallery offers consistently fab steaks and pizza offering excellent value for money. It or rather the owner should be spoken of in such a way on your sight.