Hong Kong offers a huge variety of Asian cuisines. If you're keen on foods with character, try the romantically inspired Mrs Pound restaurant located in the heart of Sheung Wan. The story they put out tells of the owner Mrs Pound, a jet-setting burlesque dancer, who has a lover called Lee Sai-wah. And thereby hangs a tale.

The menu at Mrs Pound promises to elevate and reinterpret street food with new cooking techniques, using authentic ingredients sourced from Southeast and East Asia. And that's pretty much what they deliver.

One enticing dish is a combination you don't see here very often - a Japanese-Italian fusion named Yuba Bolognese. This is crafted from "Impossible", i.e. plant-based meat, with tomato and basil, layered with Japanese-style bean curd sheets - and it works. The Malaysian laksa prawn dumplings also go down well. This dish marries Southeast Asian spiced laksa broth with angel prawn and tofu dumplings, and is served along with a crunchy garlic toast that's just ideal for dunking. It's the type of dish best eaten in the company of good friends and family. Another spicy dish is the Sichuanese ma-la beef tongue that has been marinated with ma-la spice and slow cooked. The dish is served with fingerling potato.

In the lobby of the Nexxus Building in Central, Moi Moi has launched a semi-buffet dinner featuring the flavors of Vietnam. Moi Moi is very attractively adorned in jade and ruby colors. Patrons are welcomed with a complimentary cup of homemade ginger tea. It's a nice touch that gets one relaxed and ready to enjoy the ambience as you peruse the buffet table piled high with a generous spread of hearty appetizers, including crab meat spring rolls and prawn crackers with baby clams.

To further enhance the Vietnamese dining experience, the mains feature delicious dishes such as Hanoi turmeric and dill fish with rice vermicelli, and Haiphong seafood rice vermicelli in a stone pot. The "Flavors of Vietnam" semi-buffet dinner is a special promotion for families. Each customer can bring up to two kids under 11 to enjoy the buffet for free.

Near Hong Kong International Airport, the Essence outlet in the lobby of Novotel Citygate, Tung Chung, will be presenting a special "Taiwan Weekend Afternoon Tea Buffet". Available from Feb 23 until June 8, its usual weekend selection of sandwiches, dim-sum, cook-to-order noodles as well as crepes, ice cream, cakes, fresh fruits and more will be complemented by the addition of Taiwan-style sweet and savory dishes. These specialties include salted chicken, stewed pork ribs, oyster omelet and slightly spicy beef noodles. Desserts feature souffl pancakes with black sugar tapioca pearls and Aiyu jelly as well as boiled grass jelly with toppings.

For another selection of sweet treats, souffl pancakes from Japan are now available at the Kowloon Shangri-La's Lobby Lounge. The fluffy souffl pancakes are accompanied by a choice of six different toppings, including assorted seasonal fruits, banana and chocolate, crme brle, tiramisu, strawberries from Japan and fresh cream.

(HK Edition 02/22/2019 page11)