New dining venues keep springing up in Hong Kong. One such is The Leah located in Lee Garden Two, Causeway Bay, which offers British comfort food created by Chef James Sharman. James's menu is inspired by memories of working under Tom Aikens in London and sharing a house with another eight young chefs.

"On our day off, on Sundays, we would come together and cook our version of comfort food using premium ingredients that would otherwise have gone to waste in the kitchens," he recalls. "The Leah's dishes, such as gnocchi cooked in beef fat, whole roasted Dover sole, and the decadent short-rib pie, are all a consequence of those days as a young chef."

Lovers of traditional British food will be delighted with favorites such as Scotch egg and soldiers - a soft-boiled duck egg wrapped in sausage and breadcrumbs before being perfectly fried - and the classic preparations of juicy meat, vegetables and gravy in the chicken, leek and bacon pie or the beef, ale and black pepper pie.

The Leah's Beef Wellington is an indulgence of beef fillet, mushrooms and Parma ham baked inside puff pastry. Other highlights are a scallop, leek and black pudding; scampi with crushed peas, vinegar and crisps, and wood ear mushroom with walnut risotto.

Across town in Central, a new Japanese restaurant has opened on the mezzanine floor of Prince's Building. Kakure is a Ginza-inspired dining establishment with a live teppanyaki cooking station, a sushi bar and a main dining area as well as private tatami rooms and a hidden modern Japanese cocktail-whisky bar.

Seafood is flown in daily from Japan to the sushi counter where guests can enjoy watching the sushi chef preparing seafood Edomae-style. At the teppanyaki grill, signature dinner sets vary from a beef teppanyaki course featuring amuse-bouche, chef's soup, grilled silver cod in sake soup, and king prawn with herb butter sauce to a Hida waygu beef and lobster set for two.

There is a separate teppanyaki menu for lunch as well as a la carte in the main dining area. Bento boxes filled with six items are also available during lunch with a variety of options.

Head to Shelley Street in SoHo to try the new co-venture by American chef Chris Grare, previously of Lily & Bloom, and British chef Arron Rhodes, formerly of Gough's on Gough. Called Kinship, the restaurant's food concept of farm-to-table emphasizes forming sustainable relationships with family-run local farms and suppliers, providing traceability in all produce, from roasted carrots homegrown in the New Territories to salmon fresh from the waters of the Faroe Islands.

Fresh caught sustainable seafood dishes include the hamachi crudo served with tuna and anchovy tonnato vinaigrette, crunchy garlic croutons and fermented "carrotkraut". Not to be missed is the smoked Faroe Islands salmon served warm with ikura, South American-inspired jicama salad, crispy quinoa and Peruvian chili sauce.

Signature mains for sharing include hearty dishes such as a spiced seafood stew of charred lobster, black cod, sofrito and spatzle, and a 20oz New York strip beef for two served with blue cheese potato, mustard cream and sauerkraut.

Sweet endings range from a nostalgic Mr Whippy soft-serve vanilla ice cream, salted caramel sauce, chocolate brownie and peanut brittle to a Southeast Asian-inspired chocolate and coconut tart that has been elevated by pandan mousse, toasted coconut and kaya jam.

(HK Edition 07/12/2019 page11)