香港美食圖景中的新秀
I go to Rome and I know that there will be prosciutto in my days, bucatini in my nights. I go to Lisbon with an uncontestable agenda of the shellfish and the sausage that the Portuguese cook so enviably.
我去羅馬的時候，知道自己應該白天吃意大利薰火腿，晚上吃意大利細條面。我去里斯本的時候，確定無疑地將葡萄牙噴香誘人的貽貝和香腸納入旅行計劃。I go to Hong Kong with no foregone conclusions, just a blank menu to be filled any number of ways. That’s what I love about it.
但我去香港的時候卻什麼美食計劃也沒做，因爲我知道有太多的東西可以填充我空白的菜單，這也是我喜歡香港的原因。
Technically, Hong Kong’s cuisine is Cantonese, and you should fit some dim sum into your dining. But what really distinguishes this electrifying city is its almost unrivaled culinary internationalism. It’s not just a global crossroads for business. It’s a global crossroads for food, one of a handful of commercial capitals, like New York and London, that have no particular concentration of ambitious, accomplished restaurants in any one genre. The most appealing and important places cut across all traditions.
理論上講，香港美食屬於粵菜，所以遊客總會品嚐些點心。但讓這個活力之城與衆不同的是它無與倫比的美食國際化。香港不只是個國際貿易的集散地，更是全球美食的融合之所。像紐約、倫敦等少數幾個商業大都市一樣，各種風格的美食都有，但又沒有任何一種凌駕於其他流派之上。那些最吸引人、最重要的餐館，都是超越傳統的。
That’s the case in Hong Kong partly because it’s a setting where many of the best-known chefs from other countries establish outposts, sometimes even exporting versions of the enterprises that made them famous. Sushi superstars from Tokyo have planted flags here. As in Manhattan, there’s a Motorino for Neapolitan pizza lovers and a Carbone for fans of Italian-American cooking. As in Paris, there’s a L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon.
香港的美食現狀正是如此，部分原因是許多國家的知名大廚都選擇到香港開業，有些大廚的事業甚至是從香港起家的。來自東京的著名壽司品牌，紛紛在香港安營紮寨。就彷彿在曼哈頓，既有供應正宗那不勒斯披薩的Motorino披薩店，也有定位美式意大利菜的Carbone飯店。或者像巴黎的L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon米其林餐廳。During a visit I made to Hong Kong in 2013, two of the new spots drawing the most chatter were a Mexican restaurant, Brickhouse, and a Japanese yakitori, Yardbird.
我2013年造訪香港的時候， 名氣最大的新晉飯店有兩家，一家是墨西哥飯店“磚房”(Brickhouse)，另一家是日式烤肉店“新兵”(Yardbird)。When I returned recently and took a fresh inventory of newcomers that had generated significant enthusiasm, the list included many restaurants with Mediterranean moorings — Spanish, French, Italian or an amalgam of those. One restaurant advertised a melding of Italian and Japanese. A spot specializing in upscale American hamburgers was a big hit, as was one specializing in Japanese curry.
趁着這次再訪香港，我對當地美食界的新秀又做了一次盤點。這些在吃貨中引發巨大熱情的飯店，很多都供應地中海飲食——包括西班牙菜、法國菜、意大利菜或融合多種風味。有一家飯店的廣告聲稱自己既有意大利菜，又有日本菜。一家專注於高端美式漢堡的飯店非常火爆，同樣火爆的另一家餐館專做日本咖喱飯。And that’s not counting the five standouts described in more detail below. Suffice it to say that in this one polyglot city across one hungry week, I ate the whole wide world.
但本文詳細描述的幾家優秀餐館，卻不在上述行列。一言以蔽之，在這個包羅萬象的城市停留一星期，我嚐遍了整個世界。Nur
NurThe main dining room opens to a terrace several stories above the streets of central Hong Kong, and on the night when I dined here, a gentle breeze blew in.
位於香港中環，主要就餐區正好對着一個高出地面好幾層的露臺。我去吃飯的那晚，有習習涼風吹過。But that wasn’t all that the terrace provided. Time and again, regarding dish after dish, our server noted that some leaf, shoot or blossom had come from the greenery out there, mere strides away. Forget farm-to-table, this was patio-to-table — and a vivid illustration of Nur’s stated commitment to local products.
但這不是露臺能提供的所有好處。一次又一次，在上菜間隙，給我們上菜的服務員提到，不斷有來自周邊環境的樹葉、竹葉或花朵從我們身邊飛過。忘掉“從農場到餐桌”的口號吧，Nur是“從露臺到餐桌”的，這同時也是飯店堅持使用本地食材的生動體現。I had sat down to my dinner here with some doubts. The restaurant’s name recognizes the first syllable of the chef’s (Nurdin Topham) as well as the Arabic word for “light.” Its website lays out both Mr. Topham’s belief in a restrained, healthful discipline he calls “nourishing gastronomy” and his past involvement in “a somewhat unorthodox project — the deliciousness of insects.” I braced for preciousness and strange critters. I needn’t have.
我剛開始吃飯的時候，心裏還有些猶疑。飯店的名字Nur是首席大廚諾丁·託普漢姆(Nurdin Topham)名字的第一個音節，它在阿拉伯語中的意思是“光芒”。飯店網站不僅強調了託普漢姆先生對節制型健康飲食的信念 “滋養型美味”，還講到他以前參與的一個“非傳統項目——作爲食物的昆蟲之美”。所以我剛到的時候，猜測這裏的飯菜大約是劍走偏鋒那種，充滿奇特物種。但品嚐之後發現自己多慮了。There are traces of molecular gastronomy in some of Mr. Topham’s artfully composed dishes, which reduce certain ingredients to concentrated pastes or broths of intense flavor. And there’s a vigorous nod to the Copenhagen culinary temple Noma, where Mr. Topham briefly worked, and to its locavore ethos. For that reason, Nur has sometimes been called a New Nordic restaurant.
在託普漢姆先生精心烹製的食物中，有些頗能體現“分子美食”的追求，風味濃郁的麪糰和肉湯集中了多種配料的精華。此外，飯菜不僅明顯體現出對哥本哈根美食聖殿諾瑪(Noma)的致敬（託普漢姆曾在這家飯店工作過一段時間），更明確表達對本地飲食風格的重視。所以，Nur有時會被歸入“新北歐”風格飯館。But it’s more original than that. With a scrupulous emphasis on the best vegetables, fish and meat available and with absolutely flawless cooking, at least when I visited, Mr. Topham produces food that’s sensationally robust without being the least bit rich. It’s almost oxymoronic, packing a light wallop, with a clearness and purity of effect that I’ve seldom encountered. And it’s bug-free! If this is nourishing gastronomy, put me down for ceaseless gastronomic nourishment.
但這家飯店的創意遠超過人們的歸類。它全面表現了自己對優質果蔬、魚類和肉類以及烹調技術無微不至的強調——至少在我去的那天如此。託普漢姆先生爲我烹製的食物精緻可口，滋味微妙，新鮮至極。說起來自相矛盾，但這裏奉上的食物既微妙又極具衝擊力，純淨程度平生罕見。而且沒有蟲子！如果這就是滋養型美食，就給讓我永遠沉浸在這無窮無盡的滋養中吧。Nur doesn’t give you any choices. It serves just one tasting menu of nine courses including dessert, and they came in rapid enough succession and sensible enough measure that I never felt impatient or overwhelmed (though, by the end, I felt amply filled).
Nur飯店不許食客點菜，只提供包括九道菜的品味套餐。上菜的速度很快，上菜的順序和方式也很合理，整個過程我從未感覺不耐煩或壓力（當然最後，我發現自己吃得過飽）。There were orbs of heirloom tomato with a texture almost like sorbet and a pool of tomato water around them. A subsequent dish combined salmon eggs with walnuts and horseradish yogurt. Squid, paired with charred onions and lemon basil, was exquisitely supple and sweet, and dessert was a fitting, fetching cap to a meal with such a vegetal, herbaceous bent: ice cream that tasted like French onion soup.
菜品包括：幾隻傳統方法烹製的質感彷彿冰沙的西紅柿，周圍是一汪西紅柿汁；接下來是一道融合了鮭魚卵、胡桃和山葵酸奶的小菜；魷魚搭配微火碳烤的洋蔥和檸檬羅勒，嚐起來滋味柔甜，微妙無比；餐後甜點是嚐起來像法式洋蔥湯的冰淇淋，回味豐厚，對以果蔬爲主的清爽美食進行了適當而及時的補充。Although that terrace accommodates a few diners, I sat at a spacious and relatively quiet table just inside, within view of an open kitchen more fully and pleasantly integrated into the dining room than such stages often are. And I had a glass of white Burgundy, followed by a glass of Barolo, from a wine list that covered many of Europe’s highlights.
儘管露臺上能容納好幾桌食客，但我的餐桌位於室內，一個寬敞而相對安靜的所在，可以看到完整且與就餐區和諧融合的開放式廚房。至於酒水，我先喝了一杯意大利巴羅洛乾紅，然後是一杯勃艮第白葡萄酒。酒水單上的選項，大都是來自歐洲的好酒。Nur, 1 Lyndhurst Terrace, Third Floor, Central; . Dinner for two, without drinks or tip, comes to about 2,375 Hong Kong dollars, or $315, at 7.50 Hong Kong dollars to the U.S. dollar.
Nur，地址1 Lyndhurst Terrace，三樓正中間； 。兩人份晚餐約2375港幣，不含酒水和小費，根據美元對港幣7.50的匯率約315美元。Souvla
SouvlaThe white granite tables are rimmed in bright red. The booths and benches are upholstered in deep purple. There’s a long, long bar that rests atop a long, long rectangle of pale stones held together by a mesh cage. As visually arresting as all of this is, I’m not sure what it has to do with Greece, which is the country whose cooking Souvla pays tribute to.
白色花崗岩餐桌鑲着紅邊，包間和座椅都包有深紫色的軟墊。長長的吧檯設在一塊形狀狹長、用網籠箍好的灰色石板上。這家飯店的第一印象很是吸引眼球，但我不知道它與希臘有什麼關係，而店名Souvla（字面意思爲“希臘烤肉”）顯然表達了對希臘烹飪的致敬。But the menu would be instantly recognizable to any Athenian. The food would pass muster as well. Greeks like to think that they have some special secret for octopus that’s tenderer than anywhere else, but they’d be hard-pressed to outdo the kitchen here, which sculpted and arranged the thin columns of pale pink flesh into a sort of pyramid. It was octopus Legos.
但只要看到菜單，任何雅典人都會承認這家飯店的正宗。端上來的菜也非常符合要求。希臘人總認爲自己有某種祕密手段，能將章魚肉烹得比其他地區更爲柔嫩，但他們如果看到這家飯店就會備感壓力，因爲這裏的廚師能將章魚幼細渾圓的淺粉色腕足精心雕塑，再排成金字塔的性狀——簡直就是章魚肉拼成的樂高玩具。I’m an ardent lover of taramosalata, that Greek (and Turkish) spread of smoked fish roe and olive oil, and Souvla’s achieved the perfect pitch of saltiness, along with an ethereal creaminess. It spread like a cloud across triangles of toasted pita that were glossed with oil and still warm.
我非常喜歡希臘（以及土耳其）紅魚籽沙拉，一種由煙燻魚籽拌上橄欖油而成的菜品。Souvla的紅魚籽沙拉不僅做到了完美的鹹度，還有一絲若有若無的奶油味。將這種魚籽抹在微溫且略帶油香的三角形皮塔餅上，彷彿一層輕柔的雲朵。Those two dishes came toward the start of our meal, and I figured that they’d be the high points. But there were taller peaks ahead. One was gemista, a hearty, earthy casserole of potatoes, tomato sauce and peppers stuffed with rice. The other was the slow-cooked lamb, ribbons of meltingly soft leg meat placed next to a glittering relish of pomegranate and a tiny glass bottle filled with a tangy yogurt dressing.
以上是我們那一餐的兩道頭盤，我以爲它們就是當天的亮點。但後面其實有更大的驚喜。土豆青椒燉香米(gemista)是一種分量十足的砂鍋類燉菜，主料是土豆、番茄醬和塞滿米飯的青椒。另一道菜是小火慢燉的羊肉，一條條羊腿肉被烹得軟糯無骨，搭配的小菜由亮晶晶的石榴籽做成，蘸料則是盛在小玻璃杯裏的濃香酸奶。As I looked at the artful presentation of the lamb and thought back to the octopus, the décor suddenly made sense. It was an announcement that Souvla would respect Greece but reinterpret it with fillips all its own. So while Souvla covers the hoary classics — spanakopita, moussaka — it gives some of them a face-lift, and it tacks on a long list of elaborate specialty cocktails, the focal point of a lively bar scene.
看着眼前充滿藝術氣息的羊肉擺盤，剛纔章魚肉的擺放方式忽然有了意義。這是Souvla飯店的自我宣言——它尊重希臘本土烹飪，但也用多種有趣的創造對傳統進行重新解釋。所以，Souvla烹製菠菜派(spanakopita)和穆薩卡(moussaka)等經典菜品的同時，也對它們進行了升級換代。此外，精心調配的多種雞尾酒也讓這家飯店別具特色，營造出一種輕鬆愉快的酒吧氛圍。Souvla, 1/F Ho Lee Commercial Building, 40 D’Aguilar Street, Central; conceptcreations. Dinner for two, without drinks or tip, averages 1,150 dollars.
Souvla，地址：1/F Ho Lee Commercial Building, 40 D’Aguilar Street, Central；。兩人份晚餐，均價1150港幣，不含酒水和小費。Chachawan
ChachawanWhile Souvla and Nur are tucked away, almost invisibly, in tall buildings, Chachawan opens wide to the street, with the sidewalk almost acting as its vestibule. This befits its air of scruffy, ragtag informality and a menu that’s inspired in part by street food from Thailand, or, to be more specific, the northeastern Thai province of Isan. That’s how narrowly focused this restaurant is, and that’s how ethnically ambitious Hong Kong can get.
Souvla和Nur藏匿在高樓大廈之間，從遠處幾乎看不到，Chachawan就在街面上，人行道如同它的門廊一般。這也頗符合它凌亂無章、不拘禮節的底層特質。它的菜單部分來自泰國的路邊攤，或者更準確地說，來自泰國東北的伊森省。這家餐廳的專營範圍就有這麼窄，或者說香港美食在民族層面就有這樣豐富。With the cooking of Isan you get ample spice. You get serious fire. One dish almost brought me to my knees. It looked so innocent, so pretty, a salad with a bright, approachable medley of colors and textures, courtesy of green papaya, cherry tomatoes, dried shrimp, peanuts. But there were a few small chiles lurking in there, and they soon enough registered their presence in my throat and in my gut, which was suddenly a caldron. It seethed and bubbled for hours to come.
伊森的烹飪需要加入大量香料。這定能給你帶來興奮刺激。其中一道菜令我深深折服。它看上去只是一道漂亮無害的沙拉，各種明亮的色彩與親切的質地混合在一起，似乎是青木瓜、櫻桃番茄、蝦仁和花生的混合。但是裏面還潛伏着少許辣椒，很快就開始在我的喉嚨與肺腑之內彰顯它們的存在，我覺得自己簡直變成了一個大汽鍋，其後幾個小時都在一直沸騰冒泡。Chachawan was worth the burn. Not every dish carried that risk, but nearly every dish had the interplay of contrasting effects that are at the heart of Southeast Asian cooking. In the “Larp Moo,” a loose, wet mix of chopped pork, pork skin, shallots and mint needed something dry and firm, so it got that, from leaves of crisp, cool iceberg to be used as wraps.
Chachawan完全值得你爲之沸騰。每一道菜都有這樣的危險，而且每一道菜中都有鮮明的反差效果，這是東南亞烹飪的精髓。“Larp Moo”是把豬肉餡、豬皮、小蔥和薄荷混合在一起，鬆軟多汁，需要配合乾硬的東西一起吃，因此外面包着又冷又脆，如同冰山的葉子。Sweet and sour, sugar and spice, cold and hot: These were the currents that ran through most of the dishes, including a garlicky, boneless chicken thigh on a stick: a supersized satay. Sweet and salty were the playmates in an excellent dessert of coconut rice dumplings in a salted coconut cream.
絕大多數菜餚裏貫穿着甜與酸、糖與香料、冷與熱的口感，比如用大蒜調味的無骨雞腿，用籤子串着——這是一份特大號的沙茶烤肉。椰米餃子是一道美味的甜點，要蘸着鹹味的椰醬食用，甜與鹹彷彿成爲一對玩伴。Chachawan is routinely thronged, but it’s not for everyone. Situated in the increasingly trendy neighborhood of Sheung Wan, it doesn’t take reservations. Some of its servers are better at striking hipster poses than seeing to your needs. The seating is on the awkward side of snug.
Chachawan通常都很擁擠，而且不是所有人都能來想用。它坐落在日益時尚的上環，不接受定位。有些侍者與其說照顧客人，不如說更擅長擺出時髦姿態。座椅也不舒服。But there’s no arguing with the food that the chef, Adam Cliff, produces. And if the self-consciously scruffy setting isn’t exactly relaxing, you can use Chachawan’s vivid, creative cocktails and its smart international selection of beers to unwind.
但是大廚亞當·克利夫(Adam Cliff)烹製的食物無可挑剔。如果你在這種刻意的凌亂環境中感到不自在，那麼享用一杯Chachawan新穎可口的雞尾酒，或者來自世界各地的精的啤酒，你就會放鬆下來。Chachawan, 206 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan; . Dinner for two, without drinks or tips, averages 675 dollars.
Chavchawan，206 Hollywood Road，上環，，兩人份晚餐，均價675港元，不含酒水和小費。Aberdeen Street Social
Aberdeen Street SocialThis restaurant is as polished and refined as Chachawan is hectic. It spreads out over two stories that include a downstairs bar, outdoor terraces and an upstairs dining room that’s dominated by dark woods and brings to mind the inside of a chest of drawers. The servers are numerous, proper and hovering.
如果說Chachawan是忙亂的，這家店則是風雅而又精緻。它佔了兩層樓，樓下是酒吧，還有個露天平臺，樓上的用餐區以深色木質裝潢爲主，令人感覺置身五斗櫥中。侍者人數衆多，舉止得體，在四處走來走去。And the prices reflect this. Especially if you order wine from Aberdeen’s widely ranging list, the bill can climb high.
這些特點也體現在價格上。這裏的菜單雖然價格多樣，但如果你點了紅酒，可能就得付天價賬單了。The restaurant is affiliated with the English chef Jason Atherton, a Gordon Ramsay protégé with a rapidly growing international roster, including several previous places in Hong Kong. His menu here has been called “modern British,” a culinary phrase that, like “new American,” tends to be elastic. In Aberdeen’s case, it means the existence of British staples and British conventions complemented by Asian, Mediterranean influences. So while the starters I encountered included a pig’s trotter with black pudding for the Anglophile, there was also tuna tataki with ponzu dressing, not to mention a tomato salad with Italian burrata cheese.
這家餐廳與英國大廚傑森·阿瑟頓(Jason Atherton)關係密切，他是戈登·拉姆齊(Gordon Ramsay)的學徒，迅速積累起在世界各地工作的經驗，其中也包括上面提過的幾家香港餐廳。他將自己的菜單稱之爲“現代英式菜”，這個烹飪術語和“新美國菜”一樣，非常靈活。在Aberdee這裏，他爲英國主餐與英國傳統菜賦予少許亞洲與地中海氣息。比如我吃到的開胃菜中就有英國血腸配豬腳和金槍魚刺身蘸柚子醋，更不必說番茄沙拉搭配意大利布拉塔奶酪。I was especially impressed with two entrees, a sublime pork chop served with a red pepper relish and slices of lamb rump dusted with a “kidney powder” that teased out the meat’s muskiness. My companions and I savored these at a spacious table next to a glass wall that let just the right amount of light onto our meal.
主菜中我特別喜歡的有兩道，搭配紅辣椒調料的豬排令人讚歎不已；搭配“腎臟粉末”的切片羊羔後臀肉散發着麝香般的氣息。我和同伴在寬敞的桌前用餐，陽光從身邊的玻璃幕牆射進來，照在道道佳餚之上。Aberdeen Street Social, JPC G/Floor, 35 Aberdeen Street, Central; aberdeenstreetsocial. Dinner for two, without drinks or tip, averages about 1,450 dollars.
Aberdeen Street Social, JPC G/Floor, 35 Aberdeen Street，中環；. 兩人份晚餐，均價約爲1450港元，不含酒水和小費。Ho Lee Fook
Ho Lee FookIf the pork at Aberdeen Street Social was sublime, the pork at Ho Lee Fook was nearly life-changing. I mean the strips of pork char siu, which refers to a Cantonese method of cooking the meat over fire and giving it a sweet red glaze. Char siu is a staple of Chinese takeout, but I’ve never had takeout that uses Berkshire pigs from Japan. When that caliber of flesh meets this method of preparation, the results are a fatty, flavorful knockout.
如果說Aberdeen Street Social的豬肉令人讚歎，那麼Ho Lee Fook的豬肉簡直能夠改變人生。我指的是這裏的叉燒豬肉，這是一種粵式烹飪方法，把豬肉放在火上炙烤，爲它賦予甜美的紅色光澤。叉燒本是中國外賣餐館中的主菜，但外賣不會提供用日本的德克夏豬製作的叉燒。在這裏，用這種高質豬肉製成的叉燒肥美可口，令人着迷。Then again, most everything I had at Ho Lee Fook wowed me. The restaurant fuses Cantonese with other Asian traditions as well as any flourishes that the chef, Jowett Yu, deems appropriate. It’s thrillingly unbound, never letting precedent get in the way of deliciousness.
Ho Lee Fook把粵菜和亞洲傳統菜融爲一爐，幾乎所有菜都讓我讚歎。此外還有不少大廚喬伊特·於(Jowett Yu)拿手的小菜。它們無拘無束，不拘一格而又美味之極。My favorite dish, even better than the pork, comprised slices of wagyu short rib that were arranged on one side of the bone, a green shallot kimchi on the other side and a jalapeño purée through which either or both could be swept. The way the heat of that purée cut the richness of the beef was exhilarating.
我最喜歡的還要算是神戶小牛排，甚至超過了豬肉：餐盤一邊放着肉骨，一邊放着青蔥泡菜和一支墨西哥青椒，你可以兩邊分別吃，也可以一起吃，青椒的辣味絕好地反襯出牛肉的肥腴。The menu sprawls across a half-dozen categories, including “raw,” “roast meat” and “vegetables.” There are fried chicken wings as well as hot-and-sour steak tartare, cabbage-and-pork dumplings as well as clams cooked in a Thai basil and tamarind broth. My companion and I ate twice as much as any two people should, longed to eat more and seriously thought about coming back the next night to do precisely that.
菜單分爲六大類，包括“生食”、“烤肉”和“蔬菜”等。你可以品嚐到炸雞翅、酸辣韃靼牛肉末、豬肉白菜餡餃子和羅勒與羅望子調味的泰式蛤蜊湯。我和同伴吃了雙份的食物還意猶未盡，盤算着第二天晚上再來一次。The restaurant’s setting is sexy: a dark underground room with just a few riveting pieces of art, including a white and gray dragon along one wall. This is what a Chinese drug lord’s rec room might look like.
餐廳的佈置非常優美：光線幽暗的地下室，牆上懸掛着若干饒有趣味的藝術作品，包括一條灰白色的龍，在牆壁上蜿蜒而過。感覺中國毒品大亨的娛樂室就應該是這樣的。The tables aren’t jammed too close together, even though people clamor for seats. Reservations are taken only for groups of five or more; others wait at nearby bars for the hostess to summon them back. It can take an hour or more.
這裏不算擁擠，但仍然有很多人等位。只接受五人以上（含五人）的預定，其他人可以在附近的酒吧等候迎賓女招待的通知，可能需要等待一個小時甚至更長時間。And it’s worth it, for a feast that’s a bevy of culinary traditions in one — much like Hong Kong.
但是爲了一頓融匯了各種傳統的盛宴，等待是值得的，而香港也是如此。Ho Lee Fook, 1-5 Elgin Street, Central; . Dinner for two, without drinks or tip, averages 1,050 dollars.
Ho Lee Fook， 1-5 Elgin Street，中環；，兩人份晚餐，均價1050港元，不含酒水或小費。
