Blue Butcher - (Hong Kong)

 Blue Butcher proclaims to be a meat power house.   They are cooking all types of meat other than concentrating on singling out Dried Aged Beef as a selling point.    I  personally believe Beef meat is too marketable as a concept and it is one of the fewer meats on the market that can be cooked more towards rare,  which gives it instant advantage against other white meats like Pork and Chicken which are usually cooked closer to well-done and therefore less juicy.    Over at Blue Butcher,  one gets to appreciate that they try to balance everything right as an all rounder.  

 

 

Upstairs -
This is actually my 1st visit to Blue Butcher,   upon invitation by my marketing friend and herself a big foodie.   I don’t really go to new shops that often if you really know me

 

 

 

 

Antipodes Mineral Water from Down South -

 

 

 

 

Some Signature Cocktails to start-off With -
The 2nd one is a Pork Chop and Apple Sauce.   In general I found the cocktail recipes to sound intriguing enough but when you sip it in,  could do with more of the advertised flavours?   For example in the 2nd,  more bacon and apple.  ~  7/10

 

 

 

Draught Craft Beers -
Oregon Brewed,  Rogue ‘Dead Guy Ale’
Thanks to the recommendation by a fellow foodie friend.

 

 

 

Baguettes - Garlic Butter,  Olive Oil,  Salt and Pepper. 
Named as Blue Butcher,  for some reason I expected some out-of-this-world spread.  Such as a Bone marrow butter,  whipped Duck fat or a Lardo spread with fried chicken skin powder,  etc.    I have had a lot of these alternatives if you have been following this blog and they do make an impact on your life.   They increase your waistline ! xD

 

 

 

Pigs Head Terrine with Pickled Onions,  Herb Salad & Toast
Was a bit surprised by the shape tonight,  which isn’t very terrine mould-like in shape.   Whilst the flavour was intense and you can taste the seasonings and fruit inside,  I think it was too grinded up compared to the usual pigs head terrine which are either more shreddy or chunkier.  This became a little too dense to my liking.   ~  6/10

 

 

Compressed Organic Tomato with Burrata Cheese,  White Balsamic & Basil Oil - $190
The burrata was very creamy in taste,  which to me is important as a lot of burratas in town are very weak.   I find that a lot of customers somehow expect Burratas to be all runny but in reality they don’t always.   Unless they’re leaking out whey water.   Liked the basil oil idea but wanted more real basil leaves on top!   ~  7/10

 

 

 

Jarred Foie Gras and Chicken Liver,  Sweet Onion & Brioche – $190
The two types of livers made a strong impact in taste,  but it was slightly denser than I had imagined.  The taste on the other hand was addictive.   In my head,  I instantly compare it to the versions served at say Carlton Wine Room (Melbourne)  and Cumulus Inc (Melbourne).  I think this could do with slightly more aromatic wine and also slightly more lighter?   ~  7/10

 

 

 

Bone Marrows with Toast,  Caper Berries,  Italian Parsley & Salt Flakes - $125
Comparing marrows to marrows,  the Blue Butcher one on this occasion was the best I have eaten locally.   It’s not overly fatty and is roasted until transparent inside.  It’s also seasoned well and slightly smoky,  with a good maillard reaction created roasted fat flavour.  Eat it with the parsley which worked well altogether.  ~  9/10

 

 

Denaux Lamb shoulder “Label Rouge”,  from Quercy,  France  -  $1680
This feeds 3-4 people.  Slow cooked for 24 hours with rosemary oil,  this baby lamb is distinctive for their dark rims around the eyes.    The meat is silky smooth and there isn’t an overly pungent lamb gaminess,  which puts off certain people.   Limited to 3 serves per day as the lamb is so rare it hardly gets exported outside of France and this won the best lamb award in France last year.   The roasted potatoes I might added were really crispy which is rare in HK.  The baby carrots to me seemed slightly undercooked though.   ~   8/10 

 

 

 

Lamb,  served with Lamb Jus -
Pink in the centre,  fork tender.   The smoked mustard and Pommery mustard on the side were deemed redundant.

 

 

 

Lamb Jus -
Dunk some french fries into it.   I love meat and I eat like a Barbarian.

 

 

 

Creamed Corn -
This tasted quite Americanized to me for some reason,  may be the cream.  But very lovely side dish.  ~  7.5/10

 

 

 

Truffled Fries with Cheese – $70
A no brainer.   This was fried well and had a good truffle paste taste.  It’s not hand cut in-house but if you have done triple-fried chips you would know it’s not commercially viable in most cases,  especially if you need to serve a thousand customers a day !   ~  7.5/10

 

 

 

Granny Smith Apple Crumble with Port and Walnut Ice Cream – $50
Nice buttery crumble,  with well stewed apples.  This was one of the best ones in town I have tried although I still prefer my apples to be more spiced.  The ice cream on the other hand wasn’t very Port or Walnut like.   ~  7/10

 

 

 

Chocolate Bread and Butter Pudding with Rum Baba Ice cream – $50
This tasted like a brownie.  Quite dense too.   Wasn’t very impressed with this truth be told…  ~  4/10

 

 

Fresh Mint Tea -
I encountered such a version in Germany a few times recently and sorta miss it.  Glad to find it again in Hong Kong,  at Blue Butcher!    I like Blue Butcher for a number of things but I could still see scope of it elevating to another culinary level.   For example,  the meats were cooked spot-on and there were 2 secrets behind how they managed to achieve this  (I am afraid I will have to carry them to my grave!).   On the other hand,  somehow with their name-sake I was expecting something very hardcore.   Right now I am loving the new French lamb shoulder a lot and those delectable potatoes!

 

 

 

Price:   Around HKD $550 – $600
Food:  ♕♕♕♕  -  ♕♕♕♕ 1/2
Ease of Access:  3/5

Opening Hours:
Mon to Sun -  12:00pm – 23:00pm
Sun Brunch – 12:00pm – 3:00pm

Address: 中環荷李活道108號
108 Hollywood Road, Central
Ph: 2613 9286