The BellBrook

Great Australian comfort food. David Laris had Laris in Shanghai in the old days and loved his food then. He is now in HK at The BellBrook offering more comforting food. Great food with masterfully guided simplicity. The must try is the slow braised short ribs! Two huge ribs that are incredibly succulent, melt-​in-​your-​mouth delicious. Order a big salad and the ribs for two to share. Corkage is HK$ 150 per bottle.

One of my close friends in Hong Kong really likes this place for brunch, so I’ve been meaning to try it out to see what it’s all about. As opposed to coming for brunch, I decided to try their dinner menu instead. :)
This restaurant sure is popular because when I called in the day of (usually this is no problem for casual or even some 1 Michelin Starred restaurants in HK), they were fully booked till 9:15 p.m. Cray cray. I told them I’d call back as I confirm whether this time is okay for my friend or not. Turns out, he was okay with it, I can go to the gym after work and before dinner, so from there is: Okay, we’re on!
My friend got there first and I had told him I really want to get /​try their truffle fries. He ordered the truffle twisties, but what I was really after were the truffle fries — thus we ended up with two large potato dishes. I didn’t mind since I like potatoes and knew we could finish them all! Although in retrospect, the twisties were much tastier than the fries — probably explains the price difference in the two. For what they are though, I’d definitely say that they are on the pricier side.
The first entrée was taken back because even though I told them no onions and garlic, I still received tons of onions in my dish. The onions were everywhere, completely unavoidable, so I had to tell them to take it back. I was honestly okay with not getting another entrée as I was getting stuffed from the appetizers and still wanted to try their dessert. They insisted on making a new dish that’s off the menu, so I said okay. This dish was pretty interestingly since the pasta was pinkish red — since they didn’t tell me what it was, I’m not sure where the red comes from, I’m just hoping that it’s vegetarian since I told them I’m vegetarian when I was ordering! This pasta was just okay, not really my style nor taste for my palate but it wasn’t terrible so I got it to go and eat it as leftover the next day.
We got mille feuille for dessert. My friend and I were really confused as to why this dessert took as long to come out as it did. I think it seriously took them 35 — 40 minutes to ring out this dessert. Not exactly sure why since this is nowhere near the best, or even mediocre, mille feuille. The lemon curd made this mille feuille more unique and different than the traditional vanilla bean or praline mille feuille. As a dessert lover, I wouldn’t recommend this dessert nor order it again.

Excited to be BellBrook’s first review on Unilocal HK as I visited this restaurant when it first opened late 2013 and instantly became a huge fan. Went a few times, invited new friends each time and everyone always enjoyed themselves including the evening of my engagement. Come to NYC!
LOVE the Australian-​inspired urban bistro concept vs the prior restaurant Laris, which felt a bit more stuffy. Chef is still David Laris and he does an incredible job with the menu with daily changing specials at very reasonable prices. I would say pretty much everything on the menu is delicious. Yummy cocktail menu and house wine is great too. Service is awesome and love me some complimentary jalapeño tequila shots.
ORDER THE TOMAHAWK (off the menu)! Picture attached :)
I look forward to returning next week in HK
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