FRITES Belgium on Tap serves up a party on a plate
European gastropub in Hong Kong is just the place to visit with friends to enjoy a party atmosphere, a satisfying meal, and a wide selection beers and wines
FRITES serves European pub grub in an ambience you’d expect from a gastropub - think rich woods, dark leathers, and a raucous air of merriment. Not what you’d choose for a romantic date, but perfect for a night out with your mates. COST About HK$500 a head for food. If you go during Happy Hour, most drinks are half price.
WHO TO BRING
Friends with big appetites
TURN-ONS
The waitstaff were lovely - friendly and polite, and while they weren’t familiar with the menu (they couldn’t respond to our questions about the tartare’s ingredients, or make digestive recommendations), they did get us answers right away. The Rich Man’s Burger was everything we could have asked for in a burger - a good combination of flavours and a perfectly cooked patty; the one letdown was that it arrived with a soggy base. The hot chocolate fondant was perfectly cooked and rounded off the meal nicely.
TURN-OFFS
We liked that the restaurant offered six different varieties of mussel pots (house style, Hoegaarden, Provençale, Marinière, Laksa and Mediterranean) and were pleased with the sauce in our Marinière, but the quality of the mussels was uneven. We were shocked that the steak tartare was prepared with ketchup - the New Zealand beef tenderloin was of good quality but the entire dish was overwhelmed by the taste of ketchup. The crab tian was reminiscent of commercial coleslaw in its blandness, and at HK$135, we expected more crab.
DRINKS
Frites has a decent selection of Old and New World wines, but we highly recommend checking out their extensive “Beer Bible”, which has a wonderfully varied selection that includes fruit beers, trappist beers, monastic ales, and special beers that cost up to HK$650 for a 750ml bottle.
FRITES Belgium on Tap
1/F, The Wellington, 198 Wellington St, Central, 2217 6671
