Just opened on Knutsford Steps in Tsim Sha Tsui is the 'nouveau Thai restaurant', Mai (below), which serves traditional Thai dishes in a modern style (that is, the food is not decorated with the ubiquitous purple-and-white orchid). The owner, Eddie Lam, also owns import business Cheong Thai Food, which sells wholesale and retail at a shop in Kowloon City. The menu lists some unusual items such as Thai thin pizza with minced prawns ($38), lemon-grass creme brulee ($50), sticky rice with fresh strawberries and Haagen-Dazs strawberry ice-cream ($50) as well as the classics - minced meat (chicken or pork) with basil, herbs and lettuce ($58), fried king prawns with garlic and pepper herbs (top right; $138), baked mullet with Thai spices ($118) and fried pumpkin sprouts with shrimp paste ($45). There's an extensive drinks list, including 'special' cocktails (all $40) such as the Mai Cocktail (Mekong Thai whisky, fresh lime, coconut water), galangal ginger martini (galangal-infused vodka with sweet vermouth and lime), Thai Cuba (Havana Club white rum, Kahlua and coconut milk) and Ritika's Ding Dong Shot (chilli-infused vodka with passion-fruit puree). Mai is at shop 6, 2/F, Knutsford Steps, Tsim Sha Tsui, tel: 2730 1300. Another new restaurant on Knutsford Steps is a branch of French fusion restaurant Samba, the original outlet of which is on Shelley Street, Central. Samba's menu consists of three set-meal options: the Crystal ($138 plus 10 per cent), Jade ($148) and Diamond ($168). The Crystal set lets diners pick two appetisers, a soup course, two mains plus dessert or tea or coffee; the Jade is five appetisers, soup, one main and dessert, tea or coffee; while the Diamond consists of three appetisers, soup, three mains, dessert, tea or coffee. Appetiser selections include Brazilian-style crab meat in the shell, baked US jumbo oyster with Samba special sauce and smoked salmon-wrapped crab meat. Main courses include baked US beef tenderloin with spicy shallots, Italian-style roast squid stuffed with squid-ink spaghetti and ginseng gnocchi with chicken. Samba is at shop 7, 2/F, Knutsford Steps, tel: 3525 1314.
