CHINAMAX, the HK$30 million Times Square restaurant, has revamped its gargantuan menu with help from a young Californian chef. John Clark, from the famously trendy Zuni Cafe in San Francisco, has been in Hong Kong creating the kind of Californian food that looks so good it is a shame to eat. 'We are not changing everything,' says managing director Max Schnallinger. 'There are some items on the menu - the lamb shank has been our bestseller - people would shoot me if I took them off. 'But we have been open for six months and it seemed a good time to look at what we have already achieved and to prepare for the future. This restaurant is evolving and will continue to do so.' Among the new dishes are raw fish carpaccio of tuna, salmon and scallops with extra virgin olive oil and lemon ($105). Cioppino fish soup ($195) is a main course and rightly so; it contains big chunks of just about everything, notably crab claw, prawns, mussels and fillet of salmon. New desserts include a grandiose lemon tower. LIKE Judy Garland and Maria Callas, those monarchal ladies whose 'farewell appearances' were habitually premature, Queen's Cafe bade a supposed adieu to Hong Kong, only to later announce its resurrection. After 42 years, this last of the Shanghai-White Russian restaurants shut its doors in Lee Gardens Road on October 31. Predictably, lines for a 'last supper' went around the block that night. Old customers were treated to endless vodkas, as well as caps with the Queen's Cafe logo. But that very night, the management presented cards announcing renewal of business, around the corner on the ground floor of Eaton Tower. The bakery is expected to stay open. And the borscht, steaks, shashlicks and chickens will also stay the same, so will the staff. THE Indian restaurant Ashoka in Wyndham Street is celebrating the Diwali Festival (The Hindu, festival of lights, New Year) with offers that include free home delivery for takeaway in and around Wan Chai and Central between 7-10pm. The offer continues until November 14. THIS year's Scottish Festival at the Hilton will be the 10th and the last. The hotel closes its doors next year to make way for the bulldozers and the jackhammers. The festival opens on November 14 and ends on November 26.
