New Sai Ying Pun restaurants: top-notch food, friendly owners at Pete’s Place
You’ll never know who you’ll run into at perfect neighbourhood restaurant Pete’s Place, and as for the food, be sure to try the mini Wagyu burgers, deep-fried baby sardines and beef empanadas
Pete’s Place is the perfect neighbourhood restaurant. Sorry, make that almost perfect. What would make it perfect (for me) was if it were in my neighbourhood.
It’s the kind of place where the owner and other staff give diners – even first timers (as we were) – a warm welcome, and you never know who you’ll run into (dining next to us were friends who also didn’t live in the neighbourhood). By the time we left, my husband and the owner had exchanged phone numbers.
How a Hong Kong restaurant group went from underdog to leader of the pack
The restaurant, though, is very cramped. Tables are close together and a large bar takes up much of the small room.
We tried several starters from an extensive selection. Mini Wagyu burgers with buffalo mozzarella (two for HK$88, three for HK$108) were just fantastic – good bun, juicy meat and flavourful condiments.
Just as good were the deep-fried baby sardines (HK$76 for five). The fresh whole sardines were encased in batter before being fried, resulting in succulent fish that could be eaten bones, heads and all.
