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The interior of Blue – Butcher and Meat Specialist, formerly Blue Butcher, on Hollywood Road, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. Its rent has risen fourfold since opening in 2011, forcing its closure.
LifestyleFood & Drink

Fourfold rent rise in eight years kills Hong Kong steakhouse Blue, formerly Blue Butcher

  • Sheung Wan restaurant that launched restaurant group behind Mott 32, international fine-dining Chinese restaurant chain, to close this week with farewell dinner
  • Chef who launched the restaurant, known for its in-house dry-ageing room and butchery services, has returned to cook a special menu
Food and Drinks
Bernice Chan
Bernice Chanin Vancouver
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After eight years, Blue – Butcher and Meat Specialist, previously known as Blue Butcher, will close its doors on May 19 following a special dinner. To end the restaurant’s run on a high note, Danny Chaney, who was head chef when the restaurant opened in 2011, will return to cook a special menu.

Maximal Concepts, the restaurant group behind the steakhouse on Hollywood Road, says the decision was a financial one.

“We had seen a fourfold increase in our rental rates since we opened in 2011,” says Malcolm Wood, co-founder and group culinary director.

The company hopes to reopen Blue in another location, but nothing is confirmed yet.

A 32oz bone-in Australian wagyu rib eye steak served at Blue in Mid-Levels. The restaurant will close on May 19 after a special dinner.
It was the first of many restaurants opened by Maximal Concepts, whose stable of dining establishments includes Chinese fine-dining restaurant Mott 32, Nordic casual-dining restaurant The Flying Elk, seafood and craft beer joint Limewood, Cantonese restaurant John Anthony, and taco shop Brick House.

“We just put our heads down and created food and the kind of restaurants that we enjoyed eating at on a regular basis, but we definitely didn’t expect Maximal Concepts to transform into what it is today,” says Wood. “It’s a lot of hard work and a lot of good fun, with more exciting projects to come both in Hong Kong and overseas.”

The restaurant group’s most successful brand so far, Mott 32, which serves Chinese cuisine in opulent interiors, has opened in Hong Kong, Vancouver, and Las Vegas. A Bangkok branch will open this year.
Danny Chaney, the original head chef at Blue, on Hollywood Road, is back to cook a special menu.

Blue, known for its sourcing of high-quality meats from around the world, in-house, temperature-controlled dry ageing room lined with pink Himalayan salt bricks, and butchery services for customers wanting to take home special cuts, originally opened as Blue Butcher, but changed its name to Blue in 2016.

On May 18, Chaney will be serving dishes such as veal sweetbread with truffle aioli, steak tartare, Nebraska beef tenderloin, and Black Angus beef short ribs. The dinner costs HK$890 per person, and reservations are growing quickly. The last meal Blue serves will be brunch the following day.

Blue – Butcher and Meat Specialist, G/F, 108 Hollywood Road, Central, tel: 2898 3788

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