‘Durian Prince’ Danny Ho reigns at Hotel Icon with menu that lets the pungent fruit shine
- At Hong Kong’s Hotel Icon, Malaysian chef Danny Ho is changing the way we think about the stinky ‘king of fruits’
The aroma of durian hits you as soon as you enter The Market, a restaurant in the Hotel Icon in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Executive chef Danny Ho, who has spent a big chunk of his life in the fruit’s company, barely notices it.
“If you want an intense durian flavour, try this paste,” says Ho, handing over a bowl of the fruit’s flesh. “Guests love it with durian ice cream.”
“The media picked up on the prince title, so I thought I would have some fun with it,” he says.
Branding, it seems, is one of Ho’s strong points – he has created a regal caricature of himself that pops up on his uniform, as a “garnish” on dishes in The Market and on Ho’s chocolate business card that – with its orange overlapping circles – resembles the logo of a well-known credit card company. It reads “Unlimited Credit Of Joy”.
“In China, my logo was copied but the durian was swapped with a strawberry,” laughs Ho, whose pastry skills were honed at the Shangri-la Kuala Lumpur hotel in Malaysia and in Hong Kong at Cova Pasticceria & Confetteria and The Mira hotel.