Ghoulish Grub
Sink your fangs into some of these devilishly delicious meals on the scariest night of the year. Sarah Fung shoehorns in several dreadful Halloween puns for the foodies who like to get freaky.
Something strange happens to the Hong Kong dining scene around the end of October. Cobwebs start appearing, horrible wordplay starts creeping up on menus, and perfectly good food gets reconstituted into eyeballs, severed limbs and other unsavory body parts. Well, if you have small children, or perhaps a strong sense of kitsch, drag your musty old corpse to one of these evil eateries offering spine-tingling suppers over the spooky season.
Caffe Vergnano
This new Kowloon-side café-restaurant is offering a $218 per (disembodied?) head set menu over the weird weekend. There are several options, but we suggest you start with the disturbing “Monster Heart” salad, which scores maximum gore points for being the most realistic-looking internal organ made out of vegetables we’ve ever seen. We’re particularly digging the vena cava made of penne. Despite its appearance, the salad is remarkably healthy, and is made of sliced bell peppers, chickpeas and eggplant. For mains, Vergnano’s creative minds have also come up with “The Mummy,” scallop and chicken breast rolled tightly in bacon and served on a “sand” bed of cous cous. The overall effect is pretty good, though you might want to BYO sandwich bread sarcophagus to complete the look. To finish, the “bloody eyeball” passion fruit macaroon with pumpkin cream is a ghastly (but tasty) end to the meal.
Available Oct 28-31. The One: Shop UG221, 100 Nathan Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 2907-2817; Elements: Shop 1021A, Elements, 1 Austin Rd. West, West Kowloon, 2196-8340
Duke’s Deli
Baby back ribs are already pretty much the most nightmarish dish you can get (stain-wise at least), but Duke’s has vamped up the classic American dish for the holiday with “Ribs to Raise the Dead” ($178), a hefty portion of Brazilian pork ribs, ensconced in a remarkably convincing catacomb formed from a humble garlic brioche, presumably to keep the vampires (and Halloween hoochies) at bay. The headstone and edible bats are a particularly nice touch. Other dishes include the rather grandiosely titled “Evil Pumpkin Circle” (uh, pumpkin cheesecake) and the sinister “Spirit of the Ocean” ($188), mixed seafood pasta with squid ink. A meal fit for the kraken itself.
Oct 28-31, Shop 301, 3/F, iSQUARE, 63 Nathan Rd., Tsim Sha Tsui, 3583-4696
Saigon at Stanley
We know the South Side’s already pretty freakish, but for a real fright, Saigon at Stanley is offering several gruesome-sounding dishes, including the “Goblin Skin” pomelo salad ($78—the “goblin” part being the shredded raw beef tenderloin, presumably) and the “Witches Cauldron” of sliced wagyu beef, veggies and noodles in a hotpot ($148). For dessert, the “maggot” cinnamon rice pudding ($48) looks mighty tasty—if the name doesn’t put you off rice pudding for life. Special kids’ meals (serving “mummy’s brains” fried rice and satays with “spider venom” sauce) are available for $88.
Oct 25-31, 1/F, Murray House, Stanley, 2899-0999
Shakey’s Pizza
We’re not really following what’s so Halloweeny about Shakey’s seasonal set menu—beside the liberal use of pumpkin but at $268 per couple, we’re not complaining. Start with a “crispy and creepy” platter of buffalo wings, prawn tango and mojo potatoes. After that grease, move onto a “Hellish Hot Pizza” with chicken and jalapenos to share, followed by the witch’s pesto pumpkin risotto, or pan-seared shrimp and scallop pasta with squid ink. End with a “black death” chocolate mousse with raspberry coulis (NOTE: does not literally contain bubonic plague).
Oct 25-31. Various, including 2/F, 11 Stanley St., Central, 2525-3030