Kaum highlights tastes of Indonesia at Hong Kong's trendy Third Street establishment

KAUM
Potato Head, G/F, 100 Third Street, Sai Ying Pun, Hong Kong, 2858 6066

With the opening of Indonesian-inspired Potato Head/Kaum, Third Street has become a trendy nook. The family-owned business runs restaurants and bars in Bali, Jakarta and Singapore, and has opened its first hotel.

We enjoyed signature cocktails at the bar. My favourite was the Pedas Margarita (HK$140) - Cimarron tequila, Los Danzantes mezcal, honey chilli syrup, pineapple and lime juices, and the Megah Mule (HK$125) with vodka, rum, poached nashi pear, vanilla and palm sugar, lime juice and aromatic bitters topped with ginger beer.

As you enter the dining area, there is an open kitchen with a barbecue for sate and a slow cooker on which bamboo encased banana leaf-wrapped meat were simmering.

We tried the gohu ikan tuna, marinated raw tuna in virgin coconut oil, fresh kalamansi, pomelo and toasted kenari nuts; gado gado Kaum with assorted blanched garden vegetables in a white peanut dressing, served with fried shallots, free range egg, tempeh and garlic crackers; belut sambal hijau - seared eel fillet with cherry tomatoes and green chilli relish - and rendang daging sapi - braised beef with red beans in Sumatran rendang spices and coconut milk sauce served with sweet potato crisps. All were excellent.

From the charcoal grill, the braised pork belly satay in sweet soya sauce served with scallions and the roasted baby pig with Balinese spices are great. The klappertaart dessert with coconut sorbet, coconut bread pudding, caramel and rum soaked raisins was tasty.