COCONUTS HOT SPOT – Next time you’re dragged to Temple Street Market by some newbie with a penchant for cheap badly-made crap, there’s no need to be so downhearted. Take respite in an unlikely culinary escape, quite simply – and quite off-puttingly – named, “Asian Fusion”.
If the name alone isn’t enough to send you running for cover into the nearest fake handbag shop, the restaurant’s bold claim to specialise in Indian, AND Italian, AND Middle Eastern food should just clinch it.
As it happened, I was here on the recommendation an Indian-food-loving Yau Ma Tei resident, so nothing – not even the proudly advertised Naanza (yep, that’s a naan-meets-pizza) – was enough to keep me away.
And I sure am glad I took the risk.
I can’t vouch for the Italian or Middle Eastern food (that was still a bit brave, even for me), but I can confirm that the Indian fare was as good – and in many cases better – than any Hong Kong restaurant boasting that cuisine only.
Clearly feeling we were being adventurous enough already, we opted for the set menu for four (HKD398).
The meal started with the traditional popadoms and dips and a not so traditional chicken broth soup, which perhaps added a hint of Chinese to this fusion-forward restaurant.
Both were fresh and tasty, especially whatever the green dip was. We could have asked, of course. But who cares? We were setting out into the unknown!
Next up came the starters-proper, consisting of flakey pastry, hearty samosas, melt in the mouth lamb kababs and the random fusion throw-in of Thai papaya salad.
While the impostor somtam was far from authentic, it was a delicious dish in its own right, packed with more peanuts, more garlic and less zest than usual, but leaving us lapping it up off the plate all the same.
The curries came in quick succession. Again, erring on the side of caution, we did the British thing and ordered chicken tikka masala and a dal. Both satisfied us on taste, especially the cumin and coriander-loaded sloppy dal, but to be honest we could have done with about double the portion.
Granted, I was dining with three big dudes, but that’s just how this little lady rolls… okay?
We were therefore glad we ordered the super-filling Momo dumplings, which topped off this Temple Street shindig in style. And we were clearly still pretty hungry, as we ate them all before I remembered to take a photo.
Sorry. You’ll just have to find a sense of adventure for that one on your own.
We love food, too!
Asian Fusion, 115 Temple Street, Yau Ma Tei, (+852) 3542-5575.
Got a tip? Send it to us at hongkong@coconuts.co.
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