On a continent where just about everything is knocked off, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the restaurant industry isn’t immune. Housed inside Tsim Sha Tsui’s H8 building, Stone Steak House is no doubt capitalising on the Stonegrill brand that’s so familiar to Hongkongers (Stonegrill claims to have brought the concept of stone-top cooking to these shores). The menu at this ‘replica’ veers a bit on le French side and the restaurant is still working out a few kinks. The wine list is still being designed and prices for the raw bar aren’t listed. We didn’t know what was on offer until we saw other patrons pillaging the oceans.
France won out for the starters. The pan-seared foie gras ($120), while a bit cliché, was a perfect rendition, lightly seared on the outside and creamy within. The onion soup ($65) avoided being a salt bomb and was packed full of onions – but was missing the gooey cheese that usually runneths over. The truffle mashed potatoes ($55) were a steal, with generous shavings of black truffle on top, but could have used more butter.
You can cook your meat on a tableside stone or have the chef prepare it. We opted for both and both fared pretty well. The massive crusted salmon steak ($250) the chef sent out was a spot-on medium rare but suffered from a tapenade too liberally applied and a lack of aforementioned crust.
We picked the 8oz Black Angus prime beef striploin ($290) for the stone. Depending on the type of protein you order, the slate is brought out at a different temperature – this one was supposedly at more than 500 degrees. The steak smoked and sizzled in no time – a desired medium rare after a couple of minutes with a caramel coloured crust locking in the juices. While juicy and flavourful, it didn’t necessarily distinguish itself from other cuts around town. Our server kindly brought us a sample of the brioche French toast to wrap up the meal and proved once again that you should trust any dessert that has the word ‘French’ in it.
While not a novel concept, Stone Steak House shows that when done right, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Ryan Andrews
18/F, H8, 8 Hau Fook St, Tsim Sha Tsui, 2366 5600. Daily noon-4pm & 6pm-2am. Dinner for two: around $800.