I love Gough street and its quaint furniture stores and galleries. Only two blocks long, this little street in NoHo is a gem to discover, offering a very cool contrast of old trades and cute bohemian shops. It’s no wonder that’s where you can find the quirky and hip restaurant Basement. Owned by lifestyle and design store Homeless, the restaurant is located, you guessed it, in the shop’s basement!

As expected from their stylish owners, Basement’s interior is exquisite, and filled with Homeless pretty products and design aesthetic, making you feel like you’re eating in a very cool showroom.

The food is fusion European fare with an Italian focus so expect comforting classics and a few surprises thrown in. The different set menus come with three courses, offering a choice of soup or salad, a main, then dessert and drink. I started my lunch with a Black Truffle and wild mushroom soup – rich and blended to creamy perfection.

Not all of the food is a success though and the lingering memories will most often come back to the lovely setting and presentation over the content, such as this gorgeous carved bread tray…

Organic linguine mushroom was well cooked and again served in a dish I would have loved to take home!

The Risotto with crab meat and pesto was, although a bit dry, quite tasty with chunks of meat and crunchy vegetables, offering a very pleasant contrast with the roe garnishing the top.

Dessert was a deliciously creamy Tiramitsu, a tiny portion that satisfied both the stomach and the sight.

With its filling portions, comfort food factor and charming art-gallery appeal, Basement makes for a good stopover when wandering around Hong Kong’s most eclectic neighborhood.

“…and it burns, burns, burns…” would be the ideal soundtrack of Chilli Fagara, a Michelin star restaurant famous for their fiery cuisine. Serving some of the best and spiciest Szechuan dishes this side of the Yangtze, it’s food for the daring palette and a delightful experience if you’re looking to tease your taste buds.

Having a low threshold for chili myself, I was wondering what the evening had in store for me but ended up having a fantastic meal and enjoying every burning bits of it.

The restaurant is cosy and really dark with only a handful of orange lights providing some needed luminosity to the dim ambiance. Dark wooden tables and red walls make up most of the decor, it’s clear your attention is to be on the food!

The menu is divided into three sections (Tang, Ma, and La) and the best way to enjoy the eating experience is to work up through them…and through the heat. As a first introduction to the fiery cuisine they bring to your table a sample of appetizers representing each section to warm up your taste buds: Tang is the neutral one where you’ll want to start things off, Ma is referred to as ‘numbing’ and should be next in line to prepare you for the climatic ending of your meal with La, hot and burning dishes which might bring tears to your eyes…

I must say I ordered a lot of Tang and my friends contributed the La and Ma to the table. I did get a taste of everything and really enjoyed every dishes, though I stayed well clear of picking up any oblong red thingy…understandably so! Some of the dishes are for hard core adept only – I realized this when the table next to us got ‘equipped’ with a pair of gloves to avoid direct skin contact with their next pick!  Here’s a visual of our spicy evening:

Traditional Hot and Sour Soup

Vegetarian Dumplings in Spicy Peanut Sauce

Duck rolls

Fried Beef Slices with a Ginger Tang

Fish

Pork and vegetables pan fried dumplings

Chilli Softshell Crab – unbelievably good!

I left the restaurant with my lips still burning and a tiny bit of pride… I had finally experienced the huge complexity of flavours of the Szechuan cuisine, numbing and burning included. You have to try it, no matter where your love-hate relationship with the chili family stands. This is terrific food, just make sure you proceed with caution… 😉

Gyotaku is Hong Kong’s newest creative sushi restaurant. I have yet to try it for dinner where supposedly is where the restaurant shines with creations such as ‘Raw scallop sushi  topped with sliced cherry tomatoes, Parma ham and a basil sauce’ or another one made with ‘foie gras, blueberries, and chives’. Lunchtime is more reserved and you’ll find a fresh selection of the usual Japanese standards in a comfy and casual space.

The limited lunch menu offers a choice of 12 dishes that each come with miso soup, salad and pickles. I went with the Negitoro bowl set, delicious fatty tuna with spring onions and chili on a bowl of rice.

My friend ordered the Sweet Kabayaki Eel Rice set, and as a huge fan of eel I must say this was a winner, perfectly cooked and seasoned with that bbq’d goodness!

Gyotaku’s signature dessert, a black sesame pudding, is a refreshing mix between a creamy custard and fancy jello. Not too sweet, it rounds out the meal perfectly.

Everything we ate was fresh and very tasty – another safe choice for a solid Japanese lunch in Central. I’m now more tempted than ever to come back and try their fancy sushi in the evening and mix some foie gras with my raw seafood!