Trendy eatery Momojein is a refreshing newcomer in Hong Kong's dining scene, offering contemporary Korean dishes and small plates. The spacious restaurant is helmed by celebrity executive chef Lim Hee-won, who is experienced in Korean and Italian cuisine. He became famous when crowned one of the top-eight star chefs on CJ television channel's cooking programme .
Traditional Korean dishes are updated as small plates, and signature dishes are the sea urchin bibimbap (HK$160) and whole kalbi and coriander salad (HK$340). We started with the kalbi hotteok (HK$82), a pan-seared handmade chewy crêpe bun with juicy beef filling served with ranch and teriyaki sauce. This dish is usually filled with sugar and cinnamon (they also serve this as dessert here), which was a surprise since it reminded me of the beef pancake bun found as a street snack in northern China. Next we tried the samgyetang (HK$79), the famous ginseng chicken soup. Delicious and heartwarming, the portion was just right and chef Lim creatively sous-vides a roulade of chicken thigh with glutinous rice in this rendition. One of the best dishes was the flowered chives pancake (HK$108) - it had the right crispiness, neither too floury nor burnt, and had the right mix of ingredients.
The flame grilled beef bulgogi marinated in a secret sauce (HK$250) was too sweet for my taste but we enjoyed the seafood and perilla seed noodles (HK$130). Try the hotteok and ice cream (HK$85) or the sugar glazed sweet potato (HK$65) for dessert. For drinks, we ordered the Hwayo or Ilpoomjinro premium soju, but they also offer Makgeolli rice wine, draught beers, cocktails and wine.
MOMOJEIN
23/F, QRE Plaza, 202 Queen’s Road East, Wan Chai, 2789 1949
