dbHK Eats: Hip Cellar

Hip Cellar, a multi-purpose establishment inside an industrial building in Fortress Hill, is on its way to become something well out of the ordinary.

In a city like Hong Kong that has the highest concentration of wines in Asia – HK$12 billion (US$1.54 billion) worth of imported wines for seven million people and 60,000+ restaurants – Hip Cellar has found a sweet spot that marries tailored food with wines without pretence or snobbery.

This versatile wine storage facility also doubles as a fine dining restaurant with menus designed by Boston-born chef David Myers, who honed his skills under the tutelage of culinary mavens such as Daniel Boulud and Charlie Trotter. Named ‘AnOther Place by David Myers’, the restaurant opened its doors in 2015 offering four-course, six-course and eight-course set dinner menus that reflect the chef’s vision of French/Japanese influenced cuisine.

The food is well crafted, and unlike many fusion restaurants that are haunted by confusion of concepts, the restaurant’s food held its own and did not see its chef’s point of view garbled. The starter we had at a recent wine dinner hosted at the restaurant was not short on originality – pairing grilled sourdough toast with gochijiang marinated beef carpaccio neatly served on a thin spread of cured egg yolk. Following the starter is the fork-tender, soy braised wagyu beef short rib with Japanese imo and turnip and radish condiments that is juicy and flavourful.

Another delight is the eight-ounce US sirloin served with roasted potatoes. The beef is perfectly seared on the sides with a nice caramelised brown sheen. The potatoes are crisp on the outside but searing hot and mushy in the inside. The outer fried skin packs a bunch of flavours, and each bite invites in an explosion of sensory satisfaction.

The coconut sorbet with passion fruit curd and red grapefruit sauce was an excellent way to wrap up the whole culinary experience.

Grilled sourdough toast with gochijiang marinated beef carpaccio

But if you are a wine lover like we are, the restaurant’s no-corkage policy alone is enough to lure you here. As we talked about some of Hong Kong’s restaurants with high corkage fees, having a fine dining restaurant that charges zero corkage feels like getting your tax refund when you’re least expecting it.

The decision, which seems at the risk of sacrificing profits as many restaurateurs would argue – is designed “to build the right community” for both the wine storage as well as the food & beverage business, its general manager Anty Fung explains. “What seems to be an unbelievable policy is made possible and commercially viable because we run two businesses: cellar storage on one hand; and F&B,” she comments.

The restaurant’s in-house wine shop is open for patrons to purchase bottles on premise at regular retail price without chunky mark-ups, thanks to its booming storage and cellaring business.

The wine list is brimming with more unconventional names that evidence Fung’s open-minded selections for boutique and quirky wines. Its cellar stocks some Bordeaux big names and Napa superstars but it also gave way to lesser names such as Jean-François Mérieau Vignoble des Bois Vaudons Touraine ‘Boa Le Rouge’, Cayas, Syrah du Valais Réserve from Swiztzerland’s Valais and Girolamo Russo ‘San Lorenzo’ from Sicily and even a Chinese Cabernet Sauvignon from Legacy Peak in Ningxia.

An evening at Hip Cellar often gets livelier as the night wears on. Guests are emboldened as glasses after glasses are emptied and conversation gets more and more animated.

The downside to that is the inevitable noise. Don’t expect the private room to be perfectly sound proof. At times bouts of cheers from the private room next door can travel easily to another room. If you are looking for a quiet and intimate dinner, we suggest a small table by the window in the opening dining area, overlooking the beautiful Victoria Harbour.

Address: 5/F, Block C, Sea View Estate, 2-8 Watson Road, Tin Hau, Hong Kong

Opening hours: Monday to Saturday 11am to 11pm