After two months of mostly staying indoors because of Hong Kong’s 5th wave of Covid, I decided to ask my friend May if she wanted to go out for brunch during the long Easter weekend. She agreed, and when I asked her to choose among 3 restaurants I picked out of a line up – okay no, that’s police procedural talk, obviously a sign I’ve been watching too much TV – but rather, out of this list from Honeycombers, she picked Uma Nota, so I made reservations for an 11:30 slot through their website.
Until 2 May, Uma Nota’s #LetsGetRio brunch set (from $370/person) can whisk you away to Brazil every weekend. The boteco experience starts with a bottled beer and flowing cachaça to go with a selection of savoury snacks, such as fresh mussels, grilled pork ribs, and grilled squid. You’ll also get to stuff your own croquettes at the table when the deconstructed Bolinho de Aipin con Camarão (deep-fried cassava croquette) is served with a side of creamy coconut prawns, cooked with tomato and onion. Next up are the mains, which include the File de Costela; rib-eye steak with potatoes cooked in garrafa (a Brazilian ghee); a seafood stew served with rice; and the must-try Rio staple, carioca beans (pinto beans) served with slow-cooked pork belly. Upgrade your meal with free-flow bubbles and beer for $195, or cocktails and more for $245.
The Honeycombers
It’s hard to miss the restaurant’s brilliant colourful facade on Peel Street. Definitely Instagrammable! It was just a coincidence that I was wearing a teal skirt and Lucca Vudor ballet pumps that matched their signage.
One of my Instagram followers was confused and wondered how we were supposed to eat in this set up, but I explained that it’s just the waiting area and the inside has a dining area with normal tables and chairs, like so:
Here is the menu of their Sampa brunch set:
The 370 HKD price includes five starters and petiscos, one main of our choice (we chose file de costela), and a dessert platter, all for sharing. You have the option to top up for a 90 minute free-flow of drinks, so we both went with bubbles and beer.
The waitress – who was garbed in a colorful Brazilian top tied at the waist to show her enviable bare midriff – gave excellent service and kept topping off our Prosecco without being asked.
The starters were all good, but while they all had wonderful presentations and mix of flavours and textures, they did not really taste that memorable for me. I’ve definitely had better versions of most of these dishes at different restaurants. The only thing that I really loved was the pernil do mercadao. Now granted, I am no expert in my food, so that’s just my opinion!
By the time the mains came, we were already so full. They served it with salad greens whose lime-tinged dressing I loved. We hurriedly pushed ourselves into finishing the mains because had been told we could only stay until 1pm – which we found odd, by the way, because our reservation stated 1:30.
Then they served the very artistic looking dessert platter. We found the passion fruit panna cotta too sweet but it had a really dreamy creamy texture. I loved the chocolate ice cream which had real chocolate bits in it. It paired really well with the fresh fruits.
Overall, I don’t regret coming to this restaurant, it served decent food, good service, and a good vibe, but we noticed that they did not have any electric fans and open windows, so not sure how comfortable that would be in the summer. Luckily it was a cool 21 degrees when we went.
Uma Nota, 38 Peel Street, Central, Hong Kong, p. 2889 7576
The last one is not a pastry, by the way, but an actual bamboo cup holding sugar cane soft serve ice cream, which tasted as what you’d expect.
About the other pastries – usually when you eat a pastry which looks as pretty as that, it is made of tacky tasting fondant. These actually tasted good. However, at their price point we felt that they were not worth it, and are worth a one time try just because they are quite photogenic and Instagrammable, but we’re not gonna eat them again. Which is why I didn’t buy any of the New York collection pastries when I was there again.
Dang Wen Li by Dominique Ansel, Shop 2, Ground Floor of H Queen’s, 80 Queen’s Road, Central, Hong Kong p. +852 3482 7735
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