Frontier

> Location : 1/F, Room 101, Cheung's Bldg., 1-3 Wing Lok St.,
Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Indian (Southeastern Asian curry)
> Tel. # : (852) 2850-5075
> Website : N/A

Frontier is an Indian restaurant fused with with some Singapore, Malaysia and Thai curry elements to it. As advertised by their business card, there highlights are "kebab, tandoori B.B.Q, satay, spring roll, Indian curry, Thai curry, Malaysian curry and roti channai." Frontier is right across from a fresh fruit juice stand and right next to Pasha (which I did a review on if you're interested in Turkish gyros). Just go inside Cheung's Bldg. and take the elevator up one floor. Kukretti Pawan Kumar, the chef of Frontier, is a very friendly guy who does some great cooking! So if you're interested in Indian food and the alike, please read on!

I've personally gone to Frontier multiple times so I can give you readers a pretty accurate opinion/information. First up is the menu: The menu is vast and have a lot of items to choose from. The sections are as follows: appetizer (ranging in the $20 HKD), side dish, soup, salad, kebab & tandoori B.B.Q., chef special kebab rolled in pita bread, Asian curry specialty, Indian non vegetarian dishes (ranging in the $50+ HKD), Indian vegertarian dishes (ranging in the $40+ HKD), Indian Charred oven baked Indian bread (ranging in the $10+ HKD), rice (pilau, biryani) specialty, desserts. There's also a drink section and even a set meal menu. I told you it's a lot to choose from =D Pretty much the whole menu is Indian cuisine related except for the curry section you have the choice to try some Thai, Malaysian or Singapore curry if you don't feel like having Indian curry.

The environment is just slightly dim and well lit. During the daytime, if you want more light, there's a big window you can choose to sit right next to. The capacity is about 35 so people. The two waiters are both friendly and definitely ready to take any request. You can order using English or Cantonese. The younger waiter is better with Cantonese if you don't know much English.

Before I give one of my specific taste review of what I recently had, I'm going to share some quick information of what I had at Frontier before. (1) Their samosa (India's infamous appetizer item) is very standardized and tastes good. (2) Onion Pakora, which is like onion rings but deep fried using Indian spices to give it a distinct flavor. It's very interesting if you're into onion rings. (3) Masala papadum is a lentil wafer (thin crispy wafer/this comes with set meals F.Y.I.), that's crispy, a bit salty tasting and has some spices to it. Usually, this is served with Frontier's three sauces (mint, sweet medlar and sour lemon). (4) As for Indian curry, their tandoori dish fish tikka masala with thyme seed and butter (the chicken and lamb version that's similar also), are great dishes. The aroma of the curry/spices, the tenderness of the meat (I've personally tried them all and from lamb to fish to chicken, they are all tender, soft and full of goodness =D). (5) Black lentil with tomato butter and herbs is a Indian vegetarian dish. Black lentil or also known as urd bean or black gram is a type of bean that's highly cultivated in India. Black lentil is very nutritious (there's also a white version also), and used often in Punjabi (India) and Pakistan cuisines. The black lentil dish at Frontier has a definite sense of tomato flavoring along with the herbs. A lot of black lentils are added so you'll definitely get use to the taste of it. (6) Next is the cottage cheese and green peas curry. This curry is more mild tasting (not as define or overwhelm by any of the ingredients). The cottage cheese are in little blocks. (7) Cottage cheese with grounded spinach finish with cream and butter is another item I had. this dish is very similar to the previous but using spinach. (8) Their naan (plain, garlic, onion and all of the alike bread items) are all done very well. Their naan isn't too thin, hard and dry but perfectly soft and tastes great especially garlic naan! If you ever went to some other places that serves Indian naan before, it's so dry and sometimes very thin, it's just wrong. But definitely not Frontier's. There might be some plus and minus' once in awhile, but overall, you can be confident about it.

Now onto my recent experience. My prior experience at Frontier is with their set meal for lunch. Their set meal comes with soup of the day, plain naan, rice, some mixed vegetables, a samosa, and your choice of curry (cost varies depending on your choice). The prices range from $39 HKD to $70 HKD for the choices. Drinks are $8 HKD extra (check for what's available). For this section of the review, I've gone with the Indian Vegetable Curry ($39 HKD for the whole set) and the India Chicken Tikka Masala ($55 HKD, whole set). No, I didn't eat both myself =D Though the vegetable curry set is the cheapest of them all, it doesn't lack ingredients at all. The vegetable curry comes with cauliflower, potatoes, cilantro, onion, peas, string beans, carrot, green pepper, broccoli, and cabbage. The curry has a strong vegetable taste to it. It's slightly spicy and tastes like your standardized, good tasting Indian vegetable curry.

India Chicken Tikka Masala is up next. The masala sauce was great (there was some chopped up onions inside, and cilantro sprinkled on top for people who are curious about any other visible ingredients). The sweet, salty and spiciness are all well-balanced together. The chicken was very tender. Along with the masala sauce, it was just marvelous! You can definitely sense the herbs used in this dish along with a lot of similar dishes in their regular menu.

The soup of the day was dried bak choy soup. It had a mild taste to it but you can definitely sense the bak choy used. The samosa served here is always consistently good and the masala papadum (lentil wafer) is always a nice treat with the sauces. The 4 pieces of naan that comes with the meal are good (get garlic naan from the menu, it's good!) and the mixed vegetables are seasoned with a minor vinegar like sauce.

Any other information Simon? Well, to me, the highlight of Frontier is their Indian cuisine choices. Their Southeastern Asian curry dishes are above average but I always preferred the Indian flavors. I really don't have much to complain about this place. If you stick with the main items on their menus with keywords that are listed multiple times, you won't be disappointed. I still have to try their B.B.Q. items to get a full gist of things. I actually seen some people ordering it and it sure looks good! I've mostly touched on their curries and bread for the most part. Their service is friendly and I definitely recommend anybody going if they're in the Sheung Wan, Central area! Anyways, my verdict for Frontier is...

< 4 out of 5 >

Curry in a Hurry

> Location : Basement 1, Times Square, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Indian style fast food
> Tel. # : N/A
> Website : N/A

Curry in a hurry! now there's a rhyme you wouldn't think of for a indian fast food chain right? haha. i think it's quite clever. so what's up with this place? located on the basement floor of times square in causeway bay, there's a food court filled with all sorts of cuisines. this place is actually hosted by city super. everything is paid through city super after you order. anyways, one place in particular that pops out to simon is definitely curry in a hurry, haha. again, deprived of indian food, i went straight to this place. curry in a hurry is managed by the restaurant curry pot. this particular curry in a hurry does not have everything on the original menu. so how do we order? well, simply everything you can see in the front is what you can order. it is about 1/3 out of the menu you get to choose from. still, there are a good variety of stuff to choose from.

they have these sandwiches made out of naan and these burrito lookin' things i really want to try out. but i had to go the traditional way and order some curry with some roti chenal. basically it's a soft type of bread kinda of like naan but usually made into a bigger surface area and much softer. buttery and very good! so the set i got was called, "double happiness." basically it comes with 2 big pieces of roti chenals, a vegetable curry, a chicken or lamb curry and indian style coffee or a drink of your choice. the vegetable curry had peas, carrots, corn, green beans and potato in it. it's a nice yellow texture. taste wise, it wasn't particularly special but not horrible either. i say, it's better than "alright." how about the other curry? i went with lamb for the other curry and this one i enjoyed a lot more. the taste reminded me of some of the indian restaurants i've been to when i had lamb style curry. there's quite a few pieces of lamb inside so don't be afraid the portion is lacking. the curry was good and does well for a fast food standard! going back to the roti chenals, the two pieces they gave you were incredibly big. that was a big plus to me and plus it tasted pretty good.

price wise, the set was $40 hkd. most of the items are between $20-40 hkd so it isn't bad at all considering the portion they give you. in the end, there are so many different types of things you can choose from this place. i will definitely come back and revisit this review. as for now, base on fast food standards, i believe this place deserves a...

< 4 out of 5 >

Thai Simple Kitchen

> Location : 3/F., President Theatre, 517 Jaffe Rd.,
Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
> Cuisine : Thai
> Tel. # : (852) 2838- 2896
> Website : N/A

First and foremost, please click on the photos this time for a larger image! anyways... tell me about it. rating something with a perfect score or near perfect score is tough. especially a person like me who have high expectations in things i enjoy. the environment, the customer service, the decorations on the food, the taste of the food itself, the price versus quality ratio all has to be correct. all these fields holds some type of exceptions depending on the business strategy and what not. so like i promised, i have a thai restaurant review just for you'll. even though most of you just look at the pictures, haha, i'm going to be as informative as possible for the the few that are around hong kong or might travel to hong kong!

i'm going to split this review into two experiences. the first about 4 days ago with rebecca, her cousin and cousin's girlfriend (much props again to her cousin for treating us and props to 'becca for taking some of the photos for me! ^_^ ) and second with family just yesterday.

located in 3/F. president theatre, 517 jaffe road, causeway bay, hong kong, a little unexpected entrance lies a restaurant with many faces. your first step inside is a nice sign that says thai simple kitchen and some decorations and a elavator leading up to the rear floor where the restaurant is at. once out of the elavator, you face a semi-dim environment with a lot of spotlighting, water flowing decorations, a small stage for performances (a lot of thai places in LA are like that), outside part of the restaurant, inside part of the restaurant, a big horizontal glass window looking outside and many other things. the most neat thing about this place is the outside part of the restaurant. although most know hong kong has humid weather, they placed a lot of high powered fans around to keep you cool and even a few 8-10 seating shacks closed in with clear plastic sheets with air conditioning inside. a very colorful environment and very exciting. so the first time, i sat outside but not inside the shacks.

we ordered six things. the first thing that came is the 'famous prawn soup' or as most would call it, 'tom yum gong.' one of the two infamous soups in thai restaurants (next to tom ka ka). the usual suspects in this soup are lemon grass, lime juice, chili, basil leafs and mushrooms. to make it a more high class pricey item, the menu adds some king prawns in it. tom yum gong is a very sour and spicy soup. of course, it did disappoint at this place. spicy (chili playing a role) and sour (lemon grass and lime juice playing a role). every taste keeps its strong flavors and nothing left out. when the soup comes, a fire is add on the bottom to keep its warmth for seconds and as a environmental decoration. a thai soup like this has to be the best starter you can have!

next up is the 'panang curry with prawn & coconut milk with vermicelli.' at first i thought it was going to be a bowl/pot with a lot of curry within. but when it came, i was very surprised. a side note, this place loves using king prawns. so why was i surprised? well, forget the bowl of rice, the vermicelli is your base for the panang curry. first of all, panang curry is your prime orange thai curry. it holds a very unique sweet flavor that no one can ever forget. so you have king prawn meat on top of the vermicelli mixed in with the panang curry. the decorations on the dish is splendid. with king prawn head, tail, with a decorative carot flower and some uncooked lettuce and cabbage as a green/white coloring base. usually, i would think vietnamese vermicelli with some fish sauce is good but vermicelli with panang curry? you know, this combination is a genius move! the softness of the vermicelli along with the very strong flavor of the thickly cooked panang curry is just so darn good. note, the curry is thick and not watery at all which is a positive. along with the king prawn meat, it's just good stuff!

so, you think you had enough king prawn? next we have the 'fried rice with prawn, chicken, longnan, garlic and shallot.' no prawn head this time but you just have the meat. this dish is presented well too. it comes in a wooden pot with a cover on top. open it up, you see all its wonders. this is one of the less strong tasting dish overall speaking. as of in, the taste is reliant on one or two of the ingredients. usually, fried rice is like that unless it's a wet fried rice like fujian style fried rice where the thick sauce covers everything. the highlight this dish, longnan is added which is a very similar fruit to lychee. it's a bit less sour than lychee but more sweet. it gives the fried rice a slight sweet flavor to it. the bit of saltiness comes from the dry pork meat. usually these things (comes in beef, fish also) goes with rice porridge, but adding this to this fried rice helps the higlighting of the taste. besides that, the taste has a sweet, soy sauce like taste to it. great presentation, conservative taste yet good overall.

now we have the strongest saltiness tasting dish. 'fried minced chicken with basil, chili.' this dish is very salty, very strong with its basil and chili taste (therefore spicy also). the dish also includes some mushrooms, green beans and red bell peppers. a very colorful presentation. this dish is definitely a rice matching dish so naturally it went with the fried rice that was discussed above. a dish that should be loved by people who loves spiciness and extremely strong flavors.

to the side of the restaurant outside, there's a grill for the 'griddle' portion of the menu. all sorts of seafood can be choose from. for our occasion, we went with the squid. like always, good color contrast in the presentation. the grilled squid goes with a thick sweet, sour garlic, chili type sauce. if you ever had the dressing on thai beef salad, it tastes very very similar to it. the squid is chewy with the grill like taste on it. along with the sauce, it adds a nice compliment to it. simple overall but of course, still very good in its own way.

hey, we all need fiber to help do our business right? so we went with the 'sauteed morning glory with bean paste and chili.' morning glory is one of my personal favorite vegetable. the various ways it could be cooked in (shrimp sauce, bean paste, chopped garlic), really makes it a versatile vegetable. in this dish, the bean paste helps highlight a lot. in addition to this, some of the bean is not grinded into paste which gives some additional chewing, taste to it. the bean paste gives that fermented, salty flavor to the morning glory. the chili gives the dish a slight spiciness to it which patches up the dish. good stuff definitely.

OKAY!! well, i'm not quite done yet. haha. so onto my second experience right away. sat inside one of those shacks that is air conditioned. the plastic covering keeps the AC inside really well away from that humid feeling. definitely a nice enclosed environment with a bunch of friends or family. the dish difference between my first and second experience is the 'pineapple fried rice' and the 'steamed mullet with lemon grass, basil, grape tomato, coconut milk, and lime.' the other dishes were also ordered from the first experience.

so instead fried rice coming with a wooden pot, it's fried rice coming in a half pineapple shell! pineapple fried rice is the most common rice dish among most thai food lovers. this one comes with rasins, squid (additional meat), mix vegetables (like those frozen bags with peas, kernal, etc). pineapple of course, chicken (base meat) and shrimp (additional meat). presentation wise, nothing but clever. since it's pineapple fried rice, it comes in a pineapple shell, haha. very much like the other fried rice, this dish is very dependent on the pineapple for the highlighting of the taste, sweetness. again, dry pork meat is added on top to make sure flavors are extracted with every bite. with the usually not added meat into the fried rice (squid, shrimp), it gives a somewhat mix sensation to the mouth. i would prefer limiting it down to chicken and shrimp if not just chicken. nevertheless, it was a good dish. my only complaint was, because they try to fit it into the pineapple, the portion wasn't a lot compared to the wooden pot one, but still, clever presentation.

last but not least, the steamed mullet. this dish took the longest for it to prepared. comes in a fish shaped plate with fire underneath, the sauce/soup base to this dish tastes pretty much like tom ka ka. comes with lemon grass, basil, grape tomato, coconut milk, and lime as said before, the flavor is about mild. i suggest when eating the mullet (it's a type of fish by the way), eat it in conjunction with the soup base. it gives every bite the sweet (coconut milk ) and sour (lime) sensation. i was expecting the sourness to be stronger, however it came mild. yet, it's a nice dish used last to settle off all the spicy, strong sour and sweet flavors if that's a better way to make this dish sound better. overall good, but i think it's one of those exceptional moments. which is, if i came tomorrow again, the taste could possibly be stronger. or perhaps it is intentional for it to be mild. presentation and everything wise, done very nicely.

4 simons with sombrero hats or 4.5? 5 is out of the question. i absolutely got to have no doubt at all to give it a 5. i'll say this right now, the service was a bit not as responsive as i would like. both times there, the responsiveness was very similar. when asking if a certain dish is coming or not, they would check for you but never come back sometimes to say if they checked and it's coming right away. attitude is between neutral to good. all this definitely threw away 0.5 out of the total. okay, it's not about the food, but the way i see how this business is geared, the customer service is a must. ultimately, this place is a must visit restaurant! nothing was mediocore. all was good to excellent. definitely a good thai place to go to! in the end...

< 4 out of 5 >