I used to regard myself as someone not easily seduced by advertising. Advertising is something for other people, I would tell myself. I would never buy anything because of one of those silly Instagram influencers, I would chuckle. I felt a secret sense of satisfaction on holiday recently as people ran along the beach trying unsuccessfully to fill up those weird loungers with air that they bought from Facebook ads. Gullible fools.
But the truth is I'm not above it. My last holiday destination was Israel (due largely to the sponsorship of major sporting events by "Visit Israel") and my next may well be Rwanda (ditto Arsenal FC and "Visit Rwanda"). All this is to say that I would probably wipe my arse with nettles if you put a slogan about it on the front of the shirt of a sports team I support.
So while I'd like to say I came across the presence of Roganic in Hong Kong by chance or some kind of divine intervention, unfortunately, I did not. I saw it on the Instagram feed of an influencer and drooled like everyone else.
By all rights, the influencer in question should be huge, judging by the frequency and volume in which she devours expensive and rich food and wine. But she looks to be about 45kg on a bad day, which makes absolutely no sense. I generally subscribe to the theory that you should never trust a thin food critic but, a bit like my views on my lack of susceptibility to advertising, it turns out that this is largely rubbish too.
But enough about her and her enviable metabolism.
To set the scene, it was one of those lethargic warm Sundays when you want to go out, but you don't want to go far, but you do want to go somewhere that makes you feel far away. Quite the quandary, but sadly not an unusual one.
There was also (depending on who you believe) between 200,000 and a million people marching in protest past my apartment block to vent their anger at the Hong Kong government, which meant straying very far was logistically out of the question anyway.
Happily, living in one of the most densely populated urban jungles in the world means I am only a hop, skip and a tram ride away from many of the excellent dining options that have been pushed at me by these improbably-proportioned influencers.
"Roganic it is", I declared, like some entitled Roman army general.
A short and sweaty tram ride later, we entered a slightly odd, but very fancy looking, building near my gym in Causeway Bay. The view of the harbour from the building is spectacular. Well, spectacular in the same way the view from my office building is spectacular if you go to the (higher) floor of a vastly more profitable business in the same block. Weirdly for such a great destination restaurant, Roganic is on the upper ground floor, with the test kitchen (not tables) by the window. Which is good, as there are only cranes and the looming entrance of the cross harbour tunnel at eye level outside anyway.
It contributed to a slightly weird sense of being in a hotel lobby restaurant, albeit a very nice and tastefully decorated one. It wasn't unpleasant by any means. It was just a bit odd given the clientele of well-heeled Hong Kong gentry (including one woman with a wedding ring the size of my head), who presumably are used to better harbour views from their en-suite bathrooms.
As my eyes re-adjusted to the light of the room – having been blinded momentarily by the reflections from said wedding ring across the room - I was a little worried that I was about to be taken for a very expensive lunchtime ride. You know, the kind where an hour of truffles, caviar and foie gras is followed by a month of regret and instant ramen.
As it turns out, the lunchtime menu (HK$280pp + service for three courses, plus unexpected treats) is probably the best value meal anywhere in Hong Kong right now. More of this later. Let me whet your appetite a little first.
We started with a little chef's treat – a dainty tart of smoked fishy mousse, topped with fresh peas and a little fish roe. "Eat it in one" said our server. "Can I have two?" I thought, as my dining companion purred.
Our second treat quickly followed – a still warm soda bread with "cultured" butter to accompany our starters of cured fish and the house special grilled salad with Westcombe cheese and truffle. I have no idea what makes the butter cultured, but it was fucking delicious to the point where I had to stop myself licking it off the knife, which would not have been very cultured at all.
The cured fish was beautifully presented under a blanket of pickled radish, but the creamy dressing was a little heavy for my liking. The salad, however, was next level. Local veggies were charred until crisp and blackened but not bitter and burnt, and coated in the most velvety cheesy/truffley sauce you can imagine. A solid 10 out of 10.
The mains of snapper with "bone sauce" and beautifully soft chicken and kale were clean, satisfying and perfectly executed. The only sad thing was that there wasn't more of them and the excellent sauces they poured on tableside. In hindsight, I should have asked them to leave the jug. Also in hindsight, that would have probably been a weird and greedy thing to do – like when you eat things straight out of jars at home when you think no-one's looking.
After deserts of apple tart (bloody yum) with juniper ice cream (2/10 yums. don't mess with the classics mate – vanilla is still king) and stout ice cream with molasses and burnt milk crisps (6/10 yums), I was just about ready to tell everyone I know that this is the best lunch menu going.
And then they brought out FOR FREE two of the lightest, crispiest, sweetest little doughnuts you have ever seen, which should really end any latent reservations you have in your head about booking a table for lunch right now. That is, if you can get a table now that I have block booked them for lunch every day for the next three years.
Serrrrriously though, this stuff is legit. They use (mostly) local and all sustainable ingredients and elevate them to a new level. Service is crisp and refined but not stuffy. And the loos are ace. It's also under HK$300 a head (no booze), which is insane when you consider I paid two thirds of that for posh avocado on toast and a coffee at an average bakery the other day.
The fact that this place is bloody brilliant should, perhaps, not be a surprise given it comes from a chef with multiple Michelin stars in the UK, who is renowned for delicious food and local sourcing. But the fact you can eat some of the best food in Hong Kong for such a reasonable price should really see people flocking here.
My advice – go now. Ideally before they read this and put the prices up.