Loaf On: Sai Kung's first Michelin-star restaurant
Loaf On is the first Sai Kung's Michelin-star restaurant.
It's shaming to admit that we'd never heard of Loaf On before it won a Michelin star in the 2010 guide and was suddenly splashed all over the local media. Now we've not only heard of it, but eaten there twice in three days. Does it deserve the plaudits? Hell, yes.
Theirs is among the best Cantonese food we've ever tasted. And, hands down, the best value. Where else in the world can you feast on a six-course Michelin-star meal for just $110 a head?
Not surprisingly, given the award, it's a busy little spot even on a cold Monday night. On our second visit, it was packed to the rafters, including a rowdy table of Sai Kung fishermen tucking into twitchingly fresh seafood - always a good sign.
It's an innocuous-looking place with no English signage a short way along See Cheung Street in the Old Town – look for the table outside made from a cross-section of tree trunk and a window papered with news clippings. Inside, the décor is tasteful if a bit bland. But that's okay because you're here for the food, and there's nothing bland about that.
Like many Sai Kungers, the people at our table were suckers for deep-fried squid. We've tried it in Lamma, Lei Yue Mun, Po Toi O, High Island... you name it. But none of us had ever eaten anything as sublime as the dish at Loaf On. It took the humble squid to a whole new level: melt-in-the-mouth tender slivers of seafood, delicately battered and not remotely greasy.
Following the recommendations of the friendly staff, dish after dish raised the standard to dizzying heights. Super fresh salt-and-pepper tofu converted even the beancurd-wary, but the star of the night was the signature chicken dish, a magical combination of crispy skin and soft flesh served with a delicious fermented sauce.
The bill arrived with another treat: delicately flavoured jelly with goji berries – the latest cancer-fighting superfood – soft and not too sweet. Just right, in fact, like everything else.
49 See Cheung St., Sai Kung, 2792 9966.
