Little Bao, Central, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia)

Although a long time favourite order at Dim Sum restaurants and as a snack throughout Asia, the humble steamed bun or Bao has reached even greater heights of ubiquity in the post-Momofuku culinary world. The Momofuku Pork Bun must be one of the most heavily copied and replicated dishes of modern times, with entire restaurants and menus almost obsessively based around variations on the steamed bun theme, such as Wonderbao in Melbourne. Given its almost viral spread and continuing influence over a decade since the opening of Noodle Bar, it begs the question - have we reached Peak Bao? Not yet, if Little Bao in Hong Kong is anything to go by.

The Monogamous Chinese, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 2, Part 4)

Planning an eating excursion to some of the more popular places in a country requires a lot of forward planning. Of course there are a lot of places you can just kinda wander into without a problem,but if its got a Michelin Guide recommendation (especially a Bib Gourmand or a star rating) its a bit riskier leaving it up to chance.

G&T Bar, Soho, Hong Kong (Alissa and Don Eat Asia Day 2, Part 3)

Alissa loves her gin, so when I found out that Hong Kong's Soho actually had a bar completely dedicated to gin I knew we had to go. Located conveniently on the way to Monogamous Chinese just under the Mid-Levels Escalator on Hollywood Road, G&T Cocktail Bar is a little difficult to find as its above the ground floor, with its entrance to the side. Luckily, I'd done some research so after a bit of orienting ourselves we made our way to the empty bar. It was a little early for a drink, so this is understandable but I hope that Hong Kong's ever-growing rent does not make this situation untenable for them. 

With 80+ gins to choose from you're really spoiled for choice here. We started with some gin and tonics. Being proud of her Dutch heritage, Alissa went with an aged Genever and wanting to try something different rather than go with safe choices I asked for their recommendation. Their pick – the highly regarded German gin Monkey 47.

The drinks arrived with fairly premium tonic and one giant carved piece of ice in each glass. Sadly, as a bit of a blog rookie mistake I did not write down the tonic name so forgive my vagueness. Alissa's Genever had been aged for a year, and had developed flavours that reminded both of us of rum. Very interesting and unusual. We both agreed that my gin was even better. Featuring 47 botanicals, Monkey 47 is full of flavours ranging from the usual juniper berry to... well, so many more we couldn't possibly put our finger on all of them. As someone always on the lookout for something unusual for the liquor cabinet, Monkey 47 is something we'd be looking for when selecting our duty free liquor on return to Perth.

With a bit more time to kill but not wanting to get too smashed before dinner, we decided to share a cocktail before heading to Monogamous. We went with the Thyme for Gin, a cocktail consisting of gin, sweet vermouth, lemon juice, raspberries, thyme and egg white. This was a very good cocktail – the thyme blended naturally with the gin botanicals, and had a nice crisp acidity from the lemon juice and muddled raspberries. Delicious, and all the better for the huge raspberries used as the garnish.

The Verdict: Very Good
Obviously a bar this niche is not going to be for everyone, but if you're a gin lover looking for your next new gin and are in the Soho district, you've gotta pay a visit to G&T Bar.