MEATS, Staunton Street

Done well the simple things in life can bamboozle oneself, make one sigh in appreciation or make one green with jealously about our inability to do something which looks so simple in the hands of those skilled enough to pull it off. Many may associate football with this, unfortunately I have no appreciation of the “beautiful game” so will find a better metaphor. Perhaps art. Here I am not talking the Mona Lisa nor any of the great works but pieces which look so simple that make many of us, myself included, look at and say “well I could do that”. But the point is we haven’t, either we are too naive about our apparent artistic talent, or we do not have enough original thought nor bravery to accomplish what we originally viewed as such a simple thing.

Cooking can fall into this category, especially cooking in its humblest form. No bells and whistles, no foams, no expensive ingredients plonked on the top of a dish (I’m thinking of restaurants who decide to bury a dish beneath shavings of truffles). But cooking which takes the best of ingredients, does not try to do anything clever with them and with a push in the right direction lets the ingredients speak for themselves. This is cooking which many of us would like to think that we are capable of doing at home yet would somehow find a way to totally fuck it up. Luckily the dinner I had at MEATS was clearly done by a chef who appreciated his products and strays away from any unnecessary bells and whistles.

MEATS is a restaurant by Pirata Group, located in the mid levels. The Scot and I headed in on one of those typical summer evenings in Hong Kong. By these, I mean those nights which piss it down with rain. We were seated immediately and in front of us was the porchetta. That Italian roast pork dish which gets those us who think a plate of food isn’t complete without some sort of meat salivating at the mere thought of that crisp crackling encasing the succulent meat flavoured with all manner of herbs. Of course we ordered it, you’d be insane not to. It was served with a romesco sauce, a combination I’d not come across before but the chef clearly knows what he is doing and the two complemented each other well. The Scot couldn’t finish hers, so being the caring dinner companion that I am I helped her to finish.

MEATS is not all about, well meat, but the veg and other side dish were equally appealing. We settled on the heritage carrots to make us feel like we had had something halfway healthy. Served with hollandaise (the health factor went out the window at this point) and middle eastern spices these were a remainder that vegetables should not be an afterthought.

Stupidly, the Scot and I had eaten a load of cheese before coming and so at this point we were getting full. But still found room for the beef short ribs with watercress gremolata. Cooked long and slow this is a dish to make you forgot about the pissing rain and rejoice in a chef brave enough to put something so simple on the menu and then have the poise and skill to pull it off. On many other occasions I have had something similar to this dish and yet only on occasion has it been executed with such aplomb.

My one complaint is that we were not made aware of the specials board which included suckling big and bone marrow. Either this is a clever marketing strategy to entice people back or was a simple mistake on the part of the otherwise excellent service. Either way I will be back and if the bone marrow is anything close to what the daddy of ‘simple cooking’ Fergus Henderson produces I am looking forward to it.

MEATS is a restaurant where one would not leave hungry. Where you can see chefs preparing dishes in the kitchen. Where your eyes will be on stilts looking at what everyone else has ordered and wishing you had room for an extra dish. We will surely be back.

All the best,

The Galloping Ginger

MEATS - G/F, 28 - 30, Staunton Street, Soho, Central

http://piratameats.hk