Review: Arcane

I've been meaning to write this post for ages but what with the onset of the holidays, it had completely slipped my mind so apologies if this is brief because since this meal, I've become a glutton many times over so it's a bit hard to completely recall my experience. So Arcane, hot on the foodies' lists given that Shane Osborn has a decent fan base here since he revamped St Betty's and turned it around a couple years ago. His new restaurant is on On Lan Street and when I first went in, cosy was the first thought I had as it's a small place with quite a number of tables squished into it. I definitely was conscious of my giant bag and had to make sure I didn't inadvertently whack someone across the face.

That aside though, the food was quite good. My friend started with a scallop that she deemed fresh (I couldn't try it out due to allergies.) While I had the pepper seared tuna with warm crushed potatoes, marinated shallots, black olives and water crest. The potatoes were super buttery, almost overwhelmingly so when paired with the tuna but the combination made for a yummy mouthful nonetheless.

Steamed Hokkaido cod, butternut squash ravioli, choi sum, sage and among brown butter. I love cod and this dish didn’t disappoint. The butternut squash ravioli was a nice touch to the dish but the choi sum was a tad overcooked for my taste. But that’s due to my personal preference of liking choi sum with crunch which might be too Canto style for a western dish.

Roast breast of guinea fowl, snow peas, new season onions, bacon and thyme jus. The breast was perfectly done. I am generally wary of poultry breasts as it’s so easy to turn it into a rubbery texture but this was lovely. Also appreciated Shane Osborn’s use of veggies that I associate with Chinese dishes in his mains. Lovely touch

Manjari chocolate tart with Guiness ice cream and shaved macadamia nuts. If you’re a fan of chocolate then get this dessert. Super yums and in particular loved the crunch of the nuts!

I can't quite remember how much dinner for the two of us cost but I think it was around HK$1500?

Arcane is located at 3/F, 18 On Lan Street Central