Serving up dishes from Valencia to Venice, The Bayside champions the best of Mediterranean cuisine

Situated on the ground floor of the Harbour Grand Kowloon Hotel, steps away from Hong Kong’s Hung Hom promenade, new bistro, bar, and terrace The Bayside serves up modern and traditional Mediterranean cuisine with ingredients sourced from Southern Europe.

The newest restaurant from Silver Oak Group – its other eateries include Quiero Más and Gaylord – the eclectic menu sees French classics like moules marinière and steak tartare cosying up to paella and risotto dishes.

Styled by renowned Hong Kong based designer Hernan Zanghellini, the interiors are as warm and welcoming as a summer breeze in St Tropez, with hand-painted sapphire mosaic tiles and orange accents intended to reflect those dreamy Mediterranean sunsets.

The evening begins with a gin and tonic infused with lemon and saffron; The Bayside’s in-house infused gins are already causing quite a stir and are the vision of mixologist and sommelier Vincent Chue.

Accommodating up to 220 guests, the 6,000 sqft space includes indoor seating and a generous outdoor patio where guests can dine alfresco, while the open kitchen displays the bespoke dry-aged meat cellar, which features 36-month Iberico Paletilla jamon, which is paired with tomato crystal bread and takes centre stage on the Bayside charcuterie board, alongside chorizo, salami, and fuet, a dry-cured Catalan sausage.

The kitchen is helmed by head chef Javier Perez (above), formerly of Yardbird and Tim Ho Wan, and executive chef Gary Batra, who preside over a menu that takes in Spanish tapas, French classics, and Italian pastas and pizzas, and complements them with a solid grilled meat menu.

The meal gets off to a flying start with cold antipasti and possibly the best steak tartare I’ve ever tasted, served with Parmesan cheese, mustard, tabasco, Worcestershire sauce, gherkins, shallots, and capers, staying true to the original 1921 recipe featured in Auguste Escoffier’s Le Guide Culinaire. We also share a zesty scallop ceviche in a Peruvian citrus vinaigrette.

A fish taco is accompanied by pickled shallots and cabbage, tomatillos – a little tomato most readily associated with salsa verde – and chipotle sauce. The Med’s Middle Eastern side is represented by a mezze medley (falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, pickles, and pita) but best of all is the lobster roll, with its home-made herb mayo.

For mains, pizza and pasta dishes loom large – the linguine alle vongole sounds tempting, as does the pizza barca topped with 36-month jamon, salami, and chorizo – but instead I opt for an Argentinian rib eye with mashed potato and piquillo pepper (a chili that grows in Northern Spain) and broccolini, which is milder and sweeter than broccoli. My companion opts for suckling pig from Castille in Southern Spain, which is served with roasted potatoes.

We finish with a Malibu coconut lemon tart with coconut gelato and Basque burnt truffle cheesecake with raspberry sorbet; the latter is lighter than a regular cheesecake, the sugary, caramelised top offset with a welcome hit of tartness from the sorbet.

Resolved to return to The Bayside to savour the steak tartare all over again, I later discover there’s even more reason to reserve a table, as the restaurant is set to launch Jazz & Brunch by the Bay on weekends, with live music delivering a smooth sonic backdrop to tapas, mains, and free-flow drinks.

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