Beef & Liberty | Hong Kong

Rating: ❤❤❤❤

Originating from Shanghai, Beef & Liberty aims to serve the tastiest hamburger you will have tried in a while with grass-fed cows raised in Tasmania. The beef are freshly grind twice a day before lunch and dinner to ensure a perfect burger experience. Located in the Star Street precinct, the restaurant was inconspicuous at first from the ground level as it was located above Pizza Express. Elevators on the side will take you directly to the 2/F where you are greeted with the sight of a fully loaded bar, floor-to-ceiling windows, and an impressive mural as the backdrop of the restaurant. Thanks to the restaurant for the invite, and special thanks to Chef Neil for giving us the lowdown on the menu and regaling us with his hilarious stories.

To get our night started, we started perusing the drinks (alcoholic) menu. For drinks, Beef & Liberty offers a locally brewed beer on tap as well as other craft beers and spiked milkshakes (ooh). I'm more of a cocktails person though so I ordered the East Side ($70) - a classic Southern drink with citrus, mint and cucumber. I love this drink at Lily & Bloom and I felt that the drink was decently executed here as the flavors were rightfully balanced.

The other signature cocktail I tried was the Modern Moonshine ($90) with bourbon whiskey and gin mixed together with fresh homemade lemonade. The smell was strong but the drink went down quite smoothly, so it was pleasant to drink as well. 

  

 For appetizers, we tried all 3 on the menu starting with the crispy chicken wings ($62). Inspired by the Korean-style fried chicken, the wings came drizzled with a spicy and tangy sauce that was simply hard to resist! l found the fried batter to be too thick for my taste though as parts of it would come off every time I took a bite. [4/5]

Cobblers are usually served as desserts but the sweet corn cobbler ($38) here was a savory dish with jalapeno and dahl mixed with corn. The resulting flavors were deliciously sweet and spicy while I love the crunchy texture of the dahl! [4.5/5]

We saved the best for last as the sticky rib fingers ($68) was oh so scrumptious! The slow roasted ribs were tender and moist while the honey bbq marinade was finger-licking awesome! Again, the crunchy dahl was a nice touch as it just added another dimension of texture onto the ribs. [5/5]

Moving onto the burgers! The bacon cheese burger ($108) was hands-down my favorite out of the 4 burgers that we tried. I had ordered my beef to be cooked medium and it arrived as requested with a pinkish center. The beef was flavorful and moist while the candied bacon was an unexpected delight! I love bacon (who doesn't?) and the sweet and crispy bacon just enhanced the flavors of the burger dramatically. [5/5]

The falafel burger ($78) was the only vegetarian burger on the menu and it was surprisingly tasty as well! I've never had falafel in the form of a patty before but it actually worked as a burger.The deep-fried patty was crunchy with delicate flavors from the chickpeas and spices. [4.5/5]

I was really looking forward to the lamb burger ($95) which was cooked medium as well. Although the meat was quite tender, I found the flavors to be underwhelming and not really gamey. They had this cucumber mint yogurt sauce that went perfectly with this burger though. [3.5/5]

They also had this option where you can choose to have burger in a bowl so it comes with salad instead of buns - which is great if you're watching your carbs intake. We tried the chicken burger in a bowl ($92) which arrived with a piece of fried chicken breast sitting on tender leaf salad. The chicken was adequately tender and moist, but I felt it could have used some sauce on it as the flavor of the chicken itself wasn't that strong. Perhaps some of that Korean spicy sauce? [3/5]

For sides, we tried both the sweet potato fries and liberty fries. All fries come with your choice of sauces which include cajun aioli, mayo, house BBQ, and cucumber mint yogurt. I love the sweet potato fries as they were crunchy with a subtle sweet taste which didn't even need any of the sauces for flavoring. The liberty fries were standard but weren't crispy enough for my liking.

To round up our evening, we ordered the warm skillet cookie & cream ($48) for dessert and it was simply irresistible!! The chocolate chip cookie was thick and warm while crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. The best part was the cream that was poured all over the cookie! The greedy side of me thinks that this dessert would have been even more perfect with some ice cream on the side as well! [5/5]

Overall, the food at Beef & Liberty was excellent while the ambiance was perfect for a casual night out. Prices are reasonable especially if you get the All Day Sets with burger, fries/salad, and drink for $125-$135 which is available on weekdays. I also love the offer of filtered water for $8 with $5 to donation to help reduce carbon footprint!

Beef & Liberty
2/F, 23 Wing Fung St., Wan Chai
2811 3009 
http://www.beef-liberty.com/hk/


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