Bo Innovation Hotel

60 Johnston Road, Wan Chai, Hong Kong

‘Demon’ chef Alvin Leung cuts an intriguing figure. Creator of ‘X-treme Chinese Cuisine’, his mission is to bring molecular cooking to Hong Kong. Naturally, his heroes are Ferran Adrià and Heston Blumenthal and, like Heston, he’s self-taught. Outside Bo Innovation, his two-Michelin-starred restaurant in the trendy Wan Chai district of Hong Kong Island, there’s a huge photographic mosaic of Leung himself, complete with punky hair, cool glasses and tattoos. Style over substance? Any fears that this might be the case are dispelled with the first of seven courses, ‘Dead Garden’, a visually striking arrangement of green-onion and lime foam topped with morel powder and enoki mushrooms. It’s piquant, earthy and full of complex, concentrated flavour. Next there’s a take on the steamed dim sum bun – a paper-thin dumpling filled with warm, savoury broth that bursts on the tongue. Saffron cod with Sauternes jelly, vermicelli wrapped in aged Ibérico ham, foie gras with ice cream, and truffle-infused Wagyu beef all delight with their combinations of taste and texture. Dessert is a perfect chocolate fondant. If Leung wants to style himself like a rock star, that’s fine with me – with food this good, anything goes. EB. 00 852 2850 8371