If only J has made her hatred for Chinese food less explicit, we wouldn't have the chance to go to the recently opened Beef & Liberty for her sort-of farewell lunch last weekend. Nestled on top of the Pizza Express on Star Street in Admiralty, most of us are misled by its name and thought it's a burger joint run by the Liberty Exchange group, but Beef & Liberty is actually a Shanghainese brand which is known for using 100% Australian grass-fed cattle for its high quality burgers, or so it claims.
The weather was rather cool and gloomy that day. Yves and Brown Sugar, being their sporty-selves, suggested we walk from Causeway Bay to the restaurant which seemed far at first, but it only took us around 20 minutes to get there in the end. When we arrived at the building, we saw T standing at the entrance for Pizza Express, looking clueless by himself. It turned out that to be able to get up to Beef & Liberty on 3/F, we needed to use the elevator at Pizza Express, and this was confusing.
Once the elevator opened to 3/F, a friendly waitress greeted us with a smile and led us to our booth next to the window. Although the restaurant wasn't a big place, its high ceilings and decoration rendered a casual and hip vibe. The booth was however quite small for 6 people. When we saw that there was a very reasonably priced "All Day Set" on the menu, we were quite excited until C drew our attention to the smaller print underneath which stated that "All Day Set" was not available on weekends, which was a total bummer! As J and Julie were "fashionably/excusably/absolutely" late again, we decided to order some drinks first. The price tags of this place were on the hefty side and lunch was priced at around $200 to $250 per person.
(1) The drinks we ordered failed on multiple levels and it was definitely not the best way to start our meal. The Liberty Iced Peppermint Tea ($32) Brown Sugar ordered looked good but tasted like normal iced tea soaked in peppermint leafs with too much ice.
(2) We knew we wouldn't be getting freshly squeezed lemonades for the Liberty Fresh Lemonade ($32) but this un-fresh drink could use a more suiting name: iced lemon water. It was so tasteless and bland, and we were disappointed to tears to have to pay for this.
(3) Our table of 6 decided to order some starters to share. The Crispy Chicken Wings ($62/4 pieces) with Korean spicy sauce were intensely satisfying. The size for each chicken wing was big enough. Although the use of Korean spicy sauce was perhaps inspired by the widely popular Korean TV show, we were certainly blown away by the alluring spiciness and the delightfully crispy skin. Speaking as a lover for wings, this dish was absolutely enticing for my tastebuds and was easily one of the most memorable dishes!
(4) The Sticky Rib Fingers ($68) were slow roasted US pork ribs covered in honey bbq marinade and spring onions. But there was just simply much more bone than meat for this dish with an overwhelming taste of honey sauce which made my fingers fairly sticky.
(5) Julie, being just back in town, went for the classic Cheese Burger ($92) with beef, cheddar cheese, butter lettuce, pickles, and house BBQ sauce. You can tell the waitress how cooked you want your beef to be and Julie opted for Medium Rare. The burger was accomplished where the beef was exquisitely juicy and tender, while melted cheddar cheese and the house BBQ sauce composed a complex and fine taste! Though we couldn't tell the difference between their grass-fed beef and the other ones (i.e. the grain-fed ones), we were satisfied but we just wish the portion could be bigger!
(6) Yves and J ordered the same Cheese Burger but they added extra $20 for it to be served in a bowl. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this concept, it is a more healthy option for those counting carbs, and the Cheese Burger would come with a tender leaf salad without the buns! But we couldn't help but wish the salad could use more salad dressing or some more citrus elements to help balance the fattiness of the beef and they could also keep the house BBQ sauce too!
(7) The Bacon Cheese Burger ($108) T and C ordered was delicious. The beef was tender and moist, and the bacon had a fabulously crispy and chewy texture, and they were always a fantastic match to me! The cheese and house bbq sauce further accentuated the indulgent flavours!
(8) The Green Chili Burger ($98) ordered by Brown Sugar was marvellously prepared with green chili sauce and jalapeno relish. The mayo and the beef complemented the spicy flavors well but stronger flavouring was needed.
Overall remarks: Burgers at Beef & Liberty were delicious but they were not particularly outstanding. We don't need to be having top quality beef burgers to enjoy a meal- most meals I have are far from good or healthy but I like them and I enjoy them. Beef & Liberty's biggest disappointment is wasting a perfectly good opportunity to become the next hit burger joint in Hong Kong and being unable to live up to its expensive price tags and our high expectations it set up. If only the dishes were worthy of the restaurant, it does just about everything right -- the decoration, the service and the goodwill idea. For a farewell party, we were happy with its ambience. For a burger place, it is just a blank void as vacuous as the brand itself. Food: ★ ★ ★ ☆ ☆
Ambience: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
Service: ★ ★ ★ ★ ☆
INFO
Beef & Liberty
2/F, 23 Wing Fung St., Admiralty 金鐘永豐街23號2樓
Telephone: 3460 4900
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