Blue Butcher & Meat Specialist Hong Kong

Blue Butcher & Meat Specialist

I won't lie.

It was the promise of tasting possibly the best beef in the world that drew us to this restaurant.

We had heard that Blue Butcher & Meat Specialist, a restaurant from the Maximal Concepts Group, had Galician beef, the coveted beef from older cows in Galicia, Spain praised for its deep and intense flavor. The folks at Blue Butcher had found Rubia Gallega, a type of Galician beef, in Spain at the highly regarded Asador Extebarri (1 Michelin Star; No. 6 on S. Pellegrino 50Best) after spending months "scouring the globe for the best beef" they could find.

Rubia Gallega beef comes from cows who are between 12 and 18 years old and spend their lives grazing salt pastures in a stress-free environment. There are one of only a handful of restaurants in Asia who offer this special meat, and Blue Butcher & Meat Specialist is one of them.

THE STEAK

Blue Butcher & Meat takes steak very seriously. Various premium cuts of meat are aged in huge lockers you can see while visiting the restaurant. The Rubia Gallega steak (980 HKD) is dry-aged for 45 days before it is cooked on a custom-made cast iron plancha to ensure maximal sear and browning with minimal smoke to alter the flavor.

The meat is fantastic. It has a deep, intense flavor and it's quite lean. Blue Butcher did an excellent job of cooking it rare yet producing that nicely seared outer layer through the use of the iron plancha.

Although Galician beef is the most unique offering on the menu, there are many other great steak options from places such as New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, and Ireland. On another visit we tried a 14-oz Australian pasture raised Harvey Beef boneless ribeye steak (320 HKD). The steak was beautifully cooked (see photo above!) and had a wonderful beefy flavor, though not as intense or funky as the Galician beef.

We both loved the whole clove of roasted garlic that came with each steak. The creamy, garlicky cloves are so good when eaten together with the steak!
 
I don't always feel like steak, so I like the fact that they have several non-steak options. I really enjoy the excellent pan-seared King Ora Salmon from New Zealand, which they serve with a garlic puree, charred broccoli, olive salsa, and a grilled lemon. I had this twice in two visits because I liked it so much. The menu also has several other entree choices, such as an herb crusted rack of lamb, Canadian pork chop, whole roasted French baby chicken, and even a vegetarian pasta dish.

APPETIZERS

One of the most interesting appetizers is the Deep Fried Foie Gras, which comes breaded, deep fried, and served with waffles, syrup, and blueberry sauce. It's their version of "Chicken & Waffles" and it works. It's a decadent starter, but they pull it off well.

The Sustainable Tuna Tartare, which came with tortilla chips, guacamole, and some sort of guacamole, was fine and refreshing but didn't blow me away in terms of its flavors.

I really enjoyed the Grass Fed Steak Tartare, which came topped with a smoked egg yolk and served with jamon Iberico, charred bread, and crushed tomatoes. I really liked how the crushed tomatoes added an element of brightness and freshness to the combination.

I ordered this on of those occasions where I didn't really feel like having steak as my entree but I still wanted to enjoy some of their high quality beef.

The Roasted Baby Beetroot Salad was a nice, refreshing balance to the meal as a whole. Different types of baby beets were served on top of a vibrant beet hummus and served with Stratiacella cheese and granola with a burnt lemon vinaigrette.
 
The Truffle Parmesan Fries were solid, and the Roasted Cauliflower served with anchovy butter and green relish was quite nice.

LIQUID OR SOLID DESSERT

 
We tried the Grilled Peach for dessert, which tasted like a not-as-sweet version of an American peach crumble. It tasted best when I ate all three components in one bite (ice cream, peach, and crumble!).
 
The restaurant has great cocktails. Blue's famous Espresso Martini was lovely, made with espresso, Kahlua, and vanilla infused vodka. The Negroni Mezcalato was fun, made with mezcal, campari, cynar, cinzano red 1757, and black salt around the rim.

General Thoughts

It's quite clear that the folks at Blue Butcher & Meat Specialists are serious about meat. The 45-day dry aged Rubia Gallega Galician beef is special and worth trying at least once. Other options are also very good. In general, they are experts at grilling, thus almost anything made on that "plancha" is cooked properly and done very well. The sides are quite nice, and all in all it's quite easy to have a very pleasant meal there.

If you want to go, I would highly recommend making a reservation. Try booking directly through their website or by calling the restaurant directly.

Blue Butcher & Meat Specialist
G/F, 108 Hollywood Rd
Central, Hong Kong

+852 2613 9286

Disclaimer: I was invited to try Blue Butcher and Meat Specialist by the Maximal Concepts Group. I did not pay for one of the meals described above. I was not paid to write this post. All opinions are my own.