The Steak House winebar + grill Hong Kong

This is post #29, part of my #50PostsIn50Days personal challenge to document my first 100 days in Hong Kong. Other posts in this series may be found at the bottom of the original post.

We have a cousin who lives in Hong Kong and visited the US for a college-touring trip about two years ago. We thought it funny how our cousin and his dad kept seeking out American steakhouses everywhere they went. It was as if they don't sell beef in Hong Kong.

We were really curious, so we had to ask them why.

Their explanation was that US beef tastes different, and it's really expensive in Hong Kong.

After moving here, I see there's some truth to that. However, I actually think there's more steak in Hong Kong. Yes, perhaps US steak is more expensive in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong offers all sorts of different cuts of Japanese beef, steaks from Australia and New Zealand, and of course, USDA prime beef as well.

After being in Hong Kong for a couple months, we were hankering for a good steak so we decided to visit The Steak House Winebar + Grill located on the lower level of the Intercontinental Hong Kong in Tsim Sha Tsui.

Previously awarded one Michelin star in 2014 - 2016, The Steak House Winebar + Grill no longer has a star but is still recommended in the guide as a "very good standard". The restaurant boasts Hong Kong's only charcoal grill, offers high end cuts of meat including USDA Prime, Australian Wagyu, and Japanese A5 Hida Wagyu.

On top of their extensive beef offerings, they also have a solid selection of seafood (Hokkaido scallops, Boston lobster, King crab legs, abalone, and prawns).

The wine list has over 480 bottles, with over 70% American wines.

Finally, they actually have an excellent salad bar, which apparently has been around "since 1982" according to the menu. You could totally fill up just by eating from the salad bar. In fact, I just ordered the salad bar ($398 HKD a person / $298 with entree) while Bryan ordered a steak with salad bar.

It worked great for us. I got to sample a couple pieces of his steak while fully indulging in the salad bar (see my plate pictured above, which includes a colorful assortment of high quality vegetables and smoked salmon!). You can't tell in this photo, but there are also quite a few more filling items from the salad bar, such as cured meats, roasted duck, and various pasta salads and the like.

The first fun item they bring over to each table is a salt bar! You get to sample all these different exotic rock salts to accompany your meal. We had fun trying all of them, concluding that the Chardonnay oak smoked salt definitely had the strongest flavor, whereas many others were more subtle. The Cyprus flake had the biggest textural different (it was the biggest), and other ones varied slightly in flavor and profile.

How fun, each steak diner gets to pick out the perfect knife for the steak course. Bryan picked out a Global knife, which was very similar to the Global steak knives that we have at home.

The charcoal-grilled Australian wagyu ribeye was fantastic. It was less fatty than the A5 Japanese steaks, but it had really nice flavor. The size was just right. Bryan ate most of it, and I was able to taste a few slices.

Sorry I have no photo of it cut. I think we were just too anxious to start eating, ha ha. I can assure you that the inside was cooked a perfect rare and we fully enjoyed it.

Sides are $98 each, and we had creamed spinach and French fries with truffle oil. Both were fine, but didn't necessarily stand out in any way.

General Thoughts - The Steak House winebar + grill Hong Kong

If you love steak and wine, this is definitely a good place to go. They have an fantastic selection of both steaks and wines, and they have a charcoal grill, which is virtually non-existent in Hong Kong! We had a lovely meal here and I can totally see us coming back if we are in the mood for high end western-style steak again.

The prices aren't cheap. USDA Prime beef will run you from $588 HKD for a 9 oz New York Strip steak up to $1898 HKD for a 20 oz Chateaubriand. We used to grill USDA Prime 16-oz ribeye steaks at home in Boston (sold for $12-$15 USD per pound at Costco!!). Those will run you $858 HKD here, or over $100 USD each . . .)

Of course A5 Japanese Wagyu comes at a price ($1225 to $1680 for 6 oz!), but it's nice that it's available.

I guess I can understand why my cousin and his father were seeking out steak so much in the US. The US really does have the luxury of reasonably priced beef that doesn't really exist here in Hong Kong. However, I'm glad we at least can access it, and can treat ourselves to top-notch expertly prepared steak once every so often.

The Steak House winebar + grill Hong Kong
InterContinental Hong Kong
18 Salisbury Road, Kowloon, Hong Kong