H&H bagels in Hong Kong

Brunch at the Press Room today. It's been a while since I was last there, so I was eager to see how things have changed since I was last there.

I was debating whether to order my usual - Croque Monsieur - when something caught my eye. They serve H and H bagels with smoked salmon and cream cheese! I am a big fan of H and H Bagels from Manhattan's Upper West Side, and I was determined to finally have a decent bagel in Hong Kong!

Given that the weather was still a bit warm, I decided to start with the leek and potato Vichyssoise. When it arrived, I was surprised (and a little annoyed) to find out that this version was warm. While the chef had the nice touch of adding some black truffles, fact remains that Vichyssoise is meant to be cold. If it's hot then it should be called something else - a simple potato and leek soup, for example.

But I'm happy to say that redemption was achieved via the bagel. While it would have been nice to have a choice of bagels (instead of just plain), it was fantastic to finally be able to have a real bagel in Hong Kong. Almost all the bagels you find here are fake - they're actually bread, not bagels. Here you've got the real McCoy, flown in from New York. While my friend complained about not having enough smoked salmon, I thought there was a reasonable amount of it considering the price. It would have been more perfect to have the bagel served with lox and not smoked salmon (yes, there is a difference...), I suppose that smoked salmon is probably more common here.

No brunch at the Press Room would be complete without me bringing some alcohol, in this case the 2006 Selbach-Oster Riesling Kabinett "fish". It's easy to drink during the day - a touch of sweetness nicely balanced with the acidity, and some minerals in the nose. It was kept a tad too cold so the nose didn't show fully, but hey...it's a casual wine.