Founder and Chef Erik Idos spent almost a decade working for the acclaimed Japanese restaurant chain NOBU before branching out on his own with CHINO, his much-admired Hong Kong fusion eatery. The restaurant concept, located on the corner of North Street near the Kennedy Town waterfront was inspired by his background in Japanese fine-dining, his upbringing around migrant Mexican culture and food in Los Angeles and his own Filipino heritage.
The cuisine at CHINO is Mexican, created with an inspiring Japanese approach. Its heart and soul however are unmistakably Filipino and even the name Erik chose, CHINO, comes from the Spanish word referring to a person of Asian descent. The resulting food, and the ways it is prepared and presented, is a combination of vastly different cuisines, cooking techniques and cultural approaches to eating out.
The menu is a mix of sharing plates and tapas style and whilst the ever-popular tacos, salsas and tostadas are clearly inspired by Mexican fare, as you delve deeper the many Japanese ingredients, preparation and the clean presentation and style steer it into classic fusion territory.
Wholesome and harking back to his roots, dishes like the chorizo fried rice are unsurprisingly popular, chef’s take on the classic Filipino breakfast dish with garlic rice and topped with a fried egg. It offers quite a kick too. Top tapas choices include the chicken and egg tostada, a fried corn tortilla with chicken tinga and fresh guacamole topped with a fried egg and the scrumptious scallop and uni tostada, a spicy and complex eel with scallop mix atop a fried corn tortilla.
Closed on Mondays, CHINO is a welcoming and comfortable restaurant and does not take reservations.
CHINO
1B-1C New Praya,
North Street, Kennedy Town,
Hong Kong
T: (+852) 26060588
