The New Benedict, the Liberal

If you ask me, the newly opened Bizou on Elgin Street is the new hot spot for lunching and brunching. Their Saturday brunch menu had all I could ask for on a Saturday afternoon. The eight choices of brunch sets—which are essentially different combinations of poached eggs, bread, meat, potatoes and sauces—all cried out "pick me". After much contemplating, I went for the good old smoked salmon.

Two wobbly poached eggs sitting on fat slices of Tasmanian smoked salmon on a thick bed of spinach on a half of what looked like ciabatta, topped with a golden stream of hollandaise sauce. I saw heaven.

In addition, the $118-plus-10%-service-charge per set also bought a fresh fruit juice (which was, sadly, below par) and a coffee/tea (the latte was pretty good). Overall, it's good value for money. I reckon they are among the top of the list of the city's best Benedict variations. It's definitely the best I've had in Hong Kong thus far.

From what I heard, their Monday-to-Friday lunch menu is a lot more diverse, with choices of two- or three-course sets. I must try their soft-shell crab sandwich one of these days. If only I can find a way to go all the way to Central for lunch on a weekday.

What else: Simplistic décor, high ceiling, and beautiful furniture. Young, friendly and helpful staff with the exception of the one waitress. Relatively new, hence not crowded, perfect for long weekend brunches with all the chitchat.

Disappointment: More ice than juice in the fresh fruit juice. Ridiculously small ladies' room (actually, "lady's (singular) room"), which you must go out the back door to get to, and was flooded from the rain when I went last Saturday. A dinner menu that spelled nothing interesting.