The best of British at Hong Kong's The Boar

A new SoHo gastro-pub turns out to be a delicious slice of home for Carolynne Dear and son, Harry

The Boar's delectable first floor dining room

As a longtime English expatriate, I've come to realise that outside of the UK, it's not so easy as perhaps you might expect to find a good quality British restaurant. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m really not that bothered about eating British fare when I’m overseas, I’d generally much rather explore local and regional dishes. But when a British menu does make an appearance on my travels, more often than not it tends to be something of a cliché and, well, a little bit 'meh'. Mostly it's fine, just very predictable (and on the odd occasion it's been truly dreadful; bitter orange marmalade with scones was awkward, but hot pork pie swimming in melted jelly was unforgivable).

Away from Midlevels, I’m blessed to call the southwest of England 'home', where there’s a farm shop at every turn and plenty of rain and lush green grass to create tender, world class beef, fantastic cheeses, creamy puds and outstanding locally grown fruit and veg. Not to mention delicious Cornish lobster, fresh fish from the Fowey and and tidbits of whitebait and mackerel plucked from the Dorset coast, items that regularly adorn local menus.

And so it was with both hope and trepidation that I headed over last week for a media tasting at The Boar, a new British gastro-pub on Elgin Street. I took my perennially hungry teenage son (in Hong Kong for his boarding school half term) along with me as my plus one and to ensure we gave the menu a proper workout. We’d heard rumours of beer-battered cod ‘n’ chips, scotch eggs and Glamorgan sausages. So far, so predictable. 

What we weren’t expecting was to be led through the convivial downstairs bar to a twisting spiral staircase which opened onto a gorgeously candlelit first floor dining room. Our snowy white naped-and-draped table featured personalised The Boar crockery, sparkling glassware and an enticing-looking menu. I immediately ordered a glass of a very good Alsace cremant (a coke for Harry) while we put on our thinking caps and perused the ‘Upstairs at The Boar’ menu. 

The Boar's executive and head chefs, Graham Long and Jake Bennett, hail from London in the southeast and Cumbria in the far north of England, and between them bring decades of fine-dining expertise to the kitchen. Long’s career includes stints at Gordon Ramsay at Claridges, L’Autre Pied, Pied à Terre and his own London venue, Gazellig. Bennett, meanwhile, has career credits including three-Michelin-star L’Enclume, as well as Roganic and The Baker and the Bottleman in Hong Kong. Their menu at The Boar, it is said, will evolve with the seasons.

Scallops in a seaweed butter were warmly received

The starters menu ranged from Irish rock oysters and cured sea trout to pork and eel foie gras terrine and chargrilled asparagus. In the end, we plumped for slow-roasted carrots with goat's curd and toasted hazelnuts (very seasonal at this time of year), along with seared scallops with roasted cauliflower, crispy bacon and seaweed butter, all served attractively in the shell. We felt we had ordered well.

Buoyed by this promising start, we eagerly looked forward to our mains, a pork cheek and lobster pie for me and a roasted rack of lamb for Harry. The pie arrived more as a traditional ‘pudding’, perfectly round and filled to the brim with the meat and fish. It was divine. The accompanying seaweed mash and a few scattered greens were perfectly portioned, adding to the dish but not detracting from the star of the show. Harry’s soft-as-butter confit lamb belly came with a redcurrant and rosemary sauce (for me, lamb and redcurrants are a perfect combination, the piquant berries cut through the rich lamb perfectly), along with charred broccolini and roasted shallot. Again, success all round.

The pudding menu was small but perfectly formed. Sticky toffee pudding is a foregone conclusion on most British menus, and let’s face it, you really can’t go wrong with this sweet and more-ish treat. More interesting choices included strawberry trifle with an elderflower cream and warm rice pudding with poached cherries. The cheese option was a Stichelton blue (a small-batch, raw milk English cheese) served with toasted maltloaf and - again - very seasonal figs. 

We both thoroughly enjoyed our meal and thought the dishes had been incredibly thoughtfully put together. But if, after all that, you’re still looking for nothing more than a decent cod and chips, the relaxed bar downstairs has you covered.

I hope The Boar does very well, it certainly deserves to, and I’m already looking forward to a return visit with Harry’s dad.

The Boar, 55 Elgin Street, Central; The Boar.