Just some quick snapshots from the new Lo So Kitchen, where I like to stop by for a late lunch (as one of those people "without regular employ") on weekdays.

I've only had some deep-fried snacks so far, so can't really comment on the food yet, a mix of Western coffee shop dishes and Asian snacks, see promotional displays at the entrance of this cheap'n'cheerful place below.

Run by 3 generations of Chinese women, all fluent in English and very friendly, it has a kind of Green Cottage vibe. It was half-full of daytrippers on a week day afternoon, while all the neighbouring seafood places were empty after lunchtime.

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Here's their namecard, including phone number and Facebook.

This is a really great place to stop over for a meal or a snack - almost the only alternative to Chin. seafood - whenever I'm passing through SKW which is becoming more and more frequent these months.

Maybe followed by a *real* coffee and freshly baked and decorated mini muffin in the brand-new Bebe V nearby...

Lots of things are happening in South Lamma recently, almost a mini revival after their slow decline over the last 10+ years. The hiking/biking weather is fine on most days, great to go exploring.

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What's new in Lamma's Dining & Drinking scene?

New Happy Hour in Pizza Milano from 3-7pm and 3-6pm on weekends.

Jing Jing has reopened after a long Christmas break, serving a very extensive breakfast, brunch and lunch menu till 5pm.

The Bookworm Cafe's outdoor Classroom and Just Green's Living Room and seaside terrace have become popular "wine bars" and hangout spots.
By the way, Just Green has expanded from its first Lamma location to 4 HK locations now, the latest one at the Discovery Bay ferry pier just a few months back.

Bebe V has opened on Dec 27 in Sok Kwu Wan, a real Western coffee shop with their own bakery. See Lamma-zine, Dec 28:
http://www.compunicate.com/Lamma-zine/Blog/Blog-2012-12.html#Dec28

The still nameless future steakhouse and bar in the former Lamcombe's location seems to be making good progress, opening sometime after Lunar New Year.

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Two restaurants are closing down for good in the next few days:

Last day of LaLa mama's will be this Sunday, Jan 27, 2013.
The 2 buildings, over 40 years old and owned by Jackson's, will be torn down and rebuilt. Jackson's property agency will tear down the building housing their own agency first and move their office into LaLa mama's current location temporarily, before redeveloping that building as well.

I'll be missing their colourful breakfasts and lunches, see Roasted Chicken Salad and Muesli w/fruits below. Fantastic sunset views and the best view of a sandy beach of any YSW restaurant.

What are your best memories of this place?

Ngau Kee Rest., behind the VV Parking Lot and the container-property-agency, vis-a-vis Pizza Milano, will shut forever end of this month, the owner retiring. No decision yet on what will become of it in the future.

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The new bar inside the new Steakhouse inside the former Lamcombe is coming along nicely, to open in the next few weeks, probably.
Anybody's got an idea of the still-secret name, tba?

New Happy Hours in Pizza Milano, see below.
$26 for a glass of wine sounds pretty good, especially compared to the $55 that another restaurant nearby charges for their house wine, even during Happy Hour.

I always wonder, how can such a small place like Yung Shue Wan support such a wide variety of bars, while Sok Kwu Wan still doesn't have a single one?

Plus a photo of the last day of LaLa mama's, Jan 27, 2013.
Their takeaway breakfasts will be missed by many, but it's great additional business for Green Cottage's morning takeaways.

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News from the brand-new PRIME BAR & GRILL, inside the former Lamcombe Rest.:

"Soft Opening of Prime Bar & Grill at 4pm tomorrow, 16 February. Well, the bar anyway, the restaurant will open in early March.

Please drop by for drinks and snacks!"

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The Prime Bar soft opening has been postponed due to unforeseen circumstances. We hope to open tomorrow. Apologies.

A few new photos of Jing Jing, after they recently added the soft outdoor seating for smokers and people watchers.
Their unusual and very tasty brunch options have become my latest favourite. It's open till 5pm for very late brunches or their lunch sets.

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I've asked friends who've already visited the newly opened Prime Bar & Grill for their opinions. Prime is in the former, old Lamcombe Rest. location, go through the new bar facing Main Street.

Anonymous: (paraphrasing from her verbal comments):
"Superb! Reasonable prices, we shared several dishes, great sides, jovial, friendly atmosphere, cozy, wooden-lattices atmosphere, will go again soon with friends!"

Robert Hope-Jones:
"Cajun Chicken Burger with chips and a pint of Dry Blackthorn cider.

I was dining alone, so I decided to eat at the bar. This allowed me to people watch on Main Street whilst the punters in Diesel's Bar were able to look down on us at the same time! Apart from two other customers, I had the rather spacious bar to myself.

Walking into Prime (or even passing by) one doesn’t get the feeling that this is a restaurant. I think once they fix the licensing issues, they can then repackage the frontage. While I was sat there, half a dozen people asked if there was a restaurant inside, so I think they need to address this somehow with some internal signage until they build a good reputation.

I ordered a pint of cider and scanned the menu, which for my liking, was not over-packed with too many options. I was surprised not to see a Chinese language menu, however this may have been in a separate book. I settled on the Cajun Chicken Burger, and naïvely expected it to come with chips. As I placed my order, Les, who served me, asked if I wanted chips with it for the extra $30. Not being a complete meal with out them I took his offer. I am guessing they are not including chips to either keep the menu more flexible, or make the dishes look more appealing budget-wise. For me the price was on the mark, total bill was $155, including the chips and one cider.

The food was served promptly, and by the chef himself. It’s a nice touch to have the head chef coming in with food he’s just cooked from time-to-time. I can see they are still getting organized and so the bar area was still missing the convenience of condiments, etc. I wasn’t given any cutlery to begin with, but the chef went back and retrieved some. There were no napkins so I had to request one, which promptly came.

The food presentation was understated but neat, and I was eager to tuck in. The first things to capture my taste buds were the chips – they smelt so good and had obviously just come out of the fryer. I am very picky when it comes to something so basic as chips, but these were in a class of their own for Lamma; you could tell the oil they were cooked in was fresh (a key factor to good chips) and had been drained before serving. Nowhere on Lamma can you get chips like this, so this is a big plus for me and will keep me coming back if the standard remains high.

Picking up my burger I found that the juice from the chicken and the dressing had poured down the side and soaked into the base of the ciabatta. The bread could have done with a little toasting really, and was on the verge of being too doughy.

Tucking in to the burger I was surprised that it wasn’t spicy at all. Being a Cajun dish, I was expecting it to be too spicy for my tastes, but it was just right. The salad inside the ciabatta was a nice simple selection that perfectly finished off the package. Next time I will probably request that the burger is cut in half, as it is quite big enough to be enjoyed that way.

The bar will remain a favorite spot for me, but I hear that the restaurant is smoker friendly, and if this is true, this will definitely put me off dining in the main restaurant next time.

Overall impression is that Lamma may finally have a restaurant that can offer a decent Western dining experience in a quality environment, and with prices that will please many. A lot of effort and money has obviously gone into creating a nice warm environment, and the quality finish is obvious. The bar itself though lacks any distinctive personality, and it will hopefully garner a little for itself as it ages. Thankfully, Les (one of the owners) comes across as very comfortable managing his creation, and he brings a ‘certain warmth’ to the establishment that’s reminiscent of decent English pubs back home.

Marks 9 out of 10.

A rather blurry iPhone photo attached."

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International celebrity sighting in Andy's Seafood:

See Lamma-zine story, March 31, and Lamma Gung on Facebook.

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From June 1, 2019, new opening hours: 11am - 10pm.

Plus no more wonton noodle soup in Andy's, until further notice:

Plus an entirely new page we've spotted in their already comprehensive menu:

Our two favorites so far!

I've been doing a little free photo shoot in our favourite Chinese restaurant on Lamma, Andy's Seafood (accepting a free dinner offered afterwards). It's the successor of the formerly famous and very renowned Lamcombe, a firm favourite of many Lammaites of all nationalities. It was our frequent dining choice back when Andy & Elizabeth & their staff family were still running it a few years ago in the adjacent place (which just re-opened as Prime Bar & Grill the very same day I was doing this photo shoot below, Mar 16, 2013).

Lamma-Por & I have returned as regular, very happy customers, especially as several of the very skilled and jovial staff have returned to Andy's Seafood as well when he finally reopened last year. But we're still discovering new dishes we've never tried before from their sizable but very affordable bilingual menu which extends far beyond seafood. Too many favourites to name them...

Andy's Seafood rest. is also a great spot for watching (and photographing) the sunset and the often fascinating goings-on in the harbour, along the beach, at the YSW ferry pier and the old jetty. Meeting up with old and new friends for a leisurely beer or glass of wine is often followed by a shared, sumptuous feast to celebrate any occasion or simply the joy of living on such a still great, always interesting and often surprising island. Let's enjoy it all while it lasts...

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Time Out magazine, May 7, '13: Prime review, giving it 4 out of 5 stars!

HK Magazine, May 16, '13: ...a New Steak House Opens on Lamma...:

"New steak restaurant on Lamma! Prime Bar & Grill Restaurant (47 Main St., Yung Shue Wan, Lamma Island, 2982-1688) is a relatively spacious restaurant with a lovely outdoor terrace overlooking the sea, that will seat up to 50 peeps. PBGR serves meat of all kinds, in all formats. Salads, grills, steaks, pies, burgers, all with beef, chicken, lamb, fish or ribs—but veggie options are available for those who shun meat (although what sort of vegetarian would want to frequent a steak restaurant?). I haven’t been to the island in ages, but maybe now’s the time to explore once more."

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Dinner in The Waterfront last night...

We love to go there at sunset time, just before this covered outdoor space fills up on weekends. You can rest your camera/smartphone on the wide ledge for perfectly steady sunset photos without a tripod.
This photo was actually shot with my smartphone, because my better camera is being repaired in the service center (again).

Their seafood pie with peas (part of our shared set dinner) is absolutely delicious, stuffed with seafood, so creamy with amazing seasonings. Highly recommended by both of us, one of our favourite dishes in The Waterfront. Best enjoyed together with a single glass of their fine house white wine at only $35.

One portion was big enough to share... and the leftovers filled me up for a very satisfying lunch today. Great value for money, 2+1 meals at $138, including soup or warm chicken salad.

No room left this time for our favourite dessert, their gorgeous, warm chocolate volcano.

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Prime Bar & Grill, June 4, '13

Do you believe in karma? Running this community website, I do daily little free favours for almost anybody asking, from replying to the numerous enquiries to promoting local activities, without expecting anything in return. Occasionally, I get a major, very pleasant surprise when somebody actually returns a favour, sometimes years later.

Some of the advertising in the Lamma-zine runs on barter deals. Some of the goods I received I passed on to people contributing major content to the site. For example advertising barter lunches in Life Cafe in Soho, inviting a few friends to join me, years ago. One of them was one of the founders of the future Prime Bar & Grill rest., Julia.

To my big surprise, I got an invitation to a complimentary dinner for two. Lamma-Por and I hadn't visited Prime yet, even though numerous friends had tried and loved it already. We were waiting for a worthy, celebratory event, like a birthday, to check out this 4-star eatery (according to Time Out HK magazine).

Prime Bar & Grill is located in a beautiful covered outdoor terrace setting, harbourside in Yung Shue Wan, in the location of one of our former favourites, Lamcombe Seafood Rest. Best time to visit is definitely before and after sunset over the YSW harbour, when you might catch fishermen returning or youngsters frolicking on the old jetty or the Lamma Dragons practicing their fierce strokes.

Shortly after sitting down and choosing from the comprehensive, well-designed menu, an impressive thunderstorm started up, driving us away from our cozy harbourside table. Master chef Richard rushed out and rolled down the transparent blinds personally, supporting his staff. Then he rushed back into the kitchen to prepare a special yummy surprise appetiser of sliced pork.

As Lamma-Por preferred mash instead of my French fries, they pro-actively offered to slice our one big steak in half and serve it on two plates with different sides and sauces! That's a level of service and customer friendliness we didn't expect! Warranting special praise is the refreshingly friendly, cheerful, even pro-active style of waitressing, not something you can expect in most of our local eateries.

Our shared New Zealand steak was perfectly grilled to specification, the sides yummy and the crunchy, not-too-sweet apple crumble was huge enough to share and take the leftovers home, as a very tasty cold lunch for me the next day.

Their competitively priced house wines by the glass are well-chosen, complementing the grilled dishes very well. The menu ranges pretty widely, including vegetarian and seafood dishes. There are lower-priced lunch and dinner specials of the day.

This shared meal would have added up to over $500. But you could just order a daily special or a single dish - for example my favourite of the evening, the creative riot of colours and flavours of the roast duck & blue cheese salad, for just below $100. I'd be very happy with just that single dish and a glass of white house wine for a light lunch. In fact, I'll return soon, at my own expense, and check out those daily specials.

Yung Shue Wan having such a top-quality steakhouse - impossible 10 years ago, I think - tells you about the changes in population, with enough affluent people living here now to support such a classy venue, being open even at lunchtime now and possibly expanding to indoors upstairs soon.

As you can't expect me to be totally impartial after such a delicious and all-round satisfying but free dinner - Burp! Sorry! - go check out some recent, more professional reviews:

HK Magazine, May 16, '13 -- Time Out magazine, May 7, '13

For more info, including their news, specials and photos:
http://www.facebook.com/PrimeBarGrill

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Nice review, LG. As a (an almost non meat eater) I last enjoyed a lovely salad with my family (who do and did eat meat). The ambiance and obviously the location are great. Hope to eat again there soon. My comment on the service is that it was really ....vibrant, lots of energy from the young servers, who knew what they were serving and could answer questions about the food. Keep up the good work everyone.

XXX