"Oh my God, are you James?! We haven't met. I'm Lily," she squealed. "We're friends on Facebook; I read your blog. You're the one with the shirtless photo," she rattled authoritatively. "And you're Chris!"
I was enormously flattered.
"See," I threw Chris a smug look. "I am famous. And you are, too."
"What?" he wrinkled his forehead quizzically.
I rolled my eyes.
"Last night at Tokio Joe," I reminded him, "you said I think I'm famous when I tried to get more out of someone who wanted exposure on my blog."
"Don't remember," he mumbled as he scanned down the menu.
I honestly think he doesn't care, which used to be exasperating. But not anymore. I've learnt to live with it; it's cute. Besides, I've also made peace with the fact that I may indeed be delusional about my imagined state of semi-celebrity.
Lily was the highlight of a pleasant Sunday brunch following Pride weekend's explosion of fire, feathers and fags.
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| Chris |
Heirloom is charming, little eatery at the corner of Hollywood Road and Po Yan Street, in front of a little Chinese garden. The restaurant has a high, yawning entrance along which tables with mismatched chairs are adorned with floral centrepieces set in quirky containers - for example, Coke and Lucky Beer bottles.
The tables were all occupied with the coolest looking people I've seen around my neighbourhood in a while.
"We don't have salmon, we don't have avocado," the manager enumerated, "and we've run out ingredients for most of the sandwiches. Just wanted to let you know before you even order. We've been really busy all day!"
"We're James and Chris," I started, "and I think the flowers are fabulous."
"Thank you," she twinkled. "I'm Ashton. I love flowers."
"I can tell. Your cupcake tower has such great draw-in value," I smiled.
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| Flowers, even in a watering can! |
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| My Valerie moment with Heirloom's destined-to-be-iconic cupcakes |
The menu offers a distilled selection of Asian and Western favourites. It's not exactly fusion. I'd call it haute comfort food - after all, Heirloom proudly claims to make "food we love to eat." It's a bold claim, and it's one that's easily substantiated.
Food was indeed scrumptious. We had minor quibbles about portion size and pricing, which we're sure will be resolved after opening week jitters are out of the way!
Chris and I shared a starter of Balinese salad that, while delicious (lemongrass was beautifully present in the dressing), could have easily served 4 people. We couldn't finish all of it. Meanwhile, the tacos, which we shared as our main dish, consisted of four sexy pieces that would have been justified as starters. Still, the the slow-cooked pork was divine and the flavours were spot-on.
We had a slice of lemon cake and of course one of the pretty cupcakes for dessert.
Chris had an iced coffee; I had a lemon squash.
The bill came to HK$400, which was more than what we thought we'd pay for a simple, 3-course brunch, with shared starter and main, without alcohol in a small, unpretentious eatery.
Still, it was nice to see our little end of Sheung Wan getting livelier each passing day.
I will definitely come back. I think Heirloom will be my newest favourite hangout to blog, people-watch, and generally just pass time.
Service is friendly, food is tasty and the interiors are conducive for chilling out.
Welcome to the neighbourhood, Heirloom!
With Affection,
James
Heirloom
(A) 226 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
(T) +852 2547 8008
(E) info@heirloomhk.com
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