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2020-01-13
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Summary: Feather and Bone serves great steak that won’t implode your bank account, and has enough variety to keep every visit fresh. Sides and appetizers are strangely expensive and mostly forgettable, but with steak this affordable and delicious, I can’t begrudge them some margin makers. The full steakhouse experience with all the flavour and none of the fuss. Go with the mac and cheese, grain-fed ribeye and bring your own wine ($150 corkage!) We’ve shopped at F&B multiple times (mostly for the
We’ve shopped at F&B multiple times (mostly for their great cheese!) but have never tried their sit-down stores. For my steak fiend friend’s bday, we thought we’d give their newest store in Wan Chai a shot.
Spacious and bright, Feather and Bone is more like a coffee shop than a classic steakhouse, but it’s very comfortable and you won’t get jostled by any staff moving around. Their main conceit is a butcher area where you can see and choose the cut of beef you want to steak-ify. You can also buy any of their meats to take home for a slightly lower price than the eat-in home (I have ordered some for a BBQ before, and they are excellent). Even at the dine-in price, in comparison to other “real” steakhouses, Feather and Bone’s steaks are very reasonable.
We ordered three good sized steaks (~400 g or 15oz) and they ranged in price from over ~$400 for the wagyu striploin to just $250-275 for both the grain-fed and grass-fed ribeyes. This is insane value considering an equivalent steak at a normal upscale steakhouse would be closer to 600 or over.
Here are the steaks, raw and cooked:
Grain Fed Ribeye
Grass Fed Ribeye
Wagyu Striploin
The table's consensus was that the grain-fed ribeye was both the beefiest and the tastiest, beating out even the wagyu for juiciness (note that we tried the wagyu striploin, which is less fatty than ribeye). The grain-fed also happened to be the cheapest one by weight. This was in-line with the traditional wisdom that grass-fed beef is leaner and chewier, while grain-fed beef is more marbled and rich. These days, grass fed beef is often dry-aged, bringing out more complex, nuttier flavors, but I'm not sure if this one was. There's no doubt that on a flavor-to-dollar value basis, the grain-fed ribeye was the clear winner. For anyone curious about the nutritional/ethical/environmental considerations attached to grass-fed/grain-fed, here is a great article from the Washington Post: https://wapo.st/2Tik9ET
Summary: Nutrition-wise, grass-finished is healthier, if just marginally. What's better for the cow while it's alive? It depends on where exactly the cows were raised, as conditions vary significantly. Environmentally; it's complicated and they're both not great for the planet. Bottom line: we all should be eating less beef (and lamb) because it's horribly wasteful, but if/when you do indulge in a steak, non-cost/flavor considerations are basically a wash, so enjoy whatever you like.
One last comment on the steaks. We ordered all three medium rare and while grain/grass-ones came out beautifully, the wagyu was served very rare. When we showed the manager the steak, there was no argument or fuss, he just brought it back to be cooked slightly more. Against all expectations, it came back the second time perfectly medium-rare, though I do wonder if the extra firing might have dried it out; the wagyu was not as juicy as we expected.
The wine list is decent with wines starting in the high $300s, but even better, their corkage is a reasonable $150 per bottle, so feel free to bring your own wines.
Here’s the menu, though again, you’ll need to see the actual meats there to decide:
https://featherandbone.com.hk/pages/dine-in-menu
Here’s what we had (besides the steaks):
Mac and Cheese with Truffle Mayo and fresh herbs
The truffle mayo sounds gross (to me at least) but the cheese they use is so gooey that you won’t even really notice it. The mac and cheese is pretty good, but for me, the included bowl of parsley, mint and other herbs really takes it over the top. It brings a zingy freshness that gives the dish another dimension and, fatly, makes it feel a lot lighter (it’s not light at all).Mussels
We got the 1 kg bowl and while I can say these are pretty delicious, in no way are they worth 400hkd. It’s enough to maybe feed one person (if you eat all the included fries and bread), but there are better places to get mussels (AYCE mussels at Brussels or La Creperie anyone?). The white-wine/garlic/lemon broth is light but flavorful; make sure to ask for more bread if you run out.
Roasted Bone Marrow
If you like bone marrow, you’ll enjoy this. Accompanied by some toasted baguette thins and pickled onions, it’s a hearty appetizer. We are still not sure what that black ground meat topping in the top left was, but it’s flavor-packed. The serving is not huge, and you’ll probably need 1 order for every 2 people.Meatballs
My friend asked a good question as I complained how normal and uninteresting these were; have you ever actually had an outstanding meatball? While I’m sure I have, I can’t actually remember it. In any case, F&B’s was not one of those meatballs. They're fine, just don’t expect anything special.Sides:
Fries ($78)
Roasted Mushrooms in Garlic Cream ($68)
Broccolini ($98)
Leaf Salad ($68) (not pictured)None of the sides were particularly good (except the broccolini, which is expensive at $100). The leaf salad in particular was stale, with many leaves looking water-logged and past their expiration. Mushrooms were too creamy for me, but the skin-on wedge fries were not bad (though still a little over-fried). Maybe get the fries and corn ribs (they looked great) to mix it up, but don’t overdo it with the sides.
Dessert:
Apple and cinnamon crumble
Creme Brulee
Both quite traditional and quite excellent.Overall, accounting for the variety and quality of the steaks, friendly service, and the reasonable wine list (incl very decent 150$ corkage!), it's hard to find a better steakhouse value than F&B. The value of the sides and appetizers is a bit wobbly, but we paid $3,600 for 7 people with two bottles of wine (bought there) and all that food, which is terrific. Because it was one of our birthdays, they kindly didn't charge us for the apple crumble either. I didn't even mention they have other meats; their merguez and chipolata sausages are amazing, and the lambchops are very tasty (we bbq'd these at home). The porkchops they had at the store looked slightly miserable though, but you can judge for yourself.
Anyway, if you like steak, go to F&B. It's well-priced and delicious. What else do you need?
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