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2018-04-04
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There are only very few places in Hong Kong that gives a relaxed urban retreat from the perpetually crowded place in Tsim Sha Tsui and Vibes is one of them. Vibes is located inside Mira hotel, that is addressed in the middle of the busy Tsim Sha Tsui. Although very assessable to hotel users, others will need to travel through a rather indirect route but it's all pretty quick. The garden view, that some hotel rooms are facing, created a good contrast to the busy streets in Tsim Sha Tsui, the big
It is roofless and will be susceptible to rain and cold weather, but there are plenty of portable patio heaters and outdoor hanging umbrellas if the situation is not that bad. Although the breeze was not week tonight, but it is nothing compare to the UK, where I am from.
The offering is basically shisha and cocktails with some bar food like chips/ fries, salad and burgers etc. Tables were down to knee levels and I always find it hard to have a proper meal here due to the table height. Unless you are very keen for some nibbles, otherwise, I do no like bending forward just for some food. Tonight, I am meeting my IBA (international bartener association) certified friend and therefore, I am sticking with my plan with some cocktails tonight.
With some bartending experience in the past, and catching up with a pro, our conversation is purely about cocktails tonight. Interesting menu with four to five winter cocktails, seven Mikey's special and ten breezy tiki cocktails, Vibes do have a good range of interesting signatures. The bar will also do the classics, i assume, if one wants them to but I guess the trend in Hong Kong is all about signatures now.
There are several cocktails that I really like and Negroni is definately one of them. For those who don't drink cocktail, this is the basic you need to know about Negroni, It is a cocktail with equal portion of Gin, Vermouth and Campari. Getting the exact equal amount of volume each time isn't easy as the slightest difference in volume could result a big change in taste. Negroni a well-crafted aperitif, with some bitter, herbal and citrusy component in it. Because it has the a good lingering sweet component, by the vermouth, this also makes a good digestif to me.
As I am studying their cocktail menu, I spotted that there are two types of Negroni, one from Mikey's special and one from Mikey's winter cocktails, the Mira Claypot Negroni and Negroni Bianca respectively. With both jackpoting the "Negroni" buzz word, this is definitely what we will be having tonight for round 1.
Mira Claypot Negroni
$128
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Mikey's winter special's Negroni Bianc
$128
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Mira Claypot Negron added a twist on the original classic Negroni with few additional ingredients. On top of the bitter from Campari, which contributed mainly to the sense, I also realise some texture match, something like tannin. Sweetness is definately more pronounce than normal Negroni, with hint of toasted stalks and burnt vanilla or cameral. Interesting complexity compare to classic Negroni, but at the same time, suppressed the herbal flavours that I liked from the classic ones.
Mikey's winter special's Negroni Bianca too are imprinted with their own twist with Bianco Vermouth instead of Rosso Vermouth, giving a refreshingly bright appeal. The most important ingradient, Campari, is also substituted with an italian Aperol, which has a relative less bitter profile. Not a bad choice as the bianco and Aperol match with the garnished orange skin well that added a bit of citrusy as well.
Ordering two cocktails from a bar is definitely my minimum if I am in mood and you can tell, the settings for tonight just basically tells me that I'm ordering more. So second round it is. I always like something more in terms of taste and texture. If you want something more powerful than Negroni, there isn't much choice, but vibes does. Darky chocotini is the one i'm ordering. Sometimes, it is just so much more fun to let the bartender decide your drink for you as well and my friend is doing this. For special drinks, bartender / waiter are ought to describe the cocktail, or may be at least let us know the name. Something Mikey's Speical I heard and he just turned away from us as if we were contagious.
Mikey's special
$128
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Darky chocotini
$128
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My chocotini was really nice, a good degree of vanila, chocolate and hazelnet taste, not too thick yet having a good texture. It is creamy and smooth and felt like I am having a chocolate dessert! In that moment, I just closed my eyes and imaging that i'm pairing with a vanilla ice cream that is smooth with many vanilla seeds. The enjoying moments were fantastic, and i'm still enjoying with my eyes closed. But the moment I opened up my eyes, I just laughed out loud! My friend's holding his Mikey's speical with a pronounced face distortion.
Wow, this special just had every WOW factors, but in a very bad way! This cocktail served had the worst balance between sweet, sour, fruit and alcohol, and it is also garnished with the most sour strawberry that I have ever had. The cocktail was some what a green apple syrup cocktail and tasted very artificial. It just trigger your childhood memory of having those cough meds as a kid that they tried too hard on adding flavours, but failed in every way! This is exactly the taste! Cannot taste any spirit existence that could have been resulted by diluted vodka, which suppose to be tasteless. I also tried to taste in deeper detail but it is just too bad to continue especially after a very well done chocotini.
I was recently reading some work from a famous psychologist, Daniel Kahneman, a guy who also won a Nobel Prize in Economics in 2002. He is famous for his psychological decision making and suggested that the ending surprise is the determining factor to decide whether one is good or not. To be fair, if I didn't try the Mikey's special, I would have easily given a smile to drinks with this quality, the special just ruined it.
However, to enjoy a good drink in a secret garden like this, especially in the middle of a busy city like Tsim Sha Tsui is just so rare. It is worth going back to vibes for this reason alone. There are many important considerations as well, but the consistently good is one of the major points that I am looking for here in Vibes. Lack of service with non-eager attitute also contributed to "just ok" for overall experience.
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