If you’ve ever wanted to see how beer is made or eat and drink the results of that labour of love, new Kennedy Town spot Grain is for you.
So we all know Woolly Pig Hong Kong, the innovators behind Soho’s Big Sur, Lantau’s Bathers, and newbie District 8 in Tseung Kwan O, among others. And we all know Gweilo, one of the city’s best craft breweries and an outfit that’s steadily taking the world by storm. Well, these two imaginative enterprises have put their heads together and created Grain, an exciting new hybrid eatery-cum-brewlab on Kennedy Town’s waterfront.
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Grain, a fascinating and innovative playground for guests who love to eat, drink, and discover, is set to become the place to meet, dine, and soak in the ambience of this vibrant neighbourhood.
The first thing you’ll notice (unless you’ve visited the venue in its former incarnation as Little Creatures) is how voluminous the space is, which is great because it’s allowed for a little variety. From bar tables catching the sun at the front to an experimental micro-brewery with its own tasting bar (complete with 24 taps!), to a gastro-restaurant serving inspired comfort cuisine, Grain evolves as you delve deeper.
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Catering to 150 guests, Grain lends itself to any occasion, from lingering long lunches and family dining but everyone is going to love the Gweilo Brewlab, with its towering brew kettles and long bar. This is where the magic happens – literally – as it’s the test kitchen for the craft brewer’s newest creations; if new drops prove popular at Grain, you could quickly find them being brewed at Gweilo facilities around the globe.
Delve a little further and you’ll discover the workshop and beer tasting space, which will host frequent beer workshops and opportunities to taste-tempting new concoctions – because it’s always nice to be able to say you were the first!
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Finally, there’s the main dining room, where Head Chef Matthew Ziemski creates an extensive range of comfort dishes (with many featuring ingredients from the beer-making process) against an artistic backdrop depicting the journey from field to glass to plate. Look out for bites like slow-cooked curried Wagyu beef brisket croquettes; potato and ‘Lincolnshire Poacher’ cheese hash browns served with marmite gravy; and house-made pork and beer malt sausages served with burnt apple ketchup and celeriac remoulade.
For something a little more substantial, try the fried pigeon with five-spice beetroot dipping salt; Wagyu flank beef tartare with fermented red pepper paste, crispy potato threads, and onion and topped with egg yolk; and the eye-catching slow-cooked ox cheek with stout beer pie served with bone marrow and mashed potato.
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Of course, this is a gastropub so in addition to the 24 rotating beers on tap, there’s tap-served cocktails, including gin and tonic made with Gweilo’s own spirit; pineapple mojitos; and even a pampelle spritz that will see you through the summer.
Grain will serve lunch, dinner, Sunday roast meals, and brunch, highlights of which include the Full Monty, with pork and beer malt sausage, potato and cheese hash brown, brewers beans, bacon, portobello mushroom, fried egg, and a stout beer brown sauce; fresh-baked sourdough topped with avocado, feta, chickpeas, malt pickled onions and poached egg; and Grain’s Char Siu Burger – inspired by Hong Kong’s favourite “Char Siew” barbecue pork – with marinated pork belly, chilli pickled pineapple and a fried egg.
Inspired by the traditional Sunday roast in the UK, where the family will get together to enjoy a feast of roasted meat and vegetables, the weekly rotating Sunday roast menu features one special roast each week, from such roast Iberico pork coppa marinated in molasses and lager beer, served with smoked pork shoulder and burnt apple ketchup; and roast striploin with stout braised ox cheek, served with a pilsner horseradish sauce on the side; to slow-roasted New Zealand Te Mana lamb shoulder glazed with stout beer molasses and an IPA mint sauce.
Yep, pretty much a beer lover’s heaven.
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