Kinsman 建民號: Hidden Cantonese bar salon with lap cheong platter, mapo tofu sando & dialect-inspired cocktails
Hong Kong is renowned for its vibrant late-night dining and bar scene. Alongside 3 of my colleagues, I had a mini workout conquering steep slopes and stairs to finally reach Peel Street in Central, where Kinsman 建民號 is located.
Unlike other bars with eye-catching signs or flashy ambience, the 1-year-old Kinsman is inconspicuous, making it easy to miss if you’re not paying attention on the street.
Kinsman is one of the participating bars for ‘Taste Around Town‘, happening till 30 Nov 2024. Customers can bar-hop and order a “mystery” signature drink to collect badges from the participating bars, where they will be eligible to receive rewards.
As you take your first few steps inside, the vintage-like decor makes you feel like you’ve entered a clinic of a Chinese sinseh, seeking treatment for an ailment or injury.
But the moment you arrive at the resto-bar, all of that goes out the window in a flash. Instead, the space exudes a Shanghai tang-esque atmosphere with red booth seating and China porcelain flower vases.
The bar counter has a backdrop depicting a vivid illustration of Hong Kong, setting the perfect mood as the bartender works his magic with each drink, flooding the airwaves with the therapeutic sounds of cocktail shakers.
The exchange rate is S$1 = HKD5.75 (at time of writing), and I converted all the prices to SGD at that rate for your convenience. Rate fluctuations may affect what you actually spend.
What I tried at Kinsman 建民號
We kicked things off with Susan Jung’s Salted Egg Yolk Wings (S$13.60). After a little Google search, I learnt that Susan Jung is a renowned food columnist at Vogue Hong Kong. This dish is inspired from her book ‘Kung Pao & Beyond”, which features several fried chicken recipes all over Southeast Asia.
Each piece was coated with specks of salted egg, curry leaves and chilli padi. As soon as I went in for the first bite, I was pleasantly surprised at how tender the meat was. Although the savoury, creamy salted egg coating was delectable, it didn’t seem to penetrate into the meat as much as I would have liked, making it feel like 2 separate entities.
I couldn’t wait to get started with the interesting-sounding Mapo Tofu Sando (S$22.30). The sandos that I usually have in Singapore and Japan are served sandwich-style, so I was taken aback when the Mapo Tofu Sando was presented open-faced.
A piece of grilled toast had a whole golden-brown piece of fried breaded tofu perched on top, garnished with strips of burdock chips and curry leaves. There was also a medley of pickled vegetables on the side.
Just when I started to wonder if the mapo element was within the fried beancurd, a bowl of mapo minced pork arrived in a white bowl— answering my question!
I spooned the minced meat over the bread ensemble and began slicing it with my knife and fork. A multitude of textures filled my mouth at once: thin, crispy breading with a soft and silky tofu filling, combined with the crunchy, earthy burdock crisps. The aroma of fried curry leaves emerged, followed by the spicy notes of the minced pork coming into play.
Anyone who has tried Ayam Brand chilli tuna will resonate with the immediate burning sensation on the tongue— and the mapo minced pork had the exact same effect. Although my taste buds detected notes of Sichuan pepper, the spiciness sadly overpowered everything. It didn’t help that the meat was also a little on the dry side.
The pickled vegetables that consisted of okra, cauliflower and sliced red onions provide respite for the strong and robust flavours of the sando.
Last but definitely not the least, we ended our meal with the Lap Cheong Platter (HKD128). It was a trinity of different cured meats: pork sausage, goose liver and pork belly, served with adorable flower-shaped pickled radish and carrots.
The cured pork sausage tasted like any run-of-the-mill lap cheong. Though it wasn’t bad, it didn’t leave any impression on me, either.
The cured pork belly was delicious, with its buttery fat gradually melting in my mouth with each chew.
The cured goose liver was definitely the showstopper of the platter. It was a remarkable morsel filled with savoury, sweet, creamy and gently bitter notes all combined into one.
To come to a resto-bar and not order any alcoholic drinks is like putting on makeup without applying lipstick. Over at Kinsman, some of the drinks are segregated according to different dialect groups like Cantonese, Teochew and Hakka— fun!
Since one of us is Cantonese, we opted for the Gulu Fizz (S$20.90). It was a concoction of monk fruit wine, rice shochu, pisco, prosecco, bell pepper, pineapple, hawthorn and tomato water.
The drink is supposedly named after the sound people make when they gulp down sweet and sour pork. It was a mixture of nectarine and tangy flavours with slightly spiced notes coming from the bell pepper.
The Kowloon Dairy (S$24.40) was a mixture of Magnolia Lab’s roselle and magnolia liqueur, monk fruit spirit, hemp seed, pu’er, milk and salted cream. It was a rich and fruity blend with a topping that reminded me of the salted cheese foam from LiHo.
The hemp seeds, which I initially mistook for black sesame seeds, added a textural bite between sips.
We finished off with the Milk & Honey (S$22.60) that had a mingling of yuk bing siu (Cantonese rice liqueur), milk liqueur, pineapple rum, sparkling milky oolong, lychee honey and licorice root tincture. It was unique with dominant floral tea notes with a sweet undertone.
Final thoughts
When you visit Hong Kong, Kinsman 建民號 is definitely a cool destination for the nightlife scene. The drinks have interesting stories and themes, but I do feel that the food could use some improvement in order to make an impact.
Hands down, my favourites of the night were the Lap Cheong Platter and Kowloon Dairy— I highly recommend them.
Expected damage: S$13.60 – S$43.50 per pax
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