About KC ~ by HK Magazine

有關KC的一個雜誌訪問，撰自HK Magazine。

Gourmet KC
May 21st, 2010



The most prolific blogger on food review site Openrice, Gourmet KC (pictured anonymously above) has written over 5,000 articles on the different restaurants in the city. He talks to Carson Chow about his goal to review every restaurant in town.

HK Magazine: Are you trying to review every restaurant in Hong Kong or something?

Gourmet KC: I don’t have a mission statement that says: “I’d like to eat at every restaurant in Hong Kong.” But I try not to go back to the same place, no matter how good it is. I have to explore new places to eat every day. I can say that because of the way I eat, I am pretty confident that I will one day cover every place in Hong Kong. It’s just a matter of time.

HK: What qualifies you to write reviews of Hong Kong’s restaurants?

KC: I don’t write about anything unless I understand it. For example, I have reviewed Japanese ramen in Hong Kong, but only after having been to Japan and seen how the Japanese make it. That’s a required thing for me to do before I can review something fairly. That’s why I don’t talk about wine.

HK: How many times a week do you eat out?

KC: Sixteen times, including breakfast. I usually go out to eat at breakfast time. Contrary to what you might think, I don’t go out that much at night, because I like to eat dinner at home with my family.

HK: Do you worry about your health or your weight, eating out at so many restaurants?

KC: To be honest, I actually do worry. That’s why I am a marathon runner and I run four times a week. I think it is important to be able to balance eating and exercise. You can read from my reviews that I don’t like the idea of overeating. I want to promote a lifestyle of eating healthily.

HK: Openrice is becoming very influential in the restaurant world. Do you think that other users or online reviewers take it seriously enough?

KC: Some people just desperately want to show everyone that they are food experts. Of course, I am not a professional critic, but we have to be responsible for what we post online. I don’t think it’s fair to judge something when we don’t even know what good food is.

HK: What do the other reviewers think of you? Is there a community there?

KC: Whenever I write my reviews, I tend to be very detail-oriented and consistent with my approach. It’s a kind of vanity that gets me into trouble a lot but that’s my attitude towards food. I like to give a well-rounded critique, pointing out what’s good and what’s not so good at the same time. I definitely think there’s a community at Openrice, and it’s a growing one too. I couldn’t say I have achieved anything, but if my reviews could affect how others eat, then that’s something I’ve done for people. That’s my motivation to share with the whole world what I have eaten.

HK: Is there any dish or ingredient that you don’t eat?

KC: Salmon sashimi. Salmon isn’t even from Japan originally! Japanese don’t eat raw salmon and they definitely don’t prepare it that way. I tend to stay away from it. But otherwise, I eat basically everything.

HK: What would you eat for your very last meal on earth?

KC: That’s easy—Chinese food! It’s not really about the kind of food I would eat, but who I would eat it with. I like eating with people, and I think it’s more important than the food itself. I want to eat my last meal with my family, and we always have Chinese food together, such as dim sum or BBQ pork.

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