Tseng Tau Tsuen is a quiet residential village tucked away in Ma On Shan. There’s not a lot that goes on there, but with the upcoming opening of the mega Go Park Sai Sha, the village is soon to gain a new neighbour that will turn this serene locale into a vibrant hub of activity.
This mall complex offers a wide range of sporting facilities, such as a multipurpose stadium that can be used for small concerts, a rock-climbing gym, a golfing range kitted out with Trackman radar technology, pitches and courts for various sports, and even an indoor swimming pool. But let’s be honest, what we’re really interested in, is the range of eateries that’ll be joining the mall.
Currently, Sports Bistro is the only dining venue that’s open for business inside Go Park. Aligning with the mall’s sports-friendly message, this restaurant focuses on nutritionist-recommended dishes, with options like all-day breakfast plates, salads, Asian rice and noodle dishes, and light snacks on the menu. We decided to check out the restaurant on a Sunday afternoon, and even though Go Park was still undergoing trial operations – meaning there was not much there besides sporting facilities – the restaurant was completely packed full of customers.
Luckily, we only waited for a bit before being ushered to our table. The restaurant’s venue was spacious and had large floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing plenty of natural sunlight to flow into the space. The decor is relatively simple, featuring a few sports-related accents such as wooden cutouts of people doing different sports and a large colourful mural depicting a crowd of cyclists.
We began with smoked salmon on sourdough toast ($128), tomatoes, and a portion of salad dressed in balsamic vinegar. Our slices of toast also came with a generous dollop of mascarpone cheese which helped cut through the rich oily flavours of the smoked salmon.
We then ordered a Hainan chicken rice ($108) set, which came with a portion of blanched bok choy, a bowl of multigrain rice, and a bowl of coconut chicken soup. Since Hainan chicken rice is typically served with rice that’s rendered with chicken fat and various aromatics, we were curious to see if Sports Bistro could whip up a healthy yet equally flavourful version. To our disappointment, it was a far cry from the classic, but the pieces of stir-fried garlic mixed into the rice was a good enough compensation for us. The chicken was tender, served in a light soy-based sauce, but we didn’t think it added much to the dish. The set also came with three dipping sauces – a sweet dark soy, a ginger and scallion sauce, and a sweet chilli sauce – that provided different flavour combos, but our favourite was definitely the ginger scallion which paired best with the steamed chicken.
Finally, we ordered a customisable poke bowl ($128) with salmon sashimi, avocado, radish, eggs, and cucumber. All of our ingredients came served on a bed of lightly vinegared rice mixed with quinoa and drizzled with chipotle mayonnaise. The acidity from the vinegar made our poke bowl very appetising and the light kick of spice from the chipotle mayo gave it extra points.
When it comes to drinks, we were recommended by the restaurant’s staff to pair our meal with Sports Bistro’s healthy beverages, which consisted of smoothies, freshly pressed juices, and booster shots. All of them come with fine print details about their nutritional value, which is important to know if you’re conscious about your daily calorie intake. We ordered three smoothies: Yellow ($48), made with mango and pears; Green ($48) packed with kale, banana, lemongrass, and mango; as well as Fantasy ($48), a blend of strawberries and banana. Each smoothie uses coconut water as its base but can be swapped with alternative milk options like whole, skimmed, or oat. Protein powder can also be added for an additional cost. Personally, the Green smoothie was my favourite as I enjoyed the earthy flavours of kale against the banana and mangos. Yellow and Fantasy tasted fine, but it was too sweet and didn’t pair well with the food we ordered.
If you live in the Ma On Shan area and need somewhere to eat in the ‘food desert’ of Hong Kong, we’d say Sports Bistro is one of the better dining options in the neighbourhood to choose from. However, we think it would be much better to wait until Go Park Sai Sha is fully up and running, so you can grab a healthy meal that’ll replenish your energy after working up a sweat at the sports facilities, rather than taking a trip out to an vacant shopping mall for the sake of a meal.
Here’s what our star ratings mean:
★: Not recommended
★★: A disappointing experience
★★★: A good experience
★★★★: A very good to great experience
★★★★★: An outstanding experience
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