Operated by the New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, the three-star ESR so330 is a social enterprise restaurant dedicated to promoting physical, mental and spiritual well-being. It aims to provide employment and training opportunities for people in recovery, while advocating healthy living and encouraging the general public (including the disadvantaged) to put healthy eating into practice. Leung Yuen-ting, Monique, the Store Manager, has noticed a significant increase in health awareness among Hong Kong people in recent years. By using healthy ingredients and offering a comfortable and soothing dining environment, she hopes that customers can feel calm and joyful while enjoying the delicious dishes.

Heartwarming Dishes as a Dual Feast for the Eyes and the Taste Buds

Monique opines that colourful ingredients not only make the dishes a feast for the eyes, but also help attract the general public to try a high-fibre diet. The restaurant’s signature dish, “330 Hawaii Poke Bowl”, for example, features mixed grains, which is rich in dietary fibre and minerals (e.g. magnesium and potassium), as the base, as well as colourful, fibre-rich and protein-rich ingredients (including cherry tomatoes, dragon fruit, avocado, green soybeans, organic quinoa and homemade organic soybean curds) as the toppings, ensuring balanced nutrition while boosting satiety.

To improve the rough texture of whole grains, the restaurant soaks the mixed grains in water before cooking and adds purple yam to enhance the viscosity, making the texture much smoother. Finally, unlike the usual practice of serving poke bowls cold, the restaurant specially grills the ingredients such as cherry tomatoes and soybean curds to provide customers with a heartwarming, healthy and fibre-rich option during the winter.

Crafting a New Image for High-fibre Diets with Unique Cooking Techniques

Monique truly believes that healthy ingredients can promote the balance in the body, mind and spirit. Therefore, the restaurant strives to use home-grown organic produce as well as hormone-free ingredients, and replace Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) with natural seasonings. It has also collaborated with other healthy eating advocates to design the “Organic Veggie Set”, which is a “More Fruit and Vegetables” dish. Featuring fibre-rich cauliflowers and a sauce made with tomatoes and cherry tomatoes, the dish is seasoned with natural spices such as turmeric powder, coriander powder and cumin powder, resulting in a complex and slightly spicy curry aroma. Served with appetisers and a vegetarian soup, it breaks the stereotype of bland high-fibre diets, infusing healthy foods with rich flavours.