I've been here twice for dinner before, both times captivated by the fun and fusion Chef Demon has provided us in each of his food items. What's more is the perfect balance of the flavours he's integrated, allowing us to perfectly identify the flavours yet so well blended together. Last time I was at the Chef table and watching Chef Demon cook made the experience even more fun.Just went for lunch yesterday as we so seldom get to enjoy lunch outside amidst the busy work schedule. It's still nice, but I'm just a little disappointed by how the food was not as sizzling hot as I expect this top grade restaurant should be. Still satisfied with the flavour and intricacy, nonetheless. Prices are steep, but a once-in-a-life-time experience for sure.
繼續閱讀
5
0
0
招牌菜
a very good experience to lunch here ! ~ ~ very nice ~ ~
繼續閱讀
Bo InnovationArriving on Saturday night, the restaurant was barely full. The dining room had sleek dark d嶰or, but the Chef’s Table is situated in a brightly lit area. More accurately a bar, it openly attaches to the plating area of the kitchen, giving guests a unique unrestricted view of the kitchen. By inviting guests to visually participate in the activities of the kitchen, the chef’s table adds significant value to the whole dining experience. To savor more flavor and textural combinations, we wanted the seasonal special and the chef’s menu. The Ma褾re d' however informed us guests seated at the Chef’s Table must have the nine coursed “White Truffle and Hairy Crab”tasting menu. After initial hesitation we agreed, a decision we would not regret.Executive Chef Alain introduced himself, after a brief chat we asked him to pair us two glasses of wine, considering our unfamiliarity of his cuisine. He recommended a white Riesling; medium-dry, crisp and fruity, it is one of the few grapes that can work with Chinese cuisine.Disclaimer: The element of surprise and the function of expectations are important in achieving maximum utility from this dining experience. Thus if you have a reasonable believe that you will try this menu (only available for a few weeks) or you have a good memory then don’t read the descriptions of each item in too much detail. Two complementary hors d'œuvre of 1) Deep fried sweet & sour eggplant dumpling (餃子) served with Sweet Sauce (甜醬) –A deep fried item is peculiar for a starter, but this was well fried and not oily, the eggplant in Thai sweet and sour sauce works but not exactly gastronomic. 2) “Thousand Year Egg (皮蛋) and Sour Ginger (酸薑)" - A play on traditional Chinese ingredients, a slice of alkaline ‘Thousand Year Egg’is wedged on a crispy translucent pink candy cone made of sour ginger extraction. Very appetizing and fun as well.“Lap Mei Faan”(蠟味飯) –Preserved duck (蠟鴨) flavored ice cream(!!) on crispy toasted cooked rice (飯焦), served in a mini clay pot (煲仔). We were not sure whether the sweetness derived from a sweetening agent or Chef Alain tricked our minds into assuming ice cream -> sweet. Anyhow the trio of preserved duck flavoring, creaminess and sweetness is excellent fusion. By using a special machine to minimize freezing time, Chef de Cuisine (Adeline) makes extremely smooth textured ice cream by minimizing size of ice crystals. The crispy rice had a caramelized toast taste and gave the ice cream a nice contrasting bite.“Black goat terrine w/ Fu-yu (腐乳) Foam”- Firm mutton terrine with jelly of mutton juice reduction jelly, Fu-Yu foam, finely diced pumpkin cubes and leaf of lime oil. Lamb and Fu-yu is a common pairing, but using a foam ensures the fu-yu will evenly distribute and prevent overpowering the mutton. The terrine was firm and its texture perfected by the jelly. The lime-leaf oil with the pumpkin cubes were refreshing and add a south Asian touch to the Chinese flavors.“White Truffle, Organic Egg, Cheung Fan (腸粉)”- A gourmet’s ‘cheung fan’. Three cheung fun pieces previously seasoned in dark soy for colour and touch of flavour, forms a triangular dam, allowing chef to place the huge yellow of organic egg in center. The plate was then heated in oven to temperature just below cooking of yellow. Plate is presented then freshly shaved with white truffle in front of guest (ask for more!). Not much needs to be said about the combination of truffles egg and pasta, this method of preparation is simple yet elegant and of course aromatic! “Toro Sushi, Foie Gras Powder, Abalone Essences (鮑魚汁), Tomato Chips”. Browned foie gras bits add crispy texture and savory flavour, dried tomato pieces contributes acidity, abalone essences provide seafood-unami (鮮味) and saltiness…all that with buttery melt-in-your-tongue tendon-less toro, what a bite! Chef Alain tells us the abalone jus was made from pure abalone. Our plating just had the abalone essence dobbled on the plate but was corrected for other guests by having the essence was dribbled onto the sushi. We had a discussion on abalone essence vs. soy sauce, abalone adds seafood-flavor which makes more sense than normal soy’s bean flavour…right? Is this only valid for taro or other seafood too?“Hairy Crab (大閘蟹) SoufflMixed Herb Salad, House aged Jiang-Su Vinegar (江蘇醋)”- Baked mixture of crab 膏, custard and crab meat was very smooth and creamy, there was no shortage of crab meat and the flavour of 蟹膏was intense. However we thought the aged vinegar was too pungent. Still an impressive item nonetheless.“Pan Fried Foie Gras, White Miso Sauterne Sauce, Lettuce Wrap”- Vietnamese rice paper (soaked in rice wine and soy) wrapping a sheet of lettuce, threads of green papaya and finally, a juicy medium-rare pan-fried foie gras. The white miso sauce was slightly sweet and worked very well with this French-Vietnamese fusion wrap. BF felt foie gras was too hidden, fair enough?“Grilled Cod, Black Chinese Miso (黑豆豉), Pickled Lotus Roots (醋蓮藕)”–Looked like Japanese styled grilled cod, but instead of sweet Japanese sauce, a mixture of Chinese Black Bean and honey was used. I prefer the melty-crumbly texture as well as the crispy skin from Robatayaki (see our review). The idea to serve it with the pickled lotus root, and drizzling honey over the cod was clever, as the acidity of the lotus root cleansed our cod-oily palates, and was then neutralized with sweet honey. A small shot of kiwi and cucumber juice topped with its own foam acted as a cleanser. Slightly tangy but did its job well. “Hot Pot of Wagyu Beef & Scallop”–This penultimate item raised my BF’s eyebrows when he went through the menu. A fanatic of charcoal grilling (see our Steakhouse review) he was skeptical in poaching such supreme grade of beef. Hot stock was poured into our bowls of fanned out interlacing slices of seared Australian Wagyu ribeye and scallop. As if calculated the meat was poached to perfect medium rare and the stock cooled to drinkable-warm. The wagyu was tender and succulent, it did not bleed into the soup, probably because the beef had not been frozen. The scallop was fresh and sweet. The stock/soup was savory and very 鮮with a hint of spiciness from a bit of ginger. Again, a gastronomic play on one of HKer’s favorite winter dishes, “打邊爐”.“BO Dessert platter”- 1) Chrysanthemum(菊花) Jelly w/ Thai Basil Seeds, very delicate and with strong chrysanthemum aroma. 2) Dark Chocolate filled Jeen-dui (煎堆), a nice unexpectedly good fusion item. 3) Passion fruit Tart, nothing special relative to other items. 4) Lychee Ice cream, very smooth and creamy once again. Personally I would prefer a lighter Lychee Sorbet to finish off the meal.The pricing is steep, ~$2500(2 x $999 tasting + $50 water + 2x $95glasses of wine). Have we tasted better sushi, truffle and steak? Yes. But the utility derived from watching the food being prepared to the tongue wondering what this is, to the mind conceiving a conceivable suggestion to having the chef confirm or correct, is priceless. Fusion is difficult when avoiding clich廥and molecular gastronomy is difficult when avoiding eating a chemical experiment. Chef Alain’s restaurant name does not over promise, his cuisine is innovative and his guests are served a truly unique experience. Unreservedly recommended to all foodaholics™! We will return for their la carte menu or their very economical lunch.*Title image credit: tastingmenu.com
繼續閱讀
What a amazing!!!I think this is the best fushion i tried until today.All the dishes were very elegant and tasty,in vision and sapor also!!!although each dishes were juz have a small sizes,after arround 8 dishes u will feel it's nearly to perfect level.The enviroment is quite comfort,coz u juz can wear very causal and u will got invulnerable servies.(the waitress will explain each course one by one and the dishware also very smart.) Although the pricing was a bit higher,it's worth!!So i really don't know why there have no good comments of this restaurant.
繼續閱讀