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2016-05-16
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人生得意與否，還是要盡歡，莫使金樽空對月。特意造訪一家難得地可自攜酒水又不收開瓶費、不收加一服務費的意法菜餐廳，在良朋和精緻的菜餚以外，話語間藏著酒精的微妙流動。且不認真地定義今時今日的「私房菜」，但這家私密度甚高的樓上餐廳，為「拘謹、所費不貲的fine dining」重新定義。==================="Private kitchen" is probably just a genre in your restaurant search, or you may deem it as a formal term for upstairs eateries. In fact this concept originates from the economic downturn around 10 years ago (SARS in 2003) that the Government decided to boost the economy by laxer restriction to upstairs private kitchen but shorter operatin
人生得意與否，還是要盡歡，莫使金樽空對月。特意造訪一家難得地可自攜酒水又不收開瓶費、不收加一服務費的意法菜餐廳，在良朋和精緻的菜餚以外，話語間藏著酒精的微妙流動。且不認真地定義今時今日的「私房菜」，但這家私密度甚高的樓上餐廳，為「拘謹、所費不貲的fine dining」重新定義。===================
"Private kitchen" is probably just a genre in your restaurant search, or you may deem it as a formal term for upstairs eateries. In fact this concept originates from the economic downturn around 10 years ago (SARS in 2003) that the Government decided to boost the economy by laxer restriction to upstairs private kitchen but shorter operating hours. Down the way from the tough time till now, "private kitchens" at present no longer limits to these special cases but continues to bloom as culinary hideaways.
Everything outside the restaurants is old and homey like your neighbourhood. Arriving at the dining table took much surprise - stepping in the old style of life which requires opening the lift door manually, identifying and making sure not to knock the wrong door but passing through this cyber-blue corridor like a time tunnel.
Not as casual as an osteria or a trattoria, but not as formal and quiet that makes you whisper in the talk. In a monochromatic décor with light background, crystal chandeliers as well as dark table cloths and curtains, it is stylish, homey and clean.
Cosy corners by the window definitely make good chances for couples, or couples-to-be, and bigger tables can also be arranged to make it into a 6 or 8-seater. Having around 20 seats in total, this private kitchen isn't really spacious but wins in flexibility in table and culinary arrangement.
This cosy place must win the hearts of wine lovers - just bring along your loved wines, no corkage fee will be charged. All sorts of glasses are ready for use and there is nothing else to be bothered about.
This private kitchen, Amina² Cuisine, is the sibling of Amina Modern European in Tsim Sha Tsui, sharing the commonality of fine Italian cuisine and differentiating in the serving style - 5-course menu with a main course in big portion for Amina², while a tasting menu consisting of smaller dishes for the latter.
Therefore, only dinner sets are available here, ranging from $660 to $698. Two options each for the courses other than the main course which offers as many as five to six for your pick. Explicitly saying "no service charge", $660 or $698 is what you will need to pay when you leave. For a 5-course meal, it may not be a cheap deal, but it is all the exclusivity, impeccable service and impressive use of sauces in dishes.
Definitely a cheer for those who paid repeated visits - 10% off your bill after doing your part on its social media platforms. Not our focus for us the first-time visitors though, $188 for half dozen of oysters on Wednesdays is able to comfort us a bit. We picked our choices for the dinner set and added a dozen of oysters (two kinds and six each).
Bread basket
A typical setup in the bread basket, but creative sauces to dip into, namely pureed aubergine (香草茄子醬), herb butter (香草牛油) and balsamic vinaigrette with lemon scented olive oil (檸檬橄欖油黑醋).
The loaf of bread performed well as expected with a crispy exterior and adequately porous, moist interior. Pureed aubergine won most of our hearts by its creative mix of garlic, herb on a smooth base of aubergine. The other two were worth trying, though not especially surprising in tastes.
Oysters for the night are Scottish Rock (蘇格蘭石蠔) and New Zealand Rock (紐西蘭石蠔). $188 for 6pcs makes a good deal in their sizes and having them freshly shucked is undoubtedly value for convenience if you were to compare the retail cost and the hassle after bringing these home.
Scottish Rock was crunchy with a refreshing and clean aftertaste. As an oyster lover for briny taste, I love New Zealand Rock more. Luckily one of us brought along a bottle of white wine, which went so well with all these oysters. Two oysters each were enough to satiate unrealistic cravings before dishes in the dinner set were served.
StarterWarm Chorizo and Apple Yogurt Mille-feuille served with Fuji Apple Puree and Apple Chips
西班牙肉腸蘋果乳酪千層酥伴蘋果脆片及富士蘋果蓉
西班牙肉腸蘋果乳酪千層
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The best time to consume millefeuille, like youth, fades quickly! As it was baked-to-order, despite moisturizing effect of pastes in between layers of puff pastry, they remained crispy and crunchy, which was evidenced by the display of "lever" theory when the fork gave it a chop.
SoupAir Dry Beef and Barley Cream Soup
意大利風乾牛肉，洋薏米忌廉濃湯
意大利風乾牛肉，洋薏米忌廉濃湯
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Ingredients making up this soup resembles a main course I tried at Atum Restaurant at K11, which involved carrots, onion, celery and barley. As a soup instead of a main course, this soup was creamy and the flavour was so rich that it could go well with plain bread (if there is any left in your bread basket).
Iberico ham is no stranger to me, but this air-dried beef is. Both as a crispy paper-thin sheet above the soup as well as those soaked inside, the rich, musty aroma spread and was locked in the creamy soup. With no discernible striations of fat, the aroma was so rich as dehydration makes the flavour further concentrated.
EntrèePan Fried Foie Gras with Apricot Mingle on Brioche Toast
香煎法國鵝肝伴三式杏甫及法國牛油包
香煎法國鵝肝伴三式杏甫及法國牛油包
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The piece of foie gras was slightly charred, with accompany of apricot elements around to give the rich, livery flavour an extra level of complexity. Apricot performed as a sweet highlight instead of a sour one, which was great enough to neutralise the grease.
Though the paste and dried cubes were easy to blend into the grease, I appreciated the jelly most as it was slightly bouncy which made a contrast to the soft and tender foie gras.Pink Guava Sorbet (石榴雪芭) is not an item engraved on the dinner menu, but was served as an interval to clean the grease and rich aroma left in your mouth before serving main courses.
The flavour was mildly sweet with a refreshing aftertaste, perfectly done in its role of palate cleanser which is common in French cuisine.
Main courseOven braised Osso Buco Bourguignon served with Truffle Mashed Potato
法式紅酒燴牛膝伴松露薯蓉 $660
法式紅酒燴牛膝伴松露薯蓉
$660
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Underneath the huge piece of beef shank was mashed potato mixed with truffle, which was a spongy base absorbing the broth and truffle.
The texture of beef shank wasn't as good as expected, since it wasn't braised tender enough to be in fall-off-the-bone state. Meat-to-bone ratio was high, the portion of which must be enough to satiate a man's appetite. The broth was really well-cooked though, luscious enough to compensate for the loss of beef shank's texture.
Mashed potato was smooth and creamy, going well with the succulent, beefy sauce. The portion of other main courses was equally generous - for reference below in case you don't find my beef shank appealing.
Other than the sorbet, a cup of floral tea was also served after the main course and before dessert. Being a palate cleanser still?
Dessert"Crème Brulee"
Desserts here may not be the masterpieces of the chef - not at all special though they lived up to standard. My pick was the "crème brulee" - don't get disappointed if you find no crunchy sugar glaze on top, this isn't the kind of baked creme brulee at Paul Lafayet.
The tiramisu option wasn't conventional as well, without the use of ladyfinger soaking coffee liqueur.
My dessert should be crème caramel instead of "crème brulee" (but that was what I was told). The two share the commonality of creamy base, but differ in the word after crème - brulee means burnt, and it wasn't seen in this pudding-like dessert. Unlike crème brulee's burnt caramel top, soft caramel was a dressing on top which was somehow too sweet for me.
Dishes were doing great, the best of which was the barley soup. Much room for improvement on desserts which lack delicate elements and fail to wrap up the generally nice courses before that. Portion of main courses was generous enough to justify the cost, which took free corkage, service and privacy into account. Let it be a tranquil spot for love dates, or a gathering with non-stop chit-chats like mine, private kitchens like Amina² Cuisine are second to none.
題外話/補充資料：
Free corkage and no service charge
(以上食評乃用戶個人意見 , 並不代表OpenRice之觀點。)
張貼
