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2011-04-09
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Original Review @: http://foodofhongkong.blogspot.com/2011/04/la-marmite-12.html Down-to-earth French Bistrot style diners are suddenly all proliferating in HK all at the same time, and most of them within the Central or West end of Hong Kong island area! La Marmite is opened by the Aqua Group, which doesn't need any introduction, except that a lot of their restaurants seem to be aimed at either expats or tourists, even more so than King Parrot or Igor's restaurants!Bread arrived warm, an
Down-to-earth French Bistrot style diners are suddenly all proliferating in HK all at the same time, and most of them within the Central or West end of Hong Kong island area! La Marmite is opened by the Aqua Group, which doesn't need any introduction, except that a lot of their restaurants seem to be aimed at either expats or tourists, even more so than King Parrot or Igor's restaurants! Bread arrived warm, and the rouille saffron-fish dip was nice. But the butter was refrigerated cold and not very spreadable at all. 7/10 Beer was cold and crisp, bubbly enough. 8/10 No Fleur de Sel salt here, nor any better salt for accompaniment. A bit stingy for a French bistro in the 21st Century! Onglet Hanger Steak, served Medium Rare, was cooked very well and surprisingly well-marbled and tender for this cut of meat. The l'echalotte (onions) were overly sweet however and spoiled the overall flavour of the beef, to the extent I needed to keep piling on the low-grade salt onto the beef to balance it out! The sauteed scaled potatoes were way too oily for a French dish, I mean it's suppose to be different to say olive oil driven Mediterranean/Greek/Portuguese cuisine, isn't it? For some reason, this was also written on the menu as both a Bavatte (flank) and an Onglet (Hanger Steak), which is contradictory even though they're next of kins on the muscles chart! The beef was nice but the supporting garnitures were a bit of a failure in my opinion ~ 6/10 Meat cooked very well indeed, let down by other supporting acts! The vanilla ice-cream was nice, but the Calvados tasted a bit too bitter when infused into the transparent, yet not overly caramelised apple segments. The pastry beneath wasn't baked enough as it became soggy, flipping it over using the fork reveals an under-baked whitish centre. This upside-down tart really could have been better in both cooking and overall flavouring balance. OH, AND THIS ARRIVED VERY COLD!! ~ 4/10
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OVERALL - I FIND THE RECIPES IN LA MARMITE TO BE VERY INTERESTING, AS IT IS MORE MODERNISED AND SPRUCED UP THAN EVEN SOME PARISIAN BISTRO'S, AND BORDERING ON BECOMING A FINE DINING DESTINATION... IT HAS A LOT OF POTENTIAL, BUT THE DISHES WEREN'T REALLY COOKED TO THE PERFECT DEGREE INTENDED AND COMPARED TO SAY "BISTRO BOUCHON FRANCAISE" - IT WAS QUITE CLEAR THAT THERE WASN'T MUCH PASSION PUT INTO THE FOOD OR DINING ATMOSPHERE FOR NOW...
Original Review @: http://foodofhongkong.blogspot.com/2011/04/la-marmite-12.html
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