Gold By Harlan Goldstein (已結業)

中环食肆，大都离不开一个「贵」字，动辄消费几百至过千不等。是日与挚友相约午饍，选择了Gold By Harlan Goldstein，午餐以半自助形式，包前菜、主菜、甜品和餐茶，定价为HKD288+10%，可谓十分化算。这里的头盘贵精不贵多，但胜在用料精美，每款食物逐一品尝，足以令我半饱。冷盘海鲜有海虾、青口和翡翠螺。青口每只体型不大，但尚算肥美，味道较为清淡。虾肉只属爽口而不鲜，但作为前菜兼无限量供应，这个质素也可以接受的。翡翠螺水准则不俗，爽口鲜甜，蘸以泰式酱汁更为惹味！Parma Ham虽然不属油润之作，但入口咸度适中带回甘，只略嫌哈蜜瓜甜度不足，影响了整体口感！这里供应的沙律菜皆嫩绿爽口，配料亦很多，配以不同风格的沙律酱，很不错！松脆的多士上面铺上磨菇，清新得来又不见单调，一口气鲸吞了七、八件呢！搓成小圆球的肉丸，质感不太死实，番茄酱汁味浓，特别醒胃！反观海鲜沙律的酱汁不够惹味，虾肉爽口而没有味道，较为逊色！44 Degree-Cooked Salmon, Fish Roe Croquette, Spicy Tomato Salsa & Red Bell Pepper Coulis以44度慢煮出来的三文鱼，鱼身晶莹剔透，但入口即溶的质感本人不太喜欢，感觉很流质，在我而言，我喜爱普通三文鱼肉的实在口感。甜品种类不多，卖相精致，味道也不赖！押尾以一杯泡沫丰盈细腻的cuppuccino作结，为这餐划上了句号。 继续阅读

黎过尼到好多次，以前每一次都食得好开怀，尤其最爱佢个slow cooked Salmon ,加上环境坐得舒服，系indoor 食完饭可以坐去outdoor 饮野。 不过佢而家已经转左menu ，冇左我个最爱不特止，见到佢个set dinner menu 系steak or lobster , 仲要特别指出 ，unlimited fries and salad ... 我真心想问问，黎得尼到，我会五会贪你个unlimited refill ? 我既要求，只系食物的水准，和quantity 没有关系。 所以，我见到个menu , 已经有小小失望。讲返野食, 我们叫左个ham and melon with honey truffle dressing . 个dressing 有惊喜，平时叫尼个starter 都五会有咩expectation , ham n melon 都系咁既者，不过估五到，加左个honey melon dressing 之后，都好夹。refreshing dish !Main course : lobster dinner set . Salad 同fries 五想讲，平平无奇。个fries 仲要系一早炸定果种，五热又五脆... Disappointed .个lobster tail 我只能说佢地marinated 几好，但个texture 麻麻，五够弹牙爽口 。I think it's not very fresh one . However,   几sweet 既系，佢地会帮你切好个lobster放上面 ,五洗自己切咁麻烦。尼间餐厅俾我的感觉系，佢改行比较平民路线，价钱平左系好，但我希望佢地可以keep 返以前的食物水准，勿将货就价，影响声誉。小倩回头率：60%  ( will be back unless  they change the menu ) 继续阅读

This place is an absolute disaster.I consider myself a very generous person, one that tips waiters/waitresses generously even when my service isn't that good, since everyone has their good days and bad. The one waiter that actually tried to help me, he deserved the big fat tip I gave. He was good.My girlfriend and I went to GOLD for our 2 year anniversary and it was truly disappointing. From the reviews we had high expectations and we were promptly greeted and seated. We ordered the beef and scallop carpaccio appetizers, two glasses of wine, and the shrimp pasta for my girlfriend whilst I picked the 10oz rib eye rare.The waiter was helpful, our appetizers and wine came quickly and was delicious. Then everything started to fall apart. After the appetizer service, we notice for the first time the floor manager walking by, and he immediately passes us without ever asking how our dinner is to flirt with the girls on the next table. The music takes a turn from bad to worse as most of the tracks are ranting about *fucking bitches* and *killing n*ggers* (actual lyrics that we heard) when I'm trying to enjoy a romantic night out, this isn't a club. Later on the floor manager goes out to the balcony with the girls for moments up to 30 minutes long to continue his flirting. Great job providing service to some clients but not others. Not once did he come to our table to check how our dinner was until it went even further downhill.Pretty much everyone knows that a rib eye steak already packs lots of flavor, and all it needs is not to be overworked so that it could retain its taste. This place did exactly the opposite. Lots of show at the sacrifice of taste. The entrees had arrived, and my 700 dollar steak, that I ordered rare came back completely well-done, cut into ribbons, and was drowning in very salty teriyaki sauce. The quality of the steak was nothing close to a ribeye and closer to a strip. The steak had no marbling whatsoever and was lacking the eye of fat that sits between the muscle groups which is the defining quality of a good rib eye. It was extremely chewy and grainy from being a poor quality steak and overcooked, and very salty for being drowned in sauce. Even the arugula salad on the side, which is supposed to act as a nice, crisp, refreshing taste to contrast the mat was heavily salted. I'm not trying to be particularly picky, but even McDonald's tastes better.My girlfriend's shrimp pasta came as well. The shrimp were damn near perfect, but the pasta and sauce tasted closer to microwave dinner. It was overcooked instead of al-dente, making it lose some of it's texture, and the sauce had a slight tinge of canned tomatoes.I calmly explained to my waiter when he came by (the one I tipped) that my steak was not alright, and he very politely took the plate telling me a new one would be prepared. I told him I was on my anniversary and he asked the manager if he could bring us two glasses of champagne as an apology.The second steak came back. This time, it wasn't cut to ribbons, and there was no more sauce to be seen! Horray! Or so I thought. The black grill marks were very deep and charred, which reminded me of a Pittsburgh rare (Black and Blue), I grabbed my knife and cut it straight through the center. The steak was still well-done instead rare. I picked my fork up with the bit of steak and showed it to the waiter. I told him to get the manager.Finally the floor manager appears out from the balcony. By this point I am infuriated and just want to eat a dinner that's reasonably acceptable. I ask to see the floor manage who has now been goofing off from his job for an hour to flirt. I tell him exactly what has transpired and he offers me a third steak.This time the chef comes out along with the manager. Still the steak is over grilled in a Pittsburgh style that produces a charred taste (despite no mention of this), its about a medium on the rarity. I'm tired, so I don't bother anymore, and I take two bites before settling the bill. The chef tries to correct me and says that what he cooked was blue rare. Congratulations on cooking a medium steak when I asked for rare and attempting to correct my terminology like an asshole.I tip the waiter and commend his excellent service. I tell him how truly disappointed I am at the ignorance of the management and the arrogance of the head chef and leave. 继续阅读

同一个集团, 同一个价钱嘅weekend brunch $338, 唔知点解水准差咁远, 食过铜锣湾Penthouse个间比较之下, Gold呢间真令人失望~首先, 环境Penthouse好光猛开扬, 令人好有weekend relax嘅感觉; 呢间就非常暗~望一望前菜食物, 有冻盘海鲜(虾, 螺, 青口), 但唔啱我~ 之后发现无甜品区, 极之+非常+超级失望!!!!!头盘d沙律, pama ham, cheese etc无乜特别, 特别一提我喜爱嘅芝麻百爪鱼, 系个兜到好难揾, 原本已经细粒, 但佢地竟然再将佢切片细到呕, 师傅真好刀工比鱼生更难切~ 反而个炸鸡意外地好味~Middle course个汤少辣, pasta普通可以话送到黎唔热~Main course加$98个牛扒普通唔香干无肉汁; 三文鱼还ok; Burger普通反而个薯条好味~甜品个香蕉gelato可以讲系怪, 试完一啖唔想食; 个蛋糕好普通~食过铜锣湾Penthouse个间比较之下, Gold真系差好远令人失望, 因为Penthouse个次前菜同甜品全部都好好味狂出去拎食唔停搞到饱到食唔哂main course, Penthouse d main courses又好味好多, 之后依然回味想再去; 但Gold就完全令我当场无意欲再出去拎野食, 所以唔会再encore~ 继续阅读

We have discovered that dining in Hong Kong is slightly different to Australia, in that it is more difficult to just walk in to a restaurant and ask for a table without a reservation, even if the restaurant is mostly empty. With this in mind I had decided to make a reservation for dinner at Gold by Harlan Goldstein on a Friday night. Unfortunately on the night in question FMUS was still suffering from a stomach bug, so we had to reschedule to the following week. Finally that night was here, and we headed in for what we hoped to be a good meal at the flagship restaurant of one of Hong Kong's more prolific restauranteurs.Harlan Goldstein is a New Yorker who worked under 3-Michelin starred chef Jean Banchet in Chicago, before travelling to Asia and working at some of the top hotel restaurants in the region. He moved to Hong Kong and, after working at the Aberdeen Marina Club, has now opened his own stable of restaurants in Hong Kong. We had eaten at one of his other restaurants very early in our Hong Kong experience (Penthouse) and were impressed with the simple yet tasty dishes served. We were hoping that with a Michelin star, Gold would top our experience at Penthouse. The first thing we noticed when arriving at Gold was, you guessed it, the gold interior. Spandau Ballet playing in my head, we were seated by very friendly wait staff and given the menus. Spandau Ballet changed to Austin Powers references though, when we saw that even the menu was covered in gold lamé! Joking aside, the menu looked interesting, with an option of a 5 course tasting menu designed by Harlan but no hints were given as to the courses you would be provided. There was also a three course tasting menu, with some of the options on that menu quite appealing, however there were other dishes on the al a carte menu which appealed more. Feeling a lack of a sense of adventure this evening, I preferred to choose from the al a carte menu, and FMUS reluctantly agreed. I was intrigued by the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake, with a micro green herb salad and lobster cajun sauce. This certainly was a jumbo crab cake, and superbly done to boot. I was pleased not to discover any cartilage in the crab cake, which made a nice change from other crab dishes I have tried in Hong Kong. The micro green herb salad didn't seem to have any herbs in it, but was fresh nonetheless. I enjoyed this starter, although I must admit for a Michelin starred restaurant, for my tastes, it was a little too rustic. FMUS spied a couple of his favourite ingredients in the one dish, and had to try it. The 63 degree octopus with chorizo bolognese and smoked paprika potatoes was again a rustic looking dish, but the flavour combination was anything but rustic. The slow cooked octopus was tender and an excellent example of how to prepare the delicacy. Interestingly, the chorizo bolognese was unlike anything we'd seen before and paired beautifully with the octopus, with just enough heat to be interesting by the time the dish was over. A couple of crispy potato chips were included and while not strictly necessary, gave some additional texture.For the main, after much deliberation, FMUS decided to go for meat - a nice piece of 12 oz New York strip-loin. It was served with roasted garlic and a bernaise sauce on the side. He had also ordered some giant steak fries with truffle mayo (which of course I had to also try!). The strip loin was recommended to come medium but unfortunately came medium rare, which made the steak a little tough. There was good flavour in the meat, but it really could have been spectacular if it was cooked as described.The menu proclaims that Harlan is the 'king of slow cooking', so with that kind of description, I had to try something from the 'slow cooked' section of the menu. My dish of "melted in your mouth" salmon with Italian red prawn, chorizo, romesco and wild rocket certainly lived up to its name for the main protein, in that the buttery salmon really did melt in your mouth, however I found the salmon was completely overpowered by the other components of the dish. The chorizo was probably unnecessary (and in fact I only ate one piece) and, for my palate and I found the sauce to be intense, which threw the balance of the dish out. My other main issue with the dish was that one of the large prawns had an overly fishy taste, which can sometimes indicate a lack of freshness. It really detracted from the salmon. To be honest, I was expecting the salmon to be the star of the show, particularly given it was called 'melt in your mouth salmon' but instead, it was completely hidden from view! It was a mystery to me.After that main I didn't really feel like a whole dessert, but of course FMUS could not finish the meal without something sweet. After placing his order for Harlan Goldstein's Nitrogen Creation, we were invited to check out the deck area while waiting for the dessert to be prepared. The deck area is at the rear of the restaurant, and looked out over Lan Kwai Fong and the highrises of Central. While the night we were there it was cold and miserable (thanks Hong Kong), I could imagine that the deck would be a great place to enjoy a few cocktails on a hot summer's night. Back at the table, the dessert presented was simply beautiful. The refreshing mango flavours were complemented by yoghurt and a coconut mousse. Fortunately for me the waitress had brought an extra spoon, and while I had declared I was not really able to eat much else after the main, I did have to stop myself from stealing all of the dessert (Much to FMUS's chagrin)! This was definitely a great way to finish the meal, and I was wishing I had ordered one of these for myself! (Note from FMUS - Me too!!)We were surprised that, for a Friday night, the restaurant was mostly empty. While I may have made some tactical errors with my food choices, Gold is still a Michelin starred restaurant, with service to match. I must admit that I enjoyed the food at Penthouse more than Gold, but am interested in checking out the other restaurants in the Goldstein stable as, on the whole, the menus at all of the venues appeal to me. 继续阅读