The First Floor by Lifestyle Federation (已結業)

见到呢度有好多好评 就黎到左呢间餐厅食午饭试一试新野 我地几个人就叫左几个唔同既 appetizers. 分别就系Octopus Carparccio, foie gras 同 Hokkaido scallops. 但之前就先讲下佢地个bread basket, 佢地有多款既包比你选择 有脆脆片 有有herbs既 有咸有甜 但讲到尾我最钟意就系佢地个蒸包！好少见西餐d包篮度见到蒸包 而且亦非常美味 另外佢地配有4款唔同既自家制牛油 有蜂蜜肉桂啦 ,无盐啦, 有herbs啦 同原味。本来我以为自己会系最钟意蜂蜜肉桂 因为将我2只钟意既都放埋左一齐 但食落原来herbs果个都好好食 其实食落都有d似蒜蓉包上面果d野 但又多多小小其他herbs味 唔错跟住就要介绍下佢地果3款头盘 首先系呢个Octopus Carparccio 墨鱼软身又唔会韧 而且蕃茄都好甜呢款Hokkaido scallops with mango salsa and Hana Katsuo ravioli, 带子新鲜又滑 芒果亦好甜 略嫌有d盖过左带子既解味 而呢个鹅肝呢就煎得熟左d 其他就都几好架 特别系旁边果d 萍果玫瑰酱 甜甜地 加埋一齐食无咁油腻我地几个都系主菜呢方面不约而同咁拣左呢个海解意粉配辣蕃茄酱(Seafood Linguini with spicy tomato sauce) 海解方而呢度有虾 鱿鱼 吞拿鱼 带子 同青口仔 我地个朋友就觉得佢块吞拿鱼太熟 唔滑 我果块又无乜野 中间虽然都系熟 但都仲程现一d既粉红色 而鱿鱼 带子都好嫩滑 虾又煎得香 因为其实整体都几好味既时侯 都系会有d美中不足 就系个意粉煮得林左d 唔系好al dente呢最后就系呢个紫薯千层酥(Sweet potato millie feuille)块酥皮本身都做得几脆又唔会好干好硬 不过我觉得我果块就有小小㶶味?微微苦苦地 中间既酱分别系姜同主角紫薯 绝对唔系假紫薯味啦当然 整体其实系唔会好甜既 唔钟意食太甜既朋友就应该会比较适合 另外旁边其实仲有一个sorbet 都好味架 另外餐厅环境比较嘈 台既位置有d太密 要听到隔离台讲野真系无乜难度 继续阅读

We were walking home from work one evening, taking a new route for some strange reason, and happened along a pretty fancy restaurant launch. It looked pretty inviting, with red carpet and lots of floral arrangements, but we were on a mission to get somewhere (can't even remember where now!) and made a mental note to get along and check it out. There was one problem though, we didn't bother to find out the name of the restaurant!It wasn't a huge problem though, we knew it was in Duddell Street and easy enough to find. It was a Tuesday night and we felt adventurous, so wandered along Duddell Street, up the steep stairs to find our mystery restaurant. Called 'the First Floor', we banked on the place not being too busy on a Tuesday night and rocked up without a reservation. As luck would have it, we were welcomed with open arms and shown to a table and, not for the first time in Hong Kong, were the only people in the restaurant!Only the First Floor is not really a restaurant, but a private club thats been set up by media group 'Lifestyle Federation'. Part dining room, part open demonstration kitchen and 'part lounge for hire', the First Floor also has a humador for those that like a cigar after dinner. It's plush too, really plush! Our very comfortable seats were red velvet like seats and were placed around tables that were set for silver service.Silver service, it's a bit of an antiquated approach for restaurants now, with many kitchens taking a more relaxed approach to dining, but it's easy to forget how nice it can be. We had a very large number of wait staff on hand to help us through the evening, starting with the presentation of the tasting and a la carte menus. There was a $1600 per person tasting menu that looked very tempting, but we tend to leave our huge tasting menu meals for the weekends, so oped for a couple of courses from the a la carte menu.Crafting the menu and running the kitchen was Chef Kit Cheung, formerly of two Michelin starred Caprice (my dining destination next weekend!), so it was no surprise that the seasonally inspired menu held so many delectable looking choices. Hard as it was, we made our choices at which point a couple of things happened at once.A bread plate was presented with a huge range of warm and lightly toasted breads, which was accompanied by a selection of flavoured butter. We had the choice of salted and unsalted butter, as well as a pesto butter and really interestingly a cinnamon butter. Also making its way to the table was an amuse bouche of tofu with pickled beetroot. Now I'm not a fan of tofu, so I'm not going to pretend that I liked it, but the pickled beetroot at least made it tolerable. SC on the other hand, is partial to a little tofu and quite liked the little bite.We could tell from the presentation of our first dish, that there was a talented chef in the kitchen, but it was once we tasted the dish, that we knew the guy was a star. Using trumpet mushrooms and a seafood bisque foam, the plate was decorated with the exoskeleton of a langoustine, which partially hid the delicate sweet meat that it had provided. The langoustine was exquisitely cooked, with it's natural sweetness on display and nicely complimented by the slight bitterness of the bisque. The interesting thing was that as the dish was consumed, new flavours became prominent, the earthiness the mushrooms in particular.I'd chosen a luxurious dish of lobster bisque, which was initially presented in a bowl with tiny squares of lobster meat and a quenelle of clotted cream sitting atop. With a little pomp and ceremony, the bisque arrived separately in a white tea pot and was poured over to form a viscous looking broth in my bowl. My initial mouthful was quite disappointing, the bisque was way too sharp and a little unpleasant, but I hadn't let the magic happen. Before my eyes, the clotted cream was dissolving and mixing into the bisque, to form a perfectly balanced dish. Instead of a harsh twang on my palate, the velvety bisque became a triumph, which was helped by little bits of chewy sweet lobster flesh. It showed that sometimes you need a little patience with a dish!We'd had some strong flavours for our starters and were thankful when the plethora of wait staff cleared our plates and replaced them with a palate cleanser. The simple little shot glass contained a mandarin granita, which was exactly what we needed to prepare ourselves for our mains.The first of which was a departure from traditional French cooking of our starters and had wandered into Italian cuisine. The spaghetti carbonara with 63 degree Onsen egg, cherry tomato halves and little quenelles of caviare was quite special. The dish was presented with the slow cooked egg sitting atop the pasta, which had a lovely creamy sauce filled with strips of salty bacon. Once the egg was blended in with the sauce, the true cleverness of the dish was revealed, with the silky smooth yolk transforming the simple dish to near perfection. The little salty balls of caviar were balanced against the acidity of the cherry tomato, demonstrating that everything on the plate had a purpose. Oh, the pasta was supremely cooked and perfectly al dente.With the near perfection of our meal to date, I had high expectations for my main of monkfish cooked with chorizo and accompanied by baby new carrots of differing colours and fresh sweet peas. It certainly looked amazing on the plate, with each of the baby carrots turned as well as you'd expect in any Michelin starred restaurant. All the ingredients were there, save a little salt and pepper! The dish felt like it hadn't been seasoned at all, and as a consequence. the monkfish felt a little flat and bland! I'd been expecting a little salty hit from the chorizo, but it had been sliced so thin, it really had no impact, in fact, I couldn't really taste it at all! The carrots and peas were superb though, fresh and lightly cooked so they still retained their fresh flavour and crunch, but the accompaniments are not the dish and it would have been well served with the missing seasoning.We opted out of desserts, but were still presented with a pre-dessert treat of clotted cream mixed in with fresh berries and finished off with a curl of tempered chocolate. It was a super little treat that almost felt like a dessert anyway.We weren't finished there though, in what turned out to be one of the most innovative ideas we've seen in Hong Kong, we were presented with a petite four cart, with a selection of macaroons, marshmallow and other little treats. The instruction was to select a few of the items to finish off the meal, so we both selected a number of the macaroons (chocolate, passionfruit and strawberry were my choices), and SC also chose some marshmallows. The macaroons were wonderful and combined with the pre-dessert treat, it really felt as if we'd had a de facto dessert!Throughout the night, only one other table was occupied, so we had a handful of wait staff looking after our every need. I have to say that we felt very spoilt by all the attention, but we did joke at one point that it felt like we were being 'watched' and every move scrutinised! I wonder if there would be so much attention in a full dining room?At the time of visiting the First Floor, we didn't realise or know that it was a private club, so midway through our meal, we were 'invited' to join the club. There were two memberships, a free one (yep, we picked that) and a very pricy one (we made sure to tick the right box). I guess we were happy to join, truth be told, we were not expecting much for our visit and walked away very pleasantly surprised.I can see a time in the very near future when we will head back to the First Floor to check out the tasting menu. It now holds a special little place in our foodie hearts. In fact, we were reminded of our second ever visit to a Michelin starred restaurant in Germany with the same name. The First Floor has rapidly become synonymous for high quality silver service in our world!@FoodMeUpScottyThe dining room was plush and secluded, but the red 'velvet' really added to the private club feelThe demonstration kitchen on display for allMy favourite was the salted butter!A good selection of breads for the tableThe very elegant looking langoustine dishPerfectly balanced flavours from lovely ingredientsMacaroons!Of course a private club needs a great selection of rare and fine whisky 继续阅读

人大了，越来越挑剔奄尖，可以带来惊喜的食店越来越少。最近，中环却出现一所食物用料、味道以至摆盘，都充满惊艳火花的食店，它是 The First Floor by Lifestyle Federation。餐厅中文译名是 壹楼 ∙ 时尚联盟，位于中环都爹利街13号乐成1楼，是个结合教育及娱乐、集多功能的 Fine Dining Club。今天只集中介绍餐饮的部分。主餐区以红白色为主调，配上窗外青绿的景色，简单得来高贵优雅，用餐感觉很舒服。侍者全部都专业又有礼，密密添水、细心为食客推椅、主动提供手袋座等，服务很贴心。　这里午餐 $380 三道菜 / $430 四道菜，差不多去到酒店水平，乍听都几贵，不过吃完就知道是物有所值。首先上台的自家制面包已经热烘烘、松香软棉很有质素，我忍不住连吃三大件！　除面包本身好吃，餐厅提供四款自家制牛油：玉桂 + 蜜糖、海盐、蒜蓉香草、无盐，亦令人忍不住多吃了包。四款中最爱蒜蓉香草，甜甜的玉桂 + 蜜糖也够特别，配馒头包很夹呢。　这天午餐结合了午餐及 Happy Hour 小吃，特别时值啤酒节，餐厅推出了 Craft Brew & Bites Happy Hour Menu，供应多款精致特色小吃，并提供 Beer pairing 建议，不过我们没饮了。先吃卖相有如糖果的 Scallop Candy ($95)，外层胶片很轻且薄，本身无味，主要是营造特别形状；中间带子嫩滑鲜甜，衬上沙律酱及鱼子粒，一口一件、鲜美可口。　糖果带子是有趣，但个人更爱接下来两款小吃：首先 Semi-cooked Spicy Mackerel ($95) 的半熟鲭鱼肉鲜滑结实、丰腴美味，同时带点辣意，惹味引人食欲。　最后一款 Baby Suckling Pig ($95) 亦简单得来皮香肉极嫩，衬上清新青苹果以作中和，同上还有一小粒薯球，带来更丰富构图以及食趣。 　小吃后开始正式午餐环节：Veg Ten ($185) 由超过十种不同时令蔬果组成，卖相精致、非常健康，但全素的组合味道会好吗？一吃之下，甜魔妈妈与食友均折服了：甘荀、茄子、大根、紫薯、红菜头、南瓜、莲藕、露笋等蔬果均经过不同手法烹调，包括慢煮、烩焗、腌制，口感味道各异，但都有烹调轻盈、味道清新的特点，尤爱那酸甜的番茄粒，非常开胃好吃！　接著上台的 Seafood Hassun 八吋海鲜汇 ($260) 亦是惊艳之作；八吋 (Hassun) 在日本怀石料理中指约八寸大的角盆，当中时令海鲜其实是七款，包括斑节虾、半熟黄鳍吞拿鱼 、挪威三文鱼、鱿鱼、八爪鱼、带子、法国海螯虾 tartar，成品丰富缤纷、悦目动心，未食先兴奋！　每款海鲜质素都很好，爱死那软糯鲜甜的螯虾 tartar 及带子了！特别一提，其他配菜也好吃，连看似黑芝麻粉的，其实也是日本海苔及樱花虾的粉末，沾上海鲜同吃，更能突出其鲜味。　然后又有 Spanish Red Prawn Consommé 西班牙红虾清汤伴鱼子酱 ($175)，选用取自地中海海域的西班牙红虾，虾味鲜甜、肉质爽口弹牙，配上法国鱼子酱更添矜贵与鲜味。　吃前侍者再即时淋上经过三天熬制、虾味丰富浓郁，比忌廉浓汤高班很多的极品极品清汤；加上法国鱼子酱同吃，鲜味完全攻陷味蕾，又是好好吃啊！　　这里食物非常足料，未到主菜已饱了大半，但也要介绍一下：这是食友的 Hokkaido Scallops with Cauliflower Puree and Saffron Cous Cous 香煎北海道带子配椰菜花蓉伴红花中东小米 ($360)，选用北海道刺身级 3L 带子，我试了带子果然很鲜甜，但火花稍不及先前头盘～甜魔妈妈主菜就选了 M8 Australian Wagyu with Seasonal Vegetables 烧澳洲和牛西冷扒配时令蔬菜 ($380)，澳洲优质和牛本来就质素卓越，配上以牛仔肉及羊肚菌水慢煮 48 小时的肉汁，更增强西冷的肉香；同上的小云吞也精致可口，其他配菜亦清新美味，牛魔要试啊～由于时近值啤酒节，饭后甜品也试了带啤酒味的 Stout Ice Cream Macarons ($80)；小巧清脆、口味微甜的马卡龙中，夹著啤酒味浓浓的特色雪糕，配搭很有特色、滋味也不错呢～最后，还有令甜魔尖叫失控的 甜点餐车 Chariot de Desserts，食客可由缤纷精致的餐车中，随心挑选喜爱的小甜点，内容包括：七款不同口味马卡龙（芝麻、青柠、薰衣草、玫瑰、热情果、朱古力、红莓）、鸟结糖、棉花糖（热情果／香蕉味）、白朱古力榛子曲奇、黑朱古力合桃曲奇、玛德莲贝壳蛋糕、法式金砖小蛋糕，以及朱古力蛋白脆饼。很难拣啊！要赶船关系（没错，吃完这顿就出发去三婆孙澳门行!!），难拣也要硬著头皮选出几款带走；推介要吃这里的马卡龙，薰衣草及玫瑰味都很赞，玛德莲贝壳蛋糕、法式金砖小蛋糕及朱古力蛋白脆饼也做得精致可口，船程上为食妹妹一直争著要吃！　来到最后的咖啡／茶，这里的餐茶也一点不马虎，选用全港独家的Tealia茶包，我选了 Passionfruit Mint Tea 带走，满有果香又相当清新，推介啊～很喜欢这充满心思与艺术感的午餐，整餐体验亦相当满意，特别晚市套餐 ($580 四道菜 / $680 五道菜) 相对并不贵，会推介给喜欢精致美食的大家！最后也贴上 bar lounge，以及VIP lounge（附雪茄柜!!）的照片，中环上班的朋友别错过了～ 继续阅读

作为中环人，吃午饭或找个性价比高的餐厅吃晚餐，不是易事。感觉上这间餐厅像一间会所，店主是有做批发的品味人士，现场有很多优质食材如鱼籽酱、陈醋、橄榄油等给人客选购。餐厅地方亦比我想像中大，采用开放式厨房设计，有独立雪茄房，也可以提供场地作不同的美食活动、烹饪示范、工作坊、品酒会等等，格调优雅，感觉路线是主打白领上班族及中产一类。这次体验相当不错，特别一提是一系列以 Oktoberfest 为主题的食物，搭配各款手工啤酒的「Craft Beer Brew & Bites」Happy Hour，供应时间是 5:30pm -7pm。。Happy Hour 小吃「帆立贝水晶糖」，用糖胶包著带子刺身，玩味胜高。「炙烧香辣鲭鱼」，鱼味比较重，我自己不太吃得下鱼腥，非战之罪。「65°C 烤焗乳猪」，皮不属芝麻皮，是薄皮那种，一样脆，肉是用 65°C 温火烤焗，以保持肉汁。谁说马卡龙是女人的专利？「黑啤雪糕马卡龙」，完全感受到那股男人味，雪糕沉厚带麦香，一啖一粒，力的表现。来到正餐的部份，「Veg Ten」$185顾名思义是用十种蔬菜经过不同手法烹调、慢煮、烩焗，包括甘荀、茄子、大根、紫薯、红菜头、南瓜、莲藕、露笋等。摆卖精致，烹调轻盈，而且每一道蔬菜都吃到它的本味，我很喜欢这道，十菜十味，返璞归真。「八吋海鲜汇 (Seafood Hassun)」HK$260Hassun 在日本怀石料理中是指约八寸大的角盆。主厨用斑节虾、半熟黄鳍吞拿鱼 、挪威三文鱼、鱿鱼、八爪鱼、带子、法国海螯虾他他，加上日本海苔及樱花虾的粉末，吃时沾一些，就吊出鲜味来。海鲜靓绝对是重点之一，是赢在起跑线上。「西班牙红虾清汤伴鱼子酱」HK$175 西班牙红虾，先趟在碟中间，像等待一个热水浴般。侍应随随倒入经过数天熬制，用鲜虾做成的浓汤，丰富的虾味像龙虾汁，伴上法国鱼子酱及红虾肉，是巨，鲜，甜啊！我觉得可以用这个汤来煮 pasta 呢。主菜三拣一，我的选择「香煎北海道带子配椰菜花蓉伴红花中东小米」HK$360 用北海道刺身级的 3L 带子，师傅透露每只连壳接近一公斤。我自己本身很喜欢带子，喜爱它清新弹牙又不会太过腻，此珍宝装只是简单地煎香，撒一巴海盐，就已够鲜味。「烧澳洲和牛西冷扒配时令蔬菜」HK$380友人的选择，肉用以牛仔肉及羊肚菌水慢煮 48 小时，又是心思之作，我浅尝了一小口，肉质纤维细致，相当好吃。到了女士们最期待的甜品时间，出品全是由餐厅自家制，由一架餐车推出来，甚有法国菜的气势。车上有七款不同口味 macarons - 芝麻、青柠、薰衣草、玫瑰、热情果、朱古力、红莓，还有鸟结糖、热情果、香蕉口味棉花糖、白朱古力榛子曲奇、黑朱古力合桃曲奇、玛德莲贝壳蛋糕、法式金砖小蛋糕、朱古力蛋白脆饼。晚餐是由客人任点任吃，很豪气，其中热情果 macaron 酸中带香，是我的心水。此餐厅若是点套餐的话，午餐大概三百多，晚餐也是人均五百多，地理位置方便，是中环啊！在港铁站走路过来只是五分钟。我觉得不论是商务午餐、下班消遣、晚饭、甚至举办私人派对，也是一个不错的地点，其实单是做附近金融大厦的商务午餐，相信已经有不少客源。 继续阅读