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2015-09-22
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Quick squiz: We dined in the non-bar restaurant area on the second level. It's a relaxing place to be to wind down from a busy day (or week) but at a little less relaxing price point (if you go for the steaks, that is). Staff seem to have broken into the routine a little better than The Continental at similar age but familiarisation still needed. More about the restaurant: So it seems like Swire has caught on to a little hobby of opening restaurants which are carefully crafted and fitted into a
We dined in the non-bar restaurant area on the second level. It's a relaxing place to be to wind down from a busy day (or week) but at a little less relaxing price point (if you go for the steaks, that is). Staff seem to have broken into the routine a little better than The Continental at similar age but familiarisation still needed.
More about the restaurant:
So it seems like Swire has caught on to a little hobby of opening restaurants which are carefully crafted and fitted into a little world of their own. The only gripe that seems recurring (for me at least) is their price and food quality proposition. But what's lost in the food is made up in the ambiance. The decorations in Mr and Mrs Fox come together naturally, nothing really felt added for the sake of adding. And I really do think they've done better with the proposition here. Just a bit.
High ceilings, warm lighting and a generous splash of wood made the second floor restaurant quite a comfortable place to be, especially for those two-person tables next to the beautifully tall glass windows - which makes it all the more odd to place booth seating so close to the windows. The booths instantly made the whole scene a little more claustrophobic and it felt a pity depriving the people sitting further in of the natural light.
Turning to the food, they played safe with the mild tasting olive pate for the complementary bread. It could've been more pungent but I imagine would suit most tastes and certainly more fun than the usual olive oil/vinegar (or butter) pairing. Weird though that every table within my view got 4 slices no matter party size.
They had some interesting looking entrees - we went with the braised iberico pork collar in a sour plum glaze. It might have tasted a little like a Chinese dish of similar colour but the added complexity of the hazelnuts, butternut pumpkin and lentils brought the plate to life. The glaze added a bit of crispness to the pork which wasn't overly drenched with sauce and the few pieces of sour plum were also a highlight . Favourite dish of the evening.
Onto the mains, the porterhouse for 2 was sold out even though we were dining on the early round (it looked like it presented great value) so we went with a mix of the other steaks and non-steaks on the menu. Apparently priding itself for its steaks, we went with a T-bone (medium-rare) and ribeye (bone in, medium) as well as the wild rice crusted Maine lobster which was in a red and green curry foam. The oil of the ribeye tasted a little more gamey than accustomed to but the same was absent in the T-bone. Meat texture was as you would expect from each of these cuts. The cooking of the steaks were very well executed and would rank higher than the taste of the meat itself. Served on a wooden board made it all a very casual affair, but the overly-blaring air conditioning close by cooled the meat too quickly (add deflectors or turn down the a/c please!). The steak knife provided also had difficulty cutting through the tendons and the meat closer to the bone of the medium-rare T-bone. Knife needs sharpening.
The new potatoes and brussels sprouts sides were generously portioned at $35. I imagine the new potatoes which were mixed with lemon and chives would go well with the (imaginably) more oily wagyu. However, potential wagyu fans to note: I enquired and am told the M9 wagyu strip wasn't full-blood (I didn't ask which station but I wonder if they knew). So at close to $800 I gave the wagyu strip a pass and went with the lobster.
I was initially concerned about the curry covering the flavour of the lobster. Nonetheless I braved on and gave it a try on the assurance of the waiter it wouldn't. This was probably my second favourite dish of the evening. The curry was in fact a foam emulsion. The crusted lobster kept its flavour in, and the not-very-spicy green curry went well with the sweet and juicy lobster meat. Red curry was a little too 'aromatic' (as they describe it) for my liking. I don't usually take much hot/spicy food and this wasn't (especially the green curry) overly spicy at all - very very mild, more coconut-y.
No meal is complete without dessert. The selection was limited but a few caught my eye. Went with the baked Alaska with chocolate, peanuts and caramelised banana which is a portioned for 2. Photo probably speaks it all - the most pretentious of all dishes for the evening. The chocolate and peanuts left a good after taste but felt a little too solid as if placed waiting in the kitchen for a day too long. Banana size was insubstantive to give off enough flavour and the flames were a little too much of a show by lighting the pan at the table and not the meringue casing. The bananas were torched after being placed on plate (not sure about the meringue itself) but if it was then might have been more exciting to torch the whole dessert after serving it on the table, or while on the side.
There was a slight lack of staff between the change of dinner sessions (8:30pm-ish) and our finished main plates waited for 10+ minutes before being collected. Interestingly (but I haven't deducted points on this) we were asked how we were enjoying the food when we haven't even bitten into our mains a few moments after they were served (okay I did take a bit of time taking photos but it would've been a few minutes max and a little observation of the plates on the table would have made it apparent they haven't been cut into). Wait staff said he'd come back again later but never did. He missed out on my complement of the entree. All in all and save for a couple of exceptions the food lacked a bit of punch but I'd be eager to try their bar menu downstairs. As to upstairs, I wouldn't mind seconds but I'd steer clear from the overpriced steaks. Wine selection was tending overpriced (6 times retail?) for the experience you get and all the more reason to avoid the steaks.
I was hard pressed whether to give this place an 'ok' or a 'smile' at the end of this review. It's performed fairly decent in most aspects other than value (it would've gotten a 2 for steaks and a 3 for service if it was not still young, but everything else seems alright), a few gripes but has shone in a few places too. I'd encourage people to try for yourselves so decided on a 'smile'. It'll also serve as a reminder for me to go back and try their bar menu.
The surrounds:
Convenient parking lot around the corner and MTR station just a stone throw away makes this a perfect place to get out of the crowd from Taikoo or Causeway Bay. Plenty of other restaurant and cafe options make the area a comfortable after-dinner stroll (or last minute change of cuisine).
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