Archive for category Food
We’re in print – HK Golfer Feb/Mar 2010 issue
We are delighted to be a contributor to the HK Golfer magazine, which is the official publication of the Hong Kong Golf Association. Our part is for the 19th Hole and talks about food. The first write-up was for the French Window and debuted in the February/March 2010 issue. Click the thumbnail to view the PDF of the article. This is a bimonthly publication, so the next one will be in April/May.
201002 HK Golfer Feb/Mar 2010 - French Window
Review – La Cuisine de Joël Robuchon, London, England
This was the first stop on our London gastronomic fest. As Hong Kong already has a L’Atelier, we decided to try La Cuisine here instead. There’s also a L’Atelier in the same building as well as the Salon Bar. La Cuisine employs a traditional restaurant seating surrounding the open plan kitchen. This made us feel like dining inside the kitchen, in contrast to L’Atelier, where the counter seating surrounds the kitchen.
We immediately went for the Menu Découverte for £125/US$190. The dinner with matching wines was £165/US$250, but we upgraded to the prestige matching wines for £205/US$312. We didn’t want to start out on the wrong foot.
We started with a Parmesan cappuccino. The strong fragrance of the cheese went well with the bits of foie gras mixed in. Next was a huge tin of Oscietra caviar. Reminded us of the “caviar” from the Krug Room. But this time, it was the real thing. And underneath was a crabmeat mix. Yummy. C must have liked it as it was gone in an instant.
While we were still savoring the aftertaste from the caviar, the next dish delivered thinly shaved foie gras with winter truffle on a bed of marinated potatoes. All these strong beautiful flavors kept our mouths busy.
More truffles followed next in the form of mushroom and black truffle croutons on top of a quail egg for the Jerusalem artichoke soup…forget about all the cholesterol. The remaining courses were done very well, but nothing special – caramelized scallop, sea bass and free range quail stuffed with foie gras.
A fun dessert was the mandarin sorbet lollipop covered in white chocolate with a flower on top. However, it was a bit too sweet for our taste. The finale was the Chocolate Tendance, which was chocolate with chocolate and chocolate. Sinful…very sinful…
Joël Robuchon never ceases to impress and this is no exception.
– 17.5/20
La Cuisine de Joël Robuchon
13-15 West Street
London WC2H 9NE
England
T: +44 (0207) 010 8600
W: www.joel-robuchon.com
100215 La Cuisine - Stairs leading up to the 1st floor
100215 La Cuisine - View of the open kitchen
100215 La Cuisine - The kitchen surrounds the restaurant
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Valentines & Chinese New Year at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, Oxford, England
After a 45 minute drive from The Grove, we arrived safely at Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons, a very picturesque country house just outside Oxford, England. We decided to celebrate Valentines Day and the first day of Chinese New Year here so we checked into one of their 32 rooms for the night. Dinner was booked at the two Michelin-starred restaurant by Raymond Blanc. It was their 25th Anniversary last year and the last time R was here was during his university days, so it must have been on their first or second anniversary!
We stayed in the Orchard room, located on the first floor of the Main House, which was a nice comfortable 242 ft2 (22.5 m2). Accommodation was not cheap, at £520/US$790 per night, but it was V’day after all and hey we had free Wi-Fi! The cottage style environment was a nice change from the boutique or chain hotels that we were used to. They even had two huge bows behind the door to indicate Do Not Disturb (red) or Make Up The Room (green) by hanging the appropriate one on the other side. Very cute.
We arrived just in time for afternoon tea and sat down for traditional scones with clotted cream. Wow, you’ve got to come here just for the scones. Freshly baked and paired with the clotted cream was heavenly. The best we’ve had anywhere.
For dinner, we chose Raymond Blanc’s Menu Découverte tasting menu (£125/US$190) and ordered a bottle of 2000 Léoville Barton. This St Julien wine was very drinkable and didn’t need much time to breathe. From such a stunning vintage, however, I’m sure there are a few more years before we enjoy the most from this wine. The dinner, on the other hand was a bit disappointing. I guess there was too much expectation. Although a nice touch was the small version of the tasting menu that was given to us at the start of the dinner for us to follow each of the courses as they were served. It also made a good souvenir.
The first dish was a cold tartare of Scottish langoustine chopped into small pieces on top of a Japanese custard. Just like the Japanese steamed egg – smooth. The confit of “Landais” duck liver that followed was very soft and buttery, but we didn’t care much for the rhubarb compote on the side. The plancha-seared “Loch Leven” Scottish scallop was very fresh and cooked to perfection. By this time the dinner sort of peaked. The free-range hen’s egg was runny, but a bit bland. Then the John Dory and the roast quail were both overcooked.
Luckily the desserts woke us up. The carpaccio of blood orange and its own sorbet were very refreshing. For C, the cheese trolley replaced her dessert and there were plenty to satisfy her palate.
Breakfast the next morning was in L’Orangerie (the greenhouse) with a huge buffet serving a wide variety of fruits, cereals and lots of freshly baked bread. C ordered a scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on a toasted muffin, which was delicious. A good start to our journey into London.
At Le Manoir, food is only part of the experience. The environment, the rooms, the walk in the vegetable and herb gardens make up for a great weekend getaway. Oh and the scones scored some major points too.
– 18/20 (accommodation)
– 15.5/20 (dinner)
– 20/20 (scones)
– 18/20 (overall)
Le Manoir aux Quat’ Saisons
Church Road, Great Milton
Oxford, OX44 7PD
England
T: +44 1844 278881
E: lemanoir@blanc.co.uk
W: www.manoir.com
100214 Le Manoir - Gates to the Main House
100214 Le Manoir - Main House though the Lavender Walk
100214 Le Manoir - Front door to the Main House
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Review – The Seafood Restaurant, St Andrews, Scotland
We arrived at St Andrews, Scotland today and we were surprised to see fairly calm skies, just cloudy. No rain or snow here in February? Maybe it’ll be sunny enough to play some golf? Dream on… Well we headed out to one of The Seafood Restaurants – the one at St Andrews naturally (they have another one in St Monans). We came across this place from Home of Golf TV and the setting looked spectacular.
It turned out that it is just located behind the British Golf Museum, which is just next to the Old Course at St Andrews! Perched on top of a small cliff, there are stunning views of the West Sands beach. Unfortunately, the car park next to the museum blocked some of the natural scenery. Nevertheless, the restaurant setting was very clean and simple with large windows to “soak up” the expansive St Andrews coastline, even on such a cloudy afternoon.
The restaurant emphasizes sustainability of the seas and makes every effort to source sustainably caught fish. That’s why every dish on the menu lists the origin of the seafood.
We were highly recommended the Winter Menu, which was a bargain at GBP14.95 for three courses. First on was a Smoked Haddock Rarebit (from the North Sea) – the crust was very crispy, definitely not the dry and hard type. A tad salty, but nothing the Chardonnay couldn’t fix. The fish was very soft and moist, confirming its freshness.
Our main course was the Salmon (Farmed on Loch Duart) – we normally don’t go for salmon because it’s always overcooked and dry. But this was highly recommended by the waiter and he wasn’t kidding. Very juicy with the skin cooked to perfection. The risotto that accompanied the dish was very al dente, which was nice. The garlic butter added a lot of fragrance to the dish. We felt that there was just a tad too many peas in the risotto, but that’s just a small blemish in an otherwise great dish.
Then the surprise for the day. The Black Forrest Gateau – this was to die for. And boy we didn’t expect this. And in Scotland? Definitely not your typical Black Forrest cake! This was no doubt an updated and enhanced version. The brandied cherries and dark chocolate took it to a new dimension. That hit the spot dead on.
The location couldn’t have been better. With the Museum, Old Course and numerous souvenir shops nearby, there was plenty to do after lunch. Maybe you can even walk over to play the Old Course!
– 17.5/20
The Seafood Restaurant
The Scores
St Andrews, KY16 9AB
Scotland
T: +44 (0) 1334 479475
E: info@theseafoodrestaurant.com
W: www.theseafoodrestaurant.com
100208 The Seafood Restaurant - Views of the West Sands
100208 The Seafood Restaurant - Open kitchen
100208 The Seafood Restaurant - Salt & pepper
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Krug Room Revisited
This is our second visit after the Krug on Tour last September. This time we were being invited to a friend’s birthday party. And instead of the three chefs last time, the Hong Kong chef, Uwe Opocensky, was to awe us with his creations. Some dishes were repeats of the last visit, but the following were some that really stood out.
One of them was the first dish – Lucky Oyster. All contents in the three shells provided us with strong oyster flavors, but only one was an actual oyster. One was in the form of a leaf, which was grown in a greenhouse with sea water and oyster shells mixed into the earth. This gave the leaf a distinct oyster flavor. Smart. Then an “oyster pearl” contained oyster juices in a jelly sphere. Ironically, the actual oyster did not give out the strongest flavor, the leaf did!
Next came a big can of Caviar. We thought we would definitely get our money’s worth this time. But it turned out that the “caviar” was in fact apple juice mixed with gold leaves that were put in a vacuum container with Champagne overnight. Not quite the same, but the bursting effect when biting on them was quite cool.
The highlight of the evening was the Flower Pot. I’m sure you’ll never see a flower pot in the same way again. As the name suggests, the presentation looks exactly like a flower pot. Leaves and other salad greens were stuck in the ‘earth’, which was actually salad purée mixed with bread crumbs and anchovies. Everything was edible except for the pot itself. The taste was not too bad, but we just had to overcome the fact that we were eating soil.
One of the desserts was a mini baked Alaska on a bed of dried ice. Made for a very dramatic entrance, especially when there were 12 of us with all of them marching in one after the other.
Another memorable experience and we are never short of surprises at the Krug Room. Well done Uwe.
– 19/20
Krug Room
Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2825 4014
E: mohkg-krugroom@mohg.com
W: www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/the_krug_room/
100202 Krug Room - LUCKY OYSTER pearl / oyster / lemon
100202 Krug Room - CAVIAR gold / apple / sparkling
100202 Krug Room - FLOWER POT herbs / salad / soil
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