Posts Tagged French
Brie at Gaddi’s, Hong Kong
Updated on Jan 25th, 2010 with feedback from C.
Ah Gaddi’s again… Didn’t intend to do a full review this time, but brought the camera along…just in case. Luckily we did. In between our soup and main course, the captain asked us if we liked cheese… You must be kidding…of course!!! YES!!!
Just when we thought the question was referring to an after dinner cheese trolley of some sort, a cheese dish appeared in front of our eyes. It was a long strip of Brie! In the middle of a course? It turned out to be Brie marinated with truffle. Kept in the fridge for a few days, it was served slightly melted on a bed of truffle mash potatoes and topped with more truffles. Wow! The taste was not as pungent as we expected (judging from the ingredients), but it was just right as it did not overwhelm the main course that followed.
We later found out that this was a teaser for the black truffle dinner at the end of January. Reservation please.
– 20/20 18/20
Gaddi’s
Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong
Salisbury Road, Kowloon
Hong Kong
T: +852 2315 3171
W: www.peninsula.com
100109 Gaddi's - Brie marinated with truffle
Review – Pierre, Hong Kong
To celebrate R’s God-Mother’s birthday, we headed to Pierre (from the Michelin chef Pierre Gagnaire), on the top floor of the Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong. And whenever we celebrate anything, there’s sure to be good food and wine to come. In hindsight, that’s a real understatement.
The amuse-bouche was in a bamboo steamer filled with a shrimp ball, squid ink gnocchi and veggie. An interesting presentation. And on to our first wine of the evening…a 1966 Palmer from the Margaux region. A very plumy taste and smooth…hold on…I think we have one bottle in our wine fridge somewhere 
Yippeee.
Our first course was the beef jelly with juniper and grilled bread. Paired with Gillardeau oysters, smokes salmon, aubergine and of course oscietre caviar, this combination is to die for. A roasted lobster complemented the 1996 Pol Roger Sir Winston Churchill Champagne, one of our favorites, but paled in comparison for what was to come.
Then came the highlight of the evening. When tasted blind, the nose had strong scents of leather and lacquer. A very fruity and balanced wine. We knew it was old but not that old – we all guessed it was from the 1950’s because it was still quite powerful and didn’t seem like anything older. Boy were we wrong…it was a 1918 Gruaud Larose!!! 1918!!! WOW!!! Surprisingly it had pretty good body for such an old wine. This was definitely the highlight of the evening our wine drinking lives. We had this with Parmesan émulsion with black truffle, but the 1918 wine didn’t do this dish justice.
Our next course, foie gras pot au feu with Morteau sausage and Gillardeau oysters. Boy do the Gillardeaus know how to produce oysters, very meaty and creamy. Seemed like the oysters were the main ingredient for this one. Then came two dishes made from roasted Bresse chapon, which is a castrated chicken supposedly yielding more meat that is tender and moist. The first service, as they called it, was the breast and then followed by the leg. At first, the notion of the chapon had us expecting a lot. Maybe it was the high expectations that left us a bit disappointed, it was a bit dry and not extremely tender. Well, we can say that we tasted a castrated chicken! To compliment our main courses, we were lucky to enjoy two great Burgundies – a 1955 Seguin-Manuel Mazis-Chambertin as well as a 1995 DRC Richebourg. What a night!
There were plenty of desserts to satisfy our sweet tooth. The first collection started with an almond with milk jelly, white truffle marzipan and a Beaujolais sorbet. Next was the ginger milk with wild strawberries, which was like the Chinese boiled milk with ginger (薑汁撞奶). But still think such traditional desserts should be enjoyed at places like Yee Shun. And that’s not it…there was a coffee mousseline to complete our satisfying meal, not to mention the birthday cake too!
– 17/20
Pierre
25th Floor, Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2825 4001
E: mohkg-pierre@mohg.com
W: www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/pierre/
100108 Pierre
100108 Pierre - Menu
100108 Pierre - Amuse-bouche
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The French Window, Hong Kong – Revisited
On Christmas Eve, we booked a private room at The French Window. Following our first visit, we were very surprised to see less than 10 tables…on Christmas Eve!!?? Well, that’s up to the restaurant management to worry about. We were more worried about the food.
Having already reviewed the Dégustation menu last time, we didn’t want to repeat the same review as some of the dishes were repeats. Nevertheless, there was one dish that was worth mentioning – the Potato Tower. The two towers, one tall and one short, were deep fried with a very crispy crust. The highlight was in the escargots inside as well as the caviar that topped it all off. We didn’t seem to have seen this on the regular menu, and we hope that this makes the cut so that we can enjoy this tasty dish again.
As it was time for celebration, we were treated to a smashing range of fine wines. We started off with the limited production Haut Brion Blanc (1985). A very smooth and full, no wonder Parker calls it the “Rolls Royce of the dry white wines of Graves”. Christmas Eve would not have been Christmas Eve without a bottle of bubbly. We toasted to a bottle of 1989 Bollinger Blanc de Noirs. This Vieilles Vignes Françaises is made from pre-phylloxera Pinot Noir vines and ultra rare…a treat from R’s God-sister. Wines that followed included the 1953 Ch. Canon, 2002 DRC Vosne-Romanée 1er Cru Cuvée Duvault Blochet and to finish, a 1995 Ch. Lafite. What a way to celebrate Christmas.
– 18.5/20 (for the Potato Tower)
The French Window
3101, podium level 3, ifc mall
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2393 3812
E: inquiry@thefrenchwindow.hk
W: www.thefrenchwindow.hk
091224 French Window - Potato Tower
091224 French Window - Potato Tower
091224 French Window - Wines of the evening
Review – Cépage, Hong Kong
Updated with feedback from Cépage’s PR company.
After trying the new French Window, we had to go back to Singaporean chef, Justin Quek’s first restaurant in Hong Kong – Cépage we were reminded of Chef Quek’s first claim to fame at Les Amis in Singapore. Having parted ways, both with their own success, the Les Amis Group entered the Hong Kong dining scene with Cépage. It’s been a while since we last came here. Critics were doubting its survival when it opened at the end of 2008 during the height of the financial tsunami. With a HK$14 million renovation cost, you can’t blame them. However, consistent good food, excellent wines and persistence proved them wrong.
Before our dinner we were offered the 48 month Joselito ham, which was very tasty and firm, but melted in our mouths. Since it was the celebration of the Winter Solstice (冬至), we went all out for the seven course Dégustation menu (HK$1,380/US$177) instead of the Table D’Hôte (HK$888/US$114). As the Chinese say, this day is more important than the Chinese New Year. And for the superstitious part of R (which golfer isn’t), it was fortunate that we ordered the ham as seven dishes is not auspicious for Chinese…
We opted to select a wine from their extensive 2,000+ wine list rather then bring our own (the corkage was HK$500/US$64). The sommelier recommended the 2000 Chateau Trotanoy from Pomerol. A very good full bodied wine with strong earthy aromas. However, it was a bit too overwhelming for the first few seafood dishes.
Nevertheless, Chef Quek Thomas Mayr did not disappoint. The first course started with a carpaccio of Normandy scallops with citrus fruits and Osciètre caviar. Very simple and all the flavors blended well together, proving that simple is sweet.
The oxtail consommé was incredible. Just a consommé may not sound too interesting, but when a truffle-leek ravioli and poached quail egg were added… The ravioli burst with the pungent flavors of the truffle and the quail’s egg was poached to perfection, runny on the inside. That made all the difference.
Instead of the marinated pineapple and lemon sorbet (nothing sour), C ordered a selection of cheeses from their wide trolley selection. I guess different people have different ways of cleaning their palates. After dessert, R was recommended to try the lychee oolong tea. Coffee keeps him awake at night (a sign of aging) so no coffee thank you. This tea was perfect and very refreshing. It was in the form of a tea bag, so we must see if we can find it at our local supermarket. (Update: the tea was concocted by a tea artist in Singapore, so I guess we’ll have to come back for more.)
We were so stuffed after the whole dinner, but when the petit fours came, one caught our eye. It was the sesame chocolate…delicious. A must try.
– 18/20
Cépage
23 Wing Fung Street
Wanchai, Hong Kong
T: +852 2861 3130
E: cepage.hk@lesamis.com.sg
W: www.lesamis.com.sg (under Outlets)
Note: Closed on Sundays
091222 Cépage - Main entrance on Wing Fung Street
091222 Cépage - 2000 Ch. Trotanoy
091222 Cépage - 48 month Joselito ham
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Review – The French Window, Hong Kong
Updated with feedback from Cépage’s PR company.
The invasion by Singapore’s celebrity chef Justin Quek has put another flag on Hong Kong’s culinary map. After Cépage and Whisk at The Mira Hong Kong, he recently was the dining consultant for The Miramar Group’s The French Window inside the IFC Mall in Central. Surprisingly, the restaurant was not even half full. That’s probably why we were able to make a reservation on just their second day of opening. We’re always a bit cautious about trying a new restaurant so early, but it was to celebrate R’s Dad’s birthday, so we went for it. And Chef Quek should be familiar with the local market by now, right?
Entering the restaurant was like walking into a maze. Long corridors took us past the wine fridges and finally to the dining area. Our table had spectacular views of Victoria Harbour looking towards Kowloon side, through large floor to ceiling windows.
There were two set menus, the eight course Gourmet (HK$1,280/US$164) or the five course Dégustation (HK$780/US$100). We went for the latter. There’s also à la carte, which includes almost everything in the set menus. HK$600/US$77 extra adds wine paired with all the courses. But we bought our own – a 1996 Les Forts de Latour, which was drinking really well. A very smooth full bodied wine with great balance. Corkage was HK$350/US$45, which can be waived if you order a bottle from their extensive wine list.
The amuse-bouche was the largest portion that we had ever seen. The cep mushroom soup was like a course on its own…nice, but a bit too much to start.
The Angus super prime beef tartare was good, much better than Bistecca, but we still prefer it the old fashioned way where they prepare it in front of you. The grilled scallop with cep mushroom was perfect. Very fresh and juicy. Too bad there was just one…well it is a tasting menu after all. The pot au feu with foie gras and black truffle was very tasty. The pan seared foie gras was crispy on the outside and just right inside, not overdone nor too raw. When the pan seared lamb came, we all dropped our jaws at the presentation. The potatoes were cut into very thin strips, wrapped around a tube (I think) and deep fried. The result, a hollow wire tube made of potatoes – kind of like a stretched out Slinky toy. The lamb was very tender although the end cut was slightly over cooked.
Dessert was not as stunning though. The sampler included an almond cream, chocolate biscuit and a modern version of Tutti Frutti. They tasted rather bland and nothing spectacular. Really wanted to try the Tarte Tartin though. Anyway, maybe our faces showed our disappointment, so the manager offered us a special biscuit (a long one) with almond cream which helped regain some points.
Overall, the food was excellent and despite being open for only two days, things went relatively smooth. The waiters were maybe a bit too attentive at times as they announced in between every course that they were changing the cutlery for the next dish. Whereas we think they should introduce the dish when it arrives so that you can actually see it.
Chef Quek’s cuisine never disappoints and under Head Chef, Mickael Le Calvez, this is no exception.
– 17/20
The French Window
3101, podium level 3, ifc mall
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2393 3812
E: inquiry@thefrenchwindow.hk
W: www.thefrenchwindow.hk
091207 French Window - Entrance through wine cellar
091207 French Window - Restaurant dining area
091207 French Window - Bread plate setting
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