Posts Tagged Mandarin Oriental
Review – Guest Chef Paul Liebrandt @ Mandarin Grill + Bar, Hong Kong
120330 Corton - Menu @ Mandarin Grill + Bar
(Update 13 April 2012 – updated Wagyu | Tuna PL descriptions with feedback from Corton)
We were excited to get a table for Paul Liebrandt’s wine pairing dinner at the Mandarin Grill + Bar. It was fully booked and we were lucky that there was a last minute cancellation. The chef-owner from the two Michelin starred Corton in New York attracted our interest, but our expectations were a bit cautious as we thought it was going to be a lot of molecular gastronomy. Nevertheless, we went with open minds and open mouths.
Thomas Keller experience at Mandarin Oriental, Hong Kong
This was indeed a rare opportunity to enjoy the culinary delights of the great legendary chef Thomas Keller right here in Hong Kong. Since our 2007 visit to the French Laundry in Napa, Chef Keller is definitely our favorite. This was specially arranged by the Mandarin Grill to bring the team of eight from Napa’s French Laundry and New York’s Per Se to prepare three dinners and two lunches for food aficionados in Hong Kong. The whole experience took eight months to prepare as almost all the ingredients were flown in specifically for this event. This was to reproduce the French Laundry experience in its entirety. Thanks to C, we were fortunate to secure our table. Even at HK$5,888/US$755 per person, there were more than 1,000 people on the waiting list!
We started off by being bombarded with a wide variety of canapés – blue cheese puff, salmon cornet, pork tart and chilled carrot soup. The salmon tartar filled cornet was the same signature amuse bouche served at the French Laundry and a refreshing start to our 10-course dinner!!
The “Oysters and Pearls” got us off to a roaring start. This is another famous dish from the French Laundry and the Kumamoto oysters with the Californian white sturgeon caviar made a perfect match. The 1997 Salon paired with this starter was heavenly.
The Hand-Rolled Musquée de Provence “Tortellini” included a generous portion of white truffle that was not on the menu and enhanced the flavors of the Mangalista ham and pomegranate seeds. Great for us, as you know, we love white truffle.
The main highlight of the evening was the “Calotte de Boeuf Grillée”. This beef from Snake River Farms in Boise, Idaho was heaven. A cross between Japanese Wagyu and American Black Angus created magic. It literally melted in our mouths and it didn’t have the excessive fat that normally comes with Wagyu. Simply divine. The “48 hour” brisket also added an extra dimension to the dish. Bravo. This was paired with the cult wine Colgin “IX Estate” 2005, which we were told was opened at 9am! That’s more than 13 hours! But the end result was perfect.
After 8 courses and 8 different wines, time finally came for dessert, actually two. The first was Popcorn Sherbet, paired with the 2000 Disznoko, Tokaji Aszu, 5 Puttonyos. To end, the “M&M’s” actually stood for Madagascar vanilla bean mousse and Mast brothers chocolate ice cream. Dow’s 20 year Tawny Port sealed the deal.
After the dinner, Thomas Keller went around the dining room to visit every table and talk to all the guests, take pictures and sign autographs. At the end, we were given a signed copy of Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry Cookbook. Although not personalized for us, we didn’t mind as we already had a personalized copy signed during our visit to Pebble Beach’s Food & Wine Festival in 2009. But we did get his signature on the French Laundry clothes peg. We also received the evening’s menu personalized with our names presented in a nice French Laundry folder.
Although maybe not as stunning as our first visit to French Laundry in Napa, this was indeed an experience that was right up there. And thanks to Mandarin Oriental for hosting such an amazing event.
– 18.5/20
The Thomas Keller Restaurant Group
French Laundry, Napa Valley, USA
Per Se, New York, USA
Mandarin Grill + Bar
Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2825 4004
E: mohkg-grill@mohg.com
W: www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong/dining/restaurants/mandarin_grill/default.aspx
101201 Thomas Keller - Menu setting
101201 Thomas Keller - Blue cheese puff
101201 Thomas Keller - Salmon cornet
Club des Chefs des Chefs Gala Dinner, Hong Kong
This was a special invitation from Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. The occasion? A Gala Dinner for the Club des Chefs des Chefs, an exclusive group of top chefs who cook for the world’s premiers, presidents and monarchs. This annual event is held in Hong Kong and Beijing this year and will head to Moscow in 2011.
While enjoying a glass of Louis Roederer Champagne, we managed to catch up with Markus Burkart, chef to His Majesty the King of Sweden. Originally from Switzerland, he has been cooking for the King for more than 20 years. He shared an interesting fact that on any official Royal trip, they ship all the ingredients for all the meals in a military plane. This ensures that there are no surprises when cooking in a foreign country. A potato would have the sweetness and consistency that the chef expects when preparing the dishes.
For dinner, we were seated at the Swiss table in the company of Gregor Zimmermann, Chef in charge of the Official Receptions, Switzerland. The six course dinner was prepared by Mandarin’s own executive chef, Uwe Opocensky. He started us off with Spiral. VERY interesting. Everyone at the table stared at the dish and wondered how to approach it. We were informed to put a finger in the spiral and cover it with the crushed olive and black sesame. The spiral was made from very fine strands of sugar, kind of like cotton candy. The sesame was a bit dry – but there was so much, were we supposed to finish it all?
Then the Crispy Fish was a caramelized garoupa which tasted like the dessert caramelized bananas (拔絲香蕉). Not bad, especially when paired with the 2008 Beringer Chardonnay. The waffle base for the Peking Duck that followed was too thick and did not go as well as the regular thin wraps. Overall it was a bit salty too. The famous Tea was a variation of the one we enjoyed at the Krug Room before, except this time it was chicken broth instead of onion soup.
Then the Beggar Chicken was an interesting concept. Unlike the typical beggar’s chicken which is cooked in a clay dome, this modern version had a ‘shell’ made from gypsum powder (石膏粉) that is normally used for tofu fa (豆腐花). The waiter assured us that the shell was edible. Hmmm, maybe we’ll pass. Also, the chicken was a bit dry. However, the highlight was the 2005 Lascombes that was paired with the dish. We couldn’t resist a second pouring…or third…
For dessert, the Butterfly was made from caramelized sugar and once again reminded us of Uwe’s ‘humming bird’ we had at the Krug Room. For petit fours, dozens of bird cages were marched into the room and each cage contained glutinous rice dumplings, caramel apple, pineapple puffs, and chilled mango puddings.
Overall, a very creative implementation of traditional Chinese dishes and a great culinary exchange opportunity.
– 15/20
Mandarin Oriental
5 Connaught Road
Central, Hong Kong
T: +852 2522 0111
W: www.mandarinoriental.com/hongkong
100818 Club des Chefs des Chefs - Menus from the chefs
100818 Club des Chefs des Chefs - Cocktails
100818 Club des Chefs des Chefs - Table setting
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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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