Posts Tagged Seafood
Review – Pier Restaurant, Sydney, Australia
120123 Pier Restaurant
It was Chinese New Year (初一) and we tried to book Tetsuya’s, but could only get a table the day after, so we tried Pier Restaurant…with no regrets. Since it was the first dinner to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, we started off with a glass of Laurent-Perrier Rosé immediately after sitting down at the restaurant.
Review – Oyster 18, Hong Kong
We headed to the eastern part of town to Tin Hau, Hong Kong to try a new oyster place appropriately named Oyster 18. We were greeted by the maître d, Wilson, who was very attentive and helpful. He started us off with some homemade black truffle butter and freshly baked French bread. A very good start but we had to refrain ourselves from eating too much. Then we were served a plate of Spanish ham that was aged for 36-months. Very tender and not too sweet. Perfect.
Then on to the main reason we came…fresh raw oysters. Our platter contained Kumamoto (US), Kondachi (Japan), White Perle (France) and Gillardeau (France). C’s favorite were the Kumamotos (which she encored) and R enjoyed the Gillardeaus with the stronger seawater taste. We also tried the Black Perle and Tsarskaya, which were also on the salty side but Gillardeau was still the best.
Our main course, the penne pasta was surprisingly good. The penne was al dente with the sea urchin cream sauce and runny ‘spa’ egg having created a magical combination that was amazing.
We were too stuffed to try the other tempting dishes, so we must come back for more.
– 16.5/20
Oyster 18
G/F, 18 Tsing Fung Street
Tin Hau, Hong Kong
T: +852 2570 0208
110303 Oyster 18 - Homemade black truffle butter
110303 Oyster 18 - 36-month aged Spanish ham
110303 Oyster 18 - Fresh oysters & bar area
110303 Oyster 18 - Fresh oyster platter
110303 Oyster 18 - Pan-fried foie gras
110303 Oyster 18 - Crab meat & salmon timballo
110303 Oyster 18 - Clams & mussels in garlic sauce
110303 Oyster 18 - Penne in sea urchin cream sauce
110303 Oyster 18 - Mango Napoleon
110303 Oyster 18 - Chocolate fondant cake
Review – Oyster & Wine Bar, Hong Kong
We haven’t been to the Hong Kong Sheraton Hotel for eons. Tonight, R had a meeting in Tsim Sha Tsui and thought we’d try the Oyster & Wine Bar on the top floor of the hotel. The lifts only go up to the 17th floor and a flight of stairs took us up to our destination. The views of the Hong Kong harbor were stunning especially when seen from the Kowloon side. We arrived early and had to wait for C, so we checked out the wine list. We were surprised to be given an iPad to select our wine. The app was not bad, we could select by type, grape, country, etc. and each wine had some tasting notes to help our selection. The best thing is you can add the wine to ‘my selections’ to narrow your selection or show the sommelier for a final recommendation. After playing with it for a while, we settled for the Champagne Barons de Rothschild. We heard about this a while back and always wanted to try it. This Brut non-vintage was smooth and well structured with a lingering finish worthy of vintage Champagnes.
When C arrived, we chose the king sized Seafood Platter HK$1,140/US$146. This was more substantial with two layers as opposed to the queen size that only had one layer and priced at HK$650/US$83. There was everything – oysters (of course), clams, mussels, prawns, crab, shrimp, etc. They were very fresh and we even encored a dozen Kumamoto oysters to satisfy our crave.
We were treated to dessert due to some incident with one of the waiter’s service, or the lack of. Not what you would expect from such a high caliber hotel. But the Molten Chocolate Cake and Grand Marnier Soufflé more than made up for it.
The food and atmosphere were great, but let’s hope the service is more up to par next time. Maybe we’ll sit at the oyster bar and sample their wide selection of more than 20 different oysters from all parts of the world.
– 17.5/20
Oyster & Wine Bar
18/F, Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers
20 Nathan Road
Kowloon
Hong Kong
T: +852 2369 1111
W: www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - Menu cover
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - iPad wine list
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - Dinner plate decoration
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - Garlic bread
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - Oyster selection
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - King size seafood platter
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - Kumamoto oysters
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - Barons de Rothschild Champagne
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - Warm chocolate pudding
110210 Oyster & Wine Bar - Grand Marnier soufflé
Finally a place to buy great steak in Hong Kong
Ever since our favorite butcher, Fentons Gourmet in Happy Valley closed its doors we lost a great place to get high quality beef for our barbecue nights. Even the high end supermarkets (Great, Oliver’s, City Super) couldn’t satisfy us. Then our friend at Geoff’s Twitchen posted a writeup of his winter barbecue and mentioned an online place for steaks called The Porterhouse. From his pictures, it looked like it was worth trying.
A search on their website www.porterhouse.com.hk mentions that the operations is headed by James Fortier, who previously was the General Manager of Morton’s The Steakhouse in Hong Kong.
Calling itself The Porterhouse, naturally we ordered a 35oz Australian Angus Beef Porterhouse steak (HK$370/US$47). We also tried their New England Jumbo Sea Scallops (HK$212/US$27 per pack of 10). Ordering online was simple and promptly delivered the next day, right on time for our weekend barbecue.
The package arrived in a nice cooler bag and the steak was individually wrapped and tied with their signature Red Ribbon, which signifies their slogan “Our Red Ribbon Is Your Assurance of Quality”. There was also a handwritten note from James, a nice personal touch. Our Porterhouse was from Australia, but they also have USDA steaks as well as seafood and other meats.
The steak was very juicy and tender. Compliments to the chef (C). The scallops were a good size and matched the steak very well for a nice surf and turf.
We will be sure to bookmark The Porterhouse and visit whenever we have a crave for great steak…which is quite often.
– 18/20
The Porterhouse
T: +852 2553-3765
E: info@porterhouse.com.hk
W: www.porterhouse.com.hk
100306 Porterhouse - Their signature Red Ribbon
100306 Porterhouse - Nice handwritten note from James
100306 Porterhouse - 35oz Australian Porterhouse
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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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