Amber, Hong Kong
I had high expectations for this restaurant. It was good for sure, but not at an impressive level. The restaurant was difficult to find, as it was inside a building and could only be reached via the lift from Mandarin Oriental. It had a lovely, long, narrow hallway. I got a table next to the window, though the view outside was of a courtyard roof and an office building operating by a bank.
Table
The menu was straightforward and listed all the main ingredients thoroughly. I think the restaurant could have presented the menu without pricing, since I already saw the price in the menu book when ordering. Did I care much? Probably not, but this is a three-starred restaurant, so I was allowed to be picky.
Menu
I had a kombucha and oolong drink to start. It had the freshness and bitter flavour of the oolong, and the acidity of the kombucha. It was a great way to freshen up for the night.
Kombucha and oolong drink
Apparently, the cold egg, made from uni, cauliflower, and lobster, is their signature dish. From the base to the top were a mousse-like cauliflower paste, a puree-like lobster-and-uni paste, and then caviar. I was told to spoon all the way to the bottom, pairing it with the seaweed-flavoured cracker.
Four unique tastes and textures worked together: (1) cauliflower provided the main fresh and bitter tones, (2) lobster provided a strong umami flavour, (3) uni provided a very smooth texture and a unique oceanic flavour, and lastly, (4) caviar provided a strong salty flavour and a popping texture. I could easily spread the “egg” on the cracker. The cracker provided a slight salty boost on top of the caviar and, more importantly, a strong, crunchy texture. It was a well-balanced dish.
Aka Uni, Cauliflower, Lobster, Royal Cristal Caviar.
One of the dishes was served in front of the kitchen. The scallop was grilled and topped with marigold and tagetes, which, frankly, I felt were there for decoration only. Yet the scallop was cooked very well — still juicy, with a light charcoal flavour and texture. The sauce was the better part of this dish. It was cream mixed with bell and Szechuan peppers, which added a punch to the taste. The entire dish was dusted with a powdered concentrate made from fermented scallops. This dust added a subtle sweetness punch and balanced well with the richly flavoured scallop. They also served a rice cracker (not pictured) so we could scoop everything together, but I simply ate the scallop with the sauce.
Hokkaido Scallop, Marigold, Tagette, Bell Pepper, Szechuan Pepper, Dried Scallop Roe, Rice Flour Crackers
I want to mention the butter. It contained a coffee bean flavour. Reading the menu, it must have come from the mix of caramelised soy and sourdough miso. I liked it, as the bitter and savoury notes made the butter taste less rich but more fun.
Caramelised Soy and Sourdough Miso Butter
The mains for the night were turbot and veal. The turbot was slightly dry. The chef added black truffle to tone down the fish flavour, but this made the dish feel even drier. Separately, I think the sauce was slightly too thin, which meant it did not coat the dish and so did not help much here either.
The next dish contained sweetbread, veal sirloin, and a medium-size tart. The sweetbread was chewy and had a rich, fatty flavour as expected. The sirloin was juicy and was boosted by the thicker sauce, which was good. The tart helped freshen up the richness of the other components due to the crunch texture. Yet the problem here was that nothing was bad, but nothing was impressive either.
Line Caught Turbot (left) and Milk-Fed Veal Loin (right)
One of the desserts was various forms of mango. It included mango sorbet, mango vinegar, and a sour mango ring beneath the coconut-flavoured “puff”. I liked the three different flavours of mango: sweet, fermented vinegar, and unripe acidity. The coriander further added some South/Southeast Asian character to the dessert.
Mango 'Aiwen', Vietnamese Coriander, Coconut, Sago, Homemade Mango Vinegar
I enjoyed the restaurant overall. It had good service, and everything was as expected. There were highlights, such as the “egg” and mango dessert. Yet, as it was three-starred (at the time I visited), I expected more. I didn’t remember much about many of the dishes when I was writing this blog post, which is not a good sign for a three-starred restaurant. However, Western fine dining might not be as popular, nor have as large a market, as Cantonese dining in Hong Kong, so its relative rarity made it stand out.
🐼 Score: 3/5
