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2012-06-17
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Disclosure: I do like French cuisine. Greasy pub food gives me indigestion. Therefore, I don't eat in pubs.We ate in Chez Patrick's old location, and found the food to be very good but the prices on the high side. The new place in Queen's Road East is a much nicer venue, with high ceilings and tasteful decoration so that even with a crowd it is not highly noisy. The food is still very good and prices are still on the high side. I didn't find this to be a fusion place of any sort; it is
We ate in Chez Patrick's old location, and found the food to be very good but the prices on the high side. The new place in Queen's Road East is a much nicer venue, with high ceilings and tasteful decoration so that even with a crowd it is not highly noisy. The food is still very good and prices are still on the high side. I didn't find this to be a fusion place of any sort; it is pretty much pure modern french cooking -- a bit of inventiveness and a reliance on sublime sauces. It seems to me that the menu emphasis is much more on the seafood than on "red meat" cooking, though there is plenty of foie gras on the menu for those who like that.
We visited on a rainy Saturday night and the subdued bustle of the restaurant was a welcome change from the duelling umbrellas on the sidewalks.
The staff did not rush us, giving us all the time we wanted to look over the menus. Someday I want to go back and try the "degustation" menu, but it had too many courses for us and we settled for the usual three courses.
After ordering, we were served a small complimentary appetizer of whitebait. The tiny fish were crispy and freshly-cooked, but on their own they were nothing special -- it was on dipping into the aioli sauce that they came alive (so to speak). Once we figured that out, they were a yummy accompaniment to our first glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
For starters, we had a veal tartare and the house specialty scallops in little pastry shells. The small mound of beef (well it's the same animal) was tasty and beautifuly seasoned, accompanied with a cocktail glass full of a soup which had a wonderful flavor. On the plate there were little droplets of sauce that had a wonderful strong mushroom flavor. I really had fun combining the different flavors in this dish -- which despite being "red" meat went very well with the Sauv Blanc.
The scallop dish is defined by the sauce....as we discovered a bit late. My companion ate three of the little things and prnounced them way too dry. So I suggested that instead of dripping the sauce on them, he fill the little cups and try it that way. His eyes got big and he said "my god, that completely changes the dish. This is really good." So he finished the plate on a high note, eating it the way it should be eaten. (Now why didn't the staff enlighten us before we started eating.....)
Our mains were fish -- a seabass and a cod fillet. I can't remember much about the seabass (guess the Sauv Blanc was kicking in) but the cod was excellent -- moist and flavorful, floating in a little pool of sauce blessed with little chunks of morel mushrooms that exploded with flavor.
For dessert, we had a souffle and a breton biscuit with fresh raspberries. The raspberries and biscuit were a great dessert if you wanted something light (and I did). The souffle was a delightful texture -- so light and fluffly. It was not very sweet, which was okay with me but not my companion who has an Asian sweet tooth. However, in my humble opinion it could have used a heavy hand on the ginger and citrus, in order to make up for the lack of sugariness. So mixed marks on the dessert course.
There was a pronounced lack of green stuff on the menu. My mother always told me to eat vegetables, and that's a problem in many French restaurants these days. The addition of a little green salad with French mustard vinaigrette would be a real plus.
But all in all, it was a very pleasant dining experience. I think the place, being rather new, still needs some more "breaking in" time. The staff needs some further training (they should help the diner understand what to do with the various sauces -- see the comment about escargot above). And if the menu is going to contain terms like "bavarois" the staff needs to be able to explain coherently what a "bavarois" is. Even after living in France for 5 years, I don't know.....so I didn't order that one for lack of a good explanation.
The wine list was comprehensive and -- typicaly of the HK restaurant trade -- much of it was too expensive. Our Sauvignon Blanc was $480 and that was one of the least expensive options.
I'd go back.....the food is a creative and pleasant and the calm and refined atmosphere was a pleasant break from the usual HK rush. The cost for the meal, including the wine, came to just over $900 a head.
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