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2011-04-08
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Despite being a die-heart fan of seafood, I had only tried seafood in Chinese/local style on Lamma Island or at Lau Fau San, or Alaskan crab legs with sashimi - the typical Japanese seafood feast - in Japan. plateau m de fruits de mer is something out of my reach, not to mention having a main dish made of seafood, as my family usually go for steakhouses like Hugo's, Morton's of Chicago or Ruth Chris when they think of Western fine dining. That's why I am using my privilege as the birthday person
Arriving at around seven in the evening, the place was already quite noisy with a long table filled with chatting middle-age business group busily exchanging conversations. The tables were not densely arranged but since the place was quite hallow, their voice basically hit the wall in all directions and echoed back, disturbing us for the whole of the night (except some occasional quietness when they dropped their voice and used their mouth for eating instead of chatting). Besides that, the interior of the restaurant was great-dimly lit, a glass wall with the view of the buildings in Central on one side, the kitchen's serving bar with servers buzzing around on the other.
The seafood-themed menu was extensive and had a wide range of appetizers, soups, salads and mains, all characterized by the use of different seafoods as ingredients in the most luxurious ways. Consider having a seafood tower for two, or a sashimi platter as the entree of the night, followed by a rich lobster bisque or Boston lobster salad; enjoy a plate of King crab linguine as mains or a nice surf 'n turf with a juicy roashed rib eye steak and a lobster tail. Notice how frequent the word 'lobster' appears on the menu; the king of the sea is basically used in every course of the menu. It is actually hard to avoid the animal at all throughout one's meal, and people who HATE lobsters would definitely have a hard time picking what to eat.
Anyway, while I, being a true fan of lobster, decided to have a 3 lobster-courses for dinner, my parents chose to have some meat instead of seafood for their choice of main course. We then tried some of the cheese scones which were served on a thick slab of wooden cutting board alongside with a pork and liver paste, which was so refreshing, and herbed spreadable butter. The scone were of the just-right texture and moisture and it was not too crumbly nor too wet and oily. I loved the melted cheese on the top which gave it a sweet taste of half-melted cheese.
The meal started with a luxurious JW's Seafood Tower for Two with oysters, alaskan king crab legs, NZ mussels, Boston lobster tails and sea whelks being served with the dual layer rack which roughly resembles the tri-layered stand for afternoon tea sets. It was HUGE! - one could not have a clear aerial view of the luxurious seafood tower without standing up as the rack was really tall. We started with the lower layer which held the oysters, mussels and sea whelks. There were six of each and since i do not eat oysters, i ended up having more mussels while my parents shared the six oysters among themselves.
The mussels were huge, really fresh and tangy, extremely sweet in taste - one do not have to add even a drip of cocktail sauce nor lemon juice to bring out the flavour as it was already there. It was oh-so-good, far better than any mussels i had had at any buffets.The sea whelks were equally fleshy and succulent, and i could gorge in two or three within minutes even though i I do not usually eat the weird-looking shelled seafood. It was so sweet that I had forgotten to note on it strange appearance and the scary resemblance to a snail, which i really HATE.
Moving onto the top deck of the tower after cleaning the lower deck, we each had some of the generous serve of alaskan king crab legs and lobster. The crab legs were long and shinily white; they were cold to the touch and the long flesh could be easily removed with just a light push. It carried a fresh taste of the sea and was oh-so-naturally sweet, and it was so juicy and tender that it made one go dreamy after taking one bite off the long flesh.
The Boston lobster was the best among all seafoods as,despite having a slightly harder texture, it had a flavour that was so condensed and sweet that made one thought it was too good to be true, and forget about whatever halved lobsters that one had had at other buffets. This lobster is unsurpassable by other i had experienced. There was just no need for any squeeze of lemon juice to remove the annoying fishy taste as there were none but pure sweetness in the flesh. Everything was just oh so organically cool and yummy.
Following the cold seafood tower was the hot lobster bisque with congac cream. We were first presented with plates of lobster cakes topped with a dash of yellowish cream.
Just as when we were wondering what the hell that was, whether it was a complimentary petit snack for refreshing among courses or a dish that we had actually ordered but had forgotten about it, the waitress slowly poured pipping hot lobster bisque into our plates, giving off an extremely deliciously creamy and lobsterious aroma. Amazed by the creative way of serving the soup, we stirred to mix and melt the flakes of lobster flesh and congac cream into the thick and orange soup. I quickly tried a spoonful and felt that it was not as creamy as what's served at Hugo's, yet was more refreshing and naturally sweet as the latter. Each were special in their own way and i do not think it does anyone justice comparing the two lobster bisques, and both were equally tasty. If only i could have a piece of bread that would allow me to sog into the creamy bisque and clean the last drip of the soup in the bowl with without ashaming myself in the restaurant!
Then came the main courses. While my parents were basically done with seafood, my lobster feast did not end at the first two courses as I ordered a Boston lobster thermidor. The dish had a really stunning appearance as the lobster was lying on the plate in a gesture as if it was still alive instead of the usual halved manner. The plate was so long that i could not take a good picture covering the entire animal from head to tip! Fresh off the oven, the lobster thermidor smelt of rich butter, congac cream, cheese and of course, LOBSTER. The crust was opened on the back and i had to carefully scope out the flesh from the back without making a mess. Each and every forkful of mixed lobster meat with congac cream, butter, cream which was then topped with melted cheese was a delight to taste. The flesh carried the distinctive sweetness and texture of the crustacean which blended so well with the cream and butter. You could not speak but slowly chew onto and taste the lovely blend of baked goodies in your mouth. While the mashed creamy potatoes which the lobster laid on was extremely rich and sweet, the two claws were fleshy but rather tough and bland in taste. Despite that as a slight let-down, you would not help but clean the emptied shell with your fork, desperately trying to scope out each and every possible flake of flesh that you had missed. You would feel sorry for drippin the sauce and cream all over the plate had you been careless when eating and would want to lick the plate clean - and i was not even exaggerating. I would have crushed the shells and eat it all had i not been restraining myself from ashaming myself in the public!!!!!!!!
While ma's grilled lamb t-bone was okay (but she later reflected that JAR served better lamb chops than JW's California, and she regretted for not ordering a grilled sea bass instead), dad's grilled US. prime rib eye steak turned out to be tough with a lot of loins. He could not chew on it and had to exchange it for a tenderloin for an extra price of a few hundreds. I feel it is safer to stick with the seafoods at JW's California.
We also ordered two side dishes to share: the sauteed mushrooms were tasty and i love how they use tender baby spinach in the creamy spinach. After finishing the main dishes we were shown the dessert menu. I would have ordered the chocolate bomb which is basically a molten chocolate pudding in a round chocolate crust had there been not the special arrangement for the night...read the subsequent restaurant review to find out what the special arrangement was.
For more photos click:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?id=154050127991348&aid=34855
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