Le Dôme de Cristal (Closed)

With a nom de guerre like "Le Dôme de Cristal", one might expect chortling Bankers popping $2000 HKD bottles of bubbly among a throng of beautiful ladies, resplendent cars (with a Driver idling behind the wheel), and other signs of decadence and opulence. To wit, the restaurant is backed by the Louis Roederer group, the makers of Cristal champagne.But during our visits for after work drinks, we found none of the above. Chiefly because the restaurant was empty. Barren. Not a peep until we walked in at 7:00pm nor until we left at 9:00pm. Sure, the $2000 HKD bottles are on the menu, but we were there for the modestly priced happy hour - $88 for a generous pour of house wine or two for one beers, also $88.It's semi-baffling that a venue with such reasonable HH specials was desolate as it was. It's located in the heart of the business district and is upscale enough to keep any boss or client happy. And the bar menu isn't bad - an adequate cheese platter was only $148 and the well executed fries were as 'cheap as chips' at $38. Nor was the service a slouch - attentive and gracious (a given that there was a 1:1 ratio of waitstaff to customers).Perhaps such a haughty alias is Le Dôme de Cristal's ultimate downfall. In order to keep the image, the restaurant feels immalleable and overly refined without good reason. The space and the service is devoid of warmth or passion, opting for formality and sobriety. Drinking here is an awkward affair. There is a central irony in all of this - a brand such as the Louis Roederer group, which is devoted to exclusivity, has alienated every diner in Hong Kong - pathétique, n'est ce pas? continue reading

甫進大廳，oh so spectacular。首先登場的是醋漬茄仔配海藻沙冰，冰涼清新，微酸的茄仔令人胃口大開。法國安素蓮生蠔配自家製醬汁：肥美的蠔仔口感豐腴，海水味道濃郁。但個人喜歡原汁原味，極其量加兩點檸汁，惟蠔仔送上時已被加油加醋，未能由食客自行選擇。慢煮法國布列塔尼龍蝦配胡蘿蔔,柚子及檸檬橄欖油：法國布列塔尼龍蝦比普通龍蝦更更更有鮮味，肉質更彈牙飽滿，慢煮令龍蝦的鮮味鎖緊，沒有半點流失，亦能保持其特有口感。菜上桌後身旁友人（我的朋友不是我）急不及待起動，誰不知吃了大半口後，侍者才徐徐地把即場準備的醬汁淋上，雖然對這道菜來說，醬汁真的是可有可無，但真係醜死怪了。香煎鯛魚配芹菜,柚子及海苔蘑菇清湯：經一事蔡一智，上菜後大家都靜心等待侍者把蘑菇清湯灌上，灌湯的同時會有數條蘑菇從茶壺內跌出，擁有一顆童心的眾人都覺得此安排實在是神來之筆，令人拍案叫絕，嘖嘖稱奇，惟有少數人覺得跌出來的蘑菇數量不一的安排不公平，大吵大鬧。蘑菇清湯香氣四溢，眾人係咁索，彷彿無諗住食，味道甘香甜潤，蘑菇的口感彈牙，猶如在口中起舞，實在出色，震撼人心，與此同時，如此脫俗的佳餚，有著寧神的效用，令剛才吵鬧的數人都靜靜地享用美食。芹菜如何？忘了。法式鵝肝餛飩配椰菜：一道中西合壁的菜式，鵝肝是意料之內的嫩滑，豐膄油脂味齒頰留香，餛飩皮薄輕滑，令整道菜的口感更上一層樓。水煮有機雞蛋配煙燻蔬菜及里昂香腸：蛋白嫩滑非常，其他都沒有特別。（有機雞蛋聽上來很高級，但其實其營養價值跟普通雞蛋無異，別被騙了。）慢煮法國白鴿配紅菜頭,粉紅果仁,薯蓉及酸果汁：慢煮方法沒有破壞肉質，鎖住鮮味，令這道菜十分惹味，回味無窮，眾人們埋頭進食，這數隻白鴿繼蘑菇清湯後為這頓飯帶來了片刻的寧靜，惟份量不多，點到即止，大家都有一種意猶未盡的感覺，餐廳亦貼心地準備了檸檬水作洗手用途，故大家能夠盡情放開徒手吃！甜品沒有特別，對本人來說可有可無，有興趣的可看其他人的食評，我好大方的，我唔會介意的。 continue reading

Le Dôme de Cristal，一直在我心中都是那樣的華麗，特別是週末時，來這裡吃brunch是棒的，享受著日光，享受著美食，數小時便快快渡過了。早陣子曾來過吃brunch，那時的brunch是以semi-buffet形式供應的，現在已經改變了，變成超懶人享受；餐廳會視乎人數而定，為大家送上美食，不用走來走去，可以吃得更舒適，十分適合超懶的我。這裡的brunch只在星期六和假日供應，價格為$580/位，另收加一服務費，當中包括了生蠔和火腿等的前菜，主菜則有六款可選，另外還有芝士和甜品，而且有free flow鮮果汁；適逢今年的情人節是星期天，餐廳特意推出了情人節brunch，詳情可以瀏覽餐廳的網頁: Valentine's Day - Cristal Brunch 。Louis Roederer, Cristal 2005 來到Cristal，怎能不喝cristal呢? 細密而美麗的氣泡，帶著金黃的顏色，未喝已醉。這裡的麵包也很美味呢，再塗上那香濃的牛油，肥數磅也不管了。3-Piece of French Oysters每人都會有生蠔，這裡的生蠔質素是不用置疑的，新鮮，鮮甜，特別喜愛法國蠔，那肉質帶爽，海水味濃而不鹹，喜歡!Fish Sashimi, Cured Meat Platter, Mixed Salads餐廳是這個形式serve，那一刻我覺得我在buffet枱上吃brunch，想吃便拿，不用走來走去，放假是要這樣hea的。cauliflower scallop salad椰菜花爽脆又清甜，吃吃沙律開一開胃，之後可以吃更多。 再說開胃，又怎能錯過蕃茄沙律呢；用上了黑醋，味道上帶酸，但蕃茄十分清甜，當brunch吃到一半時，不得不來點蕃茄沙律，這樣子又可以吃更多。有三款Cured Meat，每款都很新鮮，特別喜歡左邊的salami，味道帶辣，十分惹味。Egg & Caviar 不一樣的egg，這個蛋經過了不一樣的處理，入口十分creamy，帶著蛋香；而caviar味道帶鮮和鹹香，與蛋同吃，簡單但高貴美味，如果可以天天做早餐就好了。Chowder soup質感超濃稠，當天的天氣超冷，喝著這個特別棒；味道濃郁，帶著清清的海鮮味不錯喔。Suckling pig似乎在港的餐廳都把suckling pig越做越好，這個皮脆肉嫩，豬味濃郁而不羶，的確比很多餐廳做得好，甚至比某些西班牙餐廳做得更好呢。吃過些前菜後，開始吃主食了；因為選了pigeon，所以可以選刀，這些刀很美喔，超喜歡!!!大家猜猜我選了甚麼顏色??Pigeon in 2 ways這是我的pigeon，pigeon做得超軟喔，肉味亦很香，肉味上比較濃郁，吃時伴以旁邊的beetroot能夠減其濃味，怎樣覺得這道菜像畫一樣的美呢??超喜歡。另外伴碟的還有薯蓉，這是超邪惡的薯蓉，很香牛油，很滑的質感，是肥的，但吃了再算吧。Venison˙Winter Mushrooms˙Natural Jus主菜方面，還有venison可選，吃了數口，味道十分濃郁；旁邊綠色的是海綿蛋糕來的，吃著這個，怎麼覺得好像走進了森林一樣呢。Eggs “Florentine” 另外主菜亦有蛋可選；說實話，吃著前菜已經很飽，吃蛋都已經夠了。接下來，又怎麼芝士呢?總共有八款芝士可選呢，只要你吃得下就好。花心的我，始終想試所有的芝士，每款我都很喜歡，當中有羊奶芝士、藍芝士、金文畢、triple cheese、melted cheese等；吃時記得伴著餐廳自家製的果醬，這樣子沒那樣膩呢。最後，又怎少得甜品呢?不過我真的吃不下了，所以只吃了1/3件朱古力鬆，很鬆脆美味呢。最後最後，還有煮菠蘿!原來用大量牛油和糖來煮菠蘿是很美味的，味道上甜中帶酸，作為最後的一道食物最適合不過了!Le Dôme de Cristal中環皇后大道中9號嘉軒廣場2-3樓2116 4688請支持一下小妹，給我一個like continue reading

這個周末天氣超級冷，早上的氣溫只有幾度，但仍無阻我跟友人一起品嚐美食的決心，一來很久沒吃Brunch了，二來這裡剛好推出全新的Brunch吃法，不再是Semi Buffet，而是可以靜靜的坐著等吃。好久沒來這裡了，環境依然舒適，絕對是享受豐富午餐的好地方。記得上次來也是吃Brunch，不過今次吃的是革新版Brunch，每位$680，包Free flow汽水或果汁，果汁有芒果蘋果汁和梨汁，當然也可以加錢配這裡最有名的香檳啦～侍應先送來新鮮的麵包籃，每個都看似很美味，可是知道還有很多食物緊隨其後，所以只要了一個小圓包。再來三隻新鮮生蠔，是法國諾曼第蠔，肉質爽滑，中度海水味，餘韻鮮甜。接著侍應們送上豐富的冷盤，有三文魚刺身、風乾肉拼盤和三款沙律碗，友人說彷佛把整張自助餐檯送到面前一樣。三文魚刺身並不是一般貨色，肉厚鮮甜；風乾肉拼盤亦同樣有質素。還未吃完冷盤，小巧精緻的Egg & Caviar就送上，蛋殼裡的是蛋慕絲，有魚子醬作點綴，味道像鹹版的Creme Brulee。吃肉類主菜之前可以挑選自己喜歡的餐刀，全部都很漂亮。Venison。在香港比較少吃到鹿肉，我覺得鹿肉的質感和味道與牛肉相若，沒有很重的肉燥味，營養價值也比其他肉類高，吃悶了牛羊等不妨試試啊。Pigeon in 2 ways。擺盤很用心，鴿肉呈粉紅色，生熟度處理得很好，醬汁帶點微甜，與鴿肉很配，另外伴碟的薯蓉十分美味，薯味與牛油味都很濃郁。Cheese Trolley。有八款不同芝士讓我們選，侍應很細心的逐一介紹，另外還備有三款自家製的美味果醬：梨醬、血橙醬和芒果醬來配芝士，果醬非常Rich，用來塗麵包一定也很美味。 Dessert Buffet。吃完芝士已經很飽，吃不下甜品，只拍了張照片，最後的位置留給了糖煮菠蘿。糖煮菠蘿。侍應會在客人面前即煮，用兩塊大牛油煮三片菠蘿，雖然看著都覺得邪惡，但味道的確很好，酸酸甜甜的，剛好可以消滯。跟友人邊吃邊談天，不知不覺在這裡坐了三個小時，離開前聽侍應說本來這裡周日是不開門的，但原來今年情人節在周日，所以當天會破例營業，而且也會有供應豐富的Brunch，還未想到情人節要到哪裡慶祝的話不妨考慮一下哦！ continue reading

It might be said that heading to the first global collaboration between renowned French Champagne house Cristal by Louis Rogederer and a restaurant might be a waste for a tea-totaler like myself. I mean, I've never been a connoisseur or consumer of champagne. But I am a fan of exquisite French cuisine and found that the prospect of the promised unparalleled dining experience by the luxury group appealing.It was exactly that promise and the lure of the very experienced Chef Charles-Benoit Lacour and his pursuit of perfection that finally convinced me to check out Le Dome de Cristal. After working with legendary French Chef Guy Savoy in Paris before becoming the Chef de Cuisine at Guy Savoy in Singapore, Chef Lacour continued his journey into Asia by becoming the culinary director and head chef of Le Dome de Cristal.I'd walked past the innocuous entrance to Le Dome de Cristal, which is located in The Galleria in Central, many, many times on my way to work, never realising how close I was to the completely opulent and luxurious restaurant that took up almost ten thousand square feet. It wasn't until we ascended the steps to the main dining room that I was able to truly understand how spectacular Le Dome de Cristal actually was. Award winning interior designer Steve Leung was responsible for blending the contemporary and classic design which fully utilised the massive dome ceiling that was the highlight and centrepiece of the restaurant.We walked to our table, mouth agape as we took in the opulence of the restaurant. We were truly transported from Central Hong Kong to the 16th arrondissement of Paris. Our table afforded us a wonderful view of the dining room, which was centred around the spectacular dome ceiling and an open void that was the only link to the real world. Smartly dressed wait staff brought over the menu for us to peruse and without much thought, we confirmed that we would be partaking in the eight course tasting menu. It seemed only fitting in such a setting.Like all of the European fine dining restaurants we'd experienced, a cart was wheeled over with a selection of Champagnes to start the meal. Forgoing the obvious choice of the Cristal, the girl chose a lesser known but equally delightful Pierre Peters Rose NV. We were also given a selection of warm and crusty breads, clearly just out of the oven and piping hot, as well as a slab of butter that was appropriately room temperature.Our amuse bouche was quite different from the expected, with a small serving of pickled vegetables and a soft and smokey tropical egg plant delivered. In what would become the theme of the night, our smartly dressed wait staff also played the role of table chef by adding a scoop of seaweed granita to the dish. The saltiness of the granita played wonderfully against the pickled vegetables, and while I didn't really like the soft eggplant, the girl found the combination to be matched perfectly.We started our degustation with a very large Brittany oyster that came with a garlic oil and ponzu sauce, with a squeeze of finger lime. The plump and creamy oyster had a medium salinity level, which allowed it's natural salty flavour to play delightfully with the garlic and sweet ponzu sauce. Presented simply on a black rock plate that seemed purpose made for the oyster shell, the dish was perfect in every way.I loved the presentation of the second course, which continued the seafood theme by delivering a Brittany lobster with pickled heirloom carrots, radish and citrus. I loved the splashes of orange from the lobster on the black bowl with geometric patterns, but the addition of a rich orange sauce veirge further enhanced the contrasting colours. What was fantastic was the preparation of the sauce at the table, which included mixing in some butter and ginger. The lobster was expertly cooked and was light and sweet, contrasting to the slightly sharp sauce and well rounded off from the acidity of the pickled vegetables. There was also a creamy sauce on the plate, possibly a mayonnaise, that helped to bring the dish together. It was both a visually stunning dish and very enjoyable to eat.Seafood continued with our next dish, again combining the sea and land to bring a dish that was both spectacularly presented and interesting to eat. The bowl delivered an exquisitely cooked piece of Daurade (more commonly known as Seabream), sitting on a celeriac puree and surrounded by thin strips of celery and seaweed. Our wait staff then brought over a large teapot and pulled out a maitake mushroom and carefully placed the maitake on our fish, before pouring over a mushroom and dashi consommé and finishing off the dish by shaving yuzu rind over the dish. It was a complicated procedure but not unwanted, with the consommé being light and so full of flavour and the yuzu rind adding some acidity to the fish. I loved the crunch from the crispy skin on the Daurade and the mushroom broth, but found the seaweed just a little overbearing.The simplicity of the presentation of our next dish belied the complexity in its composition and flavour profile. Simply called wonton, the traditional Chinese pastry was filled with creamy foie gras and made to look like a large ravioli. It was then placed into a foie gras foam and sat atop some sautéed cabbage, perfectly bending elements of East and West. The creamy foie gras was superb and while the dish could have been incredibly rich, the addition of cabbage helped level out the balance of the dish. It's hard to describe our next dish, which was a process as much as it was a dish. We were first presented with a funky bowl that contained smoked winter vegetable and slices of cooked Lyonnaise sausage. The rest of the dish was prepared at the table, with the vegetables and sausage being added to a couple of traditional Chinese bowls containing a foamy broth that contained a slow cooked organic egg. Our instructions were to mix up the vegetables and egg to form one final 'one pot' and then get busy consuming. I was a bit apprehensive at first, mainly due to the contrasting styles and food groups, but it only took one spoonful to be transported to my happy place. The combination was spectacular, with the meaty sausage offsetting the smokey vegetables and the velvety egg yolk.We were presented with a box full of sharp knives in varying colours and asked to select our preferred 'weapon' for our main course. The girl selected the red knife, which would have been my selection, so I was left to choose the bright pink handle. It was signature dish time with the delivery of Chef Lacour's well known pigeon dish, with beetroot prepared various ways, pink pralines and a super creamy mashed potato. A sticky and acidic jus was added at the table. The dish looked wonderful, but didn't photograph as well as I'd have liked. There were a couple of elements that really stood out with the dish, the perfectly cooked pigeon breast and the seriously buttery mash. Both combined well with the sticky jus and beetroot, although I found that there was just a little too much beetroot puree on the plate. What I didn't like so much was the pigeon leg, which looked quite ugly and provided only a small amount of flesh that was quite tough and stringy. Take that leg off the plate and just a little less beetroot puree and it would have been the perfect dish for me. I also didn't really get the sweet pink praline surrounding the dish, it seemed just a little too sweet for the pigeon and may have been just for presentation.It was cheese cart time and while not anywhere near as impressive as the Caprice cheese board, provided enough options to keep the girl happy. In fact, buy the time the cheese course was presented, we were both feeling a little on the full side.I'd decided to skip the cheese course at the beginning of the meal and instead was presented with a simple truffle salad. To be honest, I'm not sure that it was the right choice, while I appreciated the generous amount of truffle, it was quite difficult to eat. Perhaps an alternative to the cheese course could have been a simple pre-dessert.There was a moment that could have gone quite wrong for both myself and Le Dome de Cristal, with the presenting of the palate cleanser. We were given a martini glass with a decent amount of apple puree and a coconut granita, which was to be filled with the restaurant's namesake, Cristal Champagne. I'd let the wait staff know that I didn't want the Cristal, which led to a crestfallen look and an explanation that the Cristal was needed to balance out the apple puree. I reluctantly agreed to have some of the Cristal added, and was really surprised by the transformation that happened, the alcohol twang that I hate disappeared in the apple puree, just leaving a pleasant fresh flavour behind.First dessert was a very pretty chocolate mousse, encircled with dollops of caramel sauce and topped with crisp chocolate tuile. The chocolate mousse was quite dense and sat on a bed of what seemed to be a chocolate praline. It was tough going, not because it wasn't lovely, it was just a little heavy to be finishing off a degustation that had been quite generous in its serving sizes. I can't help thinking that a chocolate soufflé wouldn't have been a better option (yes, I do love a good soufflé!)We weren't expecting a final dessert, but were surprised when a carte was wheeled over to our table which included the materials to make a crepe suzette. I'd never had the quintessential 70's style French dessert before, and was stoked to be finally getting to sample the classic dish. There was a theatre to the preparation of the dish that we loved, especially when the waiter slash table chef flambeed the Grand Marnier. It was almost mesmerising watching the whole process take place and when the final product was placed on little square plates, the result was a little bit of a let down! It was an OK dessert, but not one that I'd order specifically again. We were stuffed and literally couldn't eat another bite, which became a problem with Chef Lacour came out to thank us for dining at Le Dome de Cristal and presented a box with one last treat. The little chocolate dome's would have been the perfect finish the the meal if we could have found room for them!Our meal at Le Dome de Cristal was spectacular if not completely perfect. The journey that the incredibly talented Charles-Benoit Lacour had taken us on had been one of the better degustations we'd had in Hong Kong. It was so typically French with its rich flavours and beautiful sauce, but also the little nods to Asia helped.Service was a cut above, with the impeccable wait staff being perfect in every way, including the theatrics at our table that, in theory, could have gone wrong with lesser staff. They were dressed perfectly for the setting, their black suits continuing the illusion of complete opulence in the centre of Hong Kong.Look, if you're not into the opulent setting and incredibly rich French cuisine, then you might not like Le Dome de Cristal. Personally, I loved the flavours and the pomp and ceremony of the setting, especially loving the dome centrepiece of the dining room. There's always room for decadence for those special occasions, or if you just want to treat yourself.....@FoodMeUpScotty continue reading