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2016-07-30
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I'm not really sure why it took over eighteen months to finally get around to visiting legendary chef Alain Ducasse's Hong Kong restaurant. It ticks pretty much every box that I ever look for in a restaurant, French, modern, Michelin Starred and as a bonus, a restaurant from one of the top chefs in the world.Perplexing really.Anyway, I finally managed to get along to Hong Kong's Intercontinental Hotel, the home of Spoon by Alain Ducasse. I've dined at the Intercontinental before, for another leg
Perplexing really.
Anyway, I finally managed to get along to Hong Kong's Intercontinental Hotel, the home of Spoon by Alain Ducasse. I've dined at the Intercontinental before, for another legendary chef's HK outlet; Nobu, which I found to be quite outstanding (see post here); so I had an inkling of the amazing view that awaited us when we were shown to our window seat.
Hong Kong undoubtably has the world's most spectacular skyline, and the view from Spoon gave us unfettered access to the Island's many skyscrapers. We were seated just before the sun set and were able to watch the skyline come alive as we consumed our meal.
The incredible service that you'd expect from a Michelin starred restaurant in a five star hotel commenced from the moment we were greeted by the front staff, who took us to our table and introduced us to our two waiters who would pamper us for the entire evening. We were the first to arrive in the restaurant, ensuring that for the first part of our meal we were the complete focus of our team.
Next came our menus, with instructions on some of the highlights from the a la carte portion, as well as an explanation of the tasting menu. We were also advised that there was a special truffle menu on offer, which looked interesting but ultimately was discarded for the a la carte. There were just too many lovely looking dishes on offer and we both wanted very different things.
A lot happened very quickly after we placed our orders, firstly, some warm cheesy puffs were delivered; we were presented with a plethora of bread roll options, with lovely room temperature salted and unsalted butter; finally, we were given our amuse bouche, a delicious small bowl of fresh peas bathed in a tomato confit and finished of the a light an airy pea foam. The fresh and intense flavours balanced wonderfully, the acidity from the tomato working in harmony with the sweetness of the pea.
Of course there was the obligatory petite four at the end of the meal, which included an interesting take on providing marshmallow, it was rolled up in jars on a trolley and we were cut portions at the table; as well as three little cakes that included a caramel, a tiny little millefeuille and a raspberry and passionfruit tartlet. All delicious but hard to eat, we were so full!
Sure, there were a couple of very tiny issues with the food, the presentation of the pigeon and the balance of the scallop dish, but upon reflection, these are minor quibbles for what was a highly enjoyable meal. Service was faultless and we even had the restaurant's manager coming across to chat to us about the restaurant and once we'd finished and paid, walk us out into the night.
Yeah, I'm not really sure why it took so long to get over to Spoon, but I can say with quiet certainty that it won't take so long for our next visit.
@FoodMeUpScotty
The Experience of Spoon by Alain Ducasse
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