Spoon by Alain Ducasse (Closed)

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 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.Like most great French restaurants, the girl was offered a glass of champagne just after seating and after hearing her options, decided on the Deutz rose champagne; a definite favourite. Watching as the generous portion of bubbly was poured into the unique looking glass, the girl licked her lips in anticipation of her first wine of the night.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.Oh, for the record, I selected two baguettes that were piping hot, to go along with the big pile of salted French butter that I couldn't resist devouring.It was time for our starters and I was suitably impressed with the amazing presentation of the girl's poached langoustines with salads, vegetables and flowers. It was a serious work of art. But, you know the saying, food needs to do more than look good, and naturally the dish tasted as delicious as it looked. The base was made of a pea and olive mix, with fresh and sweet langoustine sitting atop, then a garden salad finishing off the dish. I loved the care with which the dish was plated, which actually went some way to increasing the dish's desirability. The salty flavour of the olive worked to enhance the overall flavour of the dish, which was quickly dispatched!I'd chosen one of the restaurant's signature dishes, the steamed duck foie gras with cedar lemon, which didn't look as wonderful as the langoustines. What it lacked in refined presentation, it made up for with the seriously generous pile of expertly cooked foie gras and the mind blowingly good taste. I mean, wow, the creamy and earthy foie gras worked incredibly well with the lemon based sauce that sat atop the controversial ingredient. There was a side of lemon puree and some lightly toasted brioche that was supposed to be consumed with the foie gras, but I found them both distracting from the dish and largely left them alone.It was in between our starters and mains that the twilight gave way to darkness and Hong Kong Island came alive. In all of our time in HK, it was the first time I remember just watching the sun slowly glide over the mountains and the natural light give way to the artificial light that comes from so many high rise buildings equiped with all sorts of neon signs. Even better than that amazing skyline was watching all sorts of sea vessels moving up and down the harbour, none better than when we witnessed an old tall ship glide in front of a modern day behemoth.The girl's main of young pigeon from Bresse with figs and dried fruits was presented and I was just a little disappointed with the presentation, especially after witnessing what could come out of the kitchen. Served on a white plate with black a large black border, the pigeon was lost on the plate, especially hidden by the jus. Again, luckily you don't judge a dish on its appearance, it is all about the flavour, and the game bird was full flavoured and expertly cooked. Right on medium rare, the tender bird tasted earthy and rich, helped along with some acidity and sweetness from the roasted fig and sticky jus.My main was a dish you'd normally see as a starter, so I was intrigued to see if the seared sea scallops with 'gold' caviar would sate my raging appetite. I had doubts when I first laid eyes on the three medium sized scallops that were covered in little spheres of potato, then doused in a lovely and light cream sauce. Wow, it must have been the excessive amount of potato balls that filled me up, but I almost had trouble finishing the whole dish. There was much I loved about the dish, the scallops were caramelised perfectly and were sweet and wonderful and the sauce was exquisite and supremely matched to the scallops. My issue arose around the balance of the dish, there were too many 'gold' caviar pieces, the potato slightly overpowering that sweet scallop flavour. As a main course, I would prefer to see four scallops and slightly less of the potato, but none the less, I did enjoy the dish, even if I left some of the spheres.There was never any doubt that I'd be selecting the almond soufflé on the dessert menu, after all, a soufflé is my general 'go-to' dessert when on a menu. I was a little dubious about trying an almond variant, but those doubts were largely dispelled when I laid eyes on the perfectly risen dessert. A light golden colour, the soufflé was light and sweet and just lovely; until I reached the bottom and found chunks of toasted almonds, which are not really my favourite of nuts. I found that the nuts detracted from the overall enjoyment of the soufflé, but I solved the problem by eating around the chunky nuts! With the crisis averted, I could also focus on the incredibly creamy almond sorbet that accompanied the dessert, which surprised me by being delicious!SC only had eyes on the signature dessert of chocolate from the Alain Ducasse factory in Paris, which was served as two crescents on the plate, one dark chocolate and one milk chocolate. They were almost little complicated millefeuille in the way the chocolate was layered, which included some crunchy praline. I wish I could tell you more about the dessert, but the promised taste from the girl never came! Yep, she devoured the lot before going 'oh, I forgot to give you some, it was delicious!'Sigh, I would have loved to have tried that signature dessert. Maybe next time.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!When you go to a French fine dining restaurant by one of the world's top chefs, a chef who has many restaurants around the world, the kitchen is always given to a trusted chef to run to the standard that's expected. Helming the kitchen at Spoon was Stéphane Gortina, a trusted lieutenant who's worked with the Ducasse chain of restaurants for over ten years. I have to say, trusting chef Gortina has paid off, we really enjoyed our meal; even more than our only other Ducasse experience at le Jules Verne in Paris (see post here).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.@FoodMeUpScottyThe Experience of Spoon by Alain DucasseHead chef Stephane GortinaThe dining room of Spoon by Alain DucasseThe view from Spoon - afternoon, twilight and evening continue reading

匯豐信用卡生日禮遇有8折，所以係老公生日月分都有優惠。加上我一向好鍾意食法國菜，浪漫氣氛、細嚼慢嚥、食物精美藝術賣相伴美酒、優雅環景和景色，而且可以著靚靚和穿高跟鞋所以非常期待........星期六晚預早訂了兩位亦不用等候，餐廳內大概只有不足一半的人客，遠望180度維港夜景相當放鬆，心情開闊。服務員招呼非常好，有法國sommelier為我們介紹酒（講英文但有口音），本地服務員解答我們對menu的問題，對應的時刻接待得相當準確，這個節湊卻沒有令我們半點急趕，只是選來選去都覺得discovery menu最抵食，而且8-course可以慢慢歎。起初點了兩杯Alain Ducasse自家品牌的香檳，氣泡綻放，持續15分鐘左右，蘋果香桃等果香不斷發放～餐前小食是涼的炸芝士球，微微的芝士味足以引起食慾。服務員遞上的麵包籃上的四款我選了酥卻不膩的海鹽卷，以及略帶清新的檸檬包。跟著係青豆mousse，這個我不太記得因為那刻我顧著睇wine list，準備為主菜點伴酒。在sommelier介紹下，點了法國Gevrey Chambertin（這條位於法國勃艮地cote de nuits以北最大的鄉村，Chambertin grand cru被譽為King of Wines，不妨一試）深紅寶石酒色穿透了醒酒瓶內的兩層空氣，酒香綻放，口感柔順圓渾，配搭主菜完美充當其角色！二人大概各兩杯的分量。頭盤青蘆筍湯配羊奶芝士，絕沒半點草青和羊奶羶味，綠白色的搭配賣相怡人。繼續是普羅旺斯小麥配時令蔬菜香草汁，原來普羅旺斯不是只有薰衣草。顆顆小麥粒都充滿口感彈性，時令蔬菜有整顆小紅菜頭、甘荀、小燈籠椒、蘆荀、沙律菜等，纖維度滿分。此時服務員提議為我們轉到靠窗的有沙發座位，因為有人咗cancel booking，又見我老公頻頻走來坐我旁邊，可以因為想他不必走來走去，幫我們安排對著酒吧的窗邊座位吧主菜來了！期待的烤法國藍龍蝦與羊肚菌味道相濃郁，藍龍龍肉質緊實有彈性，蝦鮮菇菌味香配合來食非常好。香煎美國頂級牛柳選了廚師recommend的medium rare，煎得恰好沒有血水滲出外面也不太乾，配以鴨肝和黑松露汁帶來味覺多重口味，配菜的馬鈴薯梳乎厘賣相吸引高檔而且富有創意玩味，我想問如果我點茄汁，大廚會建議我怎點來吃呢？哈哈！馬鈴薯梳乎厘皮薄香脆，但都係盡快食好，因為空氣中的滅度會令這薄薄的手工馬鈴薯變「淋」啊！食到呢度，到已經飽咗。陸續送上的還有精選法國芝士，有三款：blue cheese, goat cheese, Brie配超薄的多士片、沙律菜。我一向鍾意食Brie，但係今次cheese加了一個特色的果味醬覺得配blue cheese最好食。第七道維多利亞鳳梨配鳳梨椰汁姆朗酒冰是餐點中最清新又充滿冰凍刺激的一道，姆朗酒冰的些許苦澀都被甜蜜的鳳梨和柔和的椰汁香中和，協調得和諧。最後的一道是Alain Ducasse朱古力配香脆果仁醬，牛奶及黑朱古力兩款味道，這種剛剛新鮮做好的朱古力與一般朱古力略有不同，入口即融，朱古力厚薄適中以及脆醬令口感有變化。你會發現這個與之後服務員再送上的朱古力粒大有不同。還有自家預製的熱情果味及草莓味棉花糖，泡乎、拿破侖、朱古力配脆醬。最好配以伯爵茶享用。由於是老公生日送了一個約一磅的什莓忌廉蛋糕，則邊舖滿了椰絲，簡單迷人。臨走時送了兩盒各三個macaroon朱古力，雲呢拿，草莓味。過了一天吃仍然外鬆化內有彈性，好水準！（更多相片，請看此餐廳的相片，因為我upload錯咗位） continue reading

星期天 睡到自然醒以無敵的海景為伴 沐浴一場陽光浴從頭髮梢開始 都沾染著舒適自在的洋洋散散Hehe~ 誰不愛早午餐呢？Sunday Lunch從Brunch的半自助形式 更換為現在的6道菜午餐價位：港幣888元+ 10%服務費 /位且無限添加餐酒 果汁及 無酒精飲品睡眼惺忪 先來一點香檳！麵包籃 與無鹽和有鹽黃油不用懷疑 我每一款都吃的 恩 還都是完整一隻墊墊肚子 就有奶製品出場了自家製有機麥片 / 珍珠木薯粉配乾果及堅果接著是很受歡迎的蛋類 做法也真不少依照慣例少不了的奄列Omelette (可選僅用蛋白製)可根據個人口味加入黑松露 蘑菇 和蔬菜而且這些配料全部藏在蛋層里 好吃又有豐富的層次感另外再點了煎蛋 對… 配菜的分量很慷慨 加起來快拼過主盤了 有火腿和酸黃瓜San Daniele Ham & Pickles 以及自家煙熏三文魚Homemade Salmon Gravlax已經開始飽了 怎麼才到主菜?三樣選一Roasted Vension Steak烤野生鹿肉鹿肉嫩而多汁 一點都不干只是若不習慣鹿肉特別的腥味 記得多點些醬汁來調和滋味另外肉身表面還撒有開心果碎 加了一份堅果的脆而可口海鮮類有 Steamed Sea Bass蒸海鱸魚蒸製的方式 鱸魚肉嫩的入口即化 剛好的油脂 呷一口白酒 也是很美味另外愛吃菜星人最喜歡的一道Cookpot of cereal and vegetables 法式暖窩蔬菜兜多種蔬菜先略微炒香 再放入這款神奇的暖窩做出來的蔬菜 不但保留了自身的多汁 還有加強版的蔬果甜和清爽的香氣 好吃得很！最後的甜品盤個人依舊最喜歡朱古力配香脆果仁醬和千層酥這些也是餐廳招牌甜品的Mini版 人氣居高不下 ~ PS：不知道已經從餐單上失蹤很久的西西里檸檬撻 會不會再現江湖呢？  continue reading

第一次來是在2004年的夏天，我剛踏入社會工作，什麼是 fine dining？我都沒有概念。這裡開業不久，朋友就帶我來晚飯，menu 全是法文和英文，我像村姑出大城市，看不懂。從此，我才知道 fine dinning 原來是一個這樣的體驗，我也展開了我四出尋找美食之路，然而偶爾也會回來吃飯。轉眼10年，又是同一個人，和我來吃生日飯。今晚的餐牌是 winter menu，不想諗太多，就點了 tasting menu。其實水準一直都保持倒，我還是說說 tasting menu 哪些菜式較深刻。 先來2杯特調 mocktail:Flamenco和 Kiwi Viva 法式野雞及栗子湯 - 這個湯非常出色，栗子味和雞湯都非常濃，但感覺卻十分 balance。手釣海鱸魚配濃湯 - 濃湯是一個海鮮 broth，雖說是「濃湯」，但我覺得是一種很清甜的鮮味。鱸魚旁配上龍蝦，味道都很match。Main course 有黃猄肉，我轉了乳豬和友人 share。汁ok，但黃猄和乳豬肉質都很嫩滑的。精選芝士 - 今晚的 blue cheese 都令我很驚喜。哈哈！夠濃味！最後的 pre-dessert 和 dessert 我都非常喜歡。Pre-dessert 係柑sorbet配金巴制酒冰，很refreshing，可以清一清上一道芝士嘅味。Dessert 有我最鍾意嘅朱古力。味道像繽紛樂的閃電泡芙 食完晒成個menu 之後，再送上綿花糖和朱古力，為今晚畫上一個完美的句號。 continue reading

難得凱彤有時陪我過生日，搵間高級法國餐廳浪漫一下先。上綱左揀右揀，由菜色、服務到理境都細心看一遍。好，就試 Spoon 啦。相約 K11 見面，就雙雙途步前往洲際酒店。Book 左七點鐘 table，侍應姐姐帶我地步入餐廳。華麗既裝潢，十分寧靜既環境，暗淡既燈光營造浪漫既氣氛，無敵大海境盡收眼底 ﹗姐姐帶我地到預先安排好既位置，就交由另一位侍應哥哥接待。一輪簡單介紹及查詢有否對任何食物敏感後，我地 order 支有汽礦泉水再望下 menu 有咩好野食先。我已經有最後決定喇，似乎 order dinner set for 2 較為實際，可以用比較經濟既價錢試多幾款美食與甜品，因為第 1 次黎都未有咩特別既 idea，如果 order 錯野就慘喇，免得浪費左個 quota 同金錢啦。環顧四周，閒日黎講食客都算少喇，現在只有三四枱，大多數以一對對男女為主。餐前小點 3 款，侍應哥哥以廣東話加上英語詳細介紹食物既材料與製作，非常專業，遺憾地我英語程度低未能完全明白，不過都十分感謝。無花果曲奇，味道好夾，面頭清香多汁無花果撞上脆口略甜既曲奇，完美既配搭。芝士夾餅，用 3 種唔同既芝士配搭而成，各有各獨特既香氣與質地，幼滑與硬郎於一身，芝士味餘香強烈，不其然發出讚嘆之聲。櫻桃果凍，上面係新鮮櫻桃蓋著下面一小片櫻桃果凍，入口清新，酸甜味皆有，可為將會來臨既第 1 道菜作預備。餐前小吃，肉桂餡餅，泛著清淡肉桂味道，外脆內軟，我一向都對依類炸物麻麻，不過幾好食噃。海鹽旋風飽，酥皮薄薄勁鬆化，食落脆到沙沙聲，好鬼 high。麵包濃厚既牛油味環繞整個空間，外層脆卜卜，裡面軟塾非常。麵包味香濃新鮮，加上海鹽手做牛油，絕！控制住自己唔可以再添食呀，如果食麵包食飽左點算好，連頭盤都未開始呢。Rosie，無酒精既 mocktail。新鮮士多啤梨蓉調製，似果汁。忌廉青豆蓉，作為開胃菜真係唔錯，聽侍應哥哥介紹係唔知咩青豆蓉咩忌廉檸檬葉混合囉，哈哈。忌廉幼滑厚身，散發出青豆及檸檬葉香味，非常醒神。紅桑子忌廉羊奶芝士湯，今次換來位洋妞姐姐全英語介紹菜色，咩紅桑子咩忌廉，真係唔好意思，我已盡力聽架喇，thank you very much。總之好好味啦！羊奶芝士應該係淡軟芝士類，因為味道不嗆不霸道，溫和而帶著清香。芝士洋蔥雞汁貝殼粉，好可愛呀 ﹗第一次見咁細粒既貝殼粉呢，而且係找第一碟讚既貝殼意粉，堅堅堅好味，要拍手歡呼！貝殼著得彈彈的，非常有彈性，令我聯想到廣告中經常提到既要幾彈有幾彈呢。而且佢地憑著天生驕人既兜形身材，每一粒都滿載芝士雞汁濕潤地集體跳入口中。洋蔥甜美、雞汁清爽、芝士咸香，打得火熱，美味 ﹗Basil cooler，薄荷味跟 Basil 比例均勻，同樣突出。其實我感冒中，鼻塞好辛苦，諗住叫杯薄荷味可以通一通，但完全無效呢，仲更加辛苦。係喎，感冒要飲暖或熱飲品呢，可以舒緩氣管，忘記了。第 1 輪排山倒海既攻勢可以稍作休息喇，係我地歇歇之餘，可以享受下現時寧靜同浪漫既氣氛，而且恰巧幻彩慶香江開始，欣賞下激光表演幫助消化都好。甜椒南瓜花龍蝦汁松子仁燴藍龍蝦，萬眾期待既第 1 道名貴主菜終於都現身喇 ﹗現時侍應哥哥跟洋妞姐姐會不時交替招乎及介紹佳餚呢。藍龍蝦居然係令人意想不到既新鮮度，好肯定唔係雪藏貨。海水味濃郁，入口爽彈有嚼勁，龍蝦既鮮甜味失控地係口腔度橫衝直撞，超級美味 ﹗各具特色既配菜混得非常出色，清新既感覺非筆墨能夠形容，南瓜花獨特既幽香清甜使我完全唔知道如何演繹，總之非試不可 ﹗再加上甜椒爽甜、松子仁脆口，多角度多層面既攻擊，我只可以投降罷了 ﹗鴨肝併牛柳配黑松露牛肉汁，黎個 standard dish 試試先，我都非常喜歡食牛架，洲際既 Steak House 牛扒非常出名，但唔知道洲際既 Spoon 又如何呢？鴨肝併牛柳配黑松露牛肉汁，牛扒一向食 rare 3 成熟，外面要煎得熱騰騰夠香口，裡面要微暖鮮紅色，咁就最靚喇。rare 3 成熟完全半點都難唔到大廚既手藝，非常滿意。鮮嫩紅肉滑滑的，散發淡淡牛肉味道，肉汁像泛濫般不停湧出 ﹗外層香口 juicy，牛味比生牛肉更濃厚更深沉，每一口肉汁激射。佔上少許黑松露牛肉汁，牛味更發揮得淋漓盡致，無得彈 ﹗有趣地廚師諗到將鴨肝配上脹卜卜又非常薄既空心麵包，可去油膩感，有創意又特別。鴨肝當然不及鵝肝肥美油潤，沒有大量油脂，所以食落會較乾及硬身。味道組合好滿意，酸酸甜甜加點麵包味，亦泛著鴨肝油香。頭盤歇一歇，依家完左主菜再歇一歇，就到最後既甜品時間喇。侍應哥哥跟洋妞姐姐收拾好枱面，預備好食甜品既餐具，我地都非常急不及待喇。車厘子果凍，車厘子 jam 墊底，淋上車厘子汁，鋪上金箔，全部都係熟透既車厘子，只有甜味無酸味，好食。車厘子雪芭，車厘子味道清淡，食落透心涼。朱古力棒子醬脆條，超正呀﹗朱古力味道非常濃郁，有軟有硬又有脆，仲有金箔添，好好味呢 ﹗自家手做棉花糖，絕無任何添加或防腐劑，兩款捲係透明玻璃餅中儲存，好似蛇餅一樣，哈哈。洋妞姐姐成條取出再每款剪出兩小塊放係我地面上，入口棉滑，而且爆炸一般迅速溶化，好鬼得意，微甜清爽不濁，真係食得出的新鮮味道。法國人真的非常注重每餐作為 ending 既甜品呢，未試過會咁多款式，林林總總、包羅萬有，我地已經好飽喇，食唔晒喇。個外賣盒好靚喎，打包左好多朱古力返去呢。多謝凱彤親手畫既生日咭，thank you。 continue reading