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2016-03-21
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Cool British cuisine.Wonderful ambience and professional service.Recommended.8.5/10 One of my New Year resolutions for this year is to expand my gastronomic horizons. In the regard, I’ve invested in a few publications that primarily focused on western restaurants in Hong Kong. This is one of those recommendations. Located at the PMQ, Aberdeen Street Social (“ASS”) has a fine dining area and a more, well, sociable drinking area at the ground floor al fresco area. We choose the fine dining area.
Wonderful ambience and professional service.
Recommended.
8.5/10
One of my New Year resolutions for this year is to expand my gastronomic horizons. In the regard, I’ve invested in a few publications that primarily focused on western restaurants in Hong Kong. This is one of those recommendations.
Located at the PMQ, Aberdeen Street Social (“ASS”) has a fine dining area and a more, well, sociable drinking area at the ground floor al fresco area. We choose the fine dining area. The fine dining area was practically empty when we arrived. The fine dining area was lovely and had cool Brit rock playing in the background.
After a while, we noticed a number of tables at the balcony area. We asked to switch tables and that was done without any hassle whatsoever.
We were served with some Nori crackers and a dip with which was mayonnaise mixed with squid ink. The crackers were fine by itself. We found it fairly sour with the dip. The bread was warm and delicious. It was perfect with the smooth and creamy unsalted butter.
The menu had something for everyone:
These were what we've ordered:Smoked Eel:
The smoked eel with puffed rice was excellent. The last time I had smoked eel was at a famous Japanese restaurant “Kosyu”. Those served here had a pungent smoked taste. The unagi jus on one side tasted just like apple juice and functioned well as a refreshing palate cleaner.I also liked the grated frozen foie gras with puffed rice and crunchy black and white sesame. This and the smoked eel both had a very rich taste yet the different tastes didn't clash at all. A wonderful dish that I'd recommend.
Hokkaido Scallops:
The quality of the scallops were definitely of good sashimi grade. The young shiso leaves were a really nice touch. Simple and good.Halibut:
Then came the succulent halibut poached with butter. It was served with peppercorn sauce which tasted just like mustard and the wonderfully fresh and sweet carrot purée.The colorful assorted carrots that came with the halibut were nice visually and gastronomically.
Pork cheeks:
The Pork cheeks tasted like it had been marinated in sweet soy sauce. It was not as tender as I would have liked it to be. Black pudding, one of my all time favorites, was surprisingly good with our bottle of Italian red. The pork belly was very crispy and flavourful. The grilled salami was similarly interesting and delicious.
After a rather filling assorted pork meal, the sauerkraut to help digesting was really welcomed.
Carrot cake:
Every dishes that came before was readily identifiable and "does what it says on the tin" - until we reached the "Carrot Cake", which started to get a bit metaphysical. I swear this photo was taken before we started eating. The carrot cake consisted of bits of "orthodox" carrot cake, white chocolate, carrot sorbet and pickled carrots. The carrot sorbet tasted a bit similar to the carrot purée, only colder. It was nice. We enjoyed it.The service was excellent. The servers were friendly, polite and professional. The sommelier was very passionate and gave us a crash course on "orange" wine, which was literally orange:
It tasted like Riesling mixed with pink champagne. The Riesling was good and the Italian red was on the dry side.The bill came down to about $1,100 per head with all the food and drinks that we have had. I regard that as reasonable.
There was a bit of mishap with the smoked eel (I'll spare you the details) but the restaurant sorted it out immediate and without any hassle. We got another plate of smoked eel and were informed afterwards that the dessert was complimentary.
This is definitely a place I'll return to again and again. Recommended.
8.5/10
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