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2013-01-18
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Recently there has been an increased awareness in ethical consumption, which advocates spending on products or services in support of certain values or principles. These values and principles usually include fair trade, environmental protection, supporting minorities, etc. and avoiding products which are believed to be associated with unethical behavoiur. Orgainisaios promoting ethical consumption has been mushrooming in Hong Kong and access to 'ethical' products has become easier thanks to the
La Parole is one such example. It is the first restaurant in Hong Kong merging the concept of high class French cuisine and Social Enterprise. La Parole is opened by Confiserie Benji Limited which is a Social Enterprise recognized by the Hong Kong SAR Government. The revenue generated from restaurant after deducting the necessary expenses, are contributed to Benji’s Centre, which provides professional speech therapy to children and teenagers with communication problems, especially those from low-income families. (Information credit: La Parole's official website www.laparole.com.hk)
I have been longing to visit La Parole after becoming a loyal customer of its sister company, Leonidas the chocolatier. The opportunity came when the restaurant offered a Christmas menu for the holiday season. And so I invited a bunch of friends to try out the special lunch menu on Christmas Day.
La Parole is on the 3rd floor in the 'restaurant building' The Pemberton, those who in the know would easily find it. It is simply yet elegantly decorated and seating is quite comfortable.
We booked well in advance and got arranged a long table. The place was soon filled after we arrived and half the restaurant was reserved for a private party.
The Christmas menu was quite comprehensive.
There was this welcome snack of tuna (?) on mini toasts. It was served as soon as we sat down and we asked for it to be served when everyone arrived, but it seemed that they forgot about it until we reminded the waiter again.
The bread basket was hot and of reasonable variety. I particularly liked the raisin bread.
Loster Soup, according to the friend who ordered it, was quite rich and nice.My Pan fried Foie Gras with Apple was of course a lovely indulgence; the surface was browned crisply to precision and the melt-in-your-mouth foie gras was simply impossible to resist. Don't forget to eat it with the sweet stewed apples and a dab of flavored salt (the black specks).
Scallop and Citrus, the Freshness of Winter, although I didn't get to try it out, did look fabulous.
For the mains, i picked Glazed Lamb Rack in Aspicius sauce served with Apple and Potato.
The lamb, medium rare, tasted a bit bland in the meat but the red wine poached apple (or pear?) on the side was good.
Lobster and Salmon in "Aumonière" Style with "Chignin-Bergeron" Sauce was beautifully presented, the phyllo pastry wrapped the salmon like a present. I tried a bit of my friend's salmon; indeed it was a bit tough but with baked salmon this wa all too common an occurrence.
Every girl would look forward to dessert time. The restaurant was now pretty busy and even Executive Chef Mr. Eric Taluy was on the floor to help out. And finally Christmas Symphony came and it brought a smile to everyone's face. On the left wad a cake resembling the opera cake, it was moist and chocolaty. The very cute snowman was actually (Chantilly) cream sitting on pastry and it had a raspberry as its hat. The little glass contained chocolate mousse which was again a pleasure.
Consistent with the restaurant group's prominent 'chocolate' theme, we each got a bar of Chocolate from Leonidas as a Christmas present. How sweet.Holiday menus are sometimes hard to please ironically, for one prices are usually grossly marked up and the food quality may not be up to the restaurant's usual state. Although the food want superb in every dish here, the pricing was very reasonable and you know you're doing good as you eat.
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