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2010-10-09
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A new restaurant venture by former Mr. Hong Kong contestant and French Citizen 黃長興 Stephen Huỳnh, this Bistrot is found in a quiet segregated side street in Fortress Hill and carries a down-to-earth styled French food theme. à La Maison’s menu is about simple Parisien staple foods such as Daily soups, Mussels, Meat Stews, Entrecote steaks and Desserts, with no showings of Haute Cuisine stuff present. Good. Steaks in this venue are thankfully cooked on a Hybrid Charcoal and Gas Grill (半煤氣爐, 半
Steaks in this venue are thankfully cooked on a Hybrid Charcoal and Gas Grill (半煤氣爐, 半炭燒). It doesn’t rely fully on burning charcoals, but is more dependant on gas flames blasting through the layer of charcoal, but at least it imparts some Charcoal flavours. This kind of hybrid grill can also be found at certain other places like Japanese Ramen & Bar Restaurant 一平安, which uses a similar grill in some of its outlets.
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The Entrecote USA Prime Rib Eye Steak (note it doesn't say USDA Prime, which is ambiguous) here overall was cooked pretty loyal to Medium, as suggested by the shop and I concur with. Parts of the steak’s left hand side was cooked slightly too Rare, which means it was inevitably tough as certain proteins haven’t even melted ~ well marbled but slightly connective-tissues filled steak cuts such as Rib Eye really ought to be cooked to around Medium or 40-45% cooked before it becomes tender, when everything inside starts melting or hydrolysises properly. Cook it too well-done the otherway however and it loses moisture and the muscle contracts quickly, which also makes it leathery tough. On the other hand, leaner secondary cuts without gristles/tendons should be cooked rare to be tender. The more worked muscles with gristles however, should always be slow cooked!
Most chefs can’t seem to grasp these simple, proven meat science concepts?! Whoever said that all Steaks or Meat should be cooked Rare? Ever tried eating a raw Sirloin or Rib Eye, Poultry meat or a thick cut Lean Raw Fish before? You won’t be able to chew on it, and you’ll probably get food borne diseases. Cooking meat is all about Balancing between under-cooking and over-cooking. This steak was mostly cooked well and carried both meatiness as well as Charcoal flavours...
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To See the Rest of Photos and Read Why I don't usually order Entrecote Steaks, and why I am really annoyed by Local Restaurants which claims themselves to be cooking 炭燒 Steaks, when it can't be further from the truth, visit:
http://foodofhongkong.blogspot.com/2010/10/la-maison.html
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