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2017-09-13
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Tate describes its food as a “playful journey of discovery.” With Japanese and European culinary flair, they concoct 8-course “edible stories” for each guest to engage with. I came across Tate as I was looking for a special meal to treat to my mother. As she is a vegetarian, I got excited when I saw they also had an all-vegetarian tasting menu. We love to savor our food and this slow-pace meal setting was the perfect choice. My mother is also a fabulous cook, so coming to places like this really
I came across Tate as I was looking for a special meal to treat to my mother. As she is a vegetarian, I got excited when I saw they also had an all-vegetarian tasting menu. We love to savor our food and this slow-pace meal setting was the perfect choice. My mother is also a fabulous cook, so coming to places like this really inspire her.
As we entered the restaurant, we suddenly felt a sense of Zen from the otherwise busy Hollywood Road. The restaurant is conveniently located, grouped next to other excellent restaurants such as Chachawan and Blue – it is a more fitting location than its previous residence on Elgin street.
Japanese décor with automatic doors, minimalist furniture and even those infamous hi-tech bidets in the washroom were interwoven with European ambiance with their dim setting and plushy elements.
We were each greeted by slick service and were presented with a thick ‘storybook’ when we were seated. We opened it and it revealed the menu and an extensive wine, tea and cocktail list, thus starting Tate’s gastronomic narrative.
Each course is a culinary ‘ode’ to the ingredient e.g. ode to a tomato would feature strong flavors of tomato etc. I realized there were many Cantonese elements in the menu as well, showcasing Tate's local take and inspiration for this gourmet experience. The servers put our menu on a little stand so we can keep referencing it throughout our meal – though they were also very thorough in explaining each dish.
At first we were presented with a small bun of sourdough bread with kombu butter and a whipped yogurt and beetroot cream as an hors d’oeuvre. Kombu is a type of seaweed, and the saltwater umami flavors permeated throughout the creamy butter. The sourdough bread was crisp and chewy. The yogurt whip provided a pleasant contrast with the texture of a rich mousse but the taste was light and tart.
The 1st course was an ‘ode to mackerel’, which was marinated lightly smoked mackerel with celeryroot puree, starfruit jelly and adorned with mixed edible flowers. It was certainly the prettiest mackerel dish I’ve ever seen. As I am not a big fan of the pungent taste of mackerel, this was a good surprise. I believe fresh fish shouldn’t have a strong odor and this mackerel certainly did not. The vegetarian 1st course was an “ode to tomato,” which was a fruit tomato with tomato consommé and pommery mustard ice cream. This dish was definitely a play on dessert and in line with the current trend of savory dessert. As I sheepishly sample some of my mother’s dish, I must say it was an extremely refreshing dish – it almost made me wonder if this would have made a nice palate cleanser at a later stage of the meal. The tomato consommé had powerfully punchy flavors of tomato – even more so than a can of tomato
puree paste, except smoother and light. It almost felt like magic on how they can pack so much tomato flavor in a clear broth. Overall, we are off to a great start, and it was apparent that the quality of each ingredient here will be top-notch.
Sourdough bread with kombu butter
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Ode to mackerel
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The 2nd course was an “ode to scallop” which was a scallop espuma ceviche topped with caviar and dried rice paper on the side. Espuma is the Spanish word for foam. Having a scallop served in this fashion is incredibly
unique, though I noted that the scallop did not really shine in this dish the way I would have wanted to. The foam and the rice cracker were fun distractions. The vegetarian menu had an “ode to cold” as the second
course. This was a soba noodle encased in a frozen ring of herbed ice. Again, this presentation is something we’ve never seen before. But from tasting it I thought it was just okay.
Ode to scallop
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Ode to cold
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We were given a palate cleanser between the 2nd and 3rd course which was a brioche with fermented tofu butter. I loved the fluffiness of the brioche and its crust was light, almost flaky. The fermented tofu butter had a texture similar to cream cheese, and what is there not to love about that. At this point, we could hardly believe it was only the 3rd course out of 8 as we already felt so overindulged by these quality dishes. The 3rd course was an “ode to umami”, which was a miso grilled kinmedai with kinome puree and white asparagus, for the vegetarian menu it was a “ode to apple” which was an apple jelly with aubergine and cauliflower cream. My miso fish was perfectly grilled and the kinome had a herbal taste. I sliced through the fish's seared skin easily with a fork, which revealed a nice glossy interior. The white asparagus was arranged like a bamboo mat underneath the fish. This was probably their least quirky item on the menu but executed well. The vegetarian apple dish we breathtakingly beautiful. The aubergine and cauliflower cream had a light Mediterranean flavor profile, while the tart apple undercut the smokey and creamy notes well.
Brioche with fermented tofu butter
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Ode to umami
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Ode to apple
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My 4th course was a "Ode to Hong Kong" which was a dai lin abalone with tuna jus and vegetable ribbons. I was glad that the abalone was tender and not chewy with a natural sweetness. My mother's vegetarian 4th course was altered as it was a salted duck egg and she is lacto-vegetarian, meaning along with not eating any form of seafood/poultry and red meat she also doesn't eat eggs. They were very accommodating, despite us not informing them in advance, as I didn't realize there would be eggs on the vegetarian menu. My mother was instead presented with a variety of fresh vegetables and purees. As she was feeling quite overindulged at this moment, she thought the vegetables was quite a refreshing touch.
Ode to Hong Kong
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Improvised dish
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The 5th course was an "ode to a chiu chow classic," this was another gourmet take on classic Chinese food - a foie grads egg custard with marinated goose. The egg custard had the smoothness you would expect from such a dish and they used just the right amount of foie gras to add flavor, extend the buttery elements of the custard without too much fattiness. As for the marinated goose, I've had better but it's hard to compete with other culinary institutions in Hong Kong who specialize in this classic dish. It tasted good, but the texture of the goose was chewy. The vegetarian 5th course was a "ode to spud" which was curried chickpeas encased in a crispy potato ring topped with spring vegetables. This was another beautifully presented dish which had a Mediterranean flavor profile but executed with French technique. It was almost too pretty to eat! The earthiness of the chickpeas and potato complemented the crisp spring vegetables fantastically.
Ode to a Chiu Chow classic
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Ode to spud
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The 6th course featured a a lobster tagliolini with crispy sakura ebi as an "ode to sakura ebi". This was probably my favorite course. The fragrance of the lobster perfumed the pasta and the cream sauce carried the distinct lobster flavor. This was topped by crispy shrimp (the sakura ebi) which added a delicious crunch and was in-keeping with the dish's crustacean theme. By this point, I was very full to say the least! The vegetarian course featured green tea dumplings with mustard green vegetables and watercress coconut cream as an "ode to local vegetables". The dumpling unfortunately can't compete with the excellent dumplings available throughout Hong Kong. The skin of the dumpling was too thick, the dumpling itself was barely lukewarm and the green tea flavor was not working here in my opinion. I did like how they arranged the plate and it was visually stunning, but it may have been the most disappointing dish of the night.
Ode to sakura ebi
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Ode to local vegetables
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The 7th course, the last of the savory ones, was the "ode to meat" which was a bresse pigeon with orange carrot, aged mandarin peel with poultry jus. While the leg piece was moist and juicy, it was the breast pieces that were a bit chewy. Like the goose earlier, I feel that when working with small portions of meat it is easily for the meat to get overcooked, especially poultry, which was the case here I suspect. The 7th course from the vegetarian menu was an "ode to pitivier" which was a puff pastry wrapped beetroot and mushroom duxelle with beetroot reduction. This was another rich dish, though I feel more appropriate for the colder months rather than summer. It was delicious though, the pastry shell was really thin and crisp and the fillings of mushrrom duxelle - a chopped mixture of mushrooms, shallots, celery and herbs - with the beetroot was a great pairing of flavors.
Ode to meat
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Ode to pitiver
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The last course was dessert, an "ode to guava" which was the same in both the regular menu and vegetarian menu. We were presented with a kaffir lime sorbet, chinese almond ice cream and guava puree. The server then poured a thick 'guava soup' on our plates. The dessert was refreshing, I'm glad it wasn't a creamy dessert as that would have been too filling otherwise. I liked that they paired a zesty sorbet with tart guava and a creamy almond, all coming together to produce a balanced palate at the meal's end.
Ode to guava
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After our meal, we were served with the hefty bill of HKD1,580 for the regular menu and HKD1,380 for the vegetarian menu along with a little zen garden as a mignardise, a dessert hors d'oeuvre at the end of the meal if you will. This contained a miniature green tea opera cake, black sesame macarons and butter biscuits. We were too full at this point to truly enjoy this dish but yet again awed by it's presentation.
Japanese zen garden
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As each course came by, I felt as if I was engaging in some kind of art valuation, as I used all my senses to observe, smell and taste the food. Each dish was immaculately presented and felt like a curated piece of artwork. It really got me thinking about why in our everyday life we don’t stop to think about food as an art, rather than just a means for energy to carry on with daily tasks.
You can tell a lot of passion, imagination and technical know-how went into every component of the dish. I was transported into a different world at Tate, and dining here have me a certain je ne sais quoi, as if I treated myself to a luxurious excursion. It was not quite the Mandarin Oriental or Four Seasons (though similarly priced), yet that’s what made it feel even more special. With it's mix of innovation and sophistication, fans of Bo Innovation will also surely love Tate. The 1 Michelin star is well-deserved, and I would not be surprised if they add more stars under their belt in the coming years.
Other Info. :
1-Michelin star dining experience
(The above review is the personal opinion of a user which does not represent OpenRice's point of view.)
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