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2022-05-11
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New menu and chef at SalisterraSecond meal at Salisterra with a new menu and chef who is on site rather than mail it in. Can’t say Café Gray was bad, but the menu stayed the same for a long time and you could feel the staff was bored churning out the same dishes. Let’s face it, most of that menu was copied from Lespinasse which opened in 1992. Sadly, Salisterra number one never turned me on food wise- although the changes to the room remain great. You feel like you’re in a special place and
Second meal at Salisterra with a new menu and chef who is on site rather than mail it in. Can’t say Café Gray was bad, but the menu stayed the same for a long time and you could feel the staff was bored churning out the same dishes. Let’s face it, most of that menu was copied from Lespinasse which opened in 1992. Sadly, Salisterra number one never turned me on food wise- although the changes to the room remain great. You feel like you’re in a special place and the service reinforces that hitting all the right notes. So, on to the food.
Focaccia comes with olive oil. Hot and very crusty. Try not to eat too much and spoil your appetite. Had to have a second piece. Asked them to take it away. Remember the bread at Café Gray. That really sucked. This makes up for it.
Tomatoes. Specifically Japanese tomatoes served with smoked anchovies, caperberries and a few other things to turn it into a killer dish. Simple, complex, and very yummy. This is a perfect opening dish and I suggest you order it first before any other dish arrive as it is worth eating on its own. Salt, fruit, and acidity all in perfect proportions. Easy to get wrong but this one gets it right.
Stracciatella. Mint, beans, and peas. Again, very well composed and very decedent. A perfect spring dish. I wanted to use my finger to scoop out the last bits, but I refrained. Barely.
Tuna Tartare. Maybe under salted, maybe too little acidity. Not sure. After everything before that came before, it did not wow me. Also, not sure about the sweet potato crips. I was the lone critic at the table as everyone liked it. Personal taste thing maybe.
Asked them to split an order of the Trofie al Pesto among the table. This is a simple dish but attention to detail makes it stand out. To the basil and cheese, you add toasted to order pine nuts, texture from perfectly cooked pasta, bright lemon that adds balanced acidity, and lively olive oil- and the dish really sings. This is fine dining pasta that reveals that most places just don’t sweat the minutiae that makes all the difference.
Dover Sole. Excellent and indulgent with smashed potatoes and salsa verde. This is why you don’t serve this dish with tartare sauce or hollandaise (you know who you are out there…). This is an impossible dish to get perfect all the time, but this came close. Crunchy skin, soft flesh, rich sauce. Last night it was the best dover sole in HK. Have to have again to see if they can pull it off every night…
Smashed potatoes served with the sole warrant a separate mention. You won’t be able to stop eating them. Forget overly buttered potato foam that is all the rage. This is real deal carbo kryptonite. Real texture and not baby food.
Lamb. Served in a tagine. Great mix of textures with couscous, almonds, spices, and I think I detected some pomegranate molasses. Don’t see a dish like this in HK too often and this was well executed. Lamb is tender and perfectly seasoned. The first nigh I came here, some at the table thought it was the dish of the evening. It’s very good.
Cheese Plate. It’s not Robuchon or Caprice so what to say? Cheese was room temp, which some places get wrong, but nothing fancy.
Tarte au Citron. A bit too sweet for me, but the table finished it quickly. Sorbet on the side was good.
Rum Baba. OK. Here they way over delivered. I would say better that Robuchon’s version which I find a bit too vapid. Maybe that is the French style. This had real flavor before putting the rum on top, perfect texture and was devoured quickly. Even by those at the table that normally don’t like the dish.
So for the first time the room has a chef to match. It's early days as I think the new menu is less than a month old. It's been while since PP had a Western restaurant at this level (Golden Leaf and Man Ho are easily better than anything else in PP at the high end). Good work Upper House and hats off to the chef....
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