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2009-07-23
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The restaurant is operating with a substitute chef from Paris after the recent departure of Philippe Orrico, so it was a chance to see what new changes were taking place here.The typhoon over the weekend had cleared up much of the pollution, and some of my guests had a spectacular view of Hong Kong harbor as well as the skyline of Kowloon and New Territories. I must remember to come to dinner more often!The amuse bouches arrived and they were delicious, especially the parmesan foam sprinkled wit
The typhoon over the weekend had cleared up much of the pollution, and some of my guests had a spectacular view of Hong Kong harbor as well as the skyline of Kowloon and New Territories. I must remember to come to dinner more often!
The amuse bouches arrived and they were delicious, especially the parmesan foam sprinkled with bit of pancetta. That's a great way to start the meal.
Les Langoustines:
Mousseline: beurre blanc with cardamom, courgettes brunoise and bean sprouts - this was pretty nice with a layer of egg whites, and the diced courgettes provided the dish with some crunchy texture so that it wasn't all soft and mushy...
Grilled: salpicons, red shizo leaves and confit-grilled aubergine - a cute little skewer like yakitori, lightly grilled so that it was still fresh and succulent. The mound of eggplant mash was pretty good.
Pan-fried: terre de sienne served on pearl barley étuvée - this was quintessentially Gagnaire - with sauce made from the head of the shellfish and flavored with cumin. The langoustine tail was soft and juicy, and sat on a bed of slightly chewy barley. Very, very nice.
Pan-fried foie gras: cherry, lin chi mushrooms and celery. Perfect execution here, and the sweetness and the acidity of the cherries cut through the grease just as well as the acidity of the wines. But the muchrooms aren't lin chi.
Polyphénol sauce seasoning a blue lobster fricassée poached in a noisette butter; potato tamy and dry black olives - this was completely not what I expected. We actually joked about this dish coming from the restaurant next door - Man Wah - as it just looked incredibly Cantonese! I definitely have had something that bore a striking resemblance to this at Fook Lam Moon a couple of times, also with diced red and green peppers... The sauce was made from the tannins of Syrah grapes, which matched the wines for the evening.
L'agneau: saddle of lamb from Aveyron roasted with sarriette, finished in an aromatic butter. Green square of herbs, choi sum ravioli, cold juice - the lamb was very, very juicy and tender. The layer of herbs around the lamb - as well as the flat square on the plate - was interesting. The so-called 'choi sum ravioli' looked like a Chinese fun gor (粉果) and induced a few chuckles at the table.
Skewer with vadouvan, confit shallots - again this was served yakitori-style with a 'dip' on the side. Pretty good, but then lamb has always been good at Pierre.
The side dish was kinda fun... sautéed red capsicum and mushrooms, with a ball made of black glutinous rice.
The highlight of a meal at Pierre Gagnaire's restaurants is often the desserts. We had four this evening:
Coffee with cachaca and spicy milk jelly, sugar nibs. Butter cream coffee - it's great to smear the butter cream coffee on the jelly...very yummy.
Vacherin and hibiscus jelly, strawberry meringue - this was really, really yummy...especially the strawberry meringue on top. And I've always liked anything made from hibiscus.
Apple ice cream and green apple tuile. Blackcurrant sauce - the green apple tuile was really cool, and you really get the taste of green apples out of the wavy forms.
Dry fruit marmalade, chocolate ganache with nougatine. Fresh passion fruit sauce - probably my least favorite dessert of the night, and once again we having something in front of us that looked like a fun gor...
I think overall it was a pretty good evening. The wines themselves were pretty interesting, and the cuisine was pretty creative and well-executed. And finally, kudos to Pierre the sommelier for working with the chef on such an interesting food and wine pairing.
original blogpost with pictures and notes on wine: http://chi-he-wan-le.blogspot.com/2009/07/showdown.html
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