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2014-06-01
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Time travels in the speed of light and it was my birthday again, and this year, I spent it at NUR - headed by Chef Nurdin Topham, who has previously worked at NOMA and now set foot in Hong Kong to offer a healthy alternative to the extravagant fine dining scene - Nourishing Gastronomy. It is often the case that we satisfy our taste buds with delicious yet devilish food like foie gras, wagyu beef... and forget all about nourishing our own body. So for this year's birthday, I'd love to treat mysel
It is often the case that we satisfy our taste buds with delicious yet devilish food like foie gras, wagyu beef... and forget all about nourishing our own body. So for this year's birthday, I'd love to treat myself and my body better, to celebrate at NUR.
The restaurant was transformed into a garden setting with an open kitchen and a balcony of greenery. We were seated in the centre of the restaurant, facing the kitchen where Chef Nurdin Topham created his magic.
There were 3 sets of menu available, Light (7 course), Feast and Vegetarian (both 9 course). We picked Feast, to fully savour what NUR could offer.Like other fine dining restaurants, Amuse Bouche was offered after we decided on dinner set. It arrived as a trio - beetroot taco with watercress emulsion, slow-cooked carrots, and nashi pear and cucumber pickled in jasmine kombucha. Well, I was not a fan of cucumber, so that could not become one my favorites... I loved the carrots, which were glazed but remained soft with a faint hint of caramel! The beetroot taco was decent, and it was in harmony with the smooth watercress emulsion. The Kombucha was one of a kind. I reckon the trio platter served its purpose well, to lead us into a simple yet flavoursome journey. (Would be perfect if the server let us know which one to start with)
The first course was Oyster - Gillardeau oyster, cucumber, wasabi. The oyster was warmed in the bed of cucumber and wasabi foam, I particularly enjoyed the tickling spiciness from wasabi, which complemented the rich and creamy Gillardeau well!
Then we had Tomatoes - zen heirloom tomatoes, tomato water, herbs, blossoms. A very light and refreshing dish! Grown in a local organic farm, each and every tomato had its own character and flavor, and the little yellow one stole my heart away!
Next up was Salmon - fresh organic salmon, beetroot, smoked buttermilk, dill. An obvious inspiration from Nordic dish, the salmon was slow cooked with dill. I reckoned I was quite a spoilt brat that I only liked my salmon to be slow cooked when it was prepared in western style. It was actually very lightly seasoned only but its own fish aroma was already good enough. It was great when eaten separately or along with the buttermilk.
To follow was Crab - king crab, pomelo, garden herbs. A very pretty dish, which the ingredients all looked freshly picked from NUR's botanical garden. We were not sure if it was because of the previous flavorsome salmon, this dish tasted a little bland in general. The pomelo was unexpectedly not as sweet as I have imagined, and the crab did not shine among the ingredients. O well, perhaps my taste buds needed a tiny break.
Then here came the Egg - Taiyouran egg, mixed grains, shiitake mushrooms, garlic chive. House made rye sourdough bread, mushroom butter. Most of the ingredients were my all-time favorite. I had a thingy for poached egg, and this was no exception. Loved how the rich and lukewarm yolk slowly flowed through the risotto- styled mixed grains. While shiitake mushrooms never failed when served with poached egg, I almost cleaned my plate when I finished this dish! Sorry I only had a bite of the sourdough bread, it was not bad as I recalled.
Surprisingly, the Chicken - roasted chicken, cauliflower, seaweed, oyster emulsion was our dish of the night! There were two types of chicken in the roll - with chicken thigh wrapping chicken breast in the middle, with seaweed separating the two. The thigh was tender and succulent, to be blended perfectly with the chewy breast. The fresh meat aroma was even more pronounced in this chicken than the salmon. Thumbs up!
Our last main course was Beef - stockyard smoked waygu cheek, black garlic. The wagyu beef cheek was slow cooked for 48 hours and the cheek was undoubtedly soft and supple. The sweet black garlic puree effortlessly intensified the cheek flavor and this was the most luscious dish of the night.
Then we moved onto dessert - the first was Guava - guava, coconut and roselle. This was to clean up our palette for the last dessert. I seldom had coconut, as it was always quite sweet and too filling for my liking, but this coconut sorbet was ultra silky smooth and delightfully refreshing! I suspected there was some pop rocks inside that I could somehow sense the fizziness!
Awww... among all chocolate types, I would go for Orange Dark Chocolate without any second thought and oh! Tonight's finale ended with Chocolate - Bitter Chocolate, Orange, Hazelnut! Bitter Chocolate (sorbet) and Orange have always made a perfect couple - very comforting and satisfying! (at least for me) and I adored the hazelnut crisp which added a variety of texture to the dish. They all tasted brilliant and did not overshadow any of the ingredients.
I enjoyed the dinner in general, and appreciated the dining concept and journey that Chef Nurdin Topham presented. I was not that guilty to have savored through all the dishes. Perhaps it was indeed quite a healthy dinner, that he thought more layers of flavor could be sprinkled here and there. But anyhow, I had to give credits to the effort of bringing all these healthy ingredients together and turning them into simple yet tasty creations. Sometimes, simplicity can beat extravagance. I look forward to another healthy journey hosted by NUR.p.s. Food was great, Journey was pleasant, yet the tour guides could be more well trained. There were a few occasions which I could not catch what the servers elaborated on the dishes, but tried my luck with my tastebuds to explore. It would be better if they could explain rather than giving me a bland introduction learned by rote.
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