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2013-12-21
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A girls night out with the pretty ladies. I was the one who picked the restaurant, and yes, I'd like to get some comfort food for Thanksgiving Night. F&M, where the chef had previously worked at St. Betty's, was owned by the same guys behind the scenes of Blue Butcher. We looked forward to having an enjoyable dinner here.We were seated by the window, which was quite nice that we got a view of the whole restaurant, which was rather spacious. Since it was an all girls dinner, we kept things light
We were seated by the window, which was quite nice that we got a view of the whole restaurant, which was rather spacious. Since it was an all girls dinner, we kept things light and ordered a variety of dishes to share - 3 appetizers, 2 mains and 4 desserts!
The first appetizer we had was Yellowtail crudo/ yuzu/ orange/ basil vinaigrette/ toasted nuts. This is my favorite of the night. I liked all the ingredients and it was very refreshing and appetizing when they all came together. Loved how the nuts added a variety of textures in the dish. Even though there were yuzu, orange and vinaigrette, it did not give me any sense of sourness!
There was another interesting dish on the menu we ordered, and that was Roasted bone marrow crostini/ lemon zest/ garlic/ parsley. It was slightly intense and salty to my usual liking, but indeed it was very rich in flavor, and fat. The crostini was well toasted and it complimented the bone marrow well.
Sauteed clams/ chili flakes/ garlic/ white wine & clam emulsion/ pancetta was not bad. But compared to the previous two appetizers, I would suggest to go for the more special ones if you intend to pay a visit.
It was quite some time for our main to come. We were not sure if it was due to its recent opening, service still needed a tiny stretch before it could be regarded as up to standard. It was a little difficult to make it known to the servers we were actually waving. Just as the name of the restaurant suggested, we ordered both Fish & Meat - French Monkfish/ cauliflower/ caper berries/ lemon thyme/ charred daily greens & 'Diavola' style French free range yellow chicken/ caramelized onions/ jus. The monkfish was usually quite firm in texture, but this remained juicy and tender for the meat. I liked how it was prepared with lemon thyme and cooked along with tiny shrimps that made the whole dish much more richer in seafood flavor.
The chicken (our twist for turkey on Thanksgiving) was in Diavola style - which meant Devil's style. It was strongly seasoned and very tender even for the chicken breast section. Just when you were thinking having chicken was a healthy option, you were actually gulping down caramelized onions along with the rich juice that were served.
Well, it seemed we did not eat a lot for appetizer and main, since we had to leave room for the dessert - we ordered all of the choices!We started with Whipped marcaspone cheesecake/ raspberry/ shortbread crumble. It was a very different style of cheesecake, while it was usually presented with a firmer and more distinct structure, this one resembled mousse. It was light but still rich in cheese, and had crumbles on top (I thought I was having Serradura)! Loved that it was accompanied by raspberry sorbet.
Following the intensity degree of dessert, next we had Sicilian lemon tart/ country clotted cream. It was OK as it was pretty common and easy to get in HK. I reckoned it would be better if the crust/ cake base could be a little thiner.
Then we tried Mount Gay rum baba/ orange marmalade/ chantilly cream. It was too strong with alcohol! I guessed all of us frowned after having a bite. Marmalade has always been my all-time favorite but I regretted to say it was all enshrouded by the rum. Perhaps it would be good for those who had a liking for chocolate with alcohol.
As our wrap up, we had Dark Chocolate Fondant/ salted caramel/ homemade Tahitian vanilla ice-cream. It was good, warm chocolate was indeed oozing out of the cake when we cut it apart. Loved the Tahitian vanilla ice-cream, especially its strong aroma.
We had a happy chat after all the food had arrived, but since it was still a weeknight, we wanted to end the night earlier and headed home for some good rest. This was one of the flaws which I reckoned could be wiped out if I come again... We were again waving in all directions (all 5 of us trying to wave at different servers whenever possible) for the bill, but obviously it was in vain. Then one of us just walked over to one server and asked of the bill... tick tock tick tock... we waited for another 10 minutes and realized they had prolly forgotten about us, so we asked AGAIN for the bill... in the end our bill came, it was already 20 minutes after we first signaled for the bill. I loved the comfy and homey ambience of the restaurant, but that should not be translated into a slacking attitude. Servers could be more attentive to the customers. At the end of the day, eating is a journey, which comprises of FOOD, SERVICE and AMBIENCE, and if one collapses, I really cannot say it was a satisfying meal.
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