影片
更多
2012-11-16
76 浏览
Brought to us by celebrity chef Tony Cheng (of The Drawing Room and AMMO), Le Salon Restaurant et Croissanterie is the latest addition to the French restaurant scene in Causeway Bay. Located on 13/F of Hysan Place, Le Salon offers two dining concepts – a French restaurant comprising a dining room that seats 40 people and a VIP room that seats up to 10 people, and a separate café-style Croissanterie that opens to the mall and serves gourmet croissants and premium coffees.Le Salon means “the livin
Le Salon means “the living room” in French, and the restaurant lives up to its name with an intimate and cosy setting and black and white tones which exude a sense of serenity.
The menu of Le Salon Restaurant offers a humble selection of no-nonsense, classic French dishes. Even though some of my friends found the dinner menu at Le Salon overpriced, a great-value set lunch is available throughout the week at $188 for 2 courses and $268 for 3 courses. The staff were warm and gracious when I visited the restaurant and my overall dining experience was enchanting.
(1) A Pumpkin Vanilla Soup with Pan-Seared Scallop, in a beautiful shade of orange, was presented before us. Thick and creamy, the soup had a definite, attractive pumpkin taste.
(2) The waiter recommended the Burgundy Coq au Vin (i.e. chicken in wine) to us, and it turned out to be a winner. In traditional recipes, an old rooster or cock (“coq“) would be used as its flesh has strong flavours and is sturdy enough to stand up to hours of simmering. Le Salon re-invents this ancient recipe by using spring chicken. Even though the flavouring of this dish could be stronger, we enjoyed the smooth texture and the mild, natural taste of the spring chicken.
(3) We also tried the Duo de Veal “Pan-Fried Cheek & Braised Shank” with Potato Galette. The braised shank had an appealingly chewy texture and a marvellous meaty taste; however, while the pan-fried cheek was delicately soft and supple, its taste was on the bland side.
(4) The Brûlée Waffle with Strawberries & Fresh Cream is one of the must-try items at Le Salon. Indeed, it had a layer of creme brûlée caked over the waffle grid! I loved this dessert as two of my favourites have been ingeniously combined into one - the doughey waffle worked very well with the silky creme brûlée!
(5) Another delightful dessert was the Lemon Tart with Mascarpone Cream. The interesting thing about this tart was that it only had a very thin coat of lemon curd, and underneath that was a layer of sponge cake. The ingredients were well judged, and the whole combination held together very nicely.
(6) We washed down our desserts with Le Salon‘s very own cafe au lait, which was soothingly hot and frothy.
(7) Even though we already had our fair share of desserts, we could not leave the restaurant without trying Le Salon Croissanterie‘s addictive croissants. Using top quality imported French butter and flour, the croissants are made with a 50-50 butter to flour ratio and then double baked to create a buttery, layered texture. These croissants ($20 each) come in four flavours: Chestnut, Chocolate, Caramel and Tiramisu.
Since its opening, Le Salon Croissanterie has been boasting a steady clientele who have come from all over Hong Kong to get hold of this ultimate indulgence. The croissants are available since 11am, and are often sold out early in the afternoon!We tried a chestnut croissant which was topped with candied chestnuts and filled with chestnut cream, and also a caramel croissant which was seasoned with Maldon sea salt and filled with toffee cream.
While we enjoyed every mouthful of this buttery, flaky goodness, at times we found the filling a tad too sweet. Moreover, even though the croissants are freshly baked in-house, a cream filling has to be piped into them which means that by the time you eat them they are no longer piping hot.Verdict: I prefer good, honest croissants that are unseasoned and come straight from the oven!
(8) Surely, it would be wrong not to order a cup of fresh coffee ($15) at Le Salon Croissanterie to go with the lovely croissants.
Even though some aspects of the cooking could be fine-tuned, Le Salon Restaurant et Croissanterie is a fantastic place in Causeway Bay for fun, exciting French fare. We are really delighted about the opening of this deservedly popular new restaurant!
张贴
