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2010-10-11
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Having been recently blessed with a bouncing baby boy, my wife and I find it tough these days – well nigh impossible in fact – to go out for dinner. That said, the little tyke mercifully tends to nap for an hour or more after his midday feed, which leaves lunch as a viable option. I’d wanted to experience the food at Bo Innovation for some time, having sampled the delights at The Fat Duck shortly before moving to Hong Kong two-and-a-half years ago. Recently, we finally took the plunge and headed
Now, to get the most out of the experience of a restaurant like Bo, I really believe you need to ‘buy into’ the concept. If you want a good steak, there are many decent steak houses. If you want classic French cuisine, I hear that Caprice is magnifique! What Bo offers is innovative cooking techniques combined with unique flavour and texture combinations that are intended to challenge your taste buds and your perception of Chinese food. Some dishes may narrowly miss the mark. Some will blow you away. All should put a smile on your face.
Forgive the preamble … but it’s not without reason. If, like me, you’re one of those kids that couldn’t help taking a sneak peak at the presents under the Christmas tree, read on. However, half the fun of a Chef’s tasting menu is the element of surprise. So I urge you to stop reading now if you want to avoid the spoilers. And just know that I think this restaurant is very good indeed.
Onto the food …
The First course was the Dead Garden. It looked stunning – dried enochi mushrooms on a layer of soil (freeze dried morel) in a bed of grass (green onion and lime mousse). The enochi were satisfyingly ‘mushroomy’ and the flavour of the earthy morel with onion and sharp lime was well balanced – and worked. But for me, this dish didn’t quite stack up. The texture of the mousse and grainy morel was a little uncomfortable in my mouth. And the advertised caterpillar fungus was regrettably absent due to lack of availability. It’s worth noting that, while interesting and beautiful to look at, this was the one and only dish that failed to excite me.
Next was the molecular xiao long bau – which came with a bonus course of lap chong (Chinese cured sausage) ice cream. The xiao long bau (one of my all-time favourite things) tasted exactly how I hoped it would. The faithful flavour of any good xiao long bau I’ve eaten, but with a molecular makeover that made me smile ear-to-ear. The lap chong ice cream was interesting. The iciness just about tempered the saltiness, but it wasn’t really possible to eat the course in the one mouthful that was intended (and I have a fairly big mouth). As a result, the second bite was less appealing than the first.
Next – another bonus course of the prized toro. This was accompanied by freeze dried foie gras and raspberry powder. Although the fatty tuna belly was less ‘melty’ than the last time I sampled this delicacy (from the now closed Megu in Elements), the foie gras, when rehydrated by the fish, made each mouthful delectably rich, and the very subtle sharp raspberry note complimented it perfectly.
Fourth course was one of my wife’s favourites – and a real stand out course for me. A single succulent Spanish gamba carabinero prawn on a bed of vermicelli with chilli, sage, and a sprinkling of concentrated dehydrated shrimp powder. The balance of flavours worked perfectly and there was just enough to keep me wanting more.
Next up was another bold flavour pairing. A single scallop on a potato Rösti with two separate coulis – pungent spicy kaffir lime and sweet passion fruit with a delightful Kyoho grape jelly that tasted a little boozy. This dish offered two contrasting flavours but was utterly compelling taken one after the other (spicy first, followed by sweet).
My favourite course of the meal came next. Vermicelli wrapped in 36 month aged Iberico ham with onion foam. The sweet onion acidity of the foam was the perfect foil for the rich salty ham. What I loved about this dish is, despite its (relative) simplicity, it delivered an extraordinary flavour punch. The fantastic Iberico ham really shone through. I could have happily eaten a lot more.
A fun dish next that was just a little too rich for my wife (which meant double helpings for me). A lettuce wrap of fois gras with sauternes white miso. Now fois gras is what it is. However, this was served sans cutlery (hopefully intentionally) and we were instructed by our waiter to ‘use our fingers’. I loved the fact that I was eating fois gras as finger food. Even more, I loved the fact that the well dressed diners sitting close by struggled for several minutes trying to manoeuvre it into their mouths with chopsticks before eventually succumbing and shovelling in the lot in one satisfying bite.
Wagyu with rice noodle rolls was the last savoury course of the lunch – with lashings of truffle. The beef had fantastic depth of flavour that carried the earthy truffle (which didn’t have quite the intense flavour I was expecting). The beef was as tender and succulent as you’d hope from such a quality piece of meat that was cooked to perfection.
Pud was a little run-of-the-mill in all honesty. I chocolate mousse cake that, while nice enough – rich, chocolaty – didn’t really enthuse me. Now, I’ve never been much of a fan of dessert, so arguably I’m not a particularly good person to judge. My wife, however, is a card carrying member of the pudding party, and when asked to describe it in one word, the response was “mediocre”. Don’t get me wrong, it was an accomplished sweet, just not amazing.
Well gosh, there we have it. There are many good restaurants out there that survive by recreating classic dishes extremely well. But there are relatively few that push the boundaries, challenge perceptions and, frankly, innovate. Bo does exactly what it says on the tin. And does it rather well.
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