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2009-12-15
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Visit us at www.geoffstwitchen.com & join us on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Geoffs-Twitchen/128763959419?ref=tsI am currently sitting in the EuroStar heading towards Paris & am writing this review at the same time. Kowloon side in my previous posting on Australia Dairy Company is a hidden gem for a culinary experience & in areas of Tsim Sha Tsui, InterContinental Hotel is by the most accomplished hotel group with the best collection of F&B outlets. The likes of NoBu, SPO
I am currently sitting in the EuroStar heading towards Paris & am writing this review at the same time. Kowloon side in my previous posting on Australia Dairy Company is a hidden gem for a culinary experience & in areas of Tsim Sha Tsui, InterContinental Hotel is by the most accomplished hotel group with the best collection of F&B outlets. The likes of NoBu, SPOON, Yan Toh Heen, Harbourside with quite possibly Hong Kong’s best buffet on offer & above all, THE STEAK HOUSE winebar + grill. Not exactly rocket science in guessing what this fine establishment specialises in & if you are a carnivore + passionate meat lover looking for a piece of fine grilled steak with a spectacular wine collection, this is definitely your first choice of venue. The purpose of our visit on the evening was my birthday celebration & I have decided to drop an email to the hotel’s PR Team in advance that I will be reviewing the restaurant. To my surprise on our arrival, a complimentary bottle of bubbles was arranged as well as a very special & extremely attentive level of services for my special occasion. Most importantly, we were allocated to the table whereby we enjoyed our meal with the backdrop view of the Victoria Harbour with the surprisingly beautiful blue, clear sky, which was quite possibly the best table in the restaurant for a special occasion. The overall experience prior the food was already very impressive & now, the food part was equally as impressive!
Point to Note: Photos of the food & dishes in this post arent great as it was virtually impossible to be taking good shots in such environment
Highly Recommended Dishes We Ordered::
Belik Salmon with ‘MIMOSA’ EGG, DOUBLE CREAM & MELBA TOAST - Belik Salmon is quite possibly the equivalent to Kobe Beef in the Salmon World & is literally the Ferrari of salmon. Such premium salmon is rare & expensive to enjoy & since tonight was a special occasion, this must be ordered to satisfy my search for perfection. Since Belik Salmon is the most premium part of the salmon, there is no question on the quality of the taste as it was extremely smooth & fresh. Every bite of the salmon along with the sour-cream & condiments as well as the thickness & portion of the Belik Salmon gave me an extreme oral pleasure as it is totally different to your usual smoke salmon or Scottish Salmon. Overall taste was simply breath-taking & dear oh dear, just look at the photos below & I am already looking forward to my next Belik Salmon!
Crab Cake New Orleans Style – Another cracker of a starter whereby we thoroughly enjoyed! I have had many crab cakes in my entirely life & to my mind, RED SoHo in Hong Kong (see link) does one of the best crab cakes in town therefore it was a good comparison on both sets of crab cakes. Good points about this dish is the generous portion with large chunks of sweet, juicy, no non-sense crab meat were enough words to describe this overall crab-cake. On the down side, Seasoning of the crab cake fell slightly flat, as well as the overall taste was not as fresh as the crab cakes at RED SoHo. The cooking method for both crab cakes may differ as the crab cake on this evening was slightly pan-fried but at RED SoHo, the grilled crab cakes manages to keep all its succulent crab meat juices which makes it slightly more tastier for my palate. Overall, it was an enjoyable starter to kick start your meal.
USDA Certified New York Strip 14 oz & USDA Natural Beef Rib Eye Steak 16 oz – Previous journeys to Bistecca (link xxxx) with fat chunks of steak was highly enjoyable but at Wine Steak House, the steak experience takes you to another level of enjoyment. Before the steaks were served, the restaurant brings to diners 3 forms of great entertainment prior the main courses being served:
a) Salt Pairing — We were introduced to the 8 different types of salt which can be used to pair with the steak. All the types of salt came in various colours & their flavours are as below. All the salt pairings were placed in a shot glass & were lined up in a wooden tray & was the kind of scene that one expects buying rounds of shooters or shots in a bar / club. My personal favourite was the Himalayan Pink Salt as the saltiness matched very well with my piece of red meat but one can argue that a perfect steak simply does not require any sort of additional seasoning or condiments on the side.
Alaea Hawaiian Sea Salt - This traditional Hawaiian table salt is used to season and preserve food. Alaea Hawaiian Sea Salt is non-processed and rich in trace minerals, all of which are found in seawater. A small amount of harvested reddish Hawaiian clay (Alaea) enriches the salt with Iron-Oxide. This salt adds a unique and pleasant flavour to roasted and grilled meat. This salt is also great with Pork and Prime Rib.
Ittica d’or Sicilian Sea Salt – This delicious sea salt is harvested from saltpans along the famous “salt road” between Trapani and Marsala, on the west coast of Sicily. The salt beds are managed completely by hand in a saline reserve protected from industry pollution. Relying on sun, wind and the clean waters off of Sicily, the salt is unrefined, unwashed, and unaltered in any way. It contains more magnesium, potassium and less sodium chloride than regular salt. This salt is ideal as a condiment to highlight salads, to finish roasts and sauces or to garnish bruschetta. Available in Fine or Coarse grain.
Cyprus Flake Salt – Cyprus Flake is a favorite among professional chefs. The unique pyramid shaped crystals have a fresh ocean flavor and a satisfying crunch.
Murray River Pink Salt from Australia - Murray River salt crystals are light & delicate peach colored flakes. They have a wonderfully mild flavor. The texture is ideal for use as a finishing salt. The crystals melt quickly and evenly, making Murray River flake salt ideal for finishing, roasting, and baking.
Peruvian Pink Salt – Peruvian Pink Salt comes from an ancient ocean, trapped underground, which feeds a spring located 10,000 feet high in the Andes Mountains in Maras, Peru.
Himalayan Pink Salt – Himalayas is an unrefined salt that comes from the Himalayan Mountains at altitudes of over 10,000 feet. This fossil marine salt is rich in many minerals including Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, Copper and Iron, which give the salt its beautiful speckled pink color. Once a year, in the springtime, the salt is transported down from the mountains to the Nepalese valleys by caravans of yaks. This is the principle income for the mountain people of the area.
Fumee de Sel Chardonnay Oak Smoked Fleur De Sel by Le Tresor from France – This is unlike any smoked sea salt. Fleur de Sel is cold smoked with Chardonnay oak chips to preserve the mineral content and natural flavor of the salt.
Sele Gris Coarse de Guerande from France – This has a unique color that makes this a truly beautiful sea salt. The grey hue comes from its extremely high level of minerals and nutrients. The crystals range in size from 2-3mm. Popular for baking breads, soups and sauces, the soft, moist crystals dissolve quickly and evenly when used in cooking.
b) Steak Knives — For those that like to play around with knives, a waiter or waitress will present a black leather tray of collection of knives from various origins for diners to hand-pick on their desired knife to be used to rip the meat apart. Names of all the knives & origins are as below & for my opinion, I really did not care about which knife I picked as the most important part is that I HAVE A STEAK KNIFE for the steak but I must admit that such attention to details from the restaurant team is a bonus to such dinner experience.
Kershaw SHUN knife – Japan
Global knife – Japan
Mundial knife – Brazil
Laguiole steak knife – French
Laguiole steak knife – French
Picea steak knife – German
Grand gourmet steak knife – German
T- Bone steak knife – Italian
Berti Steak Knife – Italian
Nevada Steak Knife – American
c) Mustard Pairing — For the meat eaters, 12 types of mustard are carried out in a massive wooden tray whereby you can hand pick your favourite mustard according to your choice in steak & your personal palate. For authentic flavours, I personally would recommend the English Mustard, so rustic & pungent flavours that matches well with a grilled steak.
Back to the steak, simple presentation with the grilled steak placed on a normal serving plate as one would suspect that the presentation may be slightly be over the top due to the steak house at a 5-star hotel establishment with skewered vine tomatoes on the side. For a medium grilled steak, I must admit that the Chefs at Wine Steak House was absolutely spot on with the timing for the grilling of the steak. The steak was juicy, tender & surprisingly for a USDA Rib Eye Steak, it melted subtlely in my mouth achievin the sort of melting level of that you will only expect from a piece of Wagyu or Kobe Steak. It truly is a haven for meat lovers & the steaks are also grilled on Hong Kong’s only char-coaled grill which is also another unique attraction for diners. WOW! I must admit that I have not had a steak which is better than this & if you have found a better restaurant for steaks, please drop me a comment and let me know. Wonderful piece of steak and with the steak priced at HKD780, this was
worth every single penny as it was such a satisfying main course & quite a steak not to be missed out on providing there is some spare cash in your wallet.
Best is yet to come & again, I was not expecting any form of surprise even though it was my birthday celebration & guess what, out comes a Chocolate Fondant with Vanilla Ice-Cream which was large enough to feed up to 4 – 6 diners. OH MY, it was so massive that the dinner was fast becoming a joke as it was simply impossible for us both to even finish half of it. The first stab at the Chocolate Fondant resulted in a great lava flow of warm Chocolate sauce that filled up half the serving plate of the Chocolate Fondant & quite a scene not to be missed. As much as such great hospitality & surprise from the InterContinental Team, there are definitely improvement areas for the cake itself & I am quite a conniseur in terms of Chocolate Fondant therefore am extremely demanding on this. The size & portion of the Chocolate Fondant is far too large which I understand is an Amercian serving portion but because of this size, the skin or the outer layer of the fondant is far too dense which may not be appealing to diners. Best chocolate fondants are whereby the fondant is soft & thin layered on the outside with oozing warm chocolate sauce on the inside & the restaurant definitely achieved the latter. Overall, still a decent dessert & oh, I forgot to mention about the conclusion of the cake was that we decided to pack the remaining 1/2 of the cake & took us 3 extra days to polish off the whole thing. Waistline definitely increased by an inch or 2 after this dessert.
Wonderful meal, wonderful service, wonderful view of Hong Kong Island & what’s more, WONDERFUL piece of Grilled Steak. For readers that like their steaks, this venue is a MUST VISIT & even though prices are hefty, do take my word to enjoy perhaps the best steak in town. Am drooling over this steak whilst I am ending this review!
Happy Eating!
Geoff
張貼
