This Chinese restaurant is located on 3/F IFC Mall, actually within the Lane Crawford store, so would need to pay attention in order to find it.
The staff asked whether we would prefer to sit indoor or outside. Under the hot weather, we had decided to take a corner seat inside, even though the view facing Victoria Harbour is certainly appealing as a backdrop while having the meal. The décor had a contemporary design, with the Burgundy colored sofa, wooden wall panels and on one side a green art mural all created a nice and comfortable ambience.
We ordered the Tasting Menu ($688 each), along with a Mojito ($78 under happy hour) to quench my thirst. I was taken by surprise on how sweet the cocktail was, apparently the bartender had added a disproportionate amount of syrup unfortunately.
The starter included Poached Pear in Osmanthus and Red Wine, Chilled Abalone, and Caviar Shrimp Toast. The pear was poached for just a short while, with the texture still crunchy and you could see the red wine did not seep all the way in, being still white in color near the core. Taste was so-so. The abalone probably was the best among everything else in the meal, rich in flavors from the marinade and having a good bite but not rubbery. The shrimp toast was decent, good that the toast was not oily and the shrimp seasoned well.
The Braised Shark’s Fin Soup was where things started to turn downhill unfortunately. On the first sip both of us found a weird flavor, reminiscent of some artificial fragrance which we could not put a name to. While it was not so bad that we would ask to take it back, that was certainly not a nice experience.
Next was Stir-Fried Prawn in Black Pepper Sauce. The tiger prawn was large, with the black pepper sauce quite delicious, having some finely diced bell peppers added to give more color and texture, along with some fresh vegetable underneath to complement. The issue was the finely shredded lemongrass. Not sure the reason to put those on, they were long and kind of like dried reed, with a tough fiber texture. Eating those could potentially cause a bit of problem like accidentally swallowing bones.
The Grouper Fish in XO Sauce followed. On top of a soft tofu were two large pieces of grouper fish fillet, which was decent in taste. The XO sauce on top was quite nice, with a touch of spiciness but not too much. The problem was the large amount of oyster sauce put on the fish, which completely masked all other flavors because of its strong dominance on the palate.
And then came the Roasted Crispy Pigeon. Lacking the complexity of flavors from a good marinade, the pigeon was quite oily, making me wonder whether it did go through any roasting, or simply served after the deep-fry process. But at least overall the taste was not bad.
The vegetable was Asparagus and Bamboo Fungus in Broth. Nothing wrong with both the asparagus and bamboo fungus, but the broth was so salty it was quite unacceptable, and the dish was served shortly after the pigeon, so by the time we finished the pigeon, the vegetable had already gotten cold in temperature.
The presentation of Steamed Lotus Leaf Wrapped Rice in Abalone Reduction could see better thought. Instead of serving it fully wrapped, the chef could consider cutting the top part open, so customers do not need to untangle the lotus leaf by themselves. The rice was decent in taste.
For dessert it was White Bean Jelly with Plum Wine and Honey. The jelly got a firm gelatinous texture, while the plum wine and honey sauce was quite nice in highlighting their corresponding flavors. The touch of having a few blueberries added a bit of varieties too.
Service was reasonable, and the bill was $1,654. While the view is certainly breathtaking, and in nice weather I can see how guests could enjoy drinks chatting with friends, the essence of a restaurant would always be the food in my opinion, and there are quite a lot of areas this restaurant would need to focus on.
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