2.23.2013

天堂與地獄 @ Brunch Club

Egg Benedict 講究技巧,muffin要煎得邊緣呈金黃,hollandaise sauce要creamy且不過酸,最重要的當然是poached egg 流心與否。切開雞蛋,看到黃澄澄的蛋黃緩緩流出,乃視覺的享受。

好友F極愛egg benedict,我和她相聚,總愛四周尋覓egg benedict,Brunch club 是我倆試過不錯的一家。雖然店內有點焗促,餐桌之間距離極近,但當日温度和流心程度都拿捏準確的egg Benedict 成功贏得好友的歡心。


 照片便是最佳證據。





















橙汁清新宜人
聖誕節當天,先到我近來最愛的咖啡店悠閒地享受杯咖啡,再隨心食午餐。CM想食English breakfast,可惜Yorkshire pudding沒位。要滿足對English breakfast極執著的他,實在不容易。想起他未去過Brunch Club,基於之前不俗的印象,和我倆first time no complain的原則,我便提議到此,我的聖誕地獄遊亦隨即展開。

點餐之後,我倆等了近半小時,食物才到。CM的早餐跟的麵包更由合桃提子變成又油又腍的牛角包。腸不是傳統英式的,太陽蛋亦有點老,幸好bacon對辦,又煎得香口。整體只是一般,非令我倆再訪的出品。

又等多十分鐘,我的poached eggs with cheese and toast才到。刀鋒剛碰到蛋白內層,我便心感不妙。果然,蛋是熟的,連半熟都稱不上。原本悠閒愉悅的心情漸消逝,換成怒火。要知道如此程度的熟蛋,非 一、兩分鐘之誤。上次到訪時,食客比是次還要多,卻未見如此馬虎的出品,是我倒楣,還是水準下降?

麥包稍乾,是隔夜剩下的,可能很多麵包店於聖誕日休息吧。
芝士還可以,goat cheese是較穩陣的選擇,只是不足以彌補蛋的失誤。

聖誕日吃到這樣的午餐,實在掃興。水準不穩,亦未至於差別如此大吧∼只能說句後會無期了。

Brunch Club
中環卑利街70號地下








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2.19.2013

Fusion dinner @ Le Chef



I must first thank the PR of the hotel for the invitation. Opinion exchange between restaurants and diners is always crucial to the success of a restaurant. Although it is always difficult to balance different, and sometimes conflicting, views of the customers, a willingness to listen is already commendable.

We were first served with two glasses of fruit juice which were pretty good. I never liked fruit juice, but the pear juice that night was really refreshing. The drinks were followed by two appetizers, one with a long-winded title of “Arugula Salad with Roquefort Cheese, White Wine Stew Pear, and Apple & Lemon Balsamic Dressing. Another one is called, rather plainly compared to the previous one, “Oysters Temptation.

Many people are driven off by the bitterness of arugula. This salad may change their mind. It was a multi-layered experience. I was impressed by the balance of sweetness, sourness and savoury. This could be a good main course for a light lunch.  

The Oyster Temptation included freshly shucked oyster, oyster Shooter with orange cocktail sauce and baked oyster mornay. While CM liked the oyster shooter most (mainly because of the smartly flavoured sauce because seldom does that man eat oyster), I preferred the baked oyster. We were glad that both the cocktail and the cream sauce did not overwhelm the oyster flavour.

Both of us picked the Mandarin Fish & Vegetable Julienne Consommé.
That was a successful example of fusion cuisine. The consommé was sweet and flavoursome. It reminded me of my grandma's homemade fish soup that I missed so much.
The main of the day was Sea Urchin & Herb with Tomato Sauce & Akita Komachi Rice with King Prawn in Maggie Sauce. Sea urchin is my long-time favourite. The one I had was quite fresh, and had a subtle sweetness. The Akita Komachi rice, originated in Japan, is so famous nowadays that even China started to produce it. The rice was fully soaked with tomato sauce and a distinct and stimulating herbal scent. However, the way it was cooked was less desirable, giving it an embarrassing texture between congee and risotto. The chef demonstrated his skills through the nice char of the grill king prawn, though. It was interesting to have a grill king prawn in Maggie sauce, a must-have item in any Hong Kong housewives kitchen.  

The Pan Fried Veal Paillard with Lemon Sauce, Haricot Vert Salad & Mashed Red Potato was quite nice too. The pan fried veal was not as oily as it seemed, and its flavour well balanced by the light lemon sauce. The Red potato mash is a lovely addition to this above-average dish.


The desserts were perhaps the weakest part of the menu. Both the banana bread and Puer tea chocolate mousse were bland and rather lacked in character. Their flavour and texture left a lot to be desired. 

Executing a good fusion menu is tough. With some fine-tuning, Le Chef should be able to become a decent dinning place in Wan Chai. I am looking forward to seeing its evolution.

Le Chef
M/F, Metropark Hotel Wan Chai Hong Kong, 41-49 Hennessy Road, Wan Chai



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