Stuck on the way up? @ Upper Modern Bistro

As there is only a handful of places in town that offer hearty French bistro cooking, I was excited to see what this new “modern bistro” can offer. I lowered my expectations, however, after I read the close-to-monotonous description of the several signature dishes and the decor of the restaurant in many of the previous reviews. Anyhow, I found an opportunity to find out if the restaurant is a genuine article.

The decor of the bistro was anything but exciting. Maybe I am not a big fan of modern chic design, but I just have difficulties understanding what the decor is telling me about this restaurant and its food. Maybe it is part of the problem: this place is a “modernised” bistro, but instead of enjoying the interesting tension between tradition and modern, I found myself slightly disoriented.

Alas, the menu shared the problem of the decor. Many traditional classics in a bistro such as beef stew and confit duck were absent, or could I find many modern twists. We had a hard time to pick an entrée and two mains; we almost decided to have a second round somewhere else.

Foie Gras Crème Brulee sounded very interesting. The dishes that combine sweet and savory usually works for me, but this one was not among them. The foie gras crème was smooth, albeit a bit watery. The taste was too light and so was its texture. Again, I just did not see the tension between the sugar crust and the foie gras.

 

The baguette, on the other hand, was better, as it was crispy outside and soft inside. My only problem was the rather bland butter and table salt. 

The first main dish was a mushroom tagliatelle with 63 degree egg and parma ham. The tagliatelle was chewy and flavourful – the best part of the dinner. While the creamy cheese sauce worked well with the egg, the parma ham was insignificant.

 

The chicken “demi deuil” was a rare dish in Hong Kong – it was, however, a real disappointment that night. We did see black truffle stuffed between the skin and flesh of the chicken parts – no problem with that. But the truffle failed the dish. We were like eating braised chicken with black fungus in Chinese style – not itself a problem – except that the chicken was bland and not tender.

 

I read about the background of the chef and found that he was the chef of St. George. I recalled what I had and found the two experiences pretty consistent. The food was okay, good perhaps, but lacking in something to make it truly interesting. If I dined in a lovely historical structure like 1881, I would be more willing to pay for this dinner with this price, but not in a “chic” bistro. There are gaps, not intriguing tension, between the decor, the food, price, and the positioning of this restaurant. With time, I hope, these gaps can be filled; after all, the food was by no means bad in local standard.

 

Upper Modern Bistro

6-14 Upper Station Street, Sheung Wan

Food: wwwwww1/2w
Service:wwwwww
Environment: wwwwww