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2012-03-19
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When it comes to treating friends for dinner, especially friends from abroad, Cuisine Cuisine at TST or at Central are my stock choices and I've been here many times. This is where the Michelin star comes in really handy. The interior of both Cuisine Cuisine are not lavish but presentable. The service at both places were very professional and efficient. On this occasion, I made a reservation for three. The waitress asked whether I'd like to pre-order a Peking duck, which I thought might be a goo
On this occasion, I made a reservation for three. The waitress asked whether I'd like to pre-order a Peking duck, which I thought might be a good idea since this was apparently one of their signature dishes.
We arrived at 7:30 p.m. and it wasn't too busy. We ordered a bottle of red wine recommended by the manager (I can't remember the name now but it was quite good anyway) and a glass of champagne for our guest of honour from Japan.
Other than the Peking duck 片皮鴨(兩食), we've also ordered the "Kung Pao Chicken" 宮保蝦球 and the bamboo fungus with mustard leaf 竹笙芥菜膽.
First came the Peking duck:
The restaurant did not turn down the lights when the chef came, rather, it's because of the camera on the phone. The effect was wonderful. The chef was completely focused on carving the Peking duck while we looked on. When it comes to Peking duck, I much prefer hear than the Peninsula Hotel due to a number of reasons: First the duck itself was nicely roasted; also special was the "carving car", the lighting and, most importantly, the chef's skill.Imagine roasting and carving up the duck yourself and I believe you might appreciate the amount of skills involved. Other than the fact that the duck had to be properly roasted with spice, it has to be served piping hot and carved while it's at the right temperature. The skin must be intact and of similar size; the ratio of the skin and the meat has to be considered before cutting as well. It was well done here.
Having said that, the three of us spent more than half an hour trying to finish the Peking duck skin and the large amount of pancakes provided. The duck was really quite substantial and could be suffiicent for 4-5 persons. The green pancakes were made of spinach, the orange one with ginger and carrot as well as the original Peking duck pancake. Other than differences in texture, the differences in taste were rather subtle. It's interesting though.In this regard, next time I'll probably ask the the next dish be served when we are halfway through the duck.
Then came the Kung Pao Prawns:
It was pretty good to my surprise. It's a bit hot and spicy and the prawns were big, meaty and pretty fresh. It's fried in a crispy batter before the Kung Pao sauce was added to it, thus maintaining the crisp texture of the prawn. It's the first time I've tried this dish. I can recommend it. Back to the duck: Other than the duck skin with pancakes, you could still choose from three different cooking methods for the rest of the duck: namely, shredded duck meat with lettuce wraps, sliced duck meat in vermicelli with broth and marinated duck chucks in special soy sauce. I'm most interested in the last one but I was the only one who held that view - so it's lettuce wraps then.
Lettuce wraps with minces duck meat might be considered as an acquired taste. The friend I know either loved it or hated it. The lettuce here were fresh. I'm not a big fan of lettuce wraps but what was important was that our guests enjoyed it and that she did. We were already quite full at this stage. The last dish came:
A noteworthy observation was that the staff paced when they serve the next dish quite well. Every dish was hot when served. This final (mainly) vegetarian dish was bamboo fungi with Spanish ham and mustard leave. All vegetables were fresh. The mustard leaves were good. If those weren't fresh, it would taste bitter. These were fresh. We didn't order desserts but went for a drink elsewhere.
All in all, the service was very good. The restaurant was spacious with a high ceiling and quiet. The staff were professional but not stuffy at all. Other than the basic dress code, the restaurant was able to maintain an air of casualness which is quite comfortable for a Michelin star holder (one of the few restaurant that really deserved the star).
Recommended.
张贴
