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2017-02-04
2023 瀏覽
Disclaimer: I'm gonna be extremely nitpicky with this review given the Michelin 1 star status, and readers please take into consideration our bias in favor of a lighter taste.Reception and attention to food allergies and preference is as good as expected of fine-dining establishments at this price point.Edible decorations on the counter to me is a bit too gimmicky right from the start.Sommelier patiently explained and made a good recommendation for the cocktail. We quite liked the pickled quail
Reception and attention to food allergies and preference is as good as expected of fine-dining establishments at this price point.
Edible decorations on the counter to me is a bit too gimmicky right from the start.
Sommelier patiently explained and made a good recommendation for the cocktail.
We quite liked the pickled quail egg among the 3 "snacks" (or shall I call them amuse bouches?) but again the presentation with the 2 inedible pieces with the smoke was IMO unnecessarily gimmicky. The edible flower cracker was visually pleasing but I don't get the taste aspect of it. The snack that looked like a miniature tostada with a Goji among other morsels is OK. The explanation of the ingredients by the servers was...ahem... "non comprende". The acoustics and noise level of the counter seating facing the kitchen made it very difficult to understand the servers' heavily accented explanation of the dishes. Shame on us for not learning Spanish (and/or French?). To be real blunt about it... if there has to be some token Gaijins in the wait team, why not get someone who speaks English?
OK, the mushroom dish comes with mega hype an fanfare with the wreath-like thing. Nice choice of mushrooms (by the way one of which is maitake as in dancing mushroom and not mee-take) but we just could not get the moss part at all. The server tried to explain to us the relation of wild mushrooms and moss...yes we got it. BUT....Everytime we see the liquid nitrogen gimmick we expect something that really contributes to the dish. The dish was a bit too salty, and the freeze-dried nori-based chiffon simply does not resemble the "moss in the mushroom forest" it supposedly was intended to be. Perhaps try reindeer moss like Mauro Colagreco's Forest? That should add some texture and color contrast.
The fish dish was amadai (just call it tilefish) with a crispy skin cooked to perfection. But I think chef Vicky really pushed the envelope of the diners' palate mating that with semi-dried oysters and wind-dried shrimp (not sakuraebi but the sharper tasting Chinese variant) . Chinese dried seafood often has that acquired taste much like anchovies and bacalhau which can be off-putting to some, but IMO the acidity of the tomatoes surprisingly mated well with the other ingredients. I didnt see the use of shiso in the garnish, but the color contrast of this dish is perhaps the most pleasant of all. Next comes the signature sea-cucumber dish. Basically it's a chinese style braised sea cucumber with an ebi-shinjo thats quickly fried sans batter. Beautifully done but we both found the sauce to be a tad too sweet. I can't comment on the egg dish as I opted for no cheese. In substitution I got a prawn (perfectly cooked rare) and pasta dish topped with a generous helping of caviar and a truffle Chinese yau-jar-gwai donut. Given that there's no runny sauce on the bottom I am not sure if the fried donut pairing is appropriate. The duck dish was very interesting. The duck breast seems to have been marinated with Chinese dark soy before a quick sear. The salted duck egg over goya, peach, and Chinese birthday bun pairing makes the strongest statement among all dishes that this is a Chinese-fusion cuisine. Next comes the main meat dish, we did not opt for the wagyu but stuck with the venison. We expected that with our somewhat full stomach, a red-meat (I consider the duck breast red enough) followed by red meat course progression to be a weak crescendo but that turns out to be our favorite. The plating of the dish was nothing short of painstaking with szechuan peppercorns dusted into a ring (in addition to covering the meat itself. The turnip, and the berries complemented the dish well. I respectfully disagree with the reviewer who commented that the dishes are not "hot" enough temperature-wise. None of these dishes, although Chinese-inspired, are not all wok-tossed with a gravy poured on top. "Wok Hay" doesn't apply here. We actually think that the temperature of each dish served is spot on. After the main meat dish, we were too full to really appreciate any of the dessert dishes. The strawberry basket of exotic Fragaria was impressive, and interestingly most of the species hail from Japan so it does save a trip to a basement of a Japanese department store.
Overall...I praise the effort, and hats off to the tightly orchestrated cooking and plating and service. I subtracted 1 star for "trying too hard". Certain things are just too gimmicky and failed to deliver the point. Also we think that color contrast is a bit lacking. Where are the brighter colored green ingredients?
Chef Cheng, if you are reading this, please dont' get offended but it's our honest opinion.
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