One of the most memorable dinners in 2012 @ Robuchon au Dome

After hearing so many positive remarks regarding how great the Robuchon in Macau is, I have always been extremely intrigued to try. Having had the pleasure of dining at L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Hong Kong a number of times I can vouch that it is already very good, so when the opportunity arose to have dinner there with Mr. C I was immensely looking forward to see just how spectacular Robuchon au Dome could be.

Situated on the 43rd level, Robuchon au Dome is so grand. Richly decorated yet not overtly ostentatious it really conveys the feeling of entering a 3-star Michelin restaurant. Once you step out of the elevator you are greeted efficiently by the cheerful host, but before making your way towards the table, take a second to admire the impressive chandelier that is suspended high above the domed ceiling as it really is stunning~

We were seated at a table overlooking the water, and I am sure that during the day with clear blue skies, the view must be pretty amazing. Robuchon au Dome offers both a set menu and a la carte. We chose to go a la carte, ordering a number of items to share so we could try more dishes~

A significant thing to note about Robuchon au Dome is their use of numerous trolleys to serve a variety of items. I know that Le Jardin in Hong Kong uses a dessert and cheese trolley, but in Macau they have one for bread, butter, dessert, home-made ice-creams, cheese and for their petite fours also known as the lolly trolley.. It seems a bit over the top, but each trolley is special in its own right and allows guests a bit of indecisive fun and indulgence when making their selections.

I have to admit that I was quite anticipating the bread trolley as reviews have labelled it visually quite impressive and it did not disappoint. Baskets of freshly baked bread all laid out prettily, Mr. C chose baguettes and a type of puff, while I picked the tomato foccacia, olive roll, cheese roll and chestnut bread. The quality of bread is really good similar to the ones you can eat in Hong Kong, so definitely no issues here. After our bread selection, the butter trolley appeared, two rounded blocks of salted or unsalted butter to choose from, however, if like me you are not particular to butter they also have a wonderful olive oil available.

The amuse bouche that evening came in two parts. First were two finger-food items, a red bell pepper mousse on a crisp biscuit and a cheese puff while the second item was a cold Kabocha pumpkin veloute with ginger jelly and toasted pumpkin seeds. I always enjoy the veloutes when dining at L’Atelier and this was no different. Full-bodied and creamy, the pumpkin flavour was quite delicate, with the crunchy pumpkin seeds releasing a heady, nutty fragrance. Although the jelly on the bottom did not taste very gingery, its cool and slippery texture added a refreshing touch to the overall dish.

For appetisers, we ordered three to share. First to come was Le Caviar. This was arranged as three items: salmon tartare with shiso sprouts and caviar, lobster jelly of caviar with cauliflower emulsion and sweet corn veloute with lemon grass cream. The corn veloute was lovely and smooth, the natural sweetness of the corn shone through, and coupled with the salty caviar it was a perfect pairing. The salmon tartare was prettily presented, decorated with basil flowers and crowned with caviar. Tasting the tartare on its own, I found it to be quite delicate, a little bland even, but together with the caviar it tasted much better. We were suggested to spoon down to the bottom of the small bowl of the lobster jelly, as underneath was a layer of caviar. The jelly itself was really intense with the essence of lobster and coupled with the caviar, it veered on the edge of being too salty.

Next was Le Langoustine. A solitary plumply stuffed ravioli with sliced white truffle, braised savoy cabbage and a fois gras sauce. Ever since Mr. C had recommended this dish to me, I had fallen head over heels in love with it~ Fresh, bouncy scampi encased in an al dente pasta skin, the fois gras sauce was sinfully rich and together with the aromatic truffles.. it was an absolute pleasure to eat~. I dare say that it might even be slightly better than the ones I have had in Hong Kong  Highly recommended!

Our last appetiser was Le Fois Gras. Also arriving as three components, there was a steamed fois gras in vegetable mille-feuille, seared fois gras with marinated red radish and an emulsion of fois gras in cepes cappuccino. I adore fois gras, so when this was served I was very excited 😀 The mille-feuille was beautiful to look at~ each layer was practically of equivalent thickness and I sincerely admired the effort used in putting together this creation. It was surprisingly light in taste despite the use of fois gras, but still enjoyable. The fois cappuccino tasted exactly like the sauce used in Le Langoustine, rich with an additional earthy flavour from the cepes mushrooms. Really good~ As for the seared fois gras, I had no qualms with this at all. Seared to a crisp on the outside, the inside remained wonderfully soft where each mouthful was absolutely decadent. To cut through the oiliness from the fois gras, the red radish slices were a perfect accompaniment, sweet and sour with a pleasant pickled-like taste.

For mains we shared the Amadai and L’Agneau. I have had both dishes at L’Atelier in HK and I thorougly enjoyed both so I was intrigued to see how well they would prepare them here. The Amadai was pan-fried with its skin fried to a crisp where you could see each individual scale and was paired with a creamy artichoke and bacon jus. The fish was cooked just right, the flesh was so soft and matched perfectly with the gorgeously crunchy skin. Absolutely stunning!

The other main of french lamb was delicous as well, rolled in black truffle and slow cooked till a blushing rose pink it was very very tender. Don’t dismiss the side of mashed potatos though, Robuchon is famed for its mash, creamy and buttery.. just don’t think about how much butter was used in achieving that dreamy texture :p

And then to dessert~!

The signature La Sphere was the first to arrive. To be honest I have never ordered one of these to have to myself since the ones offered in Hong Kong are always a fruity flavour that never really appealed to me, but here it was chocolate 😀 Served as a pretty pale golden sugar sphere, I really did not want to destroy it, but Mr. C went straight ahead and cracked his with his spoon revealing a center of chocolate mousse~ The mousse was exactly to my taste, dark and not too sweet and I loved the toasted sweet crunch of the caramalised hazelnuts.

We also ordered two souffles to share, Le Marron and L’Oeuf de Poule. Le Marron was chestnut flavoured with a touch of Cognac paired with a praline ice-cream. This was not too bad, the souffle was perfectly risen and the aroma of chestnut was warm and inviting. My favourite part of this dessert was actually the Marron glace, served on the side. It did not look like much, but the simpleness of the naturally sweet chestnut covered in a sugar glaze was just so satisfying. Love~

However, the chestnut soufle was definitely overshadowed by the L’Oeuf de Poule. Described as an egg souffle I was quite worried that it would have that awful eggy taste that I detest, however I was so wrong. Perfumed with Tahitian vanilla, evident by the speckling of black seeds it was so fragrant, but what was special about this dessert was the raw egg yolk hidden underneath the softly risen souffle. It may sound quite odd, but it tasted absolutely wonderful~ Definitely something that needs to be tried!

Aside from the main desserts, we were also graced with the presence of the dessert, ice-cream and candy trolley~

From the dessert trolley, I had to try their yuzu tart, caramel and walnut(?) tart and of course they offered me a slice of their signature napoleon. The yuzu filling was pleasantly sour, and I liked how the caramel tart was not too sweet with a pleasant crunch from the toasted walnuts. I have never really been a napleon fan, but the version here really blew me away. Three layers of crisp buttery pastry held together by a vanilla cream. Biting into it, you can really feel the delicate shattering of the pastry and paired with the luscious thick cream, it was really quite indulgent.

Their ice-creams were utterly gorgeous. We tried three, I picked salted caramel and of course vanilla as it is my favourite. I know some may roll their eyes and say how boring, but sometimes it is the unadulterated, innocent taste that is so pleasant 🙂 Mr. C picked the orange flavour with hazelnut pieces, something quite unusual with, well I guess it depends how you say it, an equally unusual Cantonese name :p 

And for petite fours, we had our selection from the candy trolley~ Visually it did not disappoint, a wide selection of chocolates, assorted jellies, lollipops, friands, madelines, nougats and caramels. I wish I had not been so full so that I could have actually sampled my selection, but just seeing it made me more than happy already~

Absolutely spectacular, I enjoyed every moment at Robuchon au Dome and yes I know that most guests like to come here for lunch because technically speaking it is value for money, but I would really recommend coming here and experiencing their dinner service~

Simply amazing~ @ The 8

8. The symbolic numeral that Chinese people consider as good fortune, so for the Chinese restaurant inside Grand Lisboa Macau to be named after this lucky figure it is more than fitting no? Specialising in Cantonese and Huaiyang cuisine, The 8 is a holder of two-Michelin stars and from the numerous positive reviews regarding the caliber of the dishes served here both for dim sum and main courses it really is not that surprising.

At the entrance as you are greeted politely by the hostess, the large 8 symbol is boldly illuminated from behind by the reddish lit back wall. Directed through automatic sliding doors into a dark corridor where both walls are a feature with water trickling down you are met with projected images of gold fish darting about in a stream on the ground. Very serene, there is a gap of a few seconds for guests to enjoy this before the sliding doors at the opposite end open and you step into the main dining room. The restaurant is elegant, black with a contrast of deep red setting the tone for the decor with hints of Chinese elements used in the furnishings. The far wall is an eye popping mural of plump orange-red gold fish and for any first timer to The 8, their attention must surely be stolen by the stunning crystal ball suspended low-down towards the center of the room. It was quite dim inside, but spotlights were cleverly aimed above each table, providing enough light for diners to appreciate the visual aspect of their meal.

They have an impressive selection for dim sum, with more than 50 types available for selection, but despite looking at the menu, most of the items we had were arranged for us because of Mr. C, so we had a mix of both dim sum and main dishes.

It is not often that Chinese restaurants offer amuse bouche, but here they serve diced grilled pork and abalone with mushrooms on a crunchy cracker. The pork was nicely marinated, while the abalone served cold, was pleasantly chewy.

Steamed dim sum arrived first. A selection of three, clockwise from top- steamed superior river shrimp dumpling shaped like a gold fish, dumpling with sharks fin, scallop and asparagus, dumpling with Pacific clams and shrimp. Elegantly made, the fillings were very fresh while the glutinous skin was delicately thin and translucent with a slight chewiness.

As the server placed this on the table, I could not help exclaiming at how cute the items were~ L to R, a miniature baked tart with crabmeat in curry sauce and a hedgehog BBQ pork bun with preserved vegetables. The filling of the tart was creamy with a light curry flavour while the tart itself was baked perfectly, firm yet buttery with a hint of sweetness. The BBQ pork bun was something different too, the filling was moist and sweet, but what was special about it was the bottom of the fluffy bun was pan-fried to a golden brown so there was a pleasant contrast of soft and crunchiness. Both were very very good~ Recommended.

A silver covered steamer came next, revealing a hairy crab roe xiao long bao. Juicy pork mince encased in a thin skin. And of course, lets not forget the soup. For any xiao long bao, the soup is definitely the most important aspect as it contains all the essence seeped out from the filling. Here, not only was it piping hot, it was also gorgeously sweet from the addition of crab roe.

We were then served one of their signature dishes, a half portion of shredded chicken with crispy skin laid over a bed of pomelo with a honey and lime sauce. The chicken was really tender and the skin was cooked till most of the fat had been rendered out, leaving it very crisp with little oiliness. The pomelo was naturally sweet and paired with the chicken it made a very refreshing dish.

To meet our vegetable quota, we ordered pea shoots, but rather than cooking it with consomme, the manager suggested we try it with their special method using congee broth. This came out as a generous portion of pea shoots immersed in a smooth milky liquid. Creamy with a slightly thick texture, you can detect a subtle fragrance from the rice used in the congee. Paired together with the tender vegetables, it seemed so simple, but was immensely satisfying~ Recommended.

For our final savoury course, we were served ‘mai seen’ (rice string) with assorted mushrooms and pigeon fillet. This was prepared in front of us gueridon style and the end result was a bowl of delectable broth, with a hearty assortment of fresh mushrooms, tender slices of dark pigeon meat ladelled over perfectly cooked ‘mai seen’. This was so so good, definitely worth trying~

And of course dessert plays a part here.

I picked the double boiled milk with birds nest and coconut milk, while Mr. C picked the duo of chilled coconut mango pudding as well as the almond tea with birds nest.

I loved my dessert, the double boiled milk was so creamy with the perfect level of sweetness and there was a more than substantial amount of birds nest inside.

Mr. C’s dessert was so cute, the two puddings were shaped into small goldfish, ‘swimming’ on top of a thin layer of green jelly. The coconut one was lightly fragrant, while there were pieces of fresh mango used in the other one. They were set a little more firmly than usual puddings of this type, but only because they needed to be molded. I think Mr. C quite enjoyed it too, but his preference was obviously more inclined to the mango pudding :p

I find that almond tea desserts served in restaurants are usually not very palatable, with overly fake almond flavour or the texture being too thin. The one served here was a different story though. Running a spoon through the liquid, I could feel a slight resistance which emphasized a thickness in texture. Silkily smooth, with no grittiness at all, the natural almond flavour was really pleasant.

And for petite fours~ Portuguese egg tarts with milk tea 😀 The waitress offered three types of powder to sprinkle on top, cinnamon, chocolate or vanilla. Mr. C chose cinnamon which was the traditional accompaniment, while I chose to have mine plain. The tarts were so flaky and crunchy with the custard being gorgeously rich. The one sprinkled with cinnamon actually tasted better, (not that the plain one was not good) as it filled the senses with its spicy aroma. Paired with the sweet, creamy milk tea, it was a perfect way to end the meal~

I do not think words alone can describe how much I enjoyed the experience at The 8, but there is definitely a need to return, especially to try their renowned dish of suckling pig stuffed with fried rice~

Always satisfying dim sum @ Lung King Heen~

Lung King Heen is probably one of my most favourite places for dim sum, even though they always have a one to two month reservation wait, I always try to book so that I can enjoy dim sum here~

Up on the fourth floor of the Four Seasons Hotel, what catches the eye at first glance are the floor to length windows along one side of the wall which gives diners a spectacular view of the harbour. The restaurant does not cater for many tables, preferring to give diners space for a comfortable dining environment (even for a one person booking, they give you a four-seater table, trust me this is from personal experience) and also so the staff can give attentive service worthy of a 3-star Michelin restaurant.

Normally I dim sum alone, but this time Mr. C joined me which allowed me to order more things outside the scope of what I usually have~.

Steamed assorted mushroom dumplings with gluten. If there is a vegetarian dumpling option on the menu, it is always a must order for me. Meaty cubes of mushroom and bouncy pieces of gluten with the wonderful flavour of wok hei all wrapped up in the wonderfully chewy glutinous skin that Lung King Heen does so well.

Steamed lobster and scallop dumpling. This is one of their signature items, served as an individual portion, it was slightly larger than the other dim sums. The whole dumpling essentially was made up of lobster topped with scallop and a fresh whole prawn. The lobster meat was sweet and juicy, and even for someone like me who is not particularly enamored with lobster, it really was quite good.

Steamed garoupa dumplings with shrimp and jasmine. This was not bad, the garoupa was really fresh, but I could not really taste the jasmine.

Shrimp dumpling with bamboo shoots. The shrimp was sweet with a slight crunchy texture that only fresh prawns can exhibit, drizzled with a little XO oil or chili sauce it was so good~

Siu mai. Filled mainly with prawns, if you are the type that enjoy a higher prawn to pork ratio inside your siu mai, then this is for you.

Steamed rice rolls with scallops, water chestnuts and coriander. This was ok, slippery sheets of rice noodle enveloping a generous filling of scallops and obvious green patches of coriander. I don’t tend to mind the taste of coriander as I find it to be quite fresh tasting, but Mr. C picked out all of his as he can’t stand it.

Baked whole abalone puff with diced chicken. This is another signature item and probably my favourite from the whole dim sum menu~. Firm, buttery pastry, perfectly baked holding a moist filling of diced chicken pieces topped with a succulent abalone braised in a sweetish soy sauce. The combination of both sweet and savoury is just really really good. This is definitely a must have item.

Baked scallop puffs with avocado and onions. This was something new on the menu which I had not tried. It did not look the most appealing with the funny green colour, but I have long ago learnt to not judge food by how it looks. Using the same buttery pastry as the abalone puff, that was of course good, but I found the filling to be quite bland.

Baked pork buns with fermented bean paste. They always alternate this with their baked pineapple BBQ pork buns which I was hoping to order, but this was not a bad substitute. Moist pork coated in the slightly sweet bean paste, the bun was pillow-like, and the swirls on top were reminiscent of the crispy topping found on snowy BBQ buns.

Aside from dim sum, we also order their honey glazed BBQ pork as well as pea shoots in consomme. The BBQ pork, despite being quite lean was gorgeously tender while the vegetables were very soft in a wonderfully light and savoury broth. 🙂

Even though Lung King Heen serves petite fours, we still decided to order desserts :p We shared a double boiled egg white milk custard with birds nest and a chilled mango and sago cream with pomelo. The milk custard was silkily smooth with a delicate flavour. There was a hint of ginger to it as well which I think came from the bird’s nest.

The mango and sago cream, was actually unexpectedly sour, so just after one spoonful I gave up, but clever Mr. C decided to scoop down to the bottom where he uncovered his favourite mango pudding hahaha… Paired with the sweet mango pudding, the rest of the dessert tasted much much better~

In addtion to our original desserts, we received two more varieties compliments from the manager~ Steamed milk custard layered cake and glutinous dumplings. I really liked the layered cake, soft and spongy with a seductively sweet custard flavour. I am not particularly partial to ‘lor mai chi’, so I did not try this, however Mr. C said it was just ok.

Finally to petite fours~

A chilled passionfruit jelly (if I remember correctly) and baked custard puffs. The passionfruit jelly was lightly tart, but quite refreshing after such a heavy meal and I absolutely adored the custard puffs, so buttery and sweet, they tasted exactly like custard mooncakes 😀

Such a satisfying dim sum lunch~ Outstanding food, attentive service and relaxing surroundings. If you ask me whether Lung King Heen is worth the one month plus wait, I would answer you in the affirmative 🙂

Dinner @ Whisk

It was only 7:30pm on Saturday evening when Mr. C and I decided to have dinner before catching a 10pm movie session at The Grand. Since there was quite a significant gap before the movie we felt there was plenty of time to enjoy a leisurely dinner at Whisk.

To be honest we were uncertain as to whether we could get a table since we had no reservation and it was prime time for dinner on a Saturday night. However the smiling hostess just welcomed us right in and it was no wonder, since even by the time we left there were still many tables left unoccupied.

We were seated inside the main dining area, while there were also 2-seater tables that line the side of the restaurant directly facing the entrance. Modern, with hanging crystal baubles on the side, they incorporated varying tones of grey into their decor resulting in a slightly cool and aloof ambiance.

We chose to have a la carte, selecting both appetisers and mains to share which is always a plus in my opinion as it leaves me no room to have food envy :p After placing our order, we were soon served their warm and toasty bread basket as well as the amuse bouche. Accompanying the bread they had two types of butter, smoked and chilli, with a dish of cream cheese. The bread was only so-so, the crust was baked too hard and it was a little dry, but I loved the cream cheese~

Amuse bouche for that evening was a sesame miso cracker with salmon tartare. I found this to be really bland, not much flavour, but the cracker was nicely crunchy.

Prior to our appetiser, we were poured two glasses of complimentary champagne since Mr. C was ‘spotted’ haha.. but it was very kind of them.

For appetisers we shared the beef tartare. This was actually a dish from their Voyage menu, but we asked nicely for it to be ordered separately which they happily agreed to. Named ‘Germany’ it was plated to look like a forest in Germany, with the use of kelp sponge cake, roots, potatoes and shavings of white Alba truffles. The tartare was hand chopped, with a slight tangy flavour and the meat was silkily tender. The white truffles contributed its earthy fragrance to the beef, but I found the kelp sponge cake quite odd, as it added a sweetness that was not necessary. Aside from the sponge cake though, I really enjoyed it~

Soup was next. We ordered two different types to which they served each in a split portion to make it easier for sharing. First was the wild mushroom cappuccino, with chives and a sprinkle of cepes dust. Accompanying it was a crisp bread with a few mushroom strewn on top. I did not really like the crisp bread as it was quite oily, but the soup was another matter. Served piping hot, it was creamily smooth with a pungent mushroom flavour. So satisfying~

The classic onion soup was our second choice. Presented in a small cup, a slice of baguette floated on top grilled with Comte cheese. This was super hot, so we were warned not to touch the cup, the broth was quite thin, but the onion flavour had depth. I loved how the cheese was so melty and gooey, but you did need to eat it quite quickly as it became hard and plastic-like when it cooled down.

As soon as our soup course was cleared away, we were surprised with a signature item from their Voyage menu, compliments from the chef to Mr. C. Known as ‘Spain’ it was a single Carabinero prawn decorated with an emulsion of milk. quinoa and olive oil. Very prettily presented, the prawn was sweet with the bouncy texture that can only come from fresh prawns and I liked how there was a slight citrus flavour from the accompaniments. Really good~

We shared two mains courses, one was the Spanish ‘Bacalao’ codfish and the other was their recommended suckling pig. The codfish came in quite a big portion, flawlessly snow white, with twirls of yellow zucchini and  piped circles of mint and taragon cream. Unfortunately the cod was slightly overcooked making it rubbery, and this was not helped by how hot the plate was.

The suckling pig fared better, two thick slices covered in gravy, accompanied by mashed ratte potatoes cupped in a crunchy sesame cracker and colourful condiments made from bell pepper, lemon and black garlic. The meat was quite tender and the skin still gave a crackle when bit into, what made it better for me was that it was not overly oil so it did not feel too heavy in the stomach afterwards.

By the time we had finished our mains, it was already 9:30pm, we did not expect the dinner to take so long and we still had dessert to come! The pre-dessert of the night was a chocolate covered ice-cream with caramel inside, scattered with nuts and a sprinkle of curry powder. I found the curry powder to be a little at odds with the whole package, but discounting that it tasted like a combination of picnic chocolate bar and peanut butter reese pieces~ ❤

Our dessert of the night was their signature flaky apple tart for two~ You can not go to Whisk and not have heard about their flaky apple tart. This was my first time trying it and I can see why it is so raved about.
Baked in a large pan, the pastry was thin and crispy with a substantial amount of finely sliced apples and almond flakes scattered on top. The apples were cooked just right, sweet and not too mushy,  paired with the vanilla ice-cream it was just perfect. Recommended!

They do serve petite fours, but we were already running late for our movie so we did not request ours. For a not very busy Saturday night, the dishes did take quite a long time to arrive, but overall dinner was quite pleasant~

Dinner @ Bo Innovation

When you try things with no expectations of what to expect, the outcome can most certainly be surprising. No? This was the mindset I had when Mr. C kept our dinner destination a ‘secret’ on Saturday night (mid November) and did not reveal where we were dining until an hour before. I do like surprises don’t get me wrong, but I am the type of person to pour over reviews and the menu online deciding what I want to eat even though the dinner date is still a week away which always makes me anticipate hence expect. This time, I had no time to research so when he revealed that we were going to Bo Innovation, I was quite intrigued.

Needing to take an elevator (or stairs if you prefer) up to Bo Innovation it opens up into the alfresco dining area and you are greeted by the hostess just outside the glass doors into the restaurant. Mr. C had specially requested seats at the bar table, so we could see the action inside the open kitchen. The open kitchen was quite small and seemed even more cramped with the amount of cooks and helpers bustling about. Among them, with his hair dyed a vivid red and wearing shades was the demon chef himself, Alvin Leung. Ruling the kitchen of this two Michelin star establishment he specialises in extreme Chinese cuisine, where he takes traditional Chinese dishes and uses innovative ways to tweak them into something different and exciting for his guests. I have to admit, I am not very keen on fusion, but remember no expectations.

Dining at the bar that night meant that we were automatically served the Chef’s table menu, but for other guests they also have the choice of the Chef Menu or Tasting Menu. Instead of serving bread, they played with Hong Kong’s culture of street food, by serving ‘gai dan zai’ complete with their own paper bag. Filled with cheese and iberico ham, the sweetness of the batter was pleasant with the savoury filling. It was quite addictve, both of us could not stop eating it, but I wish they served it hotter.

First to arrive was a single oyster on a bed of seaweed jelly, topped with a lime and spring onion sauce, and sprinkled with ginger snow. The oyster was fresh, slightly crunchy and had been steeped in ‘xiaoshing’ wine for two minutes prior to serving. So after the mild burn from the ginger snow had passed the fragrance of the wine still lingered on the tongue.

Next, a crispy taro nest basket cradling a quail’s egg topped with Chinese caviar was placed in front of Mr. C, while for me since I do not enjoy fried food, I had a spoonful of vermicielli braised in a soy and morel sauce topped with chopped morel mushrooms. The vermicielli was nicely chewy and the earthy yet heady flavour from the mushrooms invaded the senses. It was a little too salty, but otherwise I quite liked it, while Mr. C said his tasted like the taro puffs you can eat at yum cha, but the caviar was quite good.

Two spoonfuls covered with a bubbly foam was served on top of a billowing steam, covered metal bowl. Essentially it was diced saba fish dressed in a sesame sauce with a ponzu flavoured foam. The steam coming from the bowl was actually rose scented and it made reference to how Hong Kong was once known as the ‘fragrant harbour’. The saba was fresh with no fishiness and the citus flavour from the ponzu dressing helped open the appetite. Light and refreshing~

Since it is in season right now, they incorporated a hairy crab dish to their menu. Presented as a piping hot souffle, the crab meat was layered at the bottom while a mixture of the crab roe cream was on top. This was then drizzled with a little of the dark and thick chinkiang vinegar which had a touch of sweetness. I admit, this was the first time I had tried hairy crab, and while it was not the traditional messy way of eating it (even better for me :p) the richness of the cream was really quite indulgent.

Traditionally, after eating hairy crab it is necessary to drink ginger tea to balance out the ‘coolness’. In this case, we were subjected to a little gastronomic fun. A spoonful of ginger cream was immersed in a bowl of nitrogen cooled water and was served to us after it had hardened sufficiently. Termed as a ginger candy, we were instructed to drink a mouthful of water to prevent the candy from sticking to the mouth and to breathe out a puff of freezing cold air before allowing it to dissolve. It was very creamy, and the ginger flavour was warming and pleasant despite the coldness. Quite interesting.

A bamboo steamer was placed in front of us containing a square of fois gras topped with a bruleed ‘zhou ye qing’ liquor miso accompanied with a surprisingly big portion of bamboo shoot. The flavour of the fois gras with the sweetish miso was a good match, but there was sinew inside the fois gras which spoiled the texture. As for the bamboo shoot we were told to only eat the tender heart of the shoot and the natural flavour of the bamboo was pleasant while acting as a foil to the oiliness of the fois gras.

The presentation of the next dish was simple yet looked quite cute. Named as tomato, all three items on the plate showcased this element. Clockwise from the top: a tomato marshmallow, an heirloom tomato marinated in ‘pat chun’ vinegar and a pastry wrapped cherry tomato. It was suggested to eat the heirloom tomato first and luckily we decided to put the whole tomato in the mouth as it was so juicy that I was sure it would have dribbled everywhere if we took a bite. The sweetness of the ‘pat chun’ vinegar helped to enhance the depth of the tomato flavour and it was a such a pleasant combination~ The pastry wrapped tomato was not so much my liking as I found the pastry to be quite heavy and gluggy, while the cherry tomato inside was actually quite dry. I think I enjoyed the tomato marshmallow most as it was something very different, although it was akin to a puff of air, the tomato element was very concentrated leaving behind subtle tones of tangy and sweet. Very good.

For $480 we were able to add on an additional course consisting of ‘cheong fun’ wrapped duck egg smothered in yak cheese and sprinkled with Alba white truffles. This was something really worth eating. The duck egg was cooked perfectly, spilling a lake of gorgeous orange yolk as it was pierced. I would assume that some people may not be able to accept the strong flavour of the yak cheese, but to me it was really good, creamy and smooth, coupled with the richness of the yolk and the earthy fragrance of the white truffle it all made for such a decadent mouthful… Recommended~

When dining at Bo Innovation, one of the most talked about dishes is their signature xiao long bao. Unlike the traditional flour skin wrapped pork mince, this was done molecular style. Served as an ovoid shape, with a line of red ginger placed on top, it really did not look like anything special. But as always, looks can always deceive. Slippery smooth, the slight gelatin casing pierces easily releasing a gush of concentrated porky and gingery soup. To be honest, it did not really taste like a xiao long bao, but Mr. C was spot on in saying that it reminded him of the flavours of fake shark fin stew (wun zai chi).

One of the favourites of the evening was probably their version of a Taiwanese beef noodle soup. White and green strands of noodles made from daikon and chinese chives respectively twined at the bottom of the bowl, with a piece of truffled tendon and a cube of marbled blushing pink saga beef nestled on top. Over this, was poured an aromatic beef consomme which smelt marvelously of aniseed and all the herbs used in a beef noodle soup. The noodles were nicely chewy and the tendon was braised until it was so jelly-like that it just melted on the tongue. The saga beef, despite having a slight chewy texture was very flavourful with the marbling of fat adding that additional touch of richness. This was definitely an over the top version of a simple comfort dish, but wow it was amazing~

The final savoury dish on the menu was clay pot rice with organic ‘long jiang’ chicken. Made with 7 year aged Acquerello rice, it was cooked with a combination of chicken oil and stock with assorted mushrooms mixed into the rice. The chicken was presented as two circular slices laid on top of the rice, one had crispy skin (for Mr. C), while mine was steamed. The rice had an earthy aroma from the mushrooms and it really resembled risotto, big individual grains that were cooked till it had a slight bite and all held together by the creamy stock. The chicken was silkily tender and you could taste the natural essence of the meat. It was good, but I still prefer clay pot rice cooked in the traditional way.

Even after so many courses, we still had desserts to come~

The first was an almond panacotta with a berry compote served in a cute glass jar. What was unusual about this was that they had captured the smoke of sandalwood inside and it was suggested that we inhale the fragrance as we peeled off the foil cap. The smell was very strong, and it felt like we were inhaling incense at a temple, not really to my liking, but fortunately the actual edible part of the dessert was very good. The panacotta was so smooth and creamy with a delicate flavour of almonds while the compote gave a nice tart contrast to the sweetness of the pudding.

Next a small cup of ying yang was presented to us, an all-time favourite drink for Hongkys in cha chan tengs. Honestly speaking, I have never ordered one ever, but I knew that it was a mix of strong milk tea with coffee. The ying yang here was quite interesting, they separated the milk tea and coffee with a plastic partition which was pulled out prior to serving. Reason being, the coffee was cold while the milk tea was hot. We were told to sip right in the middle of both liquids and the sensation of cold and hot at the same time was quite quirky. I loved the creamy texture of the ying yang and surprisingly the flavour of the coffee and tea complemented each other perfectly, neither one overpowering the other. Very nice~

The last dessert before petite fours was a crispy fried milk with a banana foam and drizzled with caramel sauce infused with ‘shui jing fang’ rice wine. Since I try to abstain from eating fried foods, I just sampled the filling of the fried milk, which was quite gluggy with only a faint milky flavour. The foam was like a cold airy ice cream, with quite a strong banana flavour, but in general the dessert was not particularly captivating.

Lastly, we were served our petite fours. Instead of just a few chinese-styled pastries, we were served eight different types! Six of them were perched prettily inside a cage-like stand while two of them being steamed items were placed inside a bamboo steamer. Inside the cage on the top tier from L-R: a chewy sweet cheong fun like roll made from osmanthus, next to it was a  rose macaron and a layered dragon eye jelly with coconut. The bottom tier held a fried lotus seed sticky rice dumpling, red date marshmallow and mandarin chocolate truffle. Inside the steamer was a wolfberry, tian jin pear and blue cheese crystal bun and a fluffy chrysanthemum steamed sponge cake. To be honest, the petite fours were not really to my liking, they were too herbal-like in flavour and although the combinations sounded interesting they did not really work well on the tastebuds.

Despite the disappointing petite fours, it was an interesting dinner, one that is worth trying at least once. Service was quite attentive, and our server was adept at describing each dish and its components thoroughly.
No expectations, but really not bad~