After managing to get myself to Orange Theory from the plane, I had a meeting and then a gap until my afternoon meeting, so took the opportunity for a late lunch at my favorite, L'Atelier. I got a few pictures of the bakery downstairs and in the mall.
Absolutely beautiful pastries, it was SO hard not to buy anything.
Pre-lunch snack?
Up the escalators to what I might dare is say is the best L'Atelier I've yet been to.
The staff remembered which seats I prefer from my prior visits and was seated on the far side with a great view of the kitchen. The decor is lovely as usual, but not quite as visually stunning during the day compared to night where there's more contrast.
Fantastic view of the kitchen.
Typical L'Atelier place settings.
For lunch there are some good deals (well relative at least) where you can select the break-out of courses and what you'd like.
The wines by the glass this time, sad my favorite red Burgundy wasn't present.
The amazing bread basket was presented, perfection as usual. My comte cheese breads are a favorite and limited myself to four pieces...
I started with a glass of the 2015 Arnaud Lambert Saumur Breze from Clos David monopole. The wine had a nose that was crisp with apple notes, citrus, lemon and a body that was light to medium with pears, green apple, lemon curd and nice acid on the finish. Perfect for early courses.
The amuse was a cool white asparagus mousse with chorizo cubes, fresh basil, croutons and micro greens. It was lovely being refreshing, yet full of flavor.
Absolute precision and delicious.
Instead of going for a glass or two of reds, I went for a half bottle. A great deal, the 2007 Gazin from Pomerol would be fun. The nose had cedar, eucalyptus and berries. The body was medium with elegant tannins, dark red fruits, boysenberry, blackberries, mushrooms and a slight savoriness like soy and a finish that was a little tart and with the tannins rounding things out. As the wine opened up, it became more savory with soy, mushrooms and dark berries on the palate with smooth and grippy tannins. Overall a really enjoyable wine that kept evolving.
The first dish which sounded better than it looked was a soft boiled egg over a purée of spinach and comte mousse. Overall good but the first not great dish I've had at L'Atelier HK - my suggestion for improvement is to have done a sous vide instead of soft boiled style for a more custard texture, a bit brighter green vegetable puree instead of spinach, but leave the comte cheese mousse.
Next up I had to try the lobster bisque. It was presented at first with a lobster ravioli and fresh lobster as well as a lobster emulsion and crisp. Then...
Then the creamy bisque was poured into the bowl.
The dish was lovely with the lobster being incredibly fresh, sweet and the right amount of bite. The ravioli was more of a dumpling skin and fantastic paired with the lobster bisque which managed to be both light, but also very flavorful and creamy.
Next up, the lobster pasta (I know, I know).
It had a slightly sweet lobster and uni sauce that also had a slight red bell pepper-ness to it on the finish. The pasta was cooked al dente and the combination of was one of the most perfect pasta dishes I've ever enjoyed.
Then I couldn't help myself and went with the classic quail. It was perfection as always with the quail breasts stuffed with foie gras, perfect Robuchon pomme puree and the dollop of micro-greens ever so slightly dressed to add some vibrancy to the dish.
A cool shot of the Gazin bottle and kitchen in the background.
Then the chocolate dessert that was like a mousse on top of a chocolate wafer. It was technically perfect, but also not that exciting, I would've appreciated if there was a raspberry coulis to brighten it up a little.
Still, incredibly tasty and a fantastic way to end the meal.
To wrap up, I had to get re-charged for my last meeting of the day and ordered a cappuccino. It came with the mignardises as the final bites.
L'Atelier Hong Kong deserves its 3-stars and it continues to be one of my favorite restaurants in the world. As luck would have it, I'd get to re-try the L'Atelier Paris location just a week later, take a look at that post to see how they stack up against each other.
- Topic