Well well well, so yet another celebrity chef restaurant opening in HK. This time I booked a table for 7 pax for Friday lunch with my 604 girls to have a sneak peek at Gordon Ramsay's debut restaurant in Hong Kong.
Walking up LKF with Missy Chan we automatically went to take the lift up to LKF Tower only to realize that it could not go directly to the Mezzanine floor so we got out from the LKF Hotel lobby and walked down the stairs to where Balalaika used to be. Somehow we got lucky that day and were being put in the private room at the back of the restaurant although I didn't request for any special table. Or perhaps they just didn't want us to disturb other customers with our subwoofered gossips and laughter? The private room sat behind two glass doors with a good number of wines shelved along the walls. Here's a selfie of it:
We also had a Caucasian waiter to standby and serve at our request. How privileged! He mentioned that Mr. Gordon Ramsay will be flying in for the following Thursday's private opening event, and unfortunately even the restaurant manager could not have a say in putting us on the invitation list.
Workaholic Missy Chan had to grab a quick bite then head back to office to work so she ordered the short-rib burger first...and the dish arrived literally within 5 minutes. How efficient, but the burger was not served hot for some reason. The short-rib was cooked to medium and tasted very juicy - alot better than the ones from Butchers Club Burger (follow here for my review http://www.openrice.com/restaurant/commentdetail.htm?commentid=2384700). The burger was seasoned just right with a slight chargrilled fragrance.
The rest of us decided to order a few appetiziers and main to share. Missy Meow, my G11 foodie girl and drinking partner-in-crime, arrived very very disappointed knowing that the pork belly was sold out (even though the restaurant actually just opened?). She did keep mentioning about wanting to try the pork belly since morning brekkie time. Missy Leona the workout-a-holic then suggested that we leave an annonymous feedback form with 'eff eff eff eff eff eff eff...' written all over it. That was only a joke of course. Let's start with the least amazing dish - tamarind spiced chicken wings - tasted like Asian style teriyaki sauce wings this dish came as a slight disappointment. The Burford brown egg was a resemblance of the calorie-loading tomato sauce and cheese in a lasgna. Sea bass carpaccio was finally a refreshing dish which was nicely marinated to a slight chewiness. The runner-up goes to the roasted veal carpaccio. The after-taste from the truffle essence and white and black truffle shavings lasted till night time. No, I'm not exaggerating - definitely a must-try appetizer. And finally, the winner goes to the grilled beef short rib. Honey-glazed and grilled to a subtle crisp on the outside, the inside was braised to a soft tenderness loaded with a full beef flavor. A must must-try.
Work-a-holic Missy Chan left early, and amongst the remaining 6 of us ordered 2 roasted ocean trouts, 2 pork and fennel sausages, 1 beer battered code and a shepherd's pie, all very Britsy. The highly-recommended-by-oncall-waiter ocean trouts came in a fusion wannabe yet turned out to be weird composition side of Chinese pak choy. The pan-seared fish skin was cripsy, and the inside was intentionally left medium rare to keep the fish texture soft. Not a highly recommended dish by me though. The sausages were relatively better, juicy, and the lentils were surprisingly good given I'm never a big fan of beans. They were cooked just right not to lose the chewy texture, and I believe alot of butter were being put into it to make it taste so good. The chips that came with the battered fried fish were good in a way that they were not soggy like the wedges you usually get outside but the chef got a little too excited with the sea salt, and each one of us thought they were too salty. The lamb in the shepherd's pie was nicely baked and the melted cheese on the top along with the mash made the dish all that much better.
The bill came at about $300 per head, and given we ordered from the a la carte menu which was the same as for dinner, we thought this price was reasonable. I paid for $250 for Jamie's Italian lunch last time, and food from this Gordon Ramsay's chain were definitely more delicate and tasty, not to mention our private room and on-call waiter at our service. Overall the mains were not that pricey but the appetizers actually were not that much cheaper than the mains which in summary meant that the appetizers were expensive although I felt that they did taste much better. Good for another go and will definitely go light on the mains so can try out their desserts next time.
Bread Street Kitchen, Level M, LKF Hotel, 33 Wyndham Street, Central, +852 2230 1800
District: LKF
Must-try: Short rib burger, roasted veal carpaccio with truffle, honey glazed beef short ribs
Overall Rating: 4 / 5
Cost: $300 ph - Lunch
*REPOSTED on OpenRice
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