FINDS (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

The name, F.I.N.D.S., stands for Finland, Iceland, Norway, Denmark and Sweden so it is natural to presume that it serves nothing but Northern European cuisine. Well, not exactly. You would most definitely find the usual Scandinavian ingredients such as herrings and reindeer here but they offer so much more.

Let's start with the man behind FINDS. Executive chef Jaakko yielded from Helsinki, the capital city of Finland and has worked under the local two michelin starred restaurant Chez Dominguez for years. Chez Dominguez has been considered as one of the best restaurants in the world and that reputation was reflected by its annual ranking in "The World's 50 Best Restaurants" (23rd last year).

We had long wanted to personally get a taste of modern Finnish cuisine so during our visit to Helsinki in the summer of 2009, we were very much hopeful of stopping by Chez Dominique but what a shame that the restaurant was closed for summer holidays. This time instead, we got to experience Jaakko's interpretation of Nordic cuisine.

Greenland shrimp soup with shrimp mousse and dill (7/10)

We had no idea that's how shrimp soup was served in Greenland but it was good. Although the plate only held some 10-15 spoonful of soup, but that's okay. We much preferred quality over quantity.

The soup tasted very much the same as lobster bisque and it was complimented nicely by some dill and a soft shrimp mousse. It was also served with a small toast atop with baby shrimps and mayonnaise. That was an excellent start. 

Salmon six ways (9/10)

But the next dish was able to even top the performance of the previous dish.

I liked this dish for various reasons. The salmon was cooked in six different ways including cold smoked, seared, mousse, pickled, gravad lax and roe. I particularly enjoyed the gravad lax cooking style. The slice of salmon was "buried" under salt over a period of time and the result was a tasty piece of what I called "a salmon jerky". Well, not as hard as a beef jerky but definitely additional texture.

Foie gras two ways (7/10)

Foie gras included a slice done pan fried style and a smaller piece as a terrine. The pan fried foie gras was very crispy on the outside and soft on the inside but yet not as oily as once feared. Not to be outdone was the foie gras terrine which was marinated well with wine, giving its an extra dimension.

Poached silver cod, with spinach and potatoes (5/10)

I am not a fish lover, never been and never will be but I do like codfish. Like any other codfish, the silver cod is best known for its rich fat content and natural flavour. However, this pales in comparison to the other more innovative dishes.

Venison tenderloin (6/10)

When it comes to Scandinavian cuisine, reindeer seems to be more popular than venison but we were not afraid to give the venison tenderloin a go. The venison tenderloin was slow-cooked allowing the natural taste of the meat to be preserved. We especially enjoyed the slightly gamey flavour of venison which was perfected matched with a thick black currant sauce.

The only thing we didn't like about this dish was that it was served lukewarm. Presumeably, our servers waited a while before bringing it to our table and the meat noticeably cooled off, especially during this cold winter time. Otherwise, it would have been perfect.

Overall

Although the atmosphere of the restaurant was unexpectedly disappointing (poor lighting in particular), we were certainly not disappointed with the quality of food at all. Northern European cuisine itself may have scared some potential customers off but there were plenty more to offer here on top of the Scandinavian influenced dishes (Pasta and steaks come to mind). I would personally recommend the three-course dinner set which was only priced at $298. 


Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$
Address: The Luxe Manor 1/F, 39 Kimberley Road
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2522-9318
Website: www.finds.com.hk