The Principal (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★★

I was a bit sad to find out that one of the long-time stalwarts at Star Street, Cinecittà, officially closed down for business last month. Cinecittà used to be one of my personal favorites in the past.

Replacing Cinecittà is a contemporary Spanish restaurant by the name of The Principal. I did some research online and found out that The Principal does have a pretty impressive resume. Firstly, the restaurant came from the same group that was behind The Pawn, SML and Classified. Then their young Chef de Cuisine, Jonay Armas, has quite an extensive credential having working under different Michelin starred restaurants in Madrid and Barcelona for almost 10 years.




The amuse bouche of the day was a slow-cooked salmon cube topped with a creamy avocado sauce and lemon foam. That was very refreshing and what I particularly liked about this little nibble - that little plate was very cute (6/10).



Scallops, 6/10
My starter were three slices of seared scallops with crab roe emulsion and arbequina oil. The crab roe emulsion acted as a strong bisque to help simmer the pan-seared scallops. 



Suckling pig, 7/10
But more successful was our main courses, starting first with a suckling pig that was served with a lemon purée, sautéed red endives and pomegranata reduction.



Beef Sirloin, 7/10
Equally impressive was the charcoal grilled beef sirloin. The beef sirloin was marinated with the bone marrow and mustard before being chargrilled giving it that extra rich flavor. It was served medium as per instructed.  

Apart from the outstanding taste of this dish, what was even more astonishing was the way that they presented it. The sirloin together with the roasted potatoes, pearl onions and cherry tomatoes formed a picturesque 3D painting.



Baileys Oreo, 3/10
The only blemish of this lunch came from the dessert which was a Baileys foam with oreo crumble, milk air and caramel tofu. It reminded me of a famous dish I had at Le Calandre called the cuttlefish cappuccino.

Unfortunately the texture was too fluffy for me and I thought the ingredients did not mesh well together. 

Despite being open for only 2 weeks, I was surprised to find that the team is already working extremely well together. The service and food quality were very up to standard and you would think they could only get better with time. As long as they could keep this up, I am sure the Michelin guide will come knocking on their door.


Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$
Address: 9 Star Street, Wan Chai, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Admiralty
Tel: +852 2563-3444
Website: www.theprincipal.com.hk



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