Laris (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

David Laris first burst onto Shanghai's dining scene by opening the highly acclaimed Laris at the prestigious Three At the Bund over a decade ago. Ever since then he has been an integral part of the rapidly evolving culinary culture in Shanghai. At the end of 2012, he is finally bringing his creativity to Hong Kong.

His latest venture, Laris Contemporary Dining, is his first restaurant in Hong Kong and it serves his trademark contemporary cuisine with an Australian touch.




The size of his first Hong Kong restaurant is by no means big. It can accommodate approximately only 30-40 guests but inspite of that, we really enjoyed the simple and contemporary decor. It matches the theme of contemporary dining perfectly.

We arrived at Laris fairly early for dinner and were still stuffed from a very late lunch. So instead of going for the usual one starter and main per person, we decided to order a trio of starters and then one main course to share.

Now, time to put on my tuxedo and wait for my food to arrive.

Seared scallops, green pea, mint & pancetta, 6/10
After a delightful baguette, we began our dinner with a nicely executed pan-seared scallops. The scallop, although golden on the outside was still half raw inside. Combining it with a green pea puree, a slice of crispy pancetta and a mint foam provided a sparkling contrast both in taste and texture.



Foie gras with hazelnut praline, muscat jelly and freshly baked brioche, 4/10
Next up was a foie gras terrine trapped inside a muscat jelly with toppings of hazelnut powder. The dish was served with two freshly baked brioche.

I really had high hopes for this dish but it turned out to be a rather subpar offering. The muscat jelly was disappointingly sour and way too overpowering. On the other hand, the hazelnut powder was too light to even make an impact on the overall taste of the dish.




Lobster blini, kombu poached lobster tail and sweet corn soup, 6/10
What a great way to wrap things up before our main course with a nice bowl of sweet corn soup.

It tasted silky smooth but yet light and fresh. The poached lobster tail and small piece of lobster cake helped to bring the soup to another level by adding a strong lobster essence.

Pigeon stuffed with foie gras, Japanese pumpkin, port braised prunes and apple, 6/10
Our lone main course of the night was pigeon stuffed with foie gras serving with Japanese pumpkin, apple and plums.

I liked the pigeon which was quite tender to go with the sourness of the sauce but the taste of foie gras seemed to be missing in action.

Lime curd meringue tart with passion fruit, 5/10
We were almost ready to ask for the bill but at the end, could not escape from the temptation from their many desserts. We decided to take on the lime curd meringue tart which we hoped would be a bit lighter (than a cheesecake at least). It was not bad at all although the passion fruit sauce could have been a bit sweeter.



The food, although not superb, was pretty good but what separated this dining experience with many others we had recently was the quality of service. From start to finish, we were thoroughly entertained by a dedicated team of staff. After being informed that we would be sharing three of our starters, the kitchen staff went the extra mile to split the portions for us (even for our soup). That was an excellent effort that was well received.


Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: 2/F, 77 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Hong Kong Station
Website: www.diningconcepts.com.hk/laris/index.php



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Spoon by Alain Ducasse (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

Spoon by Alain Ducasse was once upon a time THE French restaurant in Hong Kong but they slipped down the pecking order with the emergence of Pierre, Caprice, Amber and Joel Robuchon in recent years. I have always liked Spoon for its consistency in providing solid traditional French cuisine but the lack of an innovative approach does raise a concern.

But then two things are almost guaranteed at Spoon - impeccible service and a wonderful Victoria Harbour view.





I have dined at Spoon on many occasions but on many nights, the quality of food failed to wow me in any way and I left wondering if there would ever be a next visit. But it's already been a few years since my last visit, so I would expect improvements especially with a new man at the helm.

The team kicked off our dinner with some fine nibbles. There were spinach puffs and then foie gras mousse. I have never turned my head away from any foie gras mousse but with this one I did. The spinach puff also failed to live up to expectation (3/10).



Deep fried frog's leg with ginger consommé, 7/10
Our amuse bouche of the night arrived in the form of a deep fried frog's leg dipped in a mayonnaise style sauce. The seasoning was minimal and the natural flavor of the frog's leg was quite attractive (or were we just too hungry, I couldn't tell ?).



Chestnut soup with crayfish, 6/10
Chestnut velouté has always been my favourite so this choice was really a no-brainer for me. The chestnut soup was almost as thick as a velouté. The addition of some fresh crayfish provided a nice seawater flavour to the soup.



Steamed duck foie gras from "Les Landes", 5/10
One of the restaurant's specialty, the steamed duck foie gras from Les Landes was however a bit below expectation. The texture of the foie gras was slightly on the hard side and the sweet and sour fig and grape puree was utterly dominant even for the foie gras.

Also they have to do something about the presentation of this dish. Ouch, it didn't look attractive at all.



Brittany lobster, pumpkin and country pork belly, 6/10
We were sold on the seemingly unusual combo of Brittany blue lobster and pork belly but was left startled to find that pork belly actually referred to the small bites of meat on top of the pumpkin slices.

No complaints about the lobster as it was almost perfect but we did not like the pumpkin and pork belly together.

All in all, putting lobster and pork belly together sounded like a promising idea but what a shame it did not work the way we hoped it would.



Venison fillet, seasonal fruits and vegetables, 7/10
I thought the best dish of the night belonged to the venison fillet. Serving at medium, it was simply cooked to absolute perfection. The dish was served with a sauce of its natural jus which was rich and skillful.



Our favorite cheesecake, citrus marmalade, 3/10
The wheels started to fall off here with the dessert. We actually spent quite some time to figure about what desserts we liked (because none of them really appealed to us in the first place.) and finally came up with these two.

The favorite cheesecake was not our typical New York style cheesecake. Instead it was a bar-shaped cheese stick marinated in a citrus marmalade. The first taste was really overwhelmingly sour and my friend decided to give up after taking a few wracks at it.



Hazelnut-chocolate, praline ice-cream, 4/10
My hazelnut chocolate tart looked a bit more interesting than the previous and it tasted a little better. Nevertheless, it was not something I would regret not having.



In my opinion, Spoon is a borderline 1-star restaurant at best. Two stars may have been a bit too generous.

Food Rating: 6/10

Price: $$$$

Address: Intercontinental Hotel HK, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: East Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2313-2256

Website: www.alain-ducasse.com/en/restaurant/spoon-by-alain-ducasse-hong-kong

Il Cipriani at Hyundai Department Store Trade Center (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★☆☆

I promised myself there won't be any more Korean food on this trip so we are pretty much stuck with western food from now on. Perched on the 10th floor of Hyundai Department Store Trade Center, Il Cipriani is an Italian restaurant that offers an authentic Italian dining experience. Most importantly, they don't use MSG or anything artificial; just the freshest ingredients from the market.

We had experienced a lot of different cuisine on this trip but no Italian food yet. 

We're both having the set and Jelloman started off on a healthy note with a small salad first.

I opted for the potato soup instead. Not bad.

Squid-ink spaghetti with prawns, squid and zucchini. This was a little more soupy than I thought. 

The safer bet was of course the seafood spaghetti Marinara. But I probably prefer my spaghetti to be more undercooked.

We both couldn't stand the food served on the plane so we got something extra for ourselves - a rubbery sirloin steak. I think it just messed up an otherwise decent meal for us.

Folks, it's a wrap. We have learned a lot more about Seoul on this 5-day adventure. Hopefully, we can do this again next year.

Food Rating: 4/10

Price: ₩₩₩

Address: 10/F Hyundai Department Store, 159-7, Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea 

Closest Metro Station: Samseong

Tel: +82 02-3467-8891

Elbon the Table (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★★★☆

It wasn't too long ago that we tried very hard to avoid western food whenever we visited Seoul. Luckily the dining scene in Seoul has slowly evolved in recent years with the arrival of Pierre Gagnaire and the emergence of a few local rising stars.

One of the names to remember is Hyun Seok Choi who was nicknamed "Crazy chef". His restaurant, Elbon the Table, came highly recommended in various popular restaurant guides and even got the honorary mention in the 50 Best Restaurant in the World blogs. Could this be the revolution we were all hoping for?

Elbon the Table is situated at an unbeatable location on Garosu-gil in Sinsa-dong. As neighbours to some of the hippest cafes and boutiques in the city, the Elbon building also finds itself sporting a contemporary look.



The dining room is largely decorated in a sexy black tone. Near the entrance is a small bar table capable of hosting around 8 people. A more conventional dining area is available just deeper inside.




Grilled Foie Gras with orange chutney, Truffle Ice Cream, 7/10
Chef Hyun Seok Choi does not shy away from incorporating molecular gastronomy into his cooking and this is one of his molecular inspired starters - charcoal grilled foie gras with truffle ice-cream.

A crispy slice of chargrilled foie gras laying on two pieces of eggplant and topped with a slab of truffle ice-cream. The contrasting temperature and flavor induced a wonderful sensation much to the pleasure of our palates.



Grilled Lobster with Four Kinds of Textured Rose Sauce, 8/10
Another molecular inspired dish from the kitchen came in the form of a grilled lobster served with four textures of rose sauce on top.

The four textures included (from left to right) a collection of rose caviar made using the spherification technique, a rose-flavored foam, a rose cream and last but not least a rose jelly. Each of the textures combined with the lobster to provide us with a unique and everlasting fragrance of rose.



Spaghetti with bacon and Arrabbiata sauce, 6/10
I had a bit too much to eat in the past few weeks so instead of trying their chargrilled meat, I decided to order something lighter starting with spaghetti in an Arrabbiata sauce.

The spaghetti, I thought, was really al dente and full of flavor but the sauce had too much seasoning and was a bit over-spicy.



Linguine with shrimp in a spicy curry sauce, 5/10
This was not the first time I have experienced pasta in a refined curry sauce and I admitted they could be a match made in heaven.

But the execution was slightly off the mark. Again the linguine was not the culprit and it was the sauce that they could have done a little better job with. 



Cold Cappellini with shrimp and "Godeulppaegi" kimchi, 1/10
The wheels suddenly fell apart here with our last pasta - a cold cappellini with shrimp and "Godeulppaegi" kimchi (Korean lettuce kimchi). We were sold on the Italian (cappellini) and Korean (dry kimchi) connection but this marriage of cold capellini and dry kimchi was doomed to fail.

First and foremost, the cold cappellini felt too much like eating elastic strings. The absence of a sauce was also quite an enigma.





Food Rating: 6/10

Price: ₩₩₩₩

Address: 530-5 Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Closest Metro Station: Sinsa
Tel: +82 2-547-4100

Website: www.elbon.co.kr

Table 34 (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★☆☆☆

Table 34 was billed as a classic French restaurant with a modern twist. Situated at the Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas of the Gangnam district, it provides the perfect dining venue with an elegant interior design and skyscraping view. On paper, this is certainly one of the top French restaurants in Seoul, possibly right behind Pierre Gagnaire à Séoul. But we learned over the years not to trust our instincts.

The first thing that came to mind when we arrived at the hotel was the poor condition of the hotel's external walls. Looked like it's not doing well against all the wear-and-tear. 

We took the elevator up, walked past a bar area onto the dining room and were escorted to our table by the window. Disappointingly, there wasn't much of a view looking out the window, other than a few caterpillars in a nearby construction site. 

There were all together 3 lunch sets (A, B, C) available, all of which looked very similar with extremely minor difference (perhaps one or two more choices here and there).

Roasted big prawn, tomato concassé, bisque essence, semolina biscuit, 4/10
My starter was a roasted prawn with a clam affixed atop a piece of crispy pastry. Too bad it wasn't the big prawn promised in the menu (See photo - it's not much bigger than the small clam!) and there was no sign of any bisque essence. 

Escargots in Burgundy sauce, foie gras-garlic royal, herbs salad, 5/10

The other starter was a couple of escargots on egg pudding served with a small salad. The escargots marinated in burgundy sauce were decent but not spectacular.

 
Black truffle and vermicelli soup, 4/10
The soup was a bit watery and the taste of black truffle could have been stronger. 

Up to this point, one thing really stood out and it's not the delicacy of food but rather the attitude of indifference in service. Throughout the meal up to now, service was utterly lacking. For example, some servers elected to drop off our dishes without saying a word while others would murmur a few words, possibly the name of the dish and then rushed out of the scene. That was really frustrating considering that it came from a five-star hotel of this caliber.

"Meli-melo" of seafood: grouper, oysters and scallops, bourride sauce, 5/10
The oysters and scallops were very small. As a matter of fact, I actually did not remember having oysters at all (Can anyone find the oysters from the picture? If yes, please tell me where). If it's any consolation, the bourride foam was actually okay.

Grilled lamb rack, tian of Mediterranean vegetables, thyme sauce, 3.5/10
Not particularly good.

Raspberry crème brulée, infused anise ice cream, 5/10
I thought dessert was actually better, starting off with my raspberry-flavored crème brulée.

Poached pear "belle Helene", vanilla chantilly, hot chocolate sauce, nougat ice-cream, 6.5/10
The poached pear "belle Helene" managed to top my previous dessert. Our server slowly poured a hot chocolate lava onto the poached pear with thin chocolate coating. With the coating starting to melt, we began adding nougat ice-cream to the mix and it was indeed quite refreshing.    

This was an overall sub-standard experience. I am hoping for a slightly better fate tonight at Elbon The Table. Pray for us please.

Food Rating: 5/10

Price: ₩₩₩₩

Address: Grand Intercontinental Seoul Parnas, Seoul, South Korea

Closest Metro Station: Samseong
Tel: +82 2-559-7631

Website: www.grandicparnas.com/

Daedo Sikdang Samseong (Seoul, SOUTH KOREA) ★★☆☆☆

Obviously, we aren't satisfied with just meeting our initial target of one Korean barbecue per trip so after getting our Korean BBQ fixed last night at Hwaroyeon (火爐妍), we are going for our second in a roll tonight. 

Daedo Sikdang is the granddaddy of Korean barbecue houses in Seoul, famous for their prized Hanwoo beef. This branch they have in Samseong is just a stone's throw from Seolleung and Jeongneung Royal Tombs and about 10-15 minute walk from our hotel.

Unfortunately, the staff here didn't speak any English. One of our servers tried to talk to us in Mandarin and that was how we managed to order.

When it comes to barbecued meat, I would much prefer them to be charcoal grilled but unfortunately, Daedo Sikdang only offers one option - pan-fried.

And they serve only one cut of meat (sirloin) with cabbage. Can't get any simpler than that. Comparing to the premium cuts from Japan, these were more on the hard side and unsurprisingly, far less marbled.  

That was a lot of meat for just two people. Following the meal, we decided to walk around Samseong-dong figuring we were way too full to go to bed early.

That's about all the barbecued meat I could take from one single trip. Thankfully, we have much lighter meals lined up in the next 2 days.

Food Rating: 4/10

Price: ₩₩₩

Address: 127-3 Samseong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Closest Metro Station: Samseong Jungang

Tel: +82 02-561-2283

Website: www.kitchenborie.com