The moment we stepped into the Pottinger, we could sense the strong colonial touch that aims to pay tribune to Sir Henry Pottinger, the first ever governor of Hong Kong.
Situated on the third floor of the Pottinger, The Envoy works both as a bar as well as a restaurant. At the entrance area is the cocktail bar where you could find all kinds of interesting molecular cocktails with some of the funkiest presentations.
At center stage are British influenced cocktails with tea as the main component. There are also other signature drinks such as the Milo dinosaur, dressed in a dinosaur-egg shaped glass and made with vodka, chocolate liqueur and Milo powder.
Further inside is a warm and comfortable dining area decorated with velvet sofa, wooden floor and Asian style wallpaper. The restaurant operates a simple business lunch (3-course $228, 4-course $258) during the week and a light dinner from 6pm onward.
Of course, I had to try one of their signature cocktails and True Blood 2 was the easy pick. Presented as a blood bag, this lovely cocktail features a blend of cranberry, orange, lemon and beetroot juice with a homemade ginseng liqueur.
Honestly, it tasted a little weird to have ginseng mixed with a strong cranberry flavor.
The kitchen at The Envoy specializes in Asian inspired fusion dishes but our lunch set was leaning more heavily on the western side right from the start.
Cauliflower soup was served with a dash of blue cheese cream. But it tasted a little like potato soup and the blue cheese cream was way too overpowering for my liking.
Better was our crab meat salad with avocado, grape-fruit, lemon and coriander oil. The strong acidity from the lemon and coriander oil provided a nice complement to the salad.
There were altogether three main courses to choose from and our first main course was beer batter fish and chips served with a capers mayonnaise. This was a perfectly fried piece of halibut fillet with a delicate and crisp crust. Good job!
But I liked the other main course a little better - capellini pasta with scallop and curry cream sauce.
I was never a big fan of capellini pasta but it was a good choice to go with the flavorful curry cream sauce. I was even more impressed with the three Hokkaido scallops which were pan seared to perfection. They were sweet and delectable, exactly the way we liked it.
The soup aside, I thought it was an enjoyable lunch with simple dishes prepared with good techniques.
Food Rating: 4.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 3/F, The Pottinger Hotel, 74 Queen’s Road Central, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central
Tel: +852 2308-3188
Website: www.thepottinger.com/en/about-us/hotel-restaurants.php
Man, I thought someone stole your photos and put on Openrice, and turned out you guys are the same person. Respect on translating the words from English to Chines!!!!!
ReplyDeleteHaha thanks Nini. Tried my best to translate them but definitely not doing a good job...my poor Chinese and English writing let me down again!
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