French Window Brasserie and Bar (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

We were deeply saddened when we first learned that Chef Mickael Le Calvez was leaving French Window back in 2011. Under his guidance, we all thought they had something going there but unfortunately that didn't last very long.

So out goes the fine dining version of French Window and in comes French Window Brasserie and Bar at the same space with the same view. The only difference is the person at the helm. Chef Matthieu Bonnier, from Nantes France, took over in 2012 and had the restaurant transiting nicely into a modern French brasserie.




I have always enjoyed the ambiance here, especially with the impeccable view. On this night, we could even see the 60-metre high Ferris Wheel right from our table.


 
They made some minor modifications to the dining room but for the most part, it looked largely the same as five years ago when we made our last visit.




I did what I would do when I walked into a French brasserie in France - got ourselves some escargots. The herbs and garlic gratinated snails ($118) was a very good starter to kick things off at French Window. The herbs and garlic were so deliciously flavorful that I almost used up all our bread to dip into it (6.5/10)!



But crab cake with celery and apple salad ($168) proved to be even better. The super thin coating was very crispy and that worked exceptionally well with the crab meat and black truffle mayo (8/10).



The size of these pan fried scallops ($238) really caught me off guard. Although I was not expecting Hokkaido scallops, I certainly did not expect them to be the size of a five-dollar coin. But on the bright side, I did enjoy the saffron cream sauce that was the perfect match for these scallops (5/10).




Less successful was the crunchy suckling pig ($338) with dauphinoise gratin, braised endive and creamed mustard gravy (4/10).


 

Mixed forest berries with champagne sabayon ($98) was our lone dessert of the night. While I was hoping the champagne sabayon would come as a light custard, it ended up being just a sauce to go with the mixed berries (4/10).

 


Food Rating: 5.5/10

Price: $$$

Address: Shop 3101, Podium Level 3, IFC Mall, 8 Finance Street, Central, Hong Kong

Closest Metro Station: Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 2393-3812
Website: www.miradining.com/french-window