Good news is that they haven't raised their price since receiving their first star. At least not yet. A 3-course lunch is still reasonably priced at HK$280, and it's another HK$100 per course going to the 4-course (HK$380) and 6-course (HK$580) sets.
Thanks to an all important meeting, I have about 45 minutes to spend on this meal. I decided to go with the 3-course set and let my servers know that I am on a real tight schedule.
Things got rolling in a hurry and to their credit, the kitchen did their part in ensuring that I had a quick but delicious meal. As soon as my order was placed, the amuse bouche was already there to be served. This was a very nice trio of small nibbles, starting with a horseradish jelly, celtuce and raspberry on the left and a squid ink biscuit with parmesan cheese on the right. In the middle, of course, Chef Benallal's signature olive cracker with yogurt.
As always, this is what we would expect from the talented chef - interesting mix of flavors and it was certainly a refreshing start (6/10).
Following the amuse bouche, my starter was on deck waiting to be served. This was a smoked haddock with polenta and coffee sabayon that looked pretty dull and boring. But the fact was, it was anything but dull and boring. The haddock was savory with a lovely smokey flavor giving the polenta a lot of life (6.5/10).
My main course was a seared French pigeon with green asparagus that was served with a watercress and mint coulis.
This was a perfectly executed pigeon breast with the meat being so tender and juicy. A marvelous dish indeed (7.5/10).
When I turned to look at the clock, it was exactly 15 minutes since I placed my order. Great time management!
So now I am second guessing myself. Should I go for an additional course? Was it too late to ask now?
I quickly checked with my server and got the kitchen's green light. And this was my "bonus" dish, one that came highly recommended by my server - sea bass with charcoal butter and wine. Once I had the first bite, the first word that came out of my mouth was "Wow".
And that says a lot coming from someone who's not crazy about fish. The sea bass was slow cooked first and then slightly seared. The charcoal butter provided the perfect finishing touch on top and I loved those caramelized lemon zest. They were meshing so well with the sea bass and the charcoal butter (8/10).
There's a small bowl of carrot purée that came with the sea bass and it was a good one too. Love the anchovy at the bottom providing a little "salty" taste to complement the sweetness of the carrot.
My wonderful culinary journey was drawing to a close and here came two little desserts on the curtain call. First up, mixed berries with yoghurt and berry flavored ice. Not bad (5/10).
I liked my second dessert better. A puff ice cream with a bit of chocolate. That was heavenly (7/10).
I was a little curious in how they made this "puff ice cream" so I checked with my server again. Turned out that cream puffs and milk were the main ingredients there. Very interesting.
A standard petite fours from Restaurant Akrame - sea-salted chocolate with meringue and madeline. When I checked my watch again, exactly 45 minutes had elapsed. Great job~
In the past, I have always rated Akrame in the same league as Serge et le phoque, mainly due to the similarities in the way they presented their food and mixed their ingredients. But after this meal, I really think that Akrame has gotten an edge over Serge et le phoque.
I definitely appreciated the effort by the team here to deliver such a wonderful meal for me in just 45 minutes. That was impressive. Perhaps very soon, they will replace The Principal as my go-to restaurant in Wanchai.
Food Rating: 7.5/10
Price: $$$
Address: 9 Ship Street, Wanchai, Hong Kong
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