Seasons by Olivier Elzer (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★☆☆

After my recent run of pasta and pizza (with the occasional cheese fondue), I knew I was due for some Chinese and French food when I come back. Instead of waiting until the weekend, I thought I should check a couple of those off my list during the week, with Seasons by Olivier E the first on my agenda.



It's been a while since I last visited this place on a weekday.



As a solo diner, I had no problem being put on the counter seats. Who knows, maybe I could learn a thing or two by sitting next to the open kitchen.



Prawn, avocado, lobster jelly and chilled romaine leaves - This is the same way I kick off my meals at Seasons since I started coming here a few years ago (except one other time I started with their scallop tartare). It 's a brilliant dish that I probably would never get tired of. This time, I noticed a bit more espelette in there than usual but still great combination of flavors and textures. Wonderful start.



Scrambled egg, spinach, summer truffle, garlic chips and crispy bacon - I decided to explore some new dishes this afternoon. This is one of the two dishes I ordered which I have never tried before.



This is a very busy dish with a lot of ingredients highlighted by, of course, the scramble egg and summer truffle. I thought the scramble egg was really buttery so I am guessing it had a considerable amount of butter in there. Perhaps more so than egg itself. Honestly, it wasn't bad considering the amount of summer truffle there but I was kind of expecting more.



Pan seared beef tenderloin with mixed green salad, peppercorn sauce - I had their beef cheek on a number of occasions but it was the first time I tried their tenderloin.



I was expecting something along the line of a couple long strips (or slices) of beef but instead it was a big and thick piece of steak like a traditional filet mignon.



There were two things I didn't like about this beef tenderloin. First and foremost, it's a bit overcooked. When I asked for medium, I expected at least a little bit of pink in the middle but it looked a lot more like medium well to me. Then, it was the sauce. If I'm looking for a steak served with peppercorn sauce, I probably would have gone to a steakhouse instead of a Michelin starred French restaurant, right?



This small bowl of salad with zucchini, tomato and eggplant was pretty good though.



For the first time since I started visiting Seasons by Olivier E three years ago, I walked out of this place with my head down. Food wasn't particularly bad today, just that I had such lofty expectation for this talented kitchen.

Food Rating: 6/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop 308, 3/F, Lee Garden Two, 28 Yun Ping Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Causeway Bay
Tel: +852 2505-6228
Website: www.seasonsbyolivier.com