Chef Uwe's 24-seater which has taken over the space formerly occupied by Mediterranean restaurant Bayta, will focus on the best seasonal ingredients most of which are sourced locally right here in Hong Kong. Like some of the top restaurants in the world (Alinea for example), Restaurant Uwe requires diners to purchase their tickets in advance ($1088 per head). This can be easily done online with just a few clicks of a button.
It doesn't take a genius to realize what tonight's theme was. First of all, the autumn leaves on the floor and then the birch tree in the middle of the restaurant. It must have something to do with autumn.
**A sad note to pass along before I start talking about the 6-course tasting menu here. To put it in short, it's been a tough month for my cameras. Both my Sony and Canon cameras went down unexpectedly so I was down to my third (and last) option - my iPhone 6. And we all know how iPhone 6's works in low light situations. So please accept my apologies for the rather poor quality of these photos.
Autumn landscape - We were first greeted with a number of canapés to start off the meal. First, there were the pumpkin leaves, parsnip leaves and malt bread sticks nicely presented on top of some wooden logs and stones.
Those were accompanied by some pickled Japanese radish with pretty strong acidity.
The duck and chicken liver parfait atop with figs was silky smooth.
I really like the vension tartare with porcini mushrooms. Really well-seasoned with very nice texture.
Last but not least, Chef Uwe's signature smoked salmon with caviar and cream cheese rounded out the impressive array of amuse bouche. That was a solid start.
At the same time, we were served with some sour dough bread and a bone marrow candle on the side. We were supposed to have our bread go through the candle in order to catch the bone marrow butter. Very interesting idea.
Mushroom and egg espuma - Pretty foamy with rich mushroom flavors coming from the bottom. Pretty nice.
Cep mushroom tartlet with duck egg scramble - The tart itself was made with mushrooms with scrambled duck egg and sauteed girolles sitting on top. A little bit oily and overseasoned but not bad.
King crab spring roll - The thin batter was really really nice. Inside the crispy spring roll was loads of Norwegian king crab meat. Very impressive to go with the yuzu flavored mayo.
Celeriac pasta - Continuing with the theme of mushroom, here we have a "pasta" made with celeriac and served with all kinds of assorted mushrooms. This was covered in a tangy mushroom sauce which was both creamy and rich.
Grouse pithiviers - Autumn is also game season so not surprisingly, we were presented with a dish of grouse pithivier. The puff pastry was stuffed with a thick slice of grouse and some diced vegetables. The sauce came with a nice hint of rosemary.
A very comforting dish.
Slow-cooked US prime rib-eye - This was the flat cap, which was the most tender part of the rib-eye.
It was very delicious with very nice marbling.
I had to touch on the mashed potatoes which was served alongside the rib-eye because it was probably one of the best I have had for a long time. It was very smooth yet not too buttery like the one from Uncle Joel.
Pineapple - Dessert was a simple dish of charred pineapple from Hokkaido, served with reduced pineapple juice.
Homemade ice-cream - Finally, some homemade ice-cream with double cream and a bit of honey. This was done the traditional way using an old bucket as a hand cranking ice-cream device. Very tasty and I thought I could easily take on another bowl or two.
I have asked for one without rum raisins.
Petite four was some locally sourced gooseberries. Very sweet with a fair amount of juice.
I have to admit, when I first stepped through those doors, I was expecting a fine dining meal with lots of expensive ingredients but they proved me wrong. Completely wrong.
Like Chef Uwe has described himself, this was all about honest cooking with some of the best in-season ingredients (mushroom, grouse etc.). And we all know honest cooking can go a long long way with Chef Uwe's talent which explains why the restaurant is already fully booked through November (Price already adjusted to $1,288 per head).
Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 252 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Sai Ying Pun
Tel: +852 2546-8665
Website: www.uwe.com.hk
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