Frequent flyers to Paris should be no stranger to Artisan De La Truffe, a restaurant specializing in truffle dishes with three branches in Paris and one in Lyon. Prior to their Hong Kong opening, they already have three overseas branches in Japan, Germany and Qatar.
Located on Level 3 of OTE, the new extension to Ocean Terminal at Harbour City, Artisan De La Truffe boasts an amazing harbour view which can be seen from every corner from the restaurant.
Not bad especially on a sunny day like this.
Sitting at the bar is a great way to enjoy the restaurant's truffle centric menu with the harbour view in the backdrop.
But with my little nugget around, I think I will be much better suited to sit here instead.
First off, an assortment of bread and snacks to start things off.
The truffled cashews were seriously tasty.
I thought they were going to charge us fine dining prices here but to my pleasant surprise, the set lunch menu was comfortably priced at $208 for two courses. That's not bad at all.
Salmon rillettes, herb toast, truffle shavings - It was almost like a salmon pâté served with a small garden salad and surprise, truffle shavings.
This is the best way to have the salmon rillettes - on the crispy toast with herb butter and of course some shaved truffle.
Australian tenderloin tartare, toast, truffle shavings - The other starter was another French bistro classic. The tartare was very nice and silky but personally, I won't mind a little stronger truffle flavors (in the beef).
Slow roasted chicken breast, garden greens, black truffle jus - Judging from its appearance, I thought the chicken breast was going to be a little rubbery but I was totally wrong. As a matter of fact, they were pretty tender thanks to the slow roasting. Just a small garden green with cherry tomatoes, green beans and mashed potato (and truffle) already put a smile on my face.
Tagliatelle, white wine sauce, parmesan cheese, truffle shavings - Very buttery, in fact a little too buttery (and salty!) for my liking. It's probably right on the money for most French diners but for us HongKongers who are so health conscious these days, they have to go easy on the butter and salt.
Risotto with truffles and mushrooms - The texture was nice but again a little too heavy handed with butter.
Crème brûlée with truffle ice-cream - I like the idea of serving the crème brûlée with a truffle ice-cream and even more so when the crème brûlée came with truffle fillings in the middle. Pretty interesting mix and well worth the $30 supplement.
After lunch, we spent a bit of time walking around Harbour City. Little that I knew, there were still a few new restaurants I've yet to check out including Quan Alley Hotpot (寬巷子) and Ebisoba Ichigen (一幻拉麺). I better do so before leaving for Hokkaido in two weeks' time.
Personally, I am a big fan of truffles. Adding truffles to a dish can be a great way to bring a dish to another level but the question is, do we really want every dish from the same meal to be complemented by truffles?
Food Rating: 5/10
Price: $$$
Address: Shop OTE303 Level 3 Ocean Terminal Harbour City, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 2885-2030
Website: www.thefoodstoryhk.com/artisandelatruffe
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