Restaurant Petrus (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★☆

I found myself going back to Petrus a lot more often these days since chef de cuisine Ricardo Chaneton took over the reigns. His seven-year tenure working under Chef Mauro Colagreco at Mirazur has made a lasting impression on his cuisine which is contemporary and certainly very exciting for my palate.



For a restaurant with such a refreshing view, it's a bit of a waste having all these dirt sticking to the windows. They should do a much better job with the cleaning. 



Lunch got off to a flying start thanks to my only amuse bouche, a crispy spring roll with parmesan cheese and lime.



Scallop carpaccio, Granny Smith apple textures, shallot cream and kaffir lime - I like the acidity there from the different textures of green apple matching the sweetness of the raw Hokkaido scallops fairly well. The shallot cream, kaffir lime and mint jelly provided more texture and flavor profile to the mix. Not bad.



Red prawn ravioli, spinach and bisque sauce - One of the dishes I've been longing to try for the longest time. Under the very thin wrapper were delicate Sicilian red prawns and spinach. 



This was paired with a rich bisque sauce. It would have been perfect for me if the bisque sauce was a little more soupy but too bad it was more like a foam (I was partially to blame as well coz I took too much time to take photos so the bisque sauce was mostly absorbed).



Cajun free-range chicken breast, corn textures and lime - My main dish was French free-range chicken. This came with variations of sweet corn from corn purée to corn chip and burnt sweet corn.



The Cajun spices provided some much needed seasoning to the chicken breast which was surprisingly tender. A pretty enjoyable dish without a question.



Chocolate chiboust with cocoa sorbet - Dessert was a symphony of chocolate flavors with different degree of sweetness (and some bitterness). I'm not sure if chocolate really makes a person happy but this simple chocolate dessert certainly made me very happy (partially coz I haven't had chocolate for a long time!). 



My server caught me by surprise when he came over to ask me about my favorite dish of the meal. I had to pause for a few seconds before coming up with an answer (and I said the ravioli). Make no mistake about it, this was a very satisfying lunch and every single dish was well prepared with very precise cooking but my honest opinion was that, there was not a single dish that really stood out. But of course, being polite I had to come up with an answer.

Having said that, I still think Petrus is one step ahead of Gaddi's, the other French fine-dining institution in town and it won't surprise me at all if Chef Chaneton gets his hand on his first Michelin star this year.  

Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$$
Address: 56/F, Island Shangri-La Hong Kong, Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Admiralty
Tel: +852 2820-8590
Website: Link