The Butterfly Room (Hong Kong, CHINA) ★★★★★

For months, I have been patiently waiting for the soft opening of Rosewood Hotel and St Regis Hong Kong, two highly anticipated luxury hotels (and their restaurants) slated to be unveiled in Hong Kong this year. Then a couple of weeks ago, I finally got confirmation from Rosewood's F&B team that some of their restaurants would be ready for their soft launch in mid March.

While the hotel's upscale Chinese restaurant, Legacy House wasn't quite ready for opening day, the rest of the eateries including casual café (Holt's Café), French patisserie (Butterfly Patisserie) and lounge (The Butterfly Room) all started welcoming guests on 15th March.



Butterfly Patisserie is the hotel's premium dessert boutique offering a nice variety of handmade chocolates, exquisite pastries and vibrant gelato in a contemporary atelier setting.



I was delighted with the mix of classic (Paris-brest, mille feuiile, no eclair though) and modern French pastries offered at more than reasonable prices (~HK$50).



Next to Butterfly Patisserie is The Butterfly Room, an all-day lounge offering anything from breakfast to afternoon tea, snacks and comfort food (like egg tart, milk tea etc.).



We decided to sit down at The Butterfly Room and enjoy some afternoon sweets fresh from their patisserie.



The Butterfly Patisserie is helmed by well-traveled executive pastry chef Holger Deh who held similar position at Four Seasons Hotel Beijing, Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur, The Peninsula Beijing and most recently MGM Macau.



I randomly picked three creations from Chef Deh.



Paris-Brest - This reminded me a bit of the Paris-Brest I had at Restaurant Le Dali at Le Meurice from Cédric Grolet. I thought the ring of choux pastry had really incredible texture. It was pillowy and crispy at the same time. And the praline mousseline cream filling was just perfect. 



White Cheese Yuzu - Very light and airy.



The light cream cheese worked so well with the yuzu. Definitely the best one from the trio.



Black Forest Cake - The German chef's signature creation and a reinterpretation of the classic Black Forest Cake.




I thought the chocolate sponge cake wasn't bad and the cherry in the middle provided enough acidity and bitterness (probably after soaking in alcohol) for the sponge cake to work with. But to be brutally honest, it really looked much better than it tasted. Maybe I'm just never a fan of black forest cakes?



Hot chocolate - Not the French-style hot chocolate I was expecting. I was thinking more along the lines of Angelina or Laduree's thick chocolate "ganache" but this was much lighter (and a bit foamy).



As one of the food capitals in the world, Hong Kong certainly deserves an elegant tea salon like The Butterfly Room.








Food Rating: 7/10
Price: $$$
Address: 2/F, Rosewood Hong Kong, 18 Salisbury Road, Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Tsim Sha Tsui
Tel: +852 3891-8732
Website: www.rosewoodhotels.com/en/hong-kong/dining/butterfly-patisserie