Belon has been on a roll to start 2018 not coincidentally with the promotion of Chef Calvert (from sous chef). After getting a place in the Asia Best 50 Restaurant Award (Debut at No. 40) earlier the year, the restaurant went on to capture its first Michelin star while making the Asia Best 50 List for the second straight time (No. 15) and OAD Best Asian Restaurants (No. 25) a few months after. Not bad for a period that spanned over 15 months or so. With all the raving reviews, it was ample time for me to come back for a second visit.
Chef Calvert started his culinary career in London before a move to New York to work under celebrated chef Thomas Keller at the three-Michelin started Per Se. After honing skills at Per Se, he returned to Paris to join the talented kitchen at Epicure Le Bristol until 2015 where he made the move to Hong Kong as part of the opening team of Belon. He later took over the reigns following the departure of then-executive chef James Henry.
At Belon, Chef Calvert aims to offer an Asian accented French cuisine utilizing some of the best local ingredients in the market. His dishes are known to be simple yet sophisticated.
My partner in crime Agent-I was calling the shots tonight and she decided that we would be having le “Selection de Luxe”, a multi-course omakase menu ($1688).
We started off with three small nibbles, firstly 24-month aged Comté cheese gougère, a baked savory choux pastry with cheese.
This was accompanied by some thinly sliced Bigorre sausages.
Finally, cod tarama with bottarga and Mitsuba.
The first dish from the omakase menu was crispy green asparagus coated with aged parmesan cheese. This was almost like a tempura with a thin cheesy batter. A very addictive dish to start off the meal with the gribiche sauce bringing some lovely eggy taste to the asparagus. There was also some lovely acidity from the vinegar, capers and Dijon mustard to cut through the richness of the cheese.
The asparagus dish was immediately followed by what I thought were potato purée and fennel with 10 grams of caviar. Always love those rich and complex flavors of the caviar.
Next up was Japanese saba or mackerel served with green asparagus from Loire Valley. A beautifully decorated dish with the fatty mackerel lining up elegantly besides the green asparagus.
The flavors of the buttery mackerel was enhanced wonderfully by a rich-flavored yellowish sauce made from egg yolk, smoked pike roe, raw shallots and chives, similar to a Hollandaise sauce.
The fourth course of the menu was one of the chef's signature dish, foie gras terrine. It had a real eye-catching presentation with slices of Kyoho grapes on top. This was a simple yet well-executed dish with the richness of the silky smooth terrine complemented nicely by the sweetness of the grapes. Unfortunately though, I found the champagne jelly a little too strong (and bitter).
Hokkaido scallop with shio, kombu and pomelo soon followed. The lightly seared scallop was wrapped with an open ravioli skin to give it some nice textural contrast. But what really crossed us up were the intense flavors from the sauce made primarily with seaweed and pomelo. There was a powerful mix of savory umami from the seaweed and zesty flavor from the pomelo, and that sharp contrast was something that you either love or hate (I have never been much of a fan of strong acidity). There's just no in-between. In this case, both Agent-I and I thought the seasoning really went over the top.
Our main dish was Saint Pierre (John Dory) beautifully cooked with green peas, clams, leeks and green olives. A very harmonious and comforting dish thanks to the clean flavors from the green peas and leeks but things began to fall apart when I started dipping the Saint Pierre into the sauce made with green olives. A tune (or flavor) way too familiar throughout the course of this meal - sharp acidity.
While I don't mind some lovely acidity here and there, the same theme had repeated itself over and over again, from the gribiche sauce (green asparagus dish), "Hollandaise-like" sauce (mackerel), seaweed-pomelo sauce (scallop) and now this.
We had two desserts to share among the two of us tonight. The chamomile mille-feuille with gariguette strawberry and light custard cream was really soft and flaky.
I was told the Tarte au chocolat "Bernard Pacaud" was inspired by L’Ambroisie’s legendary chocolate tart. Very light, airy and melting on the tongue.
Some freshly made madeleine cookies.
Honestly, I don't know how to put it in words. I have always enjoyed Parisian bistro dishes with a touch of modernity and Belon is exactly that. Simple, classic French cooking with meticulous technique highlighted by a market-driven menu. But there was a glaring mistake Agent-I and I saw from tonight's omakase menu, balance (or the lack of it). A strong lineup of rich flavored and highly acidic dishes should be complemented by a couple of refreshing and light items with clean flavors to make this a balanced journey for our palates.
Food Rating: 6.5/10
Price: $$$$$
Address: 41 Elgin Street, Soho, Central, Hong Kong
Closest Metro Station: Central / Hong Kong Station
Tel: +852 2152-2872
Website: www.belonsoho.com
S. Pellegrino Asia's 50 Best Restaurants: 15th (2019)
S. Pellegrino World’s 50 Best Restaurants: 96th (2019)
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